Jewelry- Duck Bands

[full force five]

I've been duck hunting for 20 years and have killed two bands: one mallard and one honk. Both were killed the same year 1993. I've been in a serious dry spell when it comes to bands. Right place right time when it comes to jewelry. Last few years I've been in the blind when bands were killed. Just not by me.

I think the key to killing bands would be hunt mallards, try and hunt during big migration days and be lucky.

[CornPirateKiller]

I've been hunting ducks and geese for 35 years. Taken a lot of birds in that time but only one had a band. In 1983, I shot a drake widgeon in the Weaver Bottoms that had been banded in Canada. Still wear that on my call. It's the best trophy I have.

Several years back, I was lucky enough to watch my nephew shoot his first duck, a drake woody, near LaCrosse. He was really tickled to find it had a band.

Bands are great. I would never buy one. Everyone I know that has taken a bird with a band can tell you every detail about the bird they got it from. Bands are a marker that help you remember, and appreciate, a hunt. Enjoy 'em!

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Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati (When all else fails, play dead)

[Coldwater Crappie Guy]

I have not shot any banded birds lately , but I do have 5 bands on my lanyard. 4 drake mallards and one blue winged teal.

One of the mallards was release in a town in Nevada and I shot it 18 days later in the Alexandria Mn area...What the heck was that duck thinking?? If I was going to fly that far in that few days, I am going south where it is warm!!!

[fwp]

I have hunted ducks every year for the last 45 years. I shot my first mallard at 11. I am lucky enough to have harvested 12 ducks that were banded, mallards, woodies, cans, ringbills, and bluebills. Although I am 56 and my memory seems to grow shorter as I get older I can remember each one like it was yesterday. One band I have was on a canvasback that was almost wore through and all the numbers were worn off completely. I can only imagine how old that duck was or where it was banded. I wear them proudly on my whistle lanyard and enjoy telling the stories to my nephews and other young hunters. Oh yea, the stories are embelished sometine for effect!

[Mark Christianson]

12 bands in one year. No way.

[fishface5]

Two banded Canada geese, that's it. In about 35+ years of waterfowling. I only have one band left. The other was lost at the Mille Lacs W.M. area, along with a couple of good calls, about 10 years ago. What a drag.

[hanson]

Fishface5,
That's unfortunate! I don't know what I'd be more PO'd about, losing the calls or the band with the calls.

Where abouts in the Mille Lacs WMA, sounds like I need to get out with my metal detector

[TV BOY]

That's exactly why I didn't put my band on the lanyard! I don't want to take the chance of leaving it in the slough.

Or was it that one wouldn't have the "cool" factor....LOL

[bigbucks]

Been hunting ducks for 21-22 years something like that. I've shot two banded birds if I remember correctly. I know my first one was a wood duck that was banded in Canada somewhere & was shot about 15 years ago. I honestly can't remember the details on the other one, I believe it was a mallard about 10 years ago. I'd never heard of putting the bands on your lanyard before, I should do that. Right now they're just sitting in some little box up on the shelf, I think. They are definitely cool & in this part of the country it's luck of the draw on who gets them, nothing else. I can remember maybe two other banded ducks shot by friends when I was with & I think one banded goose.

[jblabsnduck]

Sorry, I have to desagree with one of the first post that says it all depends on where you are hunting. IMO that is a load of bull.
I have hunted all over the place from MN to CA. I dosen't depend on where you hunt it all depends if you get lucky enough to shoot one that has a band that decides to come into your spread. Where you hunt! PLEASE!!!!
I have yet to shoot one and I have hunted a dozen states in the heart of the flways on the edge of the flyways, you name it.
I have been with people that have shoot them.
We got a double banded Ross goose this past spring in MO.

[This message has been edited by jblabsnduck (edited 08-11-2004).]

[Cootz]

I've been hunting ducks for 25 years give or take and I've got one goose band about ten years ago, two mallard bands and a ringbill band. All the duck bands happened in 1997. The two mallard bands I got happened on the same day in different flocks. Was hunting with two buddies on the Roseau Refuge and this flock was just a little too high to really have shot at but there was this lone mallard directly over me and I was the only one to shoot. Fortunately it came down stone cold dead. Ended up being a $100 banded drake mallard. When I called it in the best they could say that it was banded prior to 1987 making it a minimum of ten years old. The other mallard was banded the previous year. At the end of the day when we came in we were checked by the conservation officers, like normal, and he commented on the fact that it was awfully lucky for us to have shot three banded birds. Turns out one of us shot a banded bird and didn't notice it. Ended up flipping a coin for that one. Haven't shot a banded bird since.

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So many scientists, so few rockets.

[Riverratpete]

Hunted ducks/geese almost 30 years only band I've ever got was last year, Found a very decomposed pelican on Marsh lake while chasing a cripple down the shoreline, Freaked me out, thought it might have been a swan at first since it was so big and didn't want to be accused of shooting a swan. Haven't called it in yet but the markings on the band were from Maryland.

[TrashDux*]

Who was it that posted they killed 12 banded birds in one year???

[Duffman]

We've got a few over the years, one sits on my keychain. Two years ago we got a goose with a band and a GPS or radio transmitter. I don't think they ever got back to us with the info on that bird.

[This message has been edited by Duffman (edited 09-09-2004).]

[Guest]

jblab,

IT DOES matter where you hunt.

If you are lucky enough to be near an area in which banding takes place, you will get bands. I know this from personal expierience. Every duck that year was banded either on the lake we hunted or close by. This was back in the early 90's and have not hunted this lake since.

Also, now I hunt one lake almost exclusively and have taken many bands from all over the flyway. If you hunt traditional migratory lakes, you WILL get bands. It's just a matter of time.

Location DOES matter.

[natebuddy]

I got one 2 years ago in North Dakota. My first one ever. It was kind of funny because we were setup in a blind on shore of a large slough. My 9 month old black lab was sitting at heel. We a group of 3 mallards and called them into the decoys. We realized that they were all hens so my buddy and I didn't shoot. We left them sit and thought they would bring in some more birds. We saw one off in the distance and it came in easily with birds swimming in the decoys. But as it approached we saw it was another hen mallard. I wasn't going to shoot it but my buddy told me to "go ahead, do it for your dog" he was whimpering and wanting to retrieve so bad but wouldn't leave heel until I commanded him to. So I popped up and shot the duck at about 15 yards. I sent him out and was unsure of what he would do because the duck wasn't quite dead. But he retrieved it like a champ that he is and brought it back to heel. He was holding it up high so I could reach it from inside the blind and my buddy yelled "its Banded!" I thought he was just joking but sure enough there it was glistening in the sun. My first ever band and my dogs first real retrieve (other than training). We've never gotten one before (our group of 4) and we hunt N.D. twice a year and S.D. each year, along with Iowa and Minnesota. I'll never forget it.

[jblabsnduck]

Sorry TOM I am going to still disagree with you. I don't care if you are on THE lake they netted them on. I don't think it is in your favor anymore than being anywhere else.(there might be a very slight advantage but not much)
Most of the time banding takes place in the spring. Those birds could be gone by the time season opens. I have a friend that shot 2 mallards that came in and they where banded in California, shot here in MN.
It is all luck if you get one or not. IMO
You notice I am not bad mouthing any of these guys that have shot a lot of them, it is just luck on there side.

[TrashDux*]

Location does matter. Over the last 6 years..I have killed 17 banded Greenheads in one particular lake, my dad killed 3 or 4, and my old huntin buddy had killed 8. My hunting partner(who between he and I killed 12 2003/2004) has taken over ten there as well...if not a lot more.

All these goose guru's you see pimping themselves are killing most of their banded birds on refuges that they know are banding sites...and a lot of those bands they got were on the birds for only a week or so.

I don't get excited over banded birds much. I have over 25 so I have my fair share. The ones I like are the Green ones!!! The year before last I was hunting Lake X one afternoon. I called in a flock of Mallards, and pounded a pair of Greenheads. Dog brings the first back...Band...dog brings back the second...2 bands!!! Sucker had the ol' $100 Reward band. THAT was awesome. Proof it sometimes pays to kill. My dad has even killed reward bands...he has come home from Manitoba the last 2 years with at least one bands...think he's shot 6 or 8 alltogether!!

[Guest]

Then tell me jb, why is it that between myself and the other people I have hunted with, and ALSO going back traditionally with my grandfather, uncles, etc, that we have taken MANY, MANY bands.....all off the same body of water. Is this not location specific? And how can it not be location if you are hunting the lake that the birds were banded on? Birds will not leave a lake as long as they have food and it is not heavily pressured.

Dont mean to argue here, but I've hunted ducks for over 25 years and the only bands I have ever taken or have seen taken have been off these 2 lakes, and I have hunted many.

Location, location, location.....

[Nitebiter]

I've personally shot 3 bands in my life all off canada geese, but my buddy pearled one of em- he was 100 yards to my left and i was shooting 20 yards to my right.. longest shot ive ever seen... pretty **** good too, since those bb's went through 20 geese to get to it..

Theres another story to be heard about those guys that have a whole lot of bands on their lanyards... alot of em were bought off hsolist, and ive also heard some pretty interesting stories about city parks at midnight...
Fact is i think the number i heard was about 1 out of every 300-400 you shoot should be banded.
There are also areas where you can get into em, but it doesnt happen very often.. a few years ago a buddy of mine had the DNR band 300 some odd geese on his land and he shot 20 some bands that year. I also had another friend that found out a pond where Coots Unlimited up around Fergus Falls released a bunch of banded woodies and mallards and shot a pile of em in the release pond 3 or 4 years ago.
Its usually all about luck, but it can be very much about location, if you are hunting in the area where the birds are released your chances go up alot.

[This message has been edited by Nitebiter (edited 09-09-2004).]

[hanson]

City parks at midnight... Hmmm. No way am I chasing a big mad honker around just to get a band! I would love to here some of them stories though.

[Nitebiter]

Not much of a story to tell, just 2-3 guys in the park, get em swarmin with corn.. they make pliers that take bands off and the stupid things will eat out of your hand.. you do the math

ive also heard rumors of people finding out where a banding site is and just going out there the next night and shootin em up..

I'd say anybody that has multiple lanyards or even 1 lanyard full of bands either bought a bunch off HSOList or did something shady to get em. I know people that will pay 20-40$ for goose bands, depending on the numbers and the area the bird was banded.

BTW- the band that my "buddy" pearled off me was consecutive!! (*&%$^@@!!!!!!!!

[berfish]

Opening morning this year our group of nine guys shot 37 geese. Not one was banded. Sittin in the bar last evening for happy hour and low and behold I see a goose out the window on the shoreline with a band on it. I think they band alot of birds at the city park across the lake. I thought it was kinda funny that none had bands this weekend but just out the window at the bar there she sat.

[hanson]

beerfish-

As Tom said- Location, Location, Location

[snowgoose]

I posted 10 in one year. That was for our entire group. Not 1 person.

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Hunt Snow Geese, Save the tundra