# Banded Birds



## jritchey65 (Sep 23, 2015)

I have a high interest in seeing where birds come from so whenever I see a band someone collected I like to know where it was killed and where it came from.  It just blows my mind to see how far some of the birds travel.  I have only got 1 band and of all things it was a wood duck in Georgia.  Here's the kicker though; you would think being in Georgia it would have been banded here (because they are so abundant) but no....this guy came all the way down from Necedah, Wisconsin. So my question to guys who have collected bands from hunting, where have your birds come from and whats the furthest distance traveled for you trophy's?

Wanted to add this before someone brought it up:
I killed this bird a few years ago; dont want people to think I just shot it in early season.


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## joey1919 (Sep 23, 2015)

Ive shot banded birds that came from as far as Manitoba and as close as Ft Valley


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## vrooom (Sep 23, 2015)

I've killed woodducks from Maine, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.  Mallards from Manitoba and Sasketchuan, and several geese 10 miles away from where they were handed in GA


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## rhbama3 (Sep 23, 2015)

Wood duck banded in Lima, Ohio, killed just south of Troy, Alabama.


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## wray912 (Sep 23, 2015)

mottled banded and killed 5 months later in the same place....caught a tagged bonnet head shark, tagged 4 weeks earlier went 200 yds mine arent cool


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## maconbacon (Sep 23, 2015)

jritchey65 said:


> I have a high interest in seeing where birds come from so whenever I see a band someone collected I like to know where it was killed and where it came from.  It just blows my mind to see how far some of the birds travel.  I have only got 1 band and of all things it was a wood duck in Georgia.  Here's the kicker though; you would think being in Georgia it would have been banded here (because they are so abundant) but no....this guy came all the way down from Necedah, Wisconsin. So my question to guys who have collected bands from hunting, where have your birds come from and whats the furthest distance traveled for you trophy's?
> 
> Wanted to add this before someone brought it up:
> I killed this bird a few years ago; dont want people to think I just shot it in early season.



I haven't had the pleasure of harvesting a banded bird but I wanted to chime on on migrating woodies. Surprisingly enough, only 17% of harvested woodies are local birds, the rest are migrants. http://www.gon.com/hunting/georgia-a-wonderland-for-wood-ducks

The article is a bit dated but I talked to Greg earlier this year and he quoted me a similar number to 17%. It's nice to see numbers like these as it shows Georgia isn't totally duck devoid during the season as it certainly seems at times


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## Lightnrod (Sep 23, 2015)

Killed a double banded wood duck few years back that was banded in New York. A mallard killed in MS was banded in Alberta. Also killed a banded wood duck last year where all the lettering on the band had worn off. You could make out a two and nine and that was it. He was so much larger than the other woodies, would have like to see how old he was.


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## g0nef1sshn (Sep 23, 2015)

20 plus years and 99% hunting south fl, no bands. But its a neat thing for me still to see one day i get one. Guess i should stop playin lotto right? I Iose paper rock scissors and 50/50 bets all the time.


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## 10gaMafia (Sep 23, 2015)

I shot a double banded Canada in upstate NY that came from Ontario.  700 miles as a crow flies from banding location.  Only band(s) I have been lucky enough to get.


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## tradhunter98 (Sep 23, 2015)

I have yet to kill a band but I did have a buddy kill a gwt that was banded 4 months earlier in Canada.


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## jatola77 (Sep 23, 2015)

I killed a pintail a few years ago close to Ft Benning that was banded in North Dakota 23 days before I killed it


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## Mars (Sep 23, 2015)

wray912 said:


> mottled banded and killed 5 months later in the same place....



Same here. Only banded duck I've killed was a mottled. The report said it was banded where I killed it and when it was banded it was "too young to fly."


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## WOODIE13 (Sep 23, 2015)

1 reward banded mallard, Ontario.  1 banded mallard, Manitoba.  1 canvasback, banded in Saskatewan (Quill Lake), 3 geese from WV, one goose from Ohio.


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## TireKicker (Sep 23, 2015)

Canada goose killed in Maryland,  banded in Maryland 
Canada goose killed in Georgia, banded in Georgia 
2 wood ducks killed in Georgia, banded in New York & North Dakota 
Pintail killed in Louisiana,  banded in Ontario 
Mottled duck killed in texas, banded in texas

I think that's it. I haven't looked in that drawer in forever


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## TireKicker (Sep 23, 2015)

The holy grail is to kill one from Japan, but i doubt that will happen for me.


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## WOODIE13 (Sep 23, 2015)

TireKicker said:


> The holy grail is to kill one from Japan, but i doubt that will happen for me.



Bonsai


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## Sea dawg1978 (Sep 23, 2015)

Killed 2 banded woodducks both in richmond hill ga. The first was banded in charelston sc 2 months prior, the second was banded in new brunswick canada 3 years prior.


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## QuackAddict (Sep 24, 2015)

I killed a drake wood duck with a green $100 reward band in Walton co. It was banded in Ohio that same summer.


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## florida boy (Sep 24, 2015)

from hunts i have been part of
two drake buffies killed together with consecutive bands from Manitoba
wood duck hen from Maryland
wood duck drake from Ohio
wood duck drake from the same exact lake 3 years prior
3 other wood ducks that i cant recall band location
gadwall from saskatchewan
mallard drake from saskatchewan 
snow goose from Alberta
neck/leg band canada goose from Ky


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## andyparm (Sep 24, 2015)

All my years I've only killed one banded woodie. Killed him in Riceboro, Georgia He was banded 4 months earlier in Quebec, Canada.
I've been on hunts where 4 or 5 others were banded. All wood ducks. I don't recall where they were from though. Had one guy kill two in one hunt. One was a blue plastic band. I'll have to ask if he knows where they came from...
You would think out of all the gadwalls, teal, and divers my buddies and I have killed through the years we would have at least one out of them, but that's the way it goes. 

Who was it a few years back that killed the banded mottled with the tracking device at Rhetts? I saw it at the ramp that morning and there was a post on here about it a few years ago...

Always interesting to know how far (or not so far) these birds travel.


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## Halawaka (Sep 24, 2015)

9 Banded wood ducks
Puxico, Missouri
Bakers crossroads, Tenn
Harpster, Ohio
Neville, Ohio
Frankfort, Ky
And 3 from right up the road in Upatoi, Ga and one from Eufaula
And one goose from Upatoi

A buddy here at work bagged a wood duck from Upatoi that was 3 numbers off from one of mine.
And my KY and one of the Ohio wood ducks were banded by the same guy!


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## RLykens (Sep 25, 2015)

Blue wing drake banded in august in South Dakota and killed in September of the same year in Savannah.


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## rnelson5 (Sep 25, 2015)

4 banded geese all killed and banded in GA. 1 banded bluebill killed in GA and banded in Indiana a few years before.  1 double banded redhead that was killed in South Texas and banded in East lake Manitoba Candada and then recaptured 3 years later in the exact same spot on banded on the other leg. The next season i killed another banded redhead out of the same exact spot. It was banded in Oregon.


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## pak (Sep 25, 2015)

andyparm said:


> Who was it a few years back that killed the banded mottled with the tracking device at Rhetts? I saw it at the ramp that morning and there was a post on here about it a few years ago...




Here you go.  Banded at Nemours Plantation in SC

I'll try to find a better picture


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## deast1988 (Sep 26, 2015)

Goose banded off oconee
Goose banded off Varner 
Goose banded off oconee River 
Wood duck drake Maryland 
Wood duck drake Tenn, 7yrs old

6-7 woody bands local Ga bands.


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## deast1988 (Sep 26, 2015)

Here's a few pictures of what I had on my phone


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## deast1988 (Sep 26, 2015)




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## bruiserbuckgrower (Dec 12, 2015)

Got my first band today in south ga hen woodie banded michigan


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## duckyaker90 (Dec 12, 2015)

She must have retired in Ga, bc she sure wasn't eluding cold weather up north lol. All jokes aside, Congrats.


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## bruiserbuckgrower (Dec 13, 2015)

Thanks she was banded on August 22 this year


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## Uptonongood (Dec 13, 2015)

I've taken a few banded birds:

two mallards banded in Alberta, Canada and shot about three miles from banding site.

Three mallards (two on same hunt!) banded in Alberta, Canada and taken in western Washington State.

One pintail banded in Alaska taken in Western Washington. 

One brant that was banded in Alaska and taken in Sea of Cortez, Mexico.  

One mourning dove, banded near Yakima, Washington, taken near banding site.  

I hunted with a guy who shot a banded pintail, band was so old we couldn't read it.  Sent it to the Maryland research center and they were able to recover the number.  The bird, a hen, was 11 years old.  Ducks are incredible birds, to think of all the hazzards and predators she had to dodge for that many years!


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## rnelson5 (Dec 13, 2015)

Uptonongood said:


> I've taken a few banded birds:
> 
> two mallards banded in Alberta, Canada and shot about three miles from banding site.
> 
> ...


I have always been interested in Washington state. Did you hunt just east of the Cascades?


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## Uptonongood (Dec 13, 2015)

rnelson5 said:


> I have always been interested in Washington state. Did you hunt just east of the Cascades?




I started duck hunting when I was a kid in eastern Washington, way back in the '60's.  There were huge acreages of field corn and the ducks, almost all mallards, would pour in there in clouds.  As kids, we mostly were jump shooting ducks on creeks and ditches in the Lower Yakima Valley.  Now that area is primarily orchards. 

I moved away for 28 years and then moved back to Washington but this time on the west side.  Our hunting area was near Chehalis on a very inexpensive duck lease.  When the water levels in the fields were good the hunting was exceptional, mostly widgeon and pintails but good numbers of mallards and teal.  We had really good goose hunting up to the first of December. We didn't shoot teal much, holding out for bigger birds.  

As with most places, public hunting is getting pretty tough.  There are fewer and fewer places to hunt and more hunters trying to get a few birds.  The west side of the mountains is really getting crowded.

There are still an incredible number of birds in the State and there are some excellent guides for geese and ducks but a freelance hunter is going to have to work hard to get good shooting. Another issue are folks with huge land holdings and they are flooding harvest corn circles which pull birds away from public lands.  Even the refuges are losing bird numbers to these places.


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## Smiley (Dec 13, 2015)

bruiserbuckgrower said:


> Got my first band today in south ga hen woodie banded michigan



Interesting. My son shot a banded drake woodie this morning and it was banded in Michigan 2014.


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## Smiley (Dec 13, 2015)

Michigan Wood duck drake shot in middle GA.


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## Kkniphfer1 (Dec 13, 2015)

Killed two geese last year.. One banded in Georgia in 2014 and the other banded in Maryland in 2011. Actually killed them both the same day within about 5 minutes of each other


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## clint31 (Dec 13, 2015)

Killed my first ever wood duck two weeks ago, banded in concord Massachusetts


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## jasper181 (Dec 16, 2015)

Killed a woodie earlier this week in Richmond Hill that came from Charleston.


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## WOODIE13 (Dec 16, 2015)

Picked up a few more banded geese the other day, all local here in WV.

The Can was 15.5 yrs old, the goose I took last year was over 10.5 yrs old


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## hotamighty (Dec 19, 2015)

I've taken 2 banded birds. 1st one was a wood duck drake harvested in Cook Co GA (South GA) and banded 4 months earlier in Quebec Canada. The 2nd was a wood duck hen harvested in Berrien co GA (also south GA) and banded the previous year in Savannah NC.


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## GaHunter31602 (Dec 19, 2015)

*Killed a Banded Bluewing*

I killed a banded Bluewing this past Wednesday that was banded in Ontario Canada back in September.


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## mcarge (Dec 23, 2015)

Only two:

Drake Mottled banded in Colleton County,SC 8/10/2010 killed in Savannah 12/22/2010

Drake Green Wing banded Point Tallion Quebec 9/6/2011 killed in Savannah 11/19/2011


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