Swan Killers!

[Ufatz]

Please, PLEASE folks, learn to tell the difference between a SWAN and a snow goose or a SWAN and a Supercub! For cryin' out loud WCCO had a story tonight about FIVE swans being shot in the state in the last couple days. Two of them in the C.Avery area by two people they caught, thanks to some alert hunters.

There is no reason on earth to mistake a Swan for a goose that is five times smaller. If you are confused or are not sure PLEASE get someone to help you tell the difference. Or look in the regs book which TELLS you and SHOWS you the difference.

Things like this just make us old guys maddern'ell and you just gotta KNOW what the non-hunting public thinks about it.

[Stringerless!]

Nothing I can print that won't get me kicked off here. Again.

[bucketmouth64]

What a bunch of idiots. I just read about it. How in the world can someone mistake that? They are gigantic and you hear that distinct honk. Glad some got caught.

[bloc004]

for all you know, it could be some "old guys" shooting them...

[Will]

Nothing I can print that won't get me kicked off here. Again.

Ha Ha, I think I know where you're goin with that!

My response to the thread title is, I really doubt that any hso members can't identify a swan, your just preaching to the choir IMHO.

[delcecchi]

Tundra swans are legal, right? Trumpeter swans are protected. How close are they? (I am asking because I don't know)

Or maybe I was thinking of sandhill cranes. As you can tell, not a duck hunter since I can't hit anything with a shotgun. Never could.

[kc0myy]

One day I was looking into the sun and I saw a big bird coming. I thought it was a goose (canada). Since I was looking into the sun I could not see any colors. I thought no dont shoot I have no idea what is it. well turns out it was a swan. but because I am smart and not shoot and everything in the air I let the swan go. guys just use your head!!!

[bobbymalone]

Tundra swans are legal, right? Trumpeter swans are protected. How close are they? (I am asking because I don't know)

Or maybe I was thinking of sandhill cranes. As you can tell, not a duck hunter since I can't hit anything with a shotgun. Never could.

In this state if it's big and it's white, you can't shoot it whether it's a tundra or a trumpeter. I think you can shoot tundras in the dakotas, but they are tough to distinguish, especially on the fly.

there is a small piece of the state, thinking NW MN, that you can shoot sandhills.

I've seen people crack shots at swans around the metro *shakes head* It's a manifestation of the 'if it flies, it dies' and 'cut em all jack' mentality.

it's not doing any favors as far as public perception of hunters goes.

[Musky Buck]

We are losing the public perception way too many hillbillies in MN that don't care, they really don't, and now any news can be huge news with the click of a mouse, it's like our local news on tv, it's mainly badness that people are tuned into, the good stories are fewer and farther between so we hear all the bad in hunting and not much good that we do. Shooting swans cmon clowns. Don't forget the gray are the young swans, but who are we talking to here, the ones that need a slap in the face aren't going to be reading this and even if so it won't change their ways, they're selfish morons and changing that in someone aint happenin.

[RK]

Hard to believe isn't it?

Back in college I worked in the hunting and fishing department at the Moorhead Scheel's store. One fall night, a guy called the hunting dept, and I happened to pick up the phone. He asked if we had a scale. I said sure - why? And he says "Because I just shot the biggest snow goose you've ever seen, and I want to know how much it weighs." Asked how big he thought it was, and he said "At least 15 pounds!" I told him to bring it on in, and he said he'd be there in half an hour. I hung up, called the game warden, and told him to come down to the Moorhead Scheels in about 20 minutes, because a guy was bringing in a swan.

Sure enough, half an hour later, dude marches in the store smiling from ear to ear, holding a Tundra swan by the neck. CO threw the book at him.

The best you can say about someone who does it is they made a mistake. Not an honest mistake, but a mistake of ignorance, carelessness, or stupidity. But I really think some people just can't control their impulses, or worse yet don't even try to. I know someone who's the worst poacher you can imagine, has been busted for it multiple times, and still doesn't change. He's like a 10 year old shooting sparrows with a BB gun just because he can, except he has a 12 ga. and a 30.06... When it comes to any kind of ethics, some people are just irreversibly and fundamentally flawed. And they give every hunter who follows the rules not because they have to but because it's the ethical way to hunt a bad name.

Sad, sad deal.

RK

[PierBridge]

Speaking of Swans, I must of saw close to 300 today in the south metro. They seemed to be everywhere there was water and quite a few that were in migration mode!

I remember on Rice a few years back it was a foggy, windy day and we had flock come in and at the last second someone yelled Swans! Trust me that will get your heart pumping!

[Farley]

I've always wondered what trumpeter swan tastes like, there's got to be enough of them around now to have at least a 1 bird season? i saw Benny Spies kill a couple on TV, so apperantly you can shoot them some places.

[TylerS]

Distinguishing Tundra swans from Trumpeters isn't that difficult. Trumpeters have much longer necks and are an overall bigger bird. Also, Tundras have a yellow dot near their bill. Trumpeters just have a big, black bill. Their calls are different, too.

All of this doesn't mean a hill of beans to someone who hasn't witnessed it, however. Side by side you can tell the differences almost immiediately. But to the uninformed, I can see how it would be difficult.

Now, in a state such as Minnesota where hunting either is illegal...where there's no explanation to that. Comparing a swan to any other waterfowl is like comparing a Clydesdale to a Shetland pony.

[Musky Buck]

Man come to think of it about 10 years ago we were approached by a CO at my best friends farm, who said you guys aren't shooting swans here are you ? We said no why he said in the river just down from you are 2 crippled swans, he said he watched enough swans fly over us and we didn't fire so the next question was can I set up shop here and watch this area off and on until goose closes we were like sure go ahead, park in the yard if you want anyday so he did, yep a week later he got two old guys in there 60's, they had 5 down I believe and the CO was thankful and came back and said he got them, good news but sad news for the swans. I asked the CO how many others are swimming this river crippled up now, he said hard to say. We asked what did these old timers say as to the why they did what they did he said not a whole lot, just hung their heads.

[delcecchi]

We are losing the public perception way too many hillbillies in MN that don't care, they really don't, and now any news can be huge news with the click of a mouse, it's like our local news on tv, it's mainly badness that people are tuned into, the good stories are fewer and farther between so we hear all the bad in hunting and not much good that we do. Shooting swans cmon clowns. Don't forget the gray are the young swans, but who are we talking to here, the ones that need a slap in the face aren't going to be reading this and even if so it won't change their ways, they're selfish morons and changing that in someone aint happenin.

In SE Minnesota it isn't just Hillbillies, It is folks of all persuasions doing this stuff.

[fishersofmen]

I've always wondered what trumpeter swan tastes like, there's got to be enough of them around now to have at least a 1 bird season? i saw Benny Spies kill a couple on TV, so apperantly you can shoot them some places.

I saw that episode too Farley. It must have been Tundras they were shooting because there is no Trumpeter Swan hunting season. According to a Swan web site the birds are nearly identical which is why they allow a few Trumpeters to be killed by accident by Tundra hunters. If that number they set for accidental harvest is reached they will shut down all Swan hunting in the state. Those were big birds though when they threw them over their shoulder to carry them the feet were nearly dragging on the ground.

[HugoBox]

Un effing believable! It get some guys who may be a bit unclear on a few of basic hen/drake ID or maybe not telling a ringbill from a bluebill going 100 MPH but a swan forchrissakes! I was on Rice Lake by Hugo a few years back and saw a big white trashbag floating and as I got closer to pick it up I saw the trashbag had big black feet. The scary thing is that when i called the CO They werent totally shocked It's tough as a law abiding hunter to convince the rest of the folks that we don't shoot everything that flies or walks. All the more reason to have TIP on your speed dial (assuming someone answers.)

[Will]

Not being naive, I was responding to the "plea" to learn to identify swans. The ones who are blatantly breaking laws, poaching or don't 'understand' the laws probably wouldn't care about this post anyway.

"naive" Will

[LightningBG]

I'm not positive I could pick the two apart. Never really tried I guess. I don't goose hunt a whole lot and when I do, we're only going for Canadian. I can tell what those look like, and if it doesn't look like a Canadian, then I'm not shooting. I guess that's good enough, right?

[LightningBG]

I guess it would help naive people such as myself if I saw a picture instead of some stupid drawing.

Here's for all those not in the know.

SWAN

Snow Goose

[Duffman]

With the Concord retiring a few years back, there really isn't anything in the air to compare them with nowadays. Seriously, those things are gigantic, their head is the size of a teal.

[Bryce]

This site has had shoot to ID posts. Luckily, never for a swan.

[HugoBox]

As I thought about it some more, if you've spent a bit of time in the blind you should also be able to hear the difference. Or am I just being picky?

[dmichaelm]

As I thought about it some more, if you've spent a bit of time in the blind you should also be able to hear the difference. Or am I just being picky?

Not picky. I brought a friend on his first hunting trip this fall. We could hear the honk for a full minute before they appeared over the treeline. When he heard them originally he thought they were Canadas. I told him they were swans and he didn't believe me. Told him no shooting anything that's white. When they came over the tree line his only response was "holy #$%^ those are big!"

Anyone who shoots a swan is ignorant, malicious, or both.

[JeffB]

Yes it is easy to tell the difference by sight and sound and I have never shot one, but these mistakes probobly happen most often to first timers. I can remember the adrenaline rush of the first goose flock that aproached. I can imagine this would cloud the judgement of a novice, but most of us learned at a young age with experienced hunters as mentors that coached us through things. I can remember my first pheasant as a young man wasn't quite as colorful as it should have been, but I never made the mistake again in the 30 yrs since.