Incredible season so far....

[metlhead]

The science of migratory bird movement is pretty well established. And those bands are meant to be recovered. By the way, 33 limits this season and not 1 band. Almost 2,000 birds under my gun and I only have five to show for it. That is pretty low percentage but I still get a thrill every time I see the bling

[hunt4life]

It’s very simple math guys with lots of bands spend a lot of time hunting and it means they know how to hunt! My group of buddies we have killed over 500 snows this year not a single band!! 20 years ago we would have been 20 bands with that number! Things change I have bands from when I was 10 years old!! Anybody who thinks somebody is a d-bag for having bands is the the real tool!! Good thing I don’t do social media cause if you saw my group of buddies you would think we where all d-bags! It’s just the fact some guys kill birds 10% of good waterfowlers kill 90% of the birds in my book other the other 90% just don’t spend the time scouting and hunting correctly!! So many guys walk out no decoys all they have is 3 1/2 shells and sky bust so on that note before ya call a guy a d-bag cause he has bands on his lanyard look in the mirror and see who the real d-bag is!!

[KP-Skagit]

I gotta fess up before this thread gets too old or I forget about it. When I posted it I was at work reading about how Wuhan flu numbers were being skewed. So I thought, hmm, I can do that with my duck hunting so far this year. So I posted what I posted knowing that those that know duck hunting would call me out on it. Anyway, my original post of 40% still stands and this is how....I’ve shot 5 ducks so far this year. The first duck of the year was a banded Mallard drake. The last duck was a Eurasian wigeon drake that landed just outside my decoys. Just barely. I told my granddaughter that with #4’s in it was too far. He left and went to the north end of my swamp (275 yds away) and we watched him thru binoculars for 1hr and 20 min. Then he got up and flew right towards us and I shot him. Blind faces north, we had wind and sun at our back. It was almost like slow motion on a duck I thought I may never get. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 😂

I was wondering how many birds we were talking when you first posted  Nice work! I have only seen one eurasian, they are on my list. And I would like to get a banded duck some day in my life.

[KopperBuck]

Lol. Waterfowlers have the tightest panties.

[WSU]

Stupid question here from someone who doesn't hunt ducks, why are bands so cool?  Are they rare?

To me, it was cool to see the bird's history.  The banded mallard was something like 12 years old and from northern Alberta.  Think of how many miles that duck had flown going back and forth 24 times, how many decoy spreads it had seen, etc. 

[KP-Skagit]

I don't think the d-bag sentiment is about people who like to shoot banded birds. The waterfowl threads on this forum seem to have a particular spite for young eager hunters that like to post their hunts online. I find it a touch ironic for a hunting forum.

[scotsman]

Never hunted ducks so a maybe dumb question..... if you shoot a banded bird do you call in a report? if not then whats the point of banding?

[full choke]

Never hunted ducks so a maybe dumb question..... if you shoot a banded bird do you call in a report? if not then whats the point of banding?

Yes.

[Sandberm]

Cant remember how i reported mine. I might have called the phone number on the band 

They send you a certificate telling you where it was banded . I shot mine on 1/10/2011. It was banded on 8/16/2005 at 4E High River Alberta Canada by a Mr Paul Pryor with the Canadian Wildlife Service. Bird was hatched in 2004 or earlier it says.

Interesting

[salt n sage90]

 I by all means am tickled when I get a band because you get the background of the bird and therein gain more respect for just how tough and enduring  these birds really are. I am not looking for bands when ducks decoy at all. I don't have a problem with people collecting bands or relishing the opportunity to hang one around their neck, its rare to get one so better enjoy it. Though I had an experience with a different sort. Quick anecdote:

I was taking a new hunter friend of mine out to a field I had permission to hunt from a farmer. The previous day I had knocked the heck out of them so I was confident. Get a call the night before from the farmers nephew that he and his buddies were setting up 2000 snow goose socks in the field and rather than we ruin each others hunts, said we could join them. It wasn't ideal but I didn't really have much other option. When we arrived to set up it was 7 individuals there (now 9 with us). Six were likely in high-schooler or a hair older, and one father. I was getting nervous but we were locked in now. Throughout the day I began to regret the decision. They proceeded to shoot pintails and mallard hens after the limits were filled, they would double, triple, and quadruple-tap birds that were already falling out the sky, and would shoot a cripple on dry land rather than go get it. I had to tell them to knock it off several times. A Eurasian Widgeon fell victim to the barrage as well as a banded mallard hen. All said and done somewhere around 40 ducks and half dozen snows. At the end of the day they drew "shells" out of a hat for who got the band and the Eurasian, and didn't want any of the ducks (no wonder they continued to pelt dead birds). My buddy and I cleaned all the birds and that was that. I apologized to my buddy and told him that isn't the way to do things at all. I think it was a good lesson but ugly.

The "collector" mentality or "d-baggery" of these individuals seems to be a younger generation deal in my experience*, perhaps with the advent of instagram, i dont know. Either way the attention they paid to the rare bird and the jewelry wouldnt have bugged me at all any other day, but their lack of respect for the sport cast a dark cloud on all their behavior the entire day. Its not about the limit, or the band, or "the bird". I think these boys had lost sight of what its about.


fyi, this was awhile ago, not this year.

[C-Money]

I been lucky enough to get 7 bands. Closest was banded in Ephrata, Furthest was remarkable. It was an extra large drake mallard, banded in St. Johns Newfoundland. I'd love to know that birds entire trip route. Other bands were Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, California.

I assume these are Washington birds.  If so holy smokes

Yes, Washington birds. Back when you got a certificate in the mail. I double checked the numbers and they match. Pretty amazing, and confusing why he ended up on the west coast...

[dilleytech]

When I lived in Yakima getting a banded bird was about 1/40 ducks. Now living in southern Washington I get a band per about every 400 ducks. It’s super dependent on where you hunt.

[Blacktail135]

I by all means am tickled when I get a band because you get the background of the bird and therein gain more respect for just how tough and enduring  these birds really are. I am not looking for bands when ducks decoy at all. I don't have a problem with people collecting bands or relishing the opportunity to hang one around their neck, its rare to get one so better enjoy it. Though I had an experience with a different sort. Quick anecdote:

I was taking a new hunter friend of mine out to a field I had permission to hunt from a farmer. The previous day I had knocked the heck out of them so I was confident. Get a call the night before from the farmers nephew that he and his buddies were setting up 2000 snow goose socks in the field and rather than we ruin each others hunts, said we could join them. It wasn't ideal but I didn't really have much other option. When we arrived to set up it was 7 individuals there (now 9 with us). Six were likely in high-schooler or a hair older, and one father. I was getting nervous but we were locked in now. Throughout the day I began to regret the decision. They proceeded to shoot pintails and mallard hens after the limits were filled, they would double, triple, and quadruple-tap birds that were already falling out the sky, and would shoot a cripple on dry land rather than go get it. I had to tell them to knock it off several times. A Eurasian Widgeon fell victim to the barrage as well as a banded mallard hen. All said and done somewhere around 40 ducks and half dozen snows. At the end of the day they drew "shells" out of a hat for who got the band and the Eurasian, and didn't want any of the ducks (no wonder they continued to pelt dead birds). My buddy and I cleaned all the birds and that was that. I apologized to my buddy and told him that isn't the way to do things at all. I think it was a good lesson but ugly.

The "collector" mentality or "d-baggery" of these individuals seems to be a younger generation deal in my experience*, perhaps with the advent of instagram, i dont know. Either way the attention they paid to the rare bird and the jewelry wouldnt have bugged me at all any other day, but their lack of respect for the sport cast a dark cloud on all their behavior the entire day. Its not about the limit, or the band, or "the bird". I think these boys had lost sight of what its about.


fyi, this was awhile ago, not this year.

Sorry about your crappy hunt. Men need to teach the young one’s (someway) what it’s really about. Somewhere along the way measuring one’s self-worth on social media has gotten in the way. 0-7 ducks in an outing, to me, is not the important goal, it’s the sights seen, things we talk about, watching nature, watching a great dog work etc. Doing it right is way more important to me than measuring me by numbers.