Odds on Bands

[SoftCall]

I always thought that the odds on shooting a banded mallard were 1 in 300 based on an article that I read in DU about 5 years ago. I should have had several bands based on those odds alone, but I didn't get my first one until I had duck hunted for 20 years.

I have managed to blow those odds completely out of the agua this year. 3 of the last 20 mallards that I have added to my strap this year have been banded. I shot the first on 12/23, found a live bird with a band on 12/26, and shot another one on 1/8. I am the luckiest SOB on the face of this earth - there is NO doubt about it.

To sum it up..bands are pure luck.

As far as the 1 in 300 theory goes...chew on this. Our club has 491 mallards to date this year. 7 of them have been banded. In other words, based on those numbers, there is a 1.42% chance that you'll see a band on that greenhead each time you bring one down. The odds based on these stats are 1 in 70.

I am interested in hearing some feedback from someone else who keeps good kill records for their lease or from their personal hunting trips. What are the odds based on your stats?

ALSO - never leave a bird down without attempting to find it. This year I have seen 7 birds get hit and then fly off only to fall out dead or land within 250 yards of the spread. This last band circled the field and landed 200 yards from the hole. I sent the dog and she came back with the banded bird...her first one to retrieve in her short 1 and 1/2 years. Always watch a wounded bird until they are completely gone from the field of view. You'll be surprised about how many go down.

[mudsucker]

Bring back LEAD and we'll know there'r DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JimWalker]

# of bands + # of years + # of ducks = %

The variables change too much for accurate %'s?

But thank you for the rough estimates, the next time I see a 21 year old with a dozen bands on his neck, I can say to own that many bands legit, at 6 ducks per day, shooting a limit every day of a 60 day season, you would have had to do that every day of every season for 10 years to get them.

So they make you look like what you are, a liar.

[CBU93]

Oh that's easy...personal records 0 over how ever many ducks I've killed in my life.

I've only been on one hunt in which a banded bird has been killed, and that was this year on a banded woodie from Iowa.

Personally, I think it is based alot on permanent banding stations banding birds and their instintual migration patterns. Areas that are killing banded will tend to kill banded birds year in and year out. Of course I could be wrong and fully expect someone to correct and belittle that theory all in one post

[sportsman450]

Greetings Softcall-Happy New Year

I have a theory.I believe that ducks follow the same basic migration patterns from year to year,and if you hunt in an area that is frequented by ducks coming from a banding site you are more likely to kill banded ducks.

It's not scientific,but I hunt in an area that seems to produce a lot of bands.I believe it's because they have imprinted that flight path.

Who knows???

[marionfd708]

all i know is tat i have hunted for 22 years and have yet to kill a banded duck. been on 4 hunts ever that a band was killed. maybe one day.
good luck
kev

[GulfCoast]

I always heard the chances were one duck in 300, too. I hunted 12 years before I killed my first banded duck. Some areas do tend to kill more banded ducks than other areas. I was in a lease around Anguilla several years ago where there it was common for a banded wood duck to be shot every weekend. Most of them were banded in Alabama. There is a hole some friends of mine hunt in Harrison County that always produces several banded blue wing teal every year. More bands get returned from Tallahatchie and Leflore counties than anyplace else, as I recall.

If I see a 21 year old with a lanyard full of bands, I figure he ordered them from Macks. Or, they are "tamie bands" from release birds from a "tamie shoot." If I see a 40 or 50 year old with 8 or 10, and he seems to be pretty salty, I figure he probably shot them, and his calls will smell like dip.

[Wingman]

My groups took 5 bands in the 00-01 season out of probably 200 mallards shot that year. I haven't seen a band...or many mallards...since.

I've shot 5 or 6 bands personally in 13 or so years of hunting...all in Humphreys county. Have seen another 8-10 shot by friends/hunters while hunting with me that came from this county including the 5 in 00-01.

Wingman

[BeastMaster]

i had some great luck saturday.. got in my hole early and got set up.. sat in my blind admiring the nice bright full moon listening to the birds flying over in the night sky.. the first group to come in were three mallards.. i shot twice and killed a drake and hen mallard.. then a single drake mallard floated in. pow. got him.. so im 3 for 3.... im pleased.. then a drake mallard and a group of teal come in.. the mallard committed but at the last minute the teal pulled up.. i shot the mallard and barely had time to swing through and pop a teal before it passed over my head into the trees.. the teal consiquently fell out in the timber and the mallard was dead in my hole.. so i walked out to pick the teal up being the farthest walk. i picked up the green wing and BLING BLING. had some jewelry.. my first ever.. i was exstatic. so as i walked on water back to the hole to retrieve my mallard i couldn't believe i finally got my first band. i tossed the teal into the blind as i walked by it and began my walk over to the mallard. he was face down in some brush.. i picked him up and BLING BLING.. he had some jewelry.. i shot 5 times and killed 4 mallards and a teal, two of which had bands. how great is that? now, that alone is a great story in its self but it doesn't end there. i finished out my hunt that morning and decided i would try my luck at deer. i had left my rifle and stand at the four wheeler parked just out from my hole.. i tipped over and found a tree over looking my food plot.. i saw a spike,a doe, then five doe, then a 10 point walked out. BANG. dropped him.

picture this.. on my fourwheeler coming out of the woods i've got a 10 point and 5 ducks, two of which are banded..... i shot 6 times and killed 6 critters....... WOW how awesome was that day?? today is sunday and i figured it was a good day to rest up after experiencing the great outdoors in such a way as january 10 2004 had been for me...

i wish the same luck to all of you

[GulfCoast]

picture this.. on my fourwheeler coming out of the woods i've got a 10 point and 5 ducks, two of which are banded

Get yer booty to Biloxi! We are gonna bankroll you at the boats tonight. With you on a roll like that, we are gonna break the Beau!

[hillhunter]

Man that's a great day. I had very similar luck last year exept i only got one band and my deer was a doe(the land owner wanted to thin'em out).

I went this morning and killed a eight point with a 17 3/4 inch spread and heavy horns. nice buck.

Nothin feels better than when you get just plain lucky, no matter what your huntin.

[SoftCall]

I had the same thought about all of the bands coming from a single banding site or refuge. But..So far, the certificates that have been received on several are dispersed. They are from SD, ND, Alberta, and Manitoba.

[redwine]

My brother has the best luck. Two years ago he and a friend hunted one morning and did not fire a shot however when they were walking back to the 4-wheeler to leave he spotted a pile of feathers and after a closer look he found two red legs that were the only thing left of a mallard that had been eaten and one leg had a band. Last year he hunted twice all season and killed a band, I hunted a lot more than once and no band.

[roverduk]

just got back from a hunt with my dad, four ducks dad killed a greenhead and a gadwall , i got a woodie and my second band a big fat greenhead. sorry guys but i'm only 21.

[majorlab]

The first duck I finally hit was a greenhead w a band - figured they all had em. Don't duck hunt much, but only one more in the past 15 yrs.

Shot a limit of greenheads and woodies last week hunting a roosting slough off the Pearl. Anyboby have any advice on how best to hunt a roost?