Staff photo by Jake Daniels/Chattanooga Times Free Press
A pair of sandhill cranes soars above the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge.As thousands admire the sandhill cranes in the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge during the annual viewing festival, the decision gets nearer on whether to allow hunting of the 4-foot-tall birds.
Thursday is the deadline to submit comments on a proposed sandhill crane hunting season before the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Commission votes on Friday, said Dan Hicks, TWRA spokesman.
If approved, it would be the first time that sandhill crane hunting would be allowed in Tennessee. Eleven states and three Canadian provinces have sandhill seasons, according to the state agency.
The plan has been approved by the Mississippi and Atlantic Flyway Council, which oversees the migratory waterfowl’s flyway. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also has allowed 6,000 hunting permits to be available in the Tennessee flyway.
It all boils down to Friday’s vote, Hicks said.