I’m going on a combo Sandhill Crane/ Goose hunt in north Texas later in January.  This will be my first sandhill crane hunt.  Although I hear it is legal to hunt sandhill crane with lead shot, there is a high probability of it being a mixed bad with geese.  Because of this, I’ve heard I really need to only carry steel shot…

What does the hive recommend?  I was kinda leaning toward #2 3” or #1 2-3/4” steel, maybe Hevi-steel brand.

Thoughts?

ETA:  I shoot a benelli M2

I would use the hevi-shot, or some other heavier than lead non-toxic.

You may not get a lot of shot opportunities, so you want to make them count

and

You can't kill something too dead

I can't help you with size/brand, I rarely hunt waterfowl

I prefer 3" magnum with BB shot.  Had a lot of success with if for larger birds like geese.

#3 bismuth.  near equal pellet energy to steel #1, 30 more pellets in the pattern.  1 1/4 oz would be fine, but I'd probably go up to 1 3/8 oz just because I like pattern density.  1350 fps or faster will provide sufficient penetration out to 40 yards.
If not bismuth, I'd probably just treat them like honkers and shoot steel 2's, 1's or BB, whichever patterns the best for your gun/choke.  Federal, Hevisteel, Remington Nitro steel, etc. etc.
12 g/cc tungsten from Hevishot is just too damn expensive any more for what you get; Hevi-XII is $2.50/shot and the 3" loads are only 1 1/8 oz now.  I'd kill to go back to the days of hevishot #4's in a 1 3/8 oz 1350 fps load for under $1.50/round.

If money is no object, TSS 1 oz #7's.  For when you want a 185 pellet swarm of killer bees that will blow through the skull of a bird out past 60 yards.

#7 TSS, in at least a 1.125 oz load.

Amazingly lethal at ridiculous ranges.

Boss 3” 2’s or 3’s.

https://bossshotshells.com/shotshells/bismuth/

I'm voting this, while steel is just fine for the pass shooting and local decoy stuff I do with my boy, on a once in a lifetime/only a couple of time type of hunt ammo is not the place to cheap out.

While i tend to agree with this; when the limit is only 3 birds, I'd be careful about shooting TSS into bigger flocks for risk of hitting birds behind a targeted bird.  Last flock of snow geese that I shot into with TSS, I knocked down 7 or 8 birds on 3 shots.  

Bismuth. Not cheap but kills as good as if not better than lead.

Steel shot has crippled more birds than I can remember. Just last year saw a guy hit a drake mallard and dropped it with his first shot. Bird raised his head and he shot it again and the pattern was all over it. Still wouldn’t go down. Ends up shooting two more rounds into it and it still flew off. 4 hits all spot on with steel and I’m sure it flew on off to die in the trees.

You don't have to use non-toxic shot on cranes.   They are not migratory waterfowl.

If you are not hunting ducks or geese at the same time, I like #4 lead pheasant loads.  Cranes are relatively fragile, and lead 4s drop them like a rock.

Better check the state regs on that. Here in TN, non toxic shot is required for sandhill cranes.

He is correct, that in Texas, steel isn’t required for Sandhill, but this will be a combo hunt with geese, so having lead with you is a no-no

@Buckshot_Jim

If anyone has a great recommendation based on real world Sandhill crane hunting - it will be This Guy!

Bigger_Hammer

Thanks!
Op, as previously stated, Boss #2 or 3 shot, 3 inch magnum.
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