Ottawa suggests opening sandhill crane hunting in northern Ontario

The federal government is suggesting putting sandhill cranes back on the menu in northern Ontario, potentially as early as this fall.

The Canadian Wildlife Service is proposing a limited hunting season that would allow sandhill cranes to be harvested in select parts of the north, marking the first time the species could be legally hunted in Ontario.

The proposal follows years of lobbying from hunters and farmers, who say growing crane populations are increasingly damaging crops.

“We’ve been approached by the agricultural community and the hunting community since as early as 2003,” said Christopher Sharp, a population management biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service.

“Environment and Climate Change Canada went out and collected data on what was going on with sandhill cranes in Ontario and Quebec, what the level of conflict with farmers was, where the cranes were migrating through the two provinces. And with that we were able to come up with enough information to complete an evaluation.”

Crane populations rebounding

Sharp said there are two main populations of sandhill cranes in Canada.

The mid-continent population breeds and migrates through the Prairie provinces and numbers roughly one million birds.

“The population we have in Ontario and Quebec is the eastern population, much smaller. It’s about 100,000 birds, but these birds have increased dramatically over the last few decades and now we’re at levels high enough that they can sustain some harvest,” Sharp said.

The Canadian Wildlife Service says decades of population monitoring show the eastern population is thriving — a dramatic turnaround for a species that was nearly driven to extinction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries due to unregulated hunting and widespread wetland destruction for agriculture.

Sharp said sandhill cranes have flourished in part because they’ve adapted well to agricultural landscapes.

“We’ve seen a tremendous increase in both numbers and distribution. Our most recent counts for Ontario and Quebec in fall staging is about 50,000 sandhill cranes. So about half of the eastern population is coming through Ontario and Quebec,” he said.

According to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, Ontario’s sandhill crane population grew by an average of 12 per cent annually between 1970 and 2021, and by about six per cent annually since 2011.

Those growing numbers have intensified conflicts with farmers, particularly in northern Ontario, where large flocks feed in harvested fields during migration.

“The work we’ve done has been appreciated by the agricultural community. But it isn’t going to solve all the issues of sandhill crane conflicts with agriculture. It’s not gonna replace the other tools farmers have,” Sharp said. 

“It’s not a silver bullet. For the most part, it’s about providing an opportunity for hunters in Ontario to harvest this good eating game species.”

What the proposed hunt would look like

Under the proposal, sandhill crane hunting would be limited to parts of northern Ontario where cranes are most abundant during fall migration, including areas in Algoma, Nipissing and Temiskaming, as well as regions south of Sudbury. The Hudson and James Bay District would also be included.

To ensure sustainability, the proposed season would last just two weeks. Hunters would be limited to harvesting one crane per day, with hunting restricted to select areas.

Harvest would also be limited to farmland only, to avoid disturbing cranes roosting in the boreal forest. That farmland restriction would not apply in the Hudson and James Bay District.

In order to participate, hunters would need both a provincial small game licence and a federal migratory bird hunting permit.

Public comment on the proposed hunting season is open until Feb. 12.

Hunters show interest in ‘ribeye of the sky’

Sharp said interest in hunting sandhill cranes is expected to be limited but steady.

“There’s a subset of hunters that are interested in harvesting sandhill cranes. We don’t expect a huge amount of harvest, but they are occurring in agricultural areas where hunting can take place,” he said.

Sandhill crane meat is sometimes referred to by hunters as the “ribeye of the sky,” a nickname Sharp said is earned.

“It’s like a grass fed steak. The time I tried it, it was very tender and it was good eating. But we do have to be careful in this. So we’re taking this conservative approach,” he said.