Bands

Not that I have killed a lot of banded birds, but it is always a treat to kill one. I know that when we moved to Ohio, my Dad didn't have many keepsakes. Not only had he grown up poor, he just wasn't the type to collect any mementos. But in a special little compartment of his dresser be had 3 small silver bands. I used to get them out and read the words and numbers and ask him over and over where the birds had come from. They obviously meant something to my Dad, so they became a real treasure to a little boy. No one else's father had any, only my Dad. Now I have a few of my own and one of my sons has a couple. They hang on a leather string in my den. They are one of the first things I would grab if the house caught on fire; my 870, my Marine Corps Shooting Medals, my duck albums and my bands. Some things just couldn't be replaced with insurance money. The Brannen Luck has limited my collection of bands, but I can remember each of my banded birds and some of the details of the hunts.

1.......Dad .......Black Duck........Oshawa, ONT.............Maysville, KY
2.......Dad........Black Duck........Haliday Lake, ONT....Maysville, KY
3.......Dad........Mallard.............Delta, MB..................Maysville, KY
4...... Me.........Wood Duck........Harpster, OH............Indian Lake
5.......Me.........BW Teal.............Stalwart, SK..............Indian Lake
6.......Me.........Mallard..............Celina, OH................Indian Lake
7.......Dad........BW Teal.............Graettinger, IA.........Indian Lake
8.......Dad........Mallard..............Celina, OH................Celina, OH
9.......Me.........Redhead............Willard, NY...............Indian Lake
10.....Dad........Canada Goose....Celina, OH.................Celina, OH
11.....Dad........Canada Goose.....Celina, OH.................Indian Lake
12.....Me.........Canada Goose.....Celina, OH.................Indian Lake
13.....Dad........BW Teal..............Roberts, ID...............Indian Lake
14.....Me.........Canada Goose.....Harpster, OH.............Indian Lake
15.....Me.........Bluebill...............Tappahannock, VA....New River
16.....Me.........Bluebill...............Grasonville, MD.........New River
17.....Mike......BW Teal..............Port Rowan, ONT.......Hobucken, NC
18.....Me.........Brant..................Hudson Bay, NWT......Chincoteague
19.....Me.........Brant..................Hudson Bay, NWT......Chincoteague
20....Mike......Wood Duck.........Brookhaven, NY.........Maysville, NC
21....Mike.......Brant...................Baffin Island, NT.........Chincoteague
22....Mike - same as above - double banded

I killed #'s 4, 5, 6 in 2 days at Walnut Island in 1967.

I shot #9 from the Reed Patch in 1968.

Dad and I shot #'s 11, 12 on the same pass at Walnut Island in 1969.

#14 was the last goose I killed at Indian Lake, No Name Island in 1981.

I killed #'s 15, 16 exactly a year apart at Hospital Point on 1/3/83 and 1/3/84.

I killed #'s 18, 19 at Chincoteague on 1/2/04 and 1/3/04, 20 years after my last banded bird.

Dad and I killed 9 banded birds from 1967-1969. We were really on a roll. Fizzled out after that.

Mike's double banded Brant was the first time he had ever gotten anything like that.

The only other bands I've been around were: a BW Teal and a Pintail that Whit killed up at Lowland, a Wood Duck that Trevor killed on the White Oak River, a Brant that Kelly killed the same trip that I got mine, a double banded Eider that Dave Schneider shot up in Maine, and a Ross' Goose that Rich Kasunic killed when I went to Saskatchewan. One day in Mouse Harbor my Dad, Whit and I had a flock of Canvasbacks land in the decoys, we didn't shoot due to the season being closed on them. When they flew we all could see a band on one of the drakes. Morris almost lost his mind over that one. I saw a neck banded Swan up in Hyde County but it got by the decoys before I saw it. I tried to stalk it but couldn't get close enough.