What do sandhill cranes taste like

Grilling would definitely get you the best flavors out of a bird like that because they actually have red meat rather than white meat. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will conduct a computer-controlled drawing to award permits to hunt sandhill cranes. Registration will be held in September and those chosen in a drawing to receive a permit will be notified in October.

In order to register, you must be an Alabama resident 16 or older or an Alabama lifetime license holder.

Those who are given a permit to hunt the species will only be able to catch three per permit. Alabama becomes the third state in the Southeast since to allow the hunting of Sandhill Cranes along with Kentucky and Tennessee. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission. All rights reserved About Us. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Pass shooters can take advantage of this tendency by sitting under the flight path along fencelines, hedgerows and treelines, or behind hay bales. The trick is to remain well concealed and mobile, as cranes will instantly alter their course at the first hint of anything suspicious. Hunters should therefore be prepared to hotfoot it as needed to get back under the flight path.

Decoying offers the most excitement for my money, and Tony and his crew are experts at the game. On three consecutive days, we enjoyed spectacular hunts, each one upping the anticipation for the next. When I asked Tony about the secrets to his success, he offered the following hints for putting more cranes in the bag.

He says to generously sprinkle the breast meat, whole or cubed, on all sides with baking soda before immersing it in a bath of orange juice for 12 to 24 hours. We are going to cook the breasts indirectly on cedar planks, so install your plate setter or other method of indirect heat if your are not using a Kamado grill.

Also, now is a good time to soak your cedar planks in water if you haven't done so already. Make sure to soak the breasts for hours in a half vinegar and half water mixture to draw the blood out of the meat. Once this is done, rinse it off and dry with a paper towel. We have two one pound Crane breasts and we will be using the same cooking method for both. However, we are going to season and present them differently to see what pairs best with the Sandhill Crane meat.

For our first breast we are going to cover it in extra virgin olive oil and generously dry rub it all over with Spiceology's Moss rub created by Sasquatch BBQ. This all purpose herb rub has a delicious chimichurri flavor. While the crane is cooking we are making a homemade chimichurri sauce as a topper for the meat sauce recipe below. For our second breast we are going to coat in olive oil and dry rub generously with Spiceology's Tennessee Smoke inspired by Over the Fire Cooking's Derek Wolf.

No further prep is required as we will be topping this crane breast with Truff - Truffle infused hot sauce to give it a spicy and smoky flavor. Cooking the Meat.