Crane/Heron
 

Has anyone ever eaten a crane or a heron? I am sure they are protected and wouldn't shoot one but we were wondering if they are white meat, all dark like the goose or do they have no meat at all? Do they taste like chicken?...

Herons are protected, but I think you can shoot sandhill cranes by the bunches. With that said, I have never killed either and I have never had anybody cook either for me.

cranes are pretty good really. prepare the meat the way you would do a pot roasrt. a moist cooking method. garlic, taters, celery, carrots or yams. the first time i've ever eaten it, it was prepared by my mother in law when my wife and i made our first visit to north dakota after we were married. a fine meal, topped of with homemade chokecherry wine and apple pie and homemade ice cream.

thats been a few months ago and i can still remember that meal. the first wild meat i had ever eaten, besides rabbit and squirrel.
my wifes family was first generation germans from russia. boy, those floks knew how to eat and live and enjoy even though their lives were pretty tough.

Heron
 

a lot of years ago a friend shot a crane(blue Heron). He picked and I'll tell ya it had about as much meat on it as a mouning dove. I know he ate it but I can't remember what he said it was like....except it didn't have enough meat on it for his family. One thing I do know is to not mess with one of those critters. Found one one day that was injured while I was crabbing. Stuck his bill through my oar. Nasty critters...leave 'em alone!!

sounds interesting...and billy with all the fixins you had with it, a meal to remember....we have stocked I about $16,000 worth of fish at out sportsmens club and I think the cranes/herons what ever they may be have put the word out ...free dinners...I know they have taken many a $$ worth of fish too...I watched one the other night eat a trout about 12" long and I have caught many with what at first I thought was a BB hole through them...how they get a fish that size down that skinny neck is beyond me. Thanks for reply. and I never messed with Zoro before and don't intend to now...

hi skeet

we are not over populated with sandhill cranes and i can't say i have ever seen a heron up here.

we do have a pest bird called a cormorant. they are really prevelant in the devils lake system. they are laying waste to the crappie, bluegill, white bass and perch population. once the fish population subsides so will the cormorants, unless they become canibals. the big question which provides the greater good, a fishing/sporting industry where people are enjoying themselves and spending money at the sporting goods and tackle shops not to mention bars, motels, and restaurants etc.

devils lake is a big lake, and growing, and the cormorant population is booming. the state right now is winding their a$$ and scratching their watch trying to figure out how to handle the situation. disease is the main concern. and how long can the lake provide enough fish for the fishing sports and the birds.

we had a disease hit a few of our refuges and really put a hurt on the pelican population. the biologists still haven't pegged that one. one of the problems of overcrowding.

it's just like when the kids go back to school and everything is fine for awhile, then a couple of weeks or so into the semester everyone is coughing, hacking and wheezing. in the dog world known as kennel cough. once a population is massed and kept in small areas diseases start to spread.

well thats social studies for the day. it's noon already and i ain't done squat.

have a good one bud. buy the way, the crane dinner was almost 50 years ago and i have only eaten crane twice since then. it has and will not replace steak in my diet. ;)

I'm not a big fan of the cormorant. There should be a season on them just like there is a season on crows. No limit and one heck of an extended season. Now, if they were endangered I would be against it, but there are tons of them. Why are they protected?

They're migratory, the fed's set the rules on them. I believe all migratory birds are automatically protected by federal law at all times, except for waterfowl in season, and some exceptions for some birds like crows.

Cormorants ? I agree Fabs. They should enjoy as much protection as crows (or less). They can destroy an entire fishery when they take over a lake. Another thing, they'll kill all the trees around a lake. They perch in the branches and their droppings are so potent, it kills the tree roots. There is a lake within a mile of where I sit that used to be lined with Cottonwoods, now they're dead and full of cormorants...

For those who have not seen the sandhill grane migration... They fly over my parents every year, thousands of them. It is quite a site to see, I have seen fields grey with the birds, almost like lakes of snow geese.

Unfor, I have heard that the crane is not great eating, therefore, very few people hunt them.

toxic, I sure wouldn't want them to migrate over my house...they can whitewash and area pretty good...and this also explains the dead trees around the lake???....bet it isn't good for the water either or fish??...polution

Cormorants
 

Well Maryland has cormorants..out the wazoo. I quit fishing pound nets quit a few years ago because of them. They ate all the good fish and left the trash fish. Useless birds....we used to call them greasemonkeys. Never shot one though...:rolleyes:

Many states allow the hunting of Sandhill Cranes. California does not but we have many. I have hundreds that hang near my blind in the Sacramento Valley and they are amazing. Toxic111, I have witnessed the movement of thousands upon thousands of Sandhills. It seriously reminded me of the old WWII propoganda films showing wave after wave of B17's stretching from horizon to horizon. It looked just like that and I was in awe for the hour it took the waves to fly over.

I have never experienced the taste of Sandhill but I have been told by some that have that it is very good. It is often referred to as the "Ribeye from the Sky!"

I wish there was a film on the migration of these prehistoric looking birds and I do imagine it looked like WWII planes...once I got to see dragon flies migrate...they were following a small creek in Hookstown, pa and were about 10' high and about 10' wide and stretched for a good 1/2 mile...where they were all going is beyond me but what a sight.

Off Topic, Skeeter...

Did you get to San Diego for that fishing trip? I just got back on Wednesday from mine.

Skeeter... if I get a chance this fall I will get some video of the cranes.. I might have some pics somewhere at home that I can look for over the long weekend..