Jewelry- Duck Bands

[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 ebay, 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 e-bay 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

[jblabsnduck]

Tom, I also am not going to argue about this. You believe one thing and I believe another.
I will say this. I was helping out with banding birds in CA. I hunted the same lake that we netted the birds on. Guess what, that's right still haven't shot a banded bird. How can that be if it is location? I took many limits off that lake.
Maybe I just have been cursed by the duck gods for some reason.
Maybe you can see why I don't believe it is location.
Good luck to you on the up coming season.

[Guest]

I know a few guys, (notice I said know, because I do not consider them friends and hate to even consider them aquaintences) that have their laynards FULL with bands by less than honorable means. One of these guys, some of you might have the misfortune of knowing him, (he's a dubious goose guide in the Bemidji area) makes it a point to show off his bands every chance he gets. Reality is is that he takes all bands from the geese he cleans for clients claiming them as his own. A few others I know buy them off of ebay.

The only person I personally know who has a lanyard full that were legitimately shot from his gun is Bemduckboy. I know there are a lot of other honest hunters out there as well.

It's just that the whole band-on-the-lanyard thing has become such a status symbol amongst waterfowlers it's almost to the point of being a sickness. Don't get me wrong, I think having a few bands around your kneck is pretty cool, but when we start judging people of how good or how avid of a hunter they are based on how many bands they have is just wrong in MHO. Look around here on this thread alone how many of you have only a few or none at all. Does this mean you are any less of a hunter than the guy who has 50?

Well, it's time to make the final preps on the duck boat and get all the dekes in order. It's right around the corner boys and girls!!

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[bigbucks]

Well said Tom, I never understand anybody that wants to just buy something like that. If you didn't shoot it yourself, where's the fun in it? I can see if you had the bands passed down from a deceased friend or relative, but even then who wouldn't say to anybody who commented on them, that some of them were given to you? To me in that instance bringing bands like that would be kind of like bringing that old hunting buddy along with you each time, that would be totally different.

[Guest]

Speaking of bringing old hunting buddys and changing the subject a little...lol...it's always been my wish that when I die I want to be cremated and have a portion of my ashes loaded into shotshells and have my buddies go out hunting with me. Morbid? Yes, Cool? DEFINETLY!!!

[PikeTipper]

There is definately a lot of luck to getting a band too. My brother has 4 and I was with for each one but I'm still stuck at 0. We'll drop birds out of the same flock but the banded birds must like to fly on his side... I too don't understand why anyone would want to buy a band. Why spend money on something that is truely meaningless?

[jlm]

Bands are pretty easy to get. We give them away at our MWA fund raisers. I have never placed one on my lanyard, that would be like mounting someone else's deer head and claiming it as your own. I agree, it is all about location with a few exceptions! Good luck all!

[TrashDux*]

posted by PikeTipper...

There is definately a lot of luck to getting a band too. My brother has 4 and I was with for each one but I'm still stuck at 0. We'll drop birds out of the same flock but the banded birds must like to fly on his side...

Maybe he can just see them. Over half the Greenheads I have shot banded were ducks I seen the bands on...and singled them out.

All it takes a little patience...to let them backpeddle over the deeks a while...and quickly scan their legs. The bands are suprisingly easy to see...especially the newer shiny ones!

[Eric Wettschreck]

I've been duck hunting many years. I've never shot a banded duck or goose. However, I do have 1 banded phesant. I thought that was pretty cool. It was banded by the high school FFA about 35 miles from where I shot it.

So, if I don't have a band on my lanyard am I making a hunting fashion faux pas???? Cuz, I hate to not be "with it."

[SEwalleye]

I've always found that the band makes the meat taste funny. That is why I pick out the ducks without the bands.......Okay maybe it is just a good excuse until I get a banded bird!

[hanson]

boilerguy-

You are acceptable fashion wise. Not having a band isn't a big deal.

Now if you mix your camo clothes, say a Mossy Oak shirt or jacket with Realtree pants or waders, I think people will start pointing fingers and snickering

[This message has been edited by hanson (edited 09-10-2004).]