Interesting Band Information

The only band I'v ever got was a canada goose 15# 3mo. after banding & only 7miles travled, couple mi. S. of Minot AFB. Not much info from that band.
Dennis
 
This one traveled a heck of a long way! Banded on 06/08/09 .... harvested 09/05/09, about 4 miles from the banding location. lol

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Bands are rare here in the area I hunt so I was very excited on this hunt. I hunted solo this morning and ended up shooting two geese with one shot. I zeroed in on the collar and really thought the birds behind it were clear. I must have caught the bird behind it with the edge of the pattern. No matter as the limit at the time was two birds a day. Getting the collar had me fired up to begin with but when I saw the other band I flipped. To this day I still wonder how many birds were banded in that flock. My older brother was supposed to go on the hunt with me but backed out at the last moment. I still rub it in his face. Both banded in northwestern Ontario and only a few digits different on the bands which makes me think it was a family unit.

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I shot a drake canvasback that was 13+ years old. The band was thread bare and had to be etched to get the data. I believe I shot the bird in 1994 or 95 and didn't find out about the etching process until 98 or 99. At that point I was still worried about getting the band returned to me, but there was no problem, got the band and the certificate. He was banded on the Chesapeake and I shot him near Willmar, MN.

My dad got one at the same place in 1981 that was also banded on the Chesapeake. That bird was at least 4 years old and currently hangs on my wall.

Bands are few and far between with me and the folks I hunt with, so they are an awesome trophy that answers a few of the duck hunters' age old question . . . when, where, how old, etc.

NR
 
Nice Southern James Bay honker, Gary. There are always quite a few orange collars killed here in Ohio. Most of the goose bands I've harvested are local bandings, though I have a couple from up North. Of the four duck bands, only one was shot near its banding location... a Jack Miner mallard, taken up on Mithchell's Bay. All the others had traveled a few miles, though we're the first stop from Cannuck land, so not too far.
This honker only made it about 60 miles across Erie...

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One of two that I have been fortunate enough to harvest.

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Gary

I've posted this story before so sorry to anyone who read it the last time.

About 8 or so rears ago Gene Walk and I were hunting Mud Creek. After the hunt was over and the boat loaded Gene told me I left my bag by the water. What bag? My bag was packed. Sure enough there was a waterfowler's backpack lying there. We were the last boat there so someone had drove off leaving it behind. Gene and I went through the bag looking for ID. There was none. This bag had a really lot of nice stuff in it. A Buck hatchet and skinning knife, several custom calls, some old Yentzen calls, a facemask and more stuff I can't even remember. Must have been at least $500 worth of goods and some of it looked like it was handed down. With no ID in the bag I held onto it and posted on the local website hoping to find the owner. No luck.

After the season was over I went through the bag again and noticed there was a lanyard and it had a Federal band on it. Hmmmm. I called the USF&WS and asked me if they could track down the band. To my surprise they pulled the number and gave me the name of the person who recovered it. Luckily he was in the book and I phoned him. He wasn't home but his wife said she'd let him know. Within a matter of minutes he called me exstatic I had his bag. Turns out a lot of the contents were things his father gave him. That evening he came over and got his backpack and had a huge look of relief on his face. Lucky for him he called in his band and the USF&WS provided me the needed info so I could find the owner. I've heard a lot of cool band stories over the years but have never heard of a band being used to track a hunter down.

Eric
 
Cool Miner's bands congrats! Eric that is one of the coolest band stories I've heard, I'm sure the fellow was very thankful. Keep them coming guys!
 
I went back and edited my original post to fix the links. If you go to the bands across North America link, you can develop maps of where all the birds harvested in your state were banded or create a map for a band number.
 
Keith

There goes that myth that ducks are always banded on the left leg and geese on the right with a reward band, if there is one, being on the opposite side. The third goose is banded on the left.

Eric
 


There is no such method to the madness. You usually band the first leg that makes itself available. I usually band the right leg because I operate my banding pliers with my right hand. The bird is usually upside down facing me in my lap. The standard band goes on first hence the right leg and if I am putting on a reward band it goes on the other leg. Now if for some reason I am holding the bird differently the bands may end up on the legs in a different order.
 
Along the same line.......but a little different. I photographed these three ring billed gulls this winter in different locations in CT in Dec, Jan and Feb. I found out that the state of Mass. is doing a study on the nesting and wintering nuisance problems that can occur from the expanding gull populations. These ring billed gulls were tagged and banded in 08 and 09. The first gull #A 232 has never been seen in two years, and my report was the first sighting.

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