A hand-held permit drawing for the fourth sandhill crane hunt in Tennessee will be held on Saturday, Aug. 13 at the Birchwood Community Center (formerly the Birchwood School) in north Hamilton County.
This year’s August drawing is a date change from the October drawings of the previous three years.
If there are leftover permits, the number of permits available will be announced on the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency’s website on Monday, Aug. 15. They will be available on Wednesday, Aug. 17, on a first-come, first serve basis at the four TWRA regional offices, beginning at 10 a.m. (EDT) in Region IV office and 9.a.m (CDT) at the three other regional offices. TWRA regional offices are located in Jackson (Region I), Nashville (Region II), Crossville (Region III), and Morristown (Region IV).
A total of 400 permits are available and each permit carries a limit of three birds. Registration for the permit drawing begins at 8 a.m. (EDT). The drawing will begin at approximately 10 a.m. Permits are non-transferable and individuals must be present to obtain permits.
Permits are not valid until a 2016 “Sandhill Test” validation code is written on the permit. The purpose of this test is to improve hunter’s awareness of and ability to distinguish between sandhill cranes and protected species which may be encountered while hunting.
The TWRA will provide computers for persons wishing to take the identification test on the day of the drawing. However, the test will become available online Friday, Aug. 5 on the TWRA website at www.tnwildlife.org and remain up until the end of the season.
Applicants must have a current Tennessee hunting/fishing license (Type 001) and a waterfowl license (Type 005) or equivalent.
The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission (TWFC) established a limited sandhill crane hunting season for a designated zone in southeast Tennessee. At its April meeting, the TWFC voted to extend the season to 55 days and move it later in the season. The 2016-17 season will be Dec. 3-Jan. 12, 2017 and Jan. 16-29, 2017 and includes a three day closure (Fri.-Sun., Jan. 13-15) for the Tennessee Sandhill Crane Festival.