Nephew booked us a Sandhill hunt

What shells should I take in 12 gauge? Never hunted them before. Going with Muddy Waters Outfitters the 27th. My gun will shoot up to 3.5's

I've been using BB

Ok, in 3's or 3.5's?

I always bring 3.5" just in case they don't finish right and you have to take 45 yard shots all morning. Those extra pellets help on the longer shots for sure.

Go for all the fire power you can. Of course you will not be as cool as the guy that will soon post that he limits on sandhill with a 410 wearing a hawaiian shirt.

So 3.5's in BB

From experience, 3.5 Dead Coyote will fold their asses at ranges you wouldn't think possible.

After my poor boy wallet went through those 3 boxes of coyote I have been using 3.5 BB.

Shot placement is key. We had three last week get hit about 35-40 yards away with 3.5 BB. All had a leg hanging and had trouble flying. Two crashed like a plane about 150 & 250 yards out. The other had to be about a mile away in front of us in the open field before he kicked up dust.

Let the duck hunters say what they want about 3.5 shells but I would never use a 3 on cranes. I damn sure would like to use an AR-15 if it was legal.

Tough [censored] birds and I would rather hunt them than anything else.

High brass lead. I don’t know why people want to waste money on steel when you can shoot lead for cranes.

Any 31/2" lead shot in BB will be impossible to find....not sure it's made. Those are the hardest birds to drop imo. If it is snowing, or there is no wind, expect 50+ yards shots. jmo.
You can shoot lead, but if there is a chance at any geese then you won't be able to shoot legally.

3" lead 4 turkey loads

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

Dont use lead with muddy waters, last time we had geese fly over while crane hunting.
We could not shoot at them cause some idiot was shooting lead.
3 inch nr 2 or BB is fine, i shot a long goose patternmaster choke.
I used heavy metal.
Shoot em in the head.
Day two was high winds and i used 3 1/2 inch heavy shot dead coyote as birds were 60 yards out.
That stuff is increddible.
You gonna shoot 3-10 shell per hunt. Might as well buy the good stuff on a expensive trip.
You will have fun there, the guides are good, the food is great, the lodging is good too.

The first day we shot 36 and they were landing 15 yards out
The second day we only got 3 and they were flying over at 60-70 yards.
So bring a box of BB and buy some dead coyote

Be prepared for follow up shots. They have some serious thick skin. I've hit one in the chest and he just kept on flying.

Well no chit? You must not shoot a lot ... If you’re shooting cranes at 50 yards, you’re guide ain’t doing the job.

Have a great and successful trip...post lots of pics.....

I am scratching my head here. Lots of differing opinions. I bought a Patternmaster 12ga Remington Pro Bore Classic Extended Range https://www.joeboboutfitters.com/product-p/pm-5438.htm for my Versamax when I got it last year. I can shoot 2 3/4 - 3 1/2 shells lead or steel. I'm thinking Hevi Metal 3.5 BB.

Will that get it done?

I shoot 3.5 Hevi-Metal with my Versamax Synthetic switching from extended /mid Hevi-Shot choke depending on how they fly. Will sell it in the off season but that is another story.

That shot is good for 40 yards on cranes. Went this morning and they stayed on the roost and didn't fly much at in the morning(out of the norm). Finally had about 4 fly over about 45-50 yards and just knocked feathers off(HM 3.5) and watched it fly off with the group without struggle.

I would buy one box of 3.5 dead coyote T($50) or grab some 3" kent tungsen like another mentioned.

Check the choke to see if its good for those loads though.

Hevi-Metal will get the job done though. Just dont expect miracles like they claim. Chasing a wounding crane for 200-400 yards in a wet field will not leave a good feeling....

Don't make assumptions Pinhead....you don't know me. I'm offering a guy info per his inquiry. As stated by others, some days you cant get them in close. But I'm sure you're better at killing stuff than most of us. Stay classy bud.

Head shot at 40 yds. no.4 Lead.

MWO guy suggested 3" BB. Guess I'll take some of those too.

I would just take what the guide suggested. 3” BB will be perfect

I ordered 3" BB http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/hevi-met...ildCatid=255807


and 3 1/2 BB http://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/remingto...ldCatid=3674560 .

I got all my bases covered I think. I will be using a Patternmaster 12ga Remington Pro Bore Classic Extended Range #5438 in my Remington Versa Max.

That should about do it

Hevi Shot #4 will bust a crane's arse, so will steel #2, if you ain't shooting lead.

BBs will work just fine, I just like the higher pellet count with #2 if shooting steel.

If geese are a possibility, then definitely do not take lead (thank you Cpt. Obvious)

I use 3 1/2's because they don't make 4's !!

I use 3.5" BBB for crane. A big bird that still has some fight in them if you don't fold them up.

Take a bat for wounded birds...suckers are MEAN.

Most of the time, with a guided group, you will have 6-10 guys shooting all at the same time with all different loads, who knows who really killed it.

Hint: when you have a large group of 12-30 cranes decoying, wait to at least everyone except you shot at least twice.

Its now your turn and can handpick your 3 cranes with dead coyote and shoot a tripple and call it a day..

2 yrs ago with Mike at MWO, i shot cranes using a 28 gauge with nr 4 steel
They were decoying 15 yrds away and at that range u can kill em with dove load as long as u shoot em in the head.

Headed out w/ MWO this Saturday, I will report back w/ what shells worked Best. There are 9 of us going and anything from 2 3/4 to 3.5 in. will be used. ALL different makes and Models. Forecast for sat. a.m. is 23 deg. w/ 15-25 mph N Wind....
Going to Be interesting!

End of thread. They know what works. If you can't kill 'em with 3" BB's.....you're skybusting.

I can second! 3" or 3 1/2" Turkey loads in 4 or 5's will wreck their day!!

First time using Winchesters Varmint-X 3" lead BB today and I was impressed. Blew a leg off one today while also hitting it in the chest from about 55 yards. Dead Coyote like results at a fraction of the cost.

You said it not me. I suggested lead because geese and sand hill cranes don’t usually hang out with each other. Every now and then you’d see them together when I lived and hunted around Lubbock. You can find 3.5 lead shot all day long, to the tune of $25 a box for 10 shells. I gave my opinion based on shooting maybe 5 geese out of the a couple hundred cranes we’ve killed. Therefore the chances of shooting geese are pretty slim. But it could happen. If you feel like you need 3.5 steel, then by all means. Wind, no wind, snow, rain, blue bird day, doesn’t matter. Cranes are prolly the easiest decoying birds. If you’re taking 50 yard shots at any waterfowl then you or your guide is lazy AF.

I've crane hunted 6 times this year and either shot geese or passed opportunities to shoot them to wait on cranes on 5 of those hunts...

Just saw this Bobby,

All you need is 3" copper coated BB's.

Trust me, you can kill them at 50+ yards.

Geeese don't taste good anyways and steel is a waist of time. Lead kills.

Thanks Kirk!

Shot cranes yesterday.
Was windy, wouldn't decoy well.
Used Hornady #4 Buckshot varmint express 2 3/4.
It has 24 pellets. No kick at all. Was deadly on the higher ones (55 y plus)
Cabelas sell them cheap

Thanks

Hunted w/ MWO this past Saturday!! Had a Good Time! We shot 10 and lost One Cripple! No Wind & Blue Bird Day. They were pretty smart. I used 3.5" Copper Plated 6's and 3" BBB'S. All I can say is they are GIANT BIRDS compared to the Lesser's in the Panhandle and you will NEED ALL THE FIRE POWER YOU CAN GET. GOOD LUCK!! Mike Is a Good Guy and Treated us WELL!!!!!

I guess you are lazy AF just like me?

Awesome! I'm loaded for bear. Did y'all see any geese or ducks?

Saw some Geese, they came into and left out of the field about .5 mile away! A few ducks (Teal) buzzed us at daylight.

Awesome, I'm hunting with MWO in the morning.

Let us know how you did!

Bobby I would buy those shells and not wait too long you might not find them lol. I get low on shells I freak out.

Depends. Heavy shot u can shoot 6’s IC all day MOD for sky busting

Tungsten 4s IC normal shots decoying MOD if need tight- you can stone ducks a long way w IC if lead them right

Heavy steel 3s 3 inch typically good mid priced load

3.5 inch if they are cutting spread short or lack of wind

Good luck

A MOD choke is pretty darn tight w all loads mentioned- throwing baseballs at 15-20 yard decoying birds

They got heaters running tonight. Was tough today for most. We are passing in am. My lake had 3 inch ice today. Hunting south of I20 Saturday and far north Texas Tuesday

We ended up only getting two flocks to come in Friday morning and killed 7 birds. The birds that came in worked to the decoys good, just didn't have many birds in the area.

Thank you sir. Still we will be there Saturday morning. Will report back.

Season ended here on Sunday. Got about 20 hunts in. Now I feel like my life has no purpose. Dark times indeed.

Light rain sat am

Looks like it will be dry. Heading out about 4am. Report in tomorrow afternoon.

Good luck, and aim for their heads. Say hi to Mike from me.

Birds weren't cooperative. Only 2 came in. One didn't make it home. Our guide Mike Lambert with MWO did all in his power to get them to come to us. Lots of birds all just going away. He said they did the exact opposite from the day before. We will all go back. He cut us a very fair deal. Good man!

I will say we had a blast in the blind cutting up. Very nice setup and decoy spread. Thanks Mike!

They can be frustrating to hunt at times. I had a few hunts this season where they just stayed sitting in the roost field all morning long.

Try earlier in the season next time.
Panhandle in november or wichita falls in december

We shot an 11 man limit over 500 silo socks this morning south of Tahoka, no wind.. 9 man limit yesterday... I have a few dates left for next season 😉

It was fun wasn’t it? Here is my post from my hunt in lubbock.

http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/7050229/Sandhill_Crane_Hunt#Post7050229