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[jdmessner]

Looks like the newest taste treat in Michigan may be Sandhill Crane, the "Ribeye of the Sky." They are cool looking birds with a very unique call, but are a huge pain for farmers. When I lived in the southern part of the state huge flocks would land in cornfields and in some cases destroy them. Farmers can shoot them, I never would have thought about eating one.

Here are some quotes in an article in the Detroit Free Press by Keith Matheny. I would normally post a link, but you need to pay for a subscription.

It's Michigan's largest, oldest bird species, unchanged in more than 2.5 million years; a tall, graceful bird beloved by birdwatchers for its unique trumpeting song. It's also a major nuisance to farmers, devouring their freshly planted corn in the spring. And to hunters, it's known for its meat so tasty it's called the ribeye of the sky.

Sen. Ed McBroom, on Wednesday in the Senate Natural Resources Committee he chairs, introduced his resolution urging the state Natural Resources Commission, a seven-member, governor-appointed body that sets hunting and fishing policy in Michigan, to add sandhill cranes to the state's game species list, and seek U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approval to establish a sandhill crane hunting season.

Under current federal rules, when farmers receive permission to kill sandhill cranes destroying their spring corn crops, they are disallowed from using the carcasses for meat."

[pmillen]

When I lived in North Dakota there was an autumn season on them.  I tried it a few times but they are extremely wary and difficult to stalk.  I never fired a shot at one.

IDK if there's a way to decoy them in.

They congregate by the millions along the Platte River in Nebraska in spring and autumn.  It's a huge tourist attraction.

[Brushpopper]

We have a season for them here in Texas.  I'm not sure if it's statewide or regional.  My former neighbor got one a few years ago where he hunts near Spring TX and cooked the breast like a steak.  He said it tasted just like a ribeye, so I reckon they are aptly named.  It seems like I remember them being endangered when I was a kid.

[pmillen]

It seems like I remember them being endangered when I was a kid.

IDK, I was probably hunting them when you were a kid.   

There were millions of them in the central flyway in the 1960s  & 70s.

[yorkdude]

I have not shouldered a gun in probably 10 years.
I have hunted and eaten Sandhills as they have been legal to hunt here since I think 1993. They are good to eat but ( if I may say) don’t taste like a ribeye to me.
When they come down the migratory flyway it really is pretty dang neat. If memory serves they are not “fish eaters” as a staple so that may lend something to the palatable taste. I have never been a big fan of the migratory waterfowl. Very red and iron laden meat taste to me. These are much better but not enough to make me bring out a shotgun.
No offense intended, just my opinion.
They do have a very unique call and they are very easy to distinguish, color wise, flight and call.

[Brushpopper]

It seems like I remember them being endangered when I was a kid.

IDK, I was probably hunting them when you were a kid.   

There were millions of them in the central flyway in the 1960s  & 70s.

You're right.  I was a kid in the 60s and 70s (still am in my head) and I bet my dad didn't want to have to deal with cleaning them for us to eat.  He had enough to do dealing with cattle every day.  We always had plenty of beef though.

[ICIdaho]

What a sad waste to disallow using the carcass as meat.  Leave it to the federal government to make such a wasteful & disrespectful rule.  Whenever possible, anything shot should be used, it is about respecting nature and the land and what it provides.

[Mikro]

We have a season for them here in Texas.  I'm not sure if it's statewide or regional.  My former neighbor got one a few years ago where he hunts near Spring TX and cooked the breast like a steak.  He said it tasted just like a ribeye, so I reckon they are aptly named.  It seems like I remember them being endangered when I was a kid.

Years ago (90's) when I use to hunt out in West Texas, Childress TX,  and surrounding areas, we would also hunt during the Crane Season. Very tasty and yes, a lot like a steak as far as flavor, texture is  more waterfowl , like duck than a quail or pheasant. 


MK

[ylr]

.  It seems like I remember them being endangered when I was a kid.

Maybe you were thinking about a whooping crane? They are still endangered.

[Brushpopper]

.  It seems like I remember them being endangered when I was a kid.

Maybe you were thinking about a whooping crane? They are still endangered.

I might be.  I've slept since then and don't remember.