About 50 cranes were shot by hunters during the open season, or 1.7 
percent of the 31,000 birds present in the hunting area. Further, 
results of the study indicate that the lesser sandhill crane, because of 
its extreme wariness and low vulnerability to the gun and because of its 
excellent table qualities, has the potential of being an important and 
worthy game species. 
Based on contacts with sportsmen and other persons residing in the 
area of New Mexico opened to crane hunting in 1961, there is good reason 
to believe that the relatively light hunter response was die to the late 
opening of the season, lack of knowledge regarding methods of hunting, 
and the mass exodus of cranes from New Mexico after the first week of 
hunting. If State law had permitted an open hunting season in the adja- 
cent areas of west Texas, it is quite possible that hunting pressure 
there would have caused a movement of cranes back into New Mexico, 
While this is merely supposition and cannot be demonstrated until an 
open season is held in both States simultaneously, during the period 
when most crop damage is caused, it is thought that hunting might be a 
highly successful method of controlling depredations lecally. It should 
be pointed out that the intent of hunting for the control of depredations 
locally is to disperse populations without reducing them. 
The timing of the season must be considered in regard to the depreda- 
tions problem. In the west Texas and New Mexico region most serious crane 
depredations usually occur during late October and November when the birds 
have access to unharvested or shocked sorghum crops. Most of the land- 
owners and sportsmen contacted voiced the opinion that an open hunting 
season during this period would be optimum both from the standpoint of 
benefiting the farmers and from obtaining the greatest response from 
hunters. 
An objection to an October or a November sandhill crane hunting 
season, of course, is that of possible danger to the whooping crane, 
inasmuch as its migration period sometimes extends into December. This 
is recognized as a very important consideration. A check of available 
records, however, shows only one possible whooping crane sighting within 
the boundaries of the hunting area during the past century. The data at 
hand, therefore, indicate that an October or November sandhill crane 
hunting season in west Texas and eastern New Mexico might be held with-~ 
out any danger to the whooping cranes. 
The need for more information regarding total numbers, migration 
dates and routes, and distribution of both the greater and lesser sand- 
hill crane subspecies which winter in the western United States and 
Mexico is recognized, and it is recommended that studies designed to 
gain this information be initiated as soon as funds and personnel permit. 
17 
