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BANDS

8K views 37 replies 21 participants last post by  xxDuckWildxx 
#1 ·
So I've been hunting ducks and geese since I was 12 and have been hitting them hard for the last few years and after 13 years I've never bagged myself a band of any kind. Just wondering how long it took for others to get one. What's your longest drought?
 
#2 ·
Shot a banded mallard in 99, my third season hunting waterfowl, haven't shot a banded duck since. Have been fortunate enough to shoot three banded geese, all locals, shot with in a few miles of where they were banded. Bands are fun, but I enjoy more getting opportunities at new duck species. Last season shot my first ringneck and gadwall, still have the elusive redhead and widgeon on my bucket list.
Hang in there, it will happen some day.
 
#3 ·
I went well over 10 years, but then have been averaging one every 3 years or so. Last year I saw 5 banded birds killed, including 2 of my own.

It's all dumb luck. Right place, right time. At least for ducks. You can use bino's and sometimes see a banded goose or two in a flock, but you still have to pick it out of the flock.
 
#6 ·
Got my first on a gadwall on a hunt in california at my buddies club and then four years later I got my second band (ross goose from nunavut) at the same club.
Since then I've average at least four sometimes six a season. Mostly mallards and canada's. Some from as far away as canada and the dakota's. And some with money bands or tarsus bands to locals banded by the PGC.
The more you hunt the greater your odds of getting bands and if you hunt close to an area like a refuge were they are banded.
One that I will never forget was on the last day of the season on an ice flowing river in 11 degree temps laying on a frozen sand bar in my layout blind with a snow cover with fullbody mallards on the ice around me and a dozen floaters in a 15 yard hole in the ice that I broke open and had to get out and clear ice from ever ten minutes and shot my last duck of the season and when I go and pick up the greenhead low and behold it is banded. I figured it was banded by the PGC but when the certificate came in the mail to my surprise it was from north dakota. Oh and I forgot to mention it was also my birthday. That was a pretty cool day!
 
#7 ·
I've been hunting since I was 12, now 45 going on 46 in October. I have no bands, duck or goose. I have hunted in three states, PA, NY and MD. My father got one goose band, unfortunately I was not with him when he bagged it. My yellow lab retrieved one for another hunter (young boys first mallard, hen) and my dogs first band. In my circle of friends the dog gets the band but I let the young boy keep it. We never seem to kill huge numbers but I do spend a fair amount of time trying and so far no bands, maybe some day :)
 
#8 ·
This is what happens when you hunt outside Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area for 40 years. This pic is 10 years old and the pile has grown since then. There were many, many more bands harvested by hunters who came along with me.
I'm not a special hunter, just hunting a special location.

 
#11 ·
Those Alpha-Numeric bands are pretty cool to see. I got the chance to band about 50 American White Pelicans in North Dakota this summer.It's cool to watch them take a few akward steps to get used to the new hardware and then act like its not even there. Some of those service bands look pretty old/worn.

-John
 
#13 ·
6 years it took me and I jumped like a kid getting off the bus on the last day of school. Got it on a solo hunt and my eyes lit up when I saw the band on that gooses leg as it was trying to do the cripple get away run across the corn field. Later that season I shot 1 from NY and 1 from PA, so once you open the can of worms, your luck can change. Since then I have shot exactly 1 goose band a year until last year. I hunted in Florida over Christmas with a guy doing a swap a hunt and I shot a banded hen ringneck from minnesota which was my first duck band after 9 years. I thought that was pretty awesome story for a first duck band and first time hunting out of an airboat.This past year we got pretty lucky and got into many more bands than normal but I think it had a lot to do with time spent afield, scouting, using binos to really watch birds closely. I think anyone that has harvested a band will tell you the best ones that someone holds as a true personal "trophy" are the ones with stories behind them and they were a surprise(as in you hadnt scouted and seen the bands in the field or hunted next to where they were banded). The old worn bands or the ones that come from farther away give you a sense of accomplishment that you have fooled a seasoned and wiser bird that have seen more decoys, predators, and shotgun wads slung at its buddies than your local golf course bird.
 
#14 ·
I've got a band story. The date was September 1st, 1995 and my then 12 year old Son John came along for his first ever hunt. The limit back then was 3 a day. My friend Gene was along and the program was to get a flock on the ground and let the Rookie ground pound one. First flock of the morning came to the decoys like long lost relatives and pitched in right to the landing spot. Told John to shoot the one with the white collar. He aimed and aimed (takes a 12 year old awhile to get the shot off) and BOOM the white collared goose fell over!
So we did the hugs and hand shakes but hurried back to the standing corn cause there were more coming our way. The next 2 flocks came right in and when the smoked cleared we had a total of 9 on the ground. Got to picking them up and all 9 were sporting leg bands, plus 3 bands were consecutive numbers.
Not bad, 9 leg bands and one white collar!
 
#15 ·
Here's a few stories, most involve DHC guys. Leaky, BTW, cool story. I'd love to tear into a family group and score like that.

I went to a no show blind with 2 strangers. The kid had a 12 ga and #4 shot, same with the day. After a while, I raised up the 10 ga and poked a goose for the kid, I knew he would never get one. We both shot at the same time, my patternmaster kissed dead coyote ripped the right wing off a goose at 60 yards and it hit the ground running. I told the kid 'great shot!' And sent him running in the foot deep snow. After a long foot race, laughing with his dad he brought it back and flopped it in front of the blind. Sure enough, banded.

XWX and a few DHC guys went out 2 years ago. Gooserslan and Ryan022 are fixing decoys or something and XWX and I are on point. XWX and I see a lone hen coming over and discuss who would shoot the hen. He pops one off, misses, we both fire, the bird falls. Back in the bushes in waist deep buck brush. You got that, Bill. Nope, you got that, Don. Go get it. No, you go get it, Bill. You got that bird. At 8 am, it landed in a spot where you knew you wouldn't be back for 15 minutes. Bill went. When he yelled 'banded!!!) From the bush, i was pretty bitter, lol.
 
#16 ·
Been hunting for years and have killed many ducks and geese, and I have one Canada band and one mallard band. Both have special and interesting stories but I will spare you. An interesting fact about the mallard was he was banded on an island on Lake Huron called Drummond, Michigan and he was the only banded mallard harvested and reported in PA from the state of Michigan for that year. Also I am in the SE corner of the state.
 
#17 ·
I too, have been hunting waterfowl since I was 12. Never even saw a band until I was 27. In the 3 years since then, I've shot 2 banded ducks and 3 banded geese, seen my dad shoot 2 banded ducks and a banded brant, and 2 of my regular hunting buddies have each shot a banded duck and a banded goose. Other than the couple of ducks in Jersey (where I've only been hunting the past 4 years) all the other birds were shot in the same basic locations I've been hunting all these years. Strange how it works...
 
#19 ·
Great stories guys just seems to come down to dumb luck scouting and timing. Hopefully this will be my year. I know the my first banded bird it's going on the wall, drake or hen. It seems the longer you wait the better the story and memory. It will fit sure be something ill enjoy looking at daily.
 
#20 ·
PA Drake: you might think I'm being sarcastic with this advice I'm going to give you, but I'm dead serious it will probably work. Stop checking every bird you shoot for bands when you pick it up. Both of my bands came when for one reason or another I was too busy to check their legs for bands. Same with a couple friends.
 
#22 ·
Well you guys were right. I least expected to shoot a band today and well the 13 year bandless streak is over. Harvested a nece blue wing teal w/ a band at first light. I couldn't be happier just wish I could report it to see where it came from. Saw lots of bands taken this morning all were bwt.
 
#25 ·
This is the 16th year of my addiction to duck hunting. It wasn't till the 13th that I finally found that elusive ring...and I must admit that without my dog chasing that cripple down at Geneva id still be looking for the first bling...
 
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