08/09 Season "Waterfowl Jewelry"

[h2ofowlr]

I just wanted to see how many were able to get banded birds this season.  I attached a few pics from this season.  If you have any pics from this year throw them on.

[shootemup]

naturally it was her first goose

[BIGBULLBALLS]

No pics but I killed a drake mallard just after Christmas that was banded in July 1997 in Alberta.  I almost felt bad killing him after I had found out he had made 12 trips south when I whacked him.  His legend will live on hanging from my lanyard.

[full choke]

I only have a pic on my cell phone and no way of transfering to the computer? But my only band this year came on the first shot of Opening day- a lessor Canada, banded just outside of Kotzebue Alaska, July of last year.

[Seaslave]

Only one band for me this season.

Mathue

[h2ofowlr]

Nice teal band.  I don't see to many banded ones. We shot several banded teal one year and that was it.

[Wacenturion]

Interesting.....seeing the gal with her first goose, which was banded and the Green Winged Teal which was banded, reminds me of the first duck I ever shot back in the 60's .......a Green Winged Teal.....yep....wouldn't you know.... was banded.
Had it mounted and it lasted alot of years only to finally succumb to several moves, kids growing up and  hunting dogs who joined the family as puppies.
Still have the band though on my dog whistle laynard.   

[ThePascoKid]

only got 1 susie banded this year of course I only made it out 6 times so I guess that's not bad, on another note same subject has anyone ever herd that coots are banded?

[ghgetter]

They really need to keep track of their migration...from one side of the pond to the other, back to the other, back to the other.

I'm sure they are funded by our tax dollars....

[ThePascoKid]

Sounds crazy to me to but I have heard of one being shot that was double banded guy had a picture to prove it time to start taking my limit of 25 coots or whatever it is now

[singleshot12]

I sure hope hunters don't shoot high numbers of birds just for the intent on retrieving more bands 

[h2ofowlr]

If a daily limit of 7 ducks and 4 geese is a high number, then I am probably guilty. 

On another note I think they band a certain amount of all migratory birds.  I talked to an old timer that found a band on a robins leg that had flew into his family room window.

[ThePascoKid]

as long as it's within the legal limit what is your problem with it

[ducks55]

I think he is saying that if youre going to shoot coots just to get a band, it isnt right? I mean you cant tell me youre going to eat one of those things...or are you?? Just my thought on what was said.

[singleshot12]

I sure hope hunters don't shoot high numbers of birds just for the intent on retrieving more bands 

Kind of like trophy hunting.. In it for horns instead of the meat.

[ThePascoKid]

A lot of the people on here are trophy hunters or else there wouldn't be so much talk about a 190" this or a 370" that.  By the way I have never shot 25 coots in my whole life and probably wouldn't waste the shells. Any one here ever shoot crows what's the difference you don't eat crow.

[General Disarray]

I trophy hunt ducks, nothing wrong with it, the birds still get cleaned and eaten...

If the conditions are right and the birds are there, i'll sit there all morning or afternoon looking for bands.  To me it's the ultimate to finish so many birds, so close that you might actually spot a band and then try to make a shot on it.  Not to mention, I enjoy being out there.  If I shot the first 7 birds that came in, I'd be gone in an hour or two and why not stay out there and enjoy what I'm doing.

[sisu]

Coot...? YUK! May as well drain the fish bowl and lick the sides.

[h2ofowlr]

I usually only try to shoot mallards and a few wigeon towards seasons end. 
Attached a picture of Charles hunt from Oregon.

[The Weazle]

I have been shooting ducks/geese for over 20 years and have never gotten a band...My time will come...Hopefully...

[h2ofowlr]

Your odds increase the more your out.  I was hunting about 5 days a week.  When we had the winter storm. I think I hunted 17 days in a row. Between the group I hunted with I think we shot 11 banded birds in one week.  Overall it was a great year.

[benbo30]

so whats the deal with the bands ,  something special , im new to the duck hunting scene this next season will be my first , also how is duck meat which is better

[boneaddict]

some bands are worth money.  They give you some sort of history on the bird you shot.  I would say Mallards are probably some of the best.  In general, puddle ducks good, diver ducks like goldeneye etc, not as good.  All depends on your pallet

[boneaddict]

reading up the thread....Coot, oh my gosh, there are a couple things I will not eat.  That would be one of those things.

[Sawbuck]

I just started duck hunting a couple of years ago, mainly field hunting, but have been able to round up four banded mallards two each year. This year I was really shocked when I picked up a drake and it not only had a locate band, but also a $50 dollar reward band on the other leg. It was awesome to get paid to hunt My buddy told me to hurry up and turn it in before the government goes totally broke.

[Thenewguy]

I sure hope hunters don't shoot high numbers of birds just for the intent on retrieving more bands 

Kind of like trophy hunting.. In it for horns instead of the meat.

Yet you eats the meat still no?

[Sawbuck]

Yeah, the neighbor down the road makes awesome duck jerky and sausage. The bands aren't the goal, just something extra, always eat the ducks I shoot.

[h2ofowlr]

Picture of one of my banded snow geese that I had mounted.

[lokidog]

A side-note to the band thread....Coots are actually not bad.  They have huge, I mean 2/3 the size of the breast, gizzards, so if you're a giz fan, them's the birds.  Also, if you fillet out the breast and season it like a steak, pan sear it, it tastes about like a venison steak, but more tender.

I never did understand shiney, jingly pieces of metal on a, frequently, camouflaged lanyard hanging off a very camoed hunter.

 

[Abolt338]

From this season:

Gaddy Hen .

One Redhead Drake (sorry for the bad condition, but he got swatted a couple times) .

RW

[h2ofowlr]

Nice, I got into a bunch of banded gadwals years back.  I shot two and they were both banded waited it out and had another one come in several hours later and it was banded as well.  Must have been hunting close to the banding site.  Called in the bands and they were banded a few months prior to the season.

[h2ofowlr]

Here's your chance to shoot some bands.  Hunt the locations mentioned at it will up your chances of shooting a banded honker.
Goose marking may help explain nesting
declines in eastern Washington

OLYMPIA - A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) Canada goose marking effort, scheduled to take place this month, may help explain goose nesting declines in some parts of eastern Washington. 

For the second consecutive year, WDFW biologists and volunteers plan to capture, band, and collar Canada geese in several rural and urban locations to compare migration, reproduction, and hunter-harvest of urban and rural-dwelling birds. 

Information gained from band returns and collar reports submitted by hunters and birdwatchers could help explain a seven-year decline in goose-nest counts that led to cancellation of this fall’s two-day September goose hunt in eastern Washington.

Up to 500 geese, currently molting and thus unable to fly, will be captured using boats and mobile-trapping panels June 18 -26 at Sun Lakes State Park in Grant County, Sprague Lake on the Adams-Lincoln county line, the Pend Oreille River in Pend Oreille County, and locations in Wenatchee, Chelan, Tri-Cities, Yakima and Spokane. 

The age and sex of each captured goose will be recorded. All will be marked with numbered aluminum leg bands and adult geese will receive white neck collars with number and letter codes. 

Mikal Moore, WDFW waterfowl specialist, said waterfowl hunters can report the leg bands when geese are harvested, and the highly visible collars can be reported by any observer. Recapturing the marked geese at the same locations over five years will provide wildlife managers with information on annual survival, a critical measure of population stability. 

"This study will allow us to compare harvest rates between local and migratory geese and harvest rates on various other Canada goose subspecies," Moore said. "Until we initiated this study last year, we hadn’t examined many locally breeding Canada geese in eastern Washington for at least 15 years and we had never looked at the urban goose population as a whole. This will help us learn if urban birds are year-round residents or migratory." 

Urban goose numbers can rise dramatically when the birds do not migrate, or are not exposed to predators, hunting, and other factors that normally limit populations. Urban areas, which are closed to hunting, often provide new attractive habitats for geese. Direct feeding activities also contribute to goose population growth. More information on this topic is available at http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/canada_geese.htm .

"Our September goose hunting season focuses on local populations and is contingent on annual spring nest counts," Moore said. "Those counts have been dropping in our mostly rural survey areas even though complaints about urban geese have been rising. The marking project will help biologists understand movements of geese relative to hunting areas." 

Because of ongoing population trends, the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission canceled an eastern Washington Sept. 5-6, 2009 goose hunt at its April meeting, based on WDFW recommendations. When all waterfowl hunting seasons are set in August, WDFW will recommend the Commission shift the federally allotted two days to the October-January season when migrant geese are present in the state.
 
Last year’s first goose marking effort - which involved 422 geese in several similar locations - resulted in 41 band returns and numerous collar reports. Some of the band returns came from as far away as northern Alberta and Saskatchewan, although most were local. 

Reports of band or collar codes, along with locations and dates, should be made to U.S. Geological Survey Bird Banding Laboratory at 1-800-327-BAND or online at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/homepage/call800.htm .