Early on it was totally a flex thing for me....something that I viewed as a status symbol that made me look like a superior hunter, bad ass, etc.
Nowadays it has nothing to do with that. I don't really even think about them. There are times that I think about putting my calls on a separate lanyard clean of bands so they're not clanging around, shining, and being counterproductive to hunting.
They're really only slightly counterproductive. I don't wear face paint anymore either, at one point before having any bands me and my bros wore face paint simply to be concealed better....never had anything to do with wanting to flex and look like a bad ass. I'd say wearing a lanyard with bands on it are on the same level of being counterproductive to hunting as not covering/concealing your face somehow. It's not like wearing them is on the same level of hunting out of an non-camo'ed aluminum boat.
At this point I have them on my lanyard just because i always have had them there since shooting my first band.
Waterfowl hunting is different than other types of hunting in the aspect of how social it can be....gentleman's hunts with conversation and all.
I like seeing other people's bands and have had a lot of enjoyable conversations asking them about the stories behind them. What type of duck or goose they came from, age of the bird, how long it had worn the band, where it was banded, and where it was shot....and details of the hunt. There's always a story behind them.
I don't think any less of a hunter with "only" a band or two on their lanyard....or none at all....just like I don't think higher of a hunter with a fully stacked lanyard of bands. It really makes no difference to me whatsoever. If anything is going to impress me having to do with a guy and their lanyard, it's how good of a caller they are. I've seen guys with lanyards full of bands that can't call worth shit, and guys that have never shot a band that are phenomenal callers....the latter I'd view more favorably in terms of hunting ability, but even then I don't put a whole lot of weight into calling either.....lots of guys out there that shoot the shit out of the fowl that can't call worth a shit.
I think bands are just kind of a neat little trinket that are unique to duck hunting and kind of fun to talk about in the blind when hunting with other guys that are either new or someone you only cross paths with every so often over the years. That's about it at this point....nothing more, nothing less really.....