Swans

[Shadow Cat]

One of these days I am going to go and bag one of these. I have heard they taste pretty good. Does anyone here have any first hand knowledge of this? I found this on an outfitters site in NC and looks like they do good. My daughter lives in SC so it would not be to hard to get up there to hunt them.

[jordano]

wow! that would be a blast! looks like a ton of fun!

[ducksdoom12]

i wish they would open it up for us here in washington. that would be really fun

[h2ofowlr]

I didn't care for eating them.  Tried it once, buddy brought some over from Utah.

[Tealer]

Montana has some tags as well. We drove out and shot ours (one a piece). I really like eating them. A big swan is almost the same size as a turkey. Almost as good as cranes.

[Shadow Cat]

cool... going to have to look into it more.

[BigGoonTuna]

10 gauge?

[upwind]

You can hunt theme in parts of nevada you have to put in for a draw. They are good eating but try to shoot a grey one they younger and taste allot better.

[whitey]

I hear they are great eating.I also heard they are talking about letting Us shoot a few next year.Anybody else hear that.

[h2ofowlr]

I hear they are great eating.I also heard they are talking about letting Us shoot a few next year.Anybody else hear that.

I had talked to a biologist who had mentioned that we have a large enough number of swans where we could provide a huntable season for them.  He said the only problem was there was an excess number of trumpeters to whistlers or visa versa and they are nearly impossible to tell from the ground unless you have a trained eye.  He said they could open it, but it may not be feasible as to many of the wrong birds would be harvested.

[whitey]

I drive a White Tacoma.
I was hunting Sunday Afternoon and I kept seeing the swans flying over and dropping into the field where my truck was parked.I got done hunting and came up the bank and I couldn't believe My eyes.There were about 2000 swans all around My truck.They must have thought it was a great big swan.Me and Harley (Lab) just walked right on threw them and they didn't even care.I was pissed I didn't take my camera.
Harley didn't really know what to do.But He stayed pretty close by.

[teal101]

I hear they are great eating.I also heard they are talking about letting Us shoot a few next year.Anybody else hear that.

I had talked to a biologist who had mentioned that we have a large enough number of swans where we could provide a huntable season for them.  He said the only problem was there was an excess number of trumpeters to whistlers or visa versa and they are nearly impossible to tell from the ground unless you have a trained eye.  He said they could open it, but it may not be feasible as to many of the wrong birds would be harvested.

I know that The Dakotas have a quota for trumpeters.  They allow the harvest of trumpeters as accidental birds up until the quota is met then the whole season is *censored* down.  It is still illegal to shoot them but mistakes are made, kinda setup like the dusky goose deal.

[h2ofowlr]

This is a family friends swan hunt from a few years back.  He waited to shoot a banded one.

I traveled down to Plymouth, North Carolina to hunt Tundra Swans in late November and I thought you might enjoy seeing some of the pictures.

This area of North Carolina has a wintering population ranging from 90,000 to 120,000 Tundra Swans and I saw thousands of birds on this trip. Conservatively I looked at over 300 swans within 50 yards of our blind, most within 25 yards. Two other birds were taken the day that I hunted and both were taken with 20 gauge shotguns, I felt over gunned with my SP 10, 10 gauge. However, the banded bird that I did shoot was taken at over 50 yards, so I was glad that I had it.

The guide service, Pungo Acres, provided me with an excellent guide. Larry Paul mouth called many swans within gun range. North Carolina has a permit drawing for Tundra Swans with a limit of one per year so you want to make sure of your shot. Only 5000 permits are given out and they are all sold each year.