Mute Swans

Tim B(tbrom)

Tim B(tbrom)

Active member
Just curious if anyone has been hunting them in there area. This is the first year that the Pennsylvania Game Comission came right out and said they are fair game and unprotected. I saw one a week or so ago and thought about going home after the gun but didnt. We did have them fly past us this season a couple times also. They are one huge bird!
 
Mute swans are actually protected in the province of Ontario as are all swans. I have heard there is currently a proposal to remove them from the protected species list this year but it won't be confirmed for a few months. If that happens I would think the next step would be to open a season on them or at least not prevent a cull. As it stands now they are untouchable.
 
we see thousands in ct, wish we could whack em. 10lb breasts sounds good to me
Click to expand...


Flocks of thousands? I rarely see larger than a family unit together with Mute Swans. If the flock is larger, they are typically Trumpeters or Tundras.
 
I wish they had a season for them in NY. We have a lot of them in my area. That can be one big nasty bird.
Ever been chased by one?
 
That can be one big nasty bird. Ever been chased by one?
Click to expand...


As long as they are considered an invasive species and unprotected that would be a problem for the swan. I have heard stories.
 
They are considered an invasive species but they are still protected in NY. We'll see if that changes some day.
 
They are considered an invasive species but they are still protected in NY. We'll see if that changes some day.
Click to expand...

Not in Pa.
mmi.jpg

 
Just like chicken! I honestly cant tell you. I ground it up with several geese and made bologna. In hind site I wish I would have saved some just to be able to answer that question.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Every once in a while birders report one or a pair on Lk. Champlain. N.Y.D.E.C. "relocates" them mysteriously.
I'm from L.I. where they are everywhere. I guess they where first introduced in Central Park around the turn of the century?
I've heard they don't let ducks breed near them. Don't know if thats true or not. My father had stories of shaking (addling sp?) their eggs for money on the estates of L.I. when he was a kid.
I wish one would chase me.
 
Having grown up in CT, I'll vouch for the huge numbers. There was a resident flock around my home which fed in the bay/river easily numbering in the hundreds.

Funny story: I was fishing a local pond for sunnies and the local male mutie kept giving me the bums rush every time I relocated and cast a line. I must have been 11 yrs old at this time- so the sight of a pissed off, flapping, hissing, water-running giant bird was something to backpedal butt quickly from. Finally, the light went off and I strung several loops of 8lb test low between a couple saplings. A tripwire. Then I stood on the shore and made a complete spectacle of myself, arms waving and taunting the big bird. He did the usual rush and ran right up the shoreline in an all-out effort to drive me away. When he hit that trip and stumbled, I fell upon him using my spinning rod as a foil, smacking at his neck and landing a few good blows in the turmoil, driving him back to the water. Detante! I got my shoreline and he patrolled just out of range.
 
Wished they were open in NY. We see alot, usually around april/May I can count over 200-300 birds stacked up in a cove by my house. Mean birds when you get near them.

Here's an immature swan that stayed with some cement statues in Decemeber 2010, my wife took the picture from the camera phone. It stayed for a few hours, sun tanning. Chance my CBR, was going ballistic seeing this bird on "His" property.

View attachment imagejpeg_2_6.jpg
 
Jack,

I realize its a camera phone photo, but that sure looks like a Trumpeter. Mutes have the big knob on the forehead and an orange bill.



I think you are allowed to shoot nusance mutes in Michigan, but there are stipulations as to when, and only on private lakes with all land owners in agreement to remove the birds. I have also heard of migrating Trumpeters or Tundras being mistakenly shot under this rule, but that's just rumors.

Chuck
 
Yeah it does look like a Trumpeter, I didn't get to see it in person. I was thinking immature mute only because we rarely see any trumpeters, and the grayish feathers-- I wonder if the knob on the bill grows in as they mature? I do know the trumpeters land in fields and Mute swans prefer the water but I've seen Mute swans walking the streets after a rain.


My wife may have a better picture on another camera, I'll take a look.


I heard (maybe a rumor) that someone shot a mute swan on Long Island, thinking it was a Snow goose--- It's tough to mistake a swan vs a goose. The sad thing is the guy really believe it was a snow goose and checked it in with the park police (local park allows waterfowl hunts).


Anyway, the funny thing about that picture is that swan felt so comfortable with the cement statues.

-Jack
 
Yes they are protected now in NY, wasn't always so, but nobody knew.
We have a LOT, they don't migrate, and the non breeders flock up by the hundreds in some places. During breeding season the males get jumpy, but those are false charges to get you to leave, nothing to be afraid of. I've caught them by hand a lot of times, a seagull will get you faster with their beak.

They CAN taste good, depends on what they're eating, the salt water swans eating cabbage, ..not so much. :)
The breast meat is dark and grainy like a London Broil. They are mostly wings and neck, and are surprisingly light, but again, depends on the groceries.

I know of a nuisance cull locally, FWS, and DEC are whacking them at night at a certain refuge, though they probably will deny it, but I know the shooter.
 
I have posted most of this in the past but lots of new faces since the last time. I possessed a special nuisance animal permit a few years back and really took it to them. I ended up harvesting 17 total on my permit with my assistants that were listed on my permit(read hunting buddies). The state did a terrible job of vetting the applicants and issued one to a guy that had no class apparently. He went out in May on a busy recreational lake and started swatting them in front of all the boaters and fishermen. That was the end of that. Permits revoked! The state is in charge of harvesting them but they don't do that great of a job...more than likely because they want to avoid controversy. Can't say I blame them. Most CO's I've spoken with maintain a "don't ask, don't tell" attitude. About two weeks ago I was hoping to see the two mutes that live on the private lake I manage. It was a foggy morning and I could heard a swam coming. A huge swan comes in and glides over at 5 feet but I didn't think it was a mute. It headed towards the field behind me at the edge of the lake/ice eater hole so hooted at it and of course it did a 180 and came in and landed with my goose decoys. It was a Trumpeter. We've had a few around this winter. I had actually clicked my safety off and was moving towards coming out of the blind. An hour later the two mutes came past and landed on the ice in the middle of the lake. I can see where this is going to become a much greater problem in the future as the mutes continue to proliferate.

They are totally out of control. There are flocks of dozens on inland lakes around here during winter. The most I've counted on Webster Lake at one time was 126. My Mom said Tippy was loaded with them this past fall...."hundreds" she said. I've seen the Tundras in the same areas at the same time, especially on Lake St Clair but most of the time the mutes seem to run the Tundras off.

stanleyandswan-2.jpg

JWASwanCrop-1.jpg

DSCN0049.jpg


I have tons of photos. My son RJ is sitting on the biggest one I shot...he was just shy of 33lbs. That was a double, 5 shots into a pair that decoyed. 5 hits...he took 3. They don't flare like ducks and geese...they just keep flying and you keep shooting if you don't get into the vitals. They have surprisingly small breast muscles because they aren't truly migratory. The permit dictated that all of them had to be destroyed within 24 hours. I tried to eat some and just cutting them open made me wretch. They are inedible where I live...absolutely disgusting. I'd eat merganser the rest of my life before I'd try to gag another one of them down. The dog wouldn't even eat it!
 
I should be clear, I think they're really neat, majestic birds and I felt bad killing them sometimes...the big Cob for example, but they have to go. They have decimated local nesting efforts. And not just for ducks...any bird that nests along marshes is subject to mute harassment. Ducks, songbirds, marsh birds etc. I have noticed that they are much more gregarious now with wintering fowl such as mallards/blacks, Canadas, divers etc but sometime usually about this week they become extremely territorial. I recall one day last spring a huge flock of about 80 migrant Tundras landed on the lake and a pair of mutes immediately took off and strafed the flock until they left. Not cool.

They need to go. With few exceptions I treated them with the same amount of respect and ethics as any regular waterfowl hunting effort. I used decoys and mouth called them. The CO's couldn't figure out why we didn't just use rifles etc. We did that one day and we killed 3...one with 10 gauge slugs point blank range which I must admit was rather spectacular(any of the medieval stuff was done far from the eyes of the "public" on remote marshes, CO's were there to watch for us). I just felt really wrong though...we didn't do it again. I coulda legally used a flame thrower if I had one. There were no rules...poisoning, explosives....24/7. Have at it. And then they give the permit to some dumbass hillbilly. Go figure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top