Wyoming Sandhill hunt.

[a_bow_nut]

A friend and I was lucky enough to draw sandhill crane tags up in Wyoming this year.

On the opening morning we were hunting in a oat field that had just been cut. As we were deciding on where the to go the cranes arrived before we could set up. So we watched where they were flying and worked on getting their pattern down for the next morning.

We then went out into the river valley and worked our way through the river and the sloughs finding small flocks of birds to try and do some stalking. We learned that they have incredible eyesight and are quite wary creatures so any attempts were quickly dashed as they flew off before we ever even got close to them.

Fast forward to the next morning we were back in the oat field and set up right next to where they had been feeding the day before. Getting there two hours earlier gave us plenty of time to settle in and wait for dawn to break and for the first flocks of cranes to arrive.

Just before 7 the first birds started landing just out of range but luckily the third flock was close enough for a shot and I got my crane while it was quartering away with a shot right under it wing dropping it like a brick.

Then my friend hurried down the n the other side of where I was to get in a better shooting position and he had his crane in another twenty minutes.

A very fun and challenging hunt for my first time hunting cranes. I'm just afraid that I'll get as hooked on these birds as I am with waterfowl.
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[PACKFAN]

Congrats, something I've wanted to do and is on my bucket list. I've been chatting with several outfitters in Oklahoma and west Texas to possibly book a hunt for next year.
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[catchinon]

Sounds like fun. Speaking of fun, I never heard how your bear hunt went. Care to share?
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[Bovineowner]

Flying ribeyes!! You'll love the meat. Im jealous for sure. Congrats on a great hunt.
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[2knots]

Awesome job, congratulations
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[a_bow_nut]

I've been to lazy to try and post a total run down with all of the highs and lows of the hunt but here is a quick summary.

After dealing with the crazy weather this spring I finally was able to get started on my hunt 10 days after it opened because there was still to much snow in the area.

After getting the bait station set up I had four bears coming in at various times. They would never settle into any kind of feeding pattern so it was kind of hit or miss on them coming in during shooting hours.

After one close encounter while hunting with my bow that didn't pan out the action on that bait started slowing down. So with just over a week left in the hunt I set up my second bait station .

Hunted the first bait a couple more times with only one far off bear sighting. Then I checked the second bait to find that nothing had touched it in three days of it being put out. This had me worried since the first station was hit within six hours of being set up.

Had to put in some time at work so that I didn't lose my job and then went back to the second bait on the second to last day of the hunt.

Muc]h to my enjoyment I found on the camera that two bears had started working that bait the afternoon before I checked the camera.

Got a shooting lane set up and settled in for the afternoon hoping that they would come back in to eat. A bout three hours later as I was texting answers to people at work I caught some movement and saw one of the bears walking to the bait. Since it was this close to the end of the hunt I had started packing my 6MM cause it had taken 9 years to get this tag and I wanted to ensure I was successful.

As it cleared the trees and went to take it first bite I out the cross hairs on its chest and let it have it.

After spinning around a couple of times it took off towards the trees and after hearing it do its death moan three times I knew I had me bear.

Come to find out it never even made it to the trees and was laying out in the open as seen in the picture.

It's not a very big bear but it was enough to make the heart thump and the hands shake and that good enough for me.

One interesting note. Though the entire hunt with the bears working my bait and looking at pictures of some of the other hunters had on their trial cameras I never saw one bear that was actually black. Most of them were cinnamon color phase with a couple of blondes and one chocolate phase.
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[catchinon]

I'm glad you had a fun and successful hunt. I've always wanted to hunt over bait but never got the chance. I guess it wouldn't be too hard on these old legs if I could somehow get a permit.
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