Waterfowl hunters in the Badger State may soon be able to pursue sandhill cranes. The new hunting opportunity depends on the passage of Wisconsin Senate Bill 112, which would direct the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to “authorize sandhill crane hunting in Wisconsin.” The hunt would be tightly controlled and would require the WDNR to utilize a permit system to control the harvest of cranes as well as implement closed zones to prevent the take of off-limits waterfowl species such as whooping cranes.
Pro-hunting conservation groups, including Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited, and Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, are backing the bill, which they say will provide a cool hunting experience while helping to mitigate an estimated $1.9 million in crop damages.
“A regulated hunting season, designed within strict federal frameworks, is the proven way to manage overabundant wildlife populations,” said Cyrus Baird, Delta Waterfowl’s vice president of government affairs, in public testimony on Wednesday, November 19. “Seventeen states and four Canadian provinces already have Sandhill crane seasons. In the eastern population specifically — which Wisconsin is part of — Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama have operated safe, sustainable seasons for years without any negative population impacts.”
Anti-hunting environmental groups are opposing the bill, arguing that there are non-lethal alternatives to preventing crop damage and that the hunt, however tightly managed, could harm the populations of both sandhill cranes and whooping cranes, which appear similar to sandhills. As one way of alleviating these concerns, lawmakers have included language in the text of the bill requiring waterfowl hunters to complete a “a free sandhill crane hunter education program” that includes information about hunting zones and species identification.
Another concern over the proposed hunt—which would be held during the fall— is whether it would actually help alleviate crop damage that largely occurs in the spring. There is some validity to this concern, according to WDNR Game Bird Specialist Taylor Finger, who told Wisconsin Public Radio that crane hunting would likely have little impact on spring crop damage. However, an important legal quirk under Wisconsin state law is that farmers are not able to receive payments for crop damage under the state’s wildlife damage abatement program if there is not an authorized hunting season for the species responsible; thus, this law would allow farmers to receive payments for damage caused by sandhills.
While the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues frameworks for migratory bird hunting each year, states can apply for the USFWS to authorize a special crane season, as it’s done elsewhere in the U.S.
Tim Andryk of Wisconsin Ducks Unlimited testified in support of the hunt, as reported by the Wisconsin Examiner. “[Sandhill cranes are] just amazing when it comes to eating,” he said. “They’re such good eating that people who are opposed to hunting them, once they’ve eaten one, I don’t think they would be opposed to hunting.”