Odds on Bands

[chopper30]

Well im 22 and i've killed 2 bands. I started duck hunting when i was ten. But I didn't kill the first one until last year and one this year. So that makes ten years till i killed my first one. As for the numbers, We have killed a lot of ducks this year, but I think that we have one killed around 150 Mallards/1 band

[gadwall2]

Hell, I started this crap in '88 and haven't got a band on my lanyard yet. I guess I'll live. I'd still rather have bunch of mallards in the freezer than a bunch of bands on my lanyard.

[wudduk]

I know of 2 brothers that hunt in Ark. They hunt everyday of the season, and typically are guiding when they hunt. But they said over their 30 years of hunting, it typically works out to 1 band every 100 ducks.

[torch]

I have ducks and goose hunted HARD for 31 years = 71 bands. I think they used to band more birds.

[hillhunter]

I'm 23 and have been duck hunting since i was 12........not sure how many ducks, but 1 band last year.

I agree with you gadwall, i'd much rather have'em in the freezer.

[SWAG]

I think the 1 band per 100 ducks is about right over the long haul.

[hawkeye]

Hold up a minute, Torch. If the rate of 100 ducks per band holds up, then you would have killed 229 in a season. 229 ducks in a season divided by 51 days in a season gives 4.5 ducks per day. This alone sounds a little funny. But IF Ducks Unlimited is right, and the rate is actually more like 300 ducks per band, then you would have killed 687 ducks in a season. 687 ducks in a season divided by 51 day season gives 13.75 ducks per day. Not sure that's even close to legal. I smell some serious BS here.

[RedEyed Duck]

Alright fellas here is a # that will blow you out of the water. My cousin and his crew are hunting in TN and have killed just over 600 ducks this season, they have also taken 25 bands so far. That will surely skew the #'s. There have been no bands shot on the days that I was there, go figure!

[SoftCall]

Torch probably hunts every day of the season. His theory is that they used to band more birds. I trust his judgement since he has been doing this for over thirty years. I have had two and three band seasons and 4.5 ducks per day could happen.

BTW - my point is that the 1:300 number is way off. Say it's between 1:50 (Wingman) and 1:100 (others). I said 1:70 so let's say 1:75.

Can Hambone weigh in here? They keep pretty good stats I think.

[SoftCall]

RedEyed Duck - were those all mallards? What were the #'s on mallards alone? That is friggin wild!!

[GulfCoast]

I dunno. I have killed over 100 ducks (not all of them mallards) for each of the last 3 years. No bands in the last 300 ducks (plus over 60 this year). I guess the odds just don't like me!

[RedEyed Duck]

The bands were all on mallards with the exception of one widgeon drake with a Jack Miner band. They have slammed over 475 mallards. I can't explain the #'s but they are legit. I agree that it is freaking wild. Guess that gives a bit more proof to all the theories, being in the right place at the right time and birds being banded at one refuge and following the same migration route.

Also, they killed one group of 5 mallards earlier in the year and all 5 were banded, as well as a group of 4 and all 4 were banded. Blows my mind. Man I am ready for Saturday again already bands or no bands!

[sportsman450]

I have a typical band story.

Back in the mid 70s,I was hunting in Panther Swamp when it was still private.I was a member of a "deer" camp that cost all of $50 a year.Best duck deal that ever was!

Anyway,I had killed an early limit and was tacking pictures.They killed 5-6 greenheads out of the first flock that came in after I put my gun down.Every one of them was banded!!! If memory serves,they had been banded in La. a couple of days earlier,and had stayed together.

It took a lot of years and who knows how many hundreds of ducks before I finally killed a banded mallard.

[Hambone]

Softcall, I will share some random thoughts and ubsubstantiated opinions. For years, I shot banded ducks at a rate of about 1 per 100 killed. About 7 or 8 years ago, I shot 3 bands in a week - 2 in the north Delta and 1 in Madison County. That blew the 1 per 100 theory out of the water. I have not checked my journal, but I think that it has been at least 5 or 6 seasons since I have indisputably killed a banded bird. There have been a couple of occasions during that time where I was reasonably certain that the band was mine, but didn't make a fuss about it. I hunt as often and as hard as I ever did, and probably more. With the exception of last year, which was so-so, I cannot say that I have had a bad season since the mid to late 80s. All of this said, I really can't offer any insight as to why I am not getting the bands that I used to. Maybe they don't band as many as they once did. One thing that I have been told is that mallards are the easiest to band because they are easier to bait, concentrate and trap. Most other banded birds are the by-product of mallard operations. It does seem to me that we are shooting more gadwalls and fewer mallards than we used to, but again, I haven't analyzed this. I believe that there is a correlation between certain areas and the number of banded birds taken, especially in proximity to refuges. There is a well-known public area not too far away that I have hunted maybe ten times in ten years. I have taken 3 banded greenheads in those few hunts on that place. Anyway, those are some points to ponder. All said, based on whatever statistics, I think that I am about due for several new bands on my call lanyard!

[Do All Dawg]

Does anyone know of a website that shows you the # of bands killed in each county in MS?