Gun Dog Forum

Hello,
So recently i have been really wanting to shoot a banded goose or duck (who doesnt ) but It seems like they are more "rare" than they used to be.
I did find out that a lot of the geese at the golf corse and parks are banded, I'm thinking the DNR or whoever bands them does this because they are easy to catch. Sadly this makes its hard to obtain bands for my lanyard
Just wondering how often you guys shoot birds with jewelry?
Isaac and Banks

After all the years I have been hunting waterfowl, I have never shot a duck or a goose with a band. I took a friend of mine a couple of years ago who had never been waterfowl hunting and on his first trip out shot a goose with a band. Must be beginners luck. I'm still jealous. LOL

First, you have to be in a spot they are banded; they don't band birds in every locale. If they don't band them by you, you have to wait for the migration and hope for banded birds. There is no sure fire way to get one. Ya gotta pay yer dues.

I have never shot one with a band either but have been in the blind and seen them shot . Once on the ohio river we were out hunting in the morning and we bagged a few but we decided it was time to leave. on our way in at the launch there where ducks sitting on the ice mallards and a 3 black ducks all 3 black ducks where banded and 3 of the mallards(2 hens and 1 drake) where banded. there was no one around but we are all ethical hunters and didn't want to share a jail cell with Jeff Foiles . I am still waiting for the day when I get mine. You could always just buy them off of EBAY

I'm 0 for 2000+ on ducks, bout 1 of every 150 geese have been banded.

I have hunted with guys who have a call lanyard full of bands, Ill be happy with a few
Banks hunted great today, youth pheasant next weekend, cant wait.
Isaac and Banks

Double Shot Banks wrote:I have hunted with guys who have a call lanyard full of bands, Ill be happy with a few
Banks hunted great today, youth pheasant next weekend, cant wait.
Isaac and Banks

Good luck, hope the youngens get some birds.

Within 10 miles of where I hunt there are 3 places that band birds, we usually shoot 5 or 6 every year in the first week of the season. After that it drops off considerably, usually ending the year at around 10. I have never shot a banded goose though. Find out where they band birds and go hunt there the first few weeks of the season.

I've never shot a banded duck, the very first goose I ever shot was banded, that was 17 years ago and I'm waiting on my second.

Is this what you're trying to collect Banks? These cover 50 years plus of waterfowling and show you how hard they are to come by. Had to split them between two lanyards.

Double Shot Banks wrote:Hello,
So recently i have been really wanting to shoot a banded goose or duck (who doesnt ) but It seems like they are more "rare" than they used to be.
I did find out that a lot of the geese at the golf corse and parks are banded, I'm thinking the DNR or whoever bands them does this because they are easy to catch. Sadly this makes its hard to obtain bands for my lanyard
Just wondering how often you guys shoot birds with jewelry?
Isaac and Banks

I've got 9 bands in total, 6 geese, 2 mallards & 1 Eider. We usually get 1-10 per year or so, last year it was 3, year before 7, 3 so far this year.
I'd say roughly 1 in 200 are banded that we shoot, all of ours are not banded in our area, all are banded several hours away in New England.

Local DNR's band resident geese to study their movements, alot less wild geese/ducks are banded due to the difficulty in doing so.....

Forget about bands and enjoy waterfowl for the experience over a lifetime they give.....bands mean nothing!

I would strongly disagree that bands mean nothing; every water fowler I know treasures them and considers them a trophy when one is finally taken.

different strokes I guess, I treasure sunrises and days spent with dogs I remember fondly. Bands I could care less about.

I find it much more amazing all the birds taken without them never touched by human hands....

I've got 100 dollar reward bands, duck bands and bands from snows banded on NW Baylot island, they are neat ......for 5 minutes.

birddog1968 wrote:different strokes I guess, I treasure sunrises and days spent with dogs I remember fondly. Bands I could care less about.

I find it much more amazing all the birds taken without them never touched by human hands....

I've got 100 dollar reward bands, duck bands and bands from snows banded on NW Baylot island, they are neat ......for 5 minutes.

Some of us also treasure reminders of hunts and times spent with buddies and dogs.

I've shot thousands of ducks and never seen a band. Seen a few on geese.

That said I really could care less, often i don't even check until I'm cleaning them. If we did shoot a banded one i'd probably give it away.

I did shoot two banded pheasants in SD two years ago. One was a $50 gift card the other $25.