64 Nebraskaland • March 2021
'm often asked about the best place
to see the sandhill cranes during
their annual spring stopover in
Nebraska. My reply: Do you want to
see the cranes or experience them?
The former requires getting a
reservation in a riverside viewing
blind, several of which are available
in the central Platte River Valley. But
if you really want to experience the
cranes, I tell them, you need to spend
the night with the birds on the river.
I've spent time pursuing cranes
each spring with my camera since
joining the Nebraskaland Magazine
staff in 2001. But I hadn't slept with
them until 2015. The year before, my
friend Chad Gideon invited me to come
see the cranes on land his family owns
on the south side of the river between
Wood River and Alda. That reach can
hold more than 40,000 cranes during
the peak of the migration. I chose the
wrong spot in the little time I spent
there, wishing that I had gotten closer
to the birds — you always want to get
closer.
So in 2015, I pitched a tent in the
middle of an island and set up a
homemade layout blind on the west
end. I spent two nights out there,
crawling 30 yards between the blind
and tent in the morning and evening.
The cranes were close, but I wanted to
get closer.
Chad grew up hunting with his
father, Bill, and brother, Matt, but
developed a love for wildlife that
extended beyond hunting. He knew
Sleeping With
the Cranes
An Adventure Story
Story and photos by Eric Fowler
Getting you and your gear to and from an overnight photography blind on an
island in the Platte River at Crane Cabin Retreat requires water and a decoy boat.
I
