Bands

[JayRo]

I got one of those Middle River banded mallards. Banded 9/13/01 and shot 10/19/02 south of Willmar.

[randywatson]

bull canvasback, shot in DL ND 2004. banded in 1986 as an adult in Maryland. There is a cool website /map where you can look up bands recovered by species year age etc. i had lost my info sheet that i had got from my bull back in 04. found it all on that website. band was so worn that i sent it in to acid etc it. literally had a large U notch missing from the band and 4 numbers were completely worn.

[Nershi]

My first band came in high school on a solo hunt. I went full time to college my senior year of high school which meant I could hunt every morning of the week. Shot it and didn’t even notice the band until I finished off my limit and was packing up. Goose shot in MN and banded in MO like 5 years before. Thought my mom tossed the band when she converted my room to a guest room when I went to college. Just found it this spring when cleaning out my basement and going through old boxes. Hadn’t seen it in like 15 years.

Other goose band shot was in ND and I could see the roost it was banded on. Had a flock of like 30 locked up. Buddy flared them and we dropped a few as they were peeling off. All 3 banded. Makes me wonder how many bands we would have got out of that flock if we finished them in the hole with 6 guns.

Never shot a duck band that I can confirm. We’ve got a few when hunting multiple guns and I didn’t draw the straw. I’m convinced bands have a lot to do with luck. My buddy has shot a small fraction of birds that I have and has 5 duck bands taken in different areas.

My grandpa has a bunch of cool old bands dating way back. He used to shoot a few each year when banding was more prevalent. When he had to give up hunting he gave my bro and I most of his hunting stuff but when he pulled out the bands he looked at them for a bit and said I’m gonna hold on to these. I thought that was pretty cool. He had a passion for duck hunting more than anyone I know. I’ll probably toss the bands in his casket along with his calls when he passes so he can take them with him to the duck marsh in the sky.

[h2ofwlr]

bull canvasback, shot in DL ND 2004. banded in 1986 as an adult in Maryland. There is a cool website /map where you can look up bands recovered by species year age etc. i had lost my info sheet that i had got from my bull back in 04. found it all on that website. band was so worn that i sent it in to acid etc it. literally had a large U notch missing from the band and 4 numbers were completely worn.

Have the same thing (no visible numbers and U shaped worn spot) from about 40 yrs ago on a Bull Can. It weighed 4 1/4 lbs - it was HUGE. Never did send the band in to be etched as didn't know you could do that at the time. I would have loved to have that one mounted, but it was all mangled up from 2 shot lead.

I've had a Mallard and BWTeal bands too. The teal was banded in ND, don't remember where the mallard was banded as it was 30+ yrs ago. Have Ross band too from 10 yrs ago. Considering how many Honkers that I've shot in years past, kind of surprised I never got 1 of those bands. I did shoot a brace of Quill Lake colorization Honkers in MB.

If I never get another band, no big deal as I never have given bands much value except for research and curiosity value. The photos of lanyards full of bands reminds me of flashy cars - and the little dick syndrome that goes with it.