I've always been fascinated by bands. They bring out the best and worst in folks and can ruin a great hunt fast. I have 11 - lost a few more to the draw.

All they mean is you killed a semi wild duck

True. It's like killing a pen raised quail in some ways.

Maybe an AWF mallard band, but ducks and geese banded in the prairie potholes or anywhere in flyway breeding grounds are far from being tame. I have never killed a banded duck, lost a couple draws. I have killed a couple banded pigeons. I figured they were someones homing pigeons, they shouldn't have taken up residence in our barn.

you serious Clark? Wild federal banded ducks are just as wild as non banded ducks. Maybe you're referring to state banded pen raised birds but dang, you need to make that clear.

I've killed two banded ducks and a banded goose. A drake wisgeon and a drake mallard that were banded in Saskatchewan and Alberta I think. Goose was banded in Maine or somewhere. I can't remember.


I have a good friend who is a band magnet. I bet he has a Walmart sack full of bands. A lot of awa and scwa bands, but a lot of federal bands also. He has around 6 or 8 neck collars off geese that were double and triple bands. Also has double banded mallards.

i killed a banded dove last year thought that was pretty cool

I will rephrase that. Shooting a banded duck is not that impressive...all it means is that duck succumbed to the trickery of man long before you took the credit for it

Got to be a joke

Actually it means you've killed a chit pile of birds. A couple might be luck, but I believe the estimate was one band per 700-1000 ducks. Geese aren't all that impressive because there are a lot of local federal bands.

I've killed 4 federally banded ducks and a goose. Believe there's been 15-20 killed out of my boat. I'm not particularly lucky when it comes to shooting the right duck.

Bands are considered trophy's for different reasons. It is true that numbers and luck are a huge part of how many bands a person owns. The band gives us written proof of the great migration that happens every year. The ducks we kill could easily have been enjoying a breakfast in Canada a few days prior to harvest. Ducks move based on snow, water and food.

If hunting pressure becomes too high there are plenty of refuges with zero hunting. This is actually where most banding occurs. So you could make the case that banded birds are actually smarter. They are caught in nets over a baited area, out of season.

I have 6 bands. 4 mallards all banded in Canada and 2 wood ducks banded in Kentucky. NO local bands in 20 + years of duck hunting.

I understand the allure of truly wild places and the pursuit of wild things. For me duck hunting fills that void and the bands are a symbol of a wild creature, free to go where it will.

Just one for me.

I killed a drake woodie that was banded in PA.

Nada. Of course I haven't killed 700-1000 ducks either so maybe that's the problem.


Dr. B

I probably killed enough banded birds to fill a quart jar. In the 22 years I was a guide I would give all the bands to the guys I was hunting with whether they killed it or I did. The only bands I have on my lanyard is the 1st band I ever got. It was on a wood duck drake and the 2 that was on the $100 greenhead I killed. I also have the 3 leg and neck bands off 2 specks and a blue goose. Oh and the one I got off a commarant but that's a whole nother story in itself. The bird was not dead when I got it. That's all I'm gonna say about it.

Just...wow. That's some weird logic there, but to each his own I guess.

I've killed one, a wood duck banded in SC. I've witnessed a few others where I wasn't fast enough on the trigger, mallards & wood ducks.

The best one was 2 years ago my buddy who's usually a crack shot was having a bad day and so we were jump shooting some wood ducks to try to get him a limit. We walked this line of willows out and got to the very end when one drake busted about 10 feet from him. He smoked it with a Patternmaster at no more than 10 yards, just a reflex shot. I sent my dog and he joked right before the dog got to it that it was probably banded but inedible. Sure enough the dog turned around and I saw the band on its leg. Can't remember for sure but I think it was banded in either KY or OH. And I think half of it was still edible!

I like knowing where the birds come from. I've got a buddy that's done a decent amount of banding in LA. It's not as simple as just grabbing a few birds. They're very wild before and after you put that band on them. Now tamey mallards that's another thing. Those don't count as bands IMO.

I've had years where I've racked up, and many years until the next band. Just luck of the draw on killing a banded bird.

The Jack Miner band is the pinnacle!

I'm just the most unlucky band guy there is. I killed my first duck way back in 1983 and have killed countless ducks and geese since. I have a grand total of ZERO bands, zilch, nada. I do have one dove band though.

It's like wanting a trophy for the wall, took me forever to kill a Can and even hooked up with some Can killers and it took a few days to get it done. Kill them all the time now.

Once you break the ice they seem to keep coming. 99% of the mallards and black ducks I've killed with bands, came form Canada. Woodies from TN and KY and 1 form NC or SC, killed it in AR. Flew NW kinda.

A few years back I was deer hunting and noticed all the ducks in the sky which is a rare thing even then. Called a buddy and said I was heading to our duck hole mid day if he wanted to come. He passed. I killed 3 bands that day, all green heads. We hunted or another week and never got another band. Fresh birds daily and plenty to go around.

2 geese and a goldeneye. 4 guys killed 4 banded geese out of one flock a few years back. All banded in Michigan and all close in band numbers. I have seen a good many killed just haven't had the luck of the draw.

22 in 39 seasons. It took me 17 years to kill the first one and I'm 7 ducks shy of 3000. I think they're fun to have and a majority of them bring back memories of special places or people that were on the hunt. My most prized one was a Jack Minor "Fear God and give Him the glory". Most unique one was a 13 year old ringneck, and a pellet hit the band. Six of us killed 48 ringers that day. I saw a mallard come over the pit in Arkansas one day and caught a shine on a drakes leg. I never took my eye off it and killed it on the next pass. It was banded 4 months prior in Canada. Craziest one was a wood duck in Arkansas timber. Some of those boys frown on you killing woodies in the woods. It was banded less than 5 miles from my house on Wheeler Wildlife Refuge here in Alabama.