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Back during the holidays myself and other members of our club in the Delta killed a banded Greenhead and submitted the number. We just received the certificate and the duck was banded in Winnepeg, Canada in August of 1992! 13 plus years of countless battles with calls, twirlies and everything else us creative hunters might have thrown at him. He succumbed to a Quackhead call amid 3 dozen dekes and no twirlies.

Any other stories of banded ducks with that kind of age on 'em?

Thats an old duck but I wonder how old he was before they banded him.

I al.so wonder how many banded ducks die from old age or predators

duckter wrote:Back during the holidays myself and other members of our club in the Delta killed a banded Greenhead and submitted the number. We just received the certificate and the duck was banded in Winnepeg, Canada in August of 1992! 13 plus years of countless battles with calls, twirlies and everything else us creative hunters might have thrown at him. He succumbed to a Quackhead call amid 3 dozen dekes and no twirlies.

Any other stories of banded ducks with that kind of age on 'em?

glory be to DU, you know he couldnt have lived that long if it werent for them

the doc

Thats an old duck but I wonder how old he was before they banded him.

Good question - Our certificate does not mention the age at banding. Also interesting was the fact that the engraved numbers on the band were really "worn."

I also wonder how many banded ducks die from old age or predators

Not sure if there is a way for the researchers to figure that one out since only approximately 5% of recovered bands are actually reported.

I killed a banded Pintail about twelve years ago, the numbers were very worn as was the band, the certificate said it had been banded 14 years prior. The band broke when I was carefully trying to remove it. No twirlies back in those days and only my expert calling and a few worn out decoys!

only approximately 5% of recovered bands are actually reported.
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I find this hard to believe. I have never heard of a hunter not reporting a band. But I must admit I don't know every hunter that killed a band. Where do you get this information?

jdphish

I meant I don't know every hunter that killed a banded duck.

I wonder how they know they were harvested if not reported ?

I killed a fathead a few years ago that was nine years old...the band had an old pellet dent in it where he had been blasted before.

I find this hard to believe. I have never heard of a hunter not reporting a band. But I must admit I don't know every hunter that killed a band. Where do you get this information?

As published in this months issue of Ducks Unlimited magazine:
Low Returns From 1902 to 2002, more than 63 million birds - largely waterfowl - have been banded in North America. Of these banded birds, 3.5 million (5.5 percent) have been recovered and reported to wildlife officials.

That doesn't say the were unreported that says those were the ones that were recovered

duckter wrote:

I find this hard to believe. I have never heard of a hunter not reporting a band. But I must admit I don't know every hunter that killed a band. Where do you get this information?

As published in this months issue of Ducks Unlimited magazine:
Low Returns From 1902 to 2002, more than 63 million birds - largely waterfowl - have been banded in North America. Of these banded birds, 3.5 million (5.5 percent) have been recovered and reported to wildlife officials.

DU lies alot!

the doc

duckter-

Why bother trying to figure out what DU has to say. They may not be reporting correctly. I am not a big fan of Ducks Unlimited.
I guess you are

Shooter

Shooter,

I am only reporting what I read. If you don't believe the number, go ahead and do the research with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. You've got to remember, banding goes back over 100 years. Do you think many of the hunters who took banded birds back in the day even knew what to do with the bands? Do you think they were going to call when many did not have phones? It would be my guess that the recovering of the bands have had more success in recent decades because of communication. I myself know of many hunters that have taken banded birds yet did not report them.

As for DU, I am not a large supporter of the organization. As with many, they go good things, and some not so good. I do enjoy reading the magazine.

Hit a nerve didn't I duckter. Oh, by the way, thanks for the history lesson. I bet your an old retired 8th grade history teacher with nothing better to do than sit around on your fat rump and read the DU magazine and then post quotes on this website. Well, from this day forward i will start recording my banded ducks.

Good luck with the rest of the season and i hope you kill another banded duck so you cna help DU raise that recovery # from 5.5% up to 5.75%.

Shooter