Band of Brothers...Goose edition!

yorgi

yorgi

CGN frequent flyer
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Location
Toronto, Ontario
I'm sure that it's a regular occurrence in the Prairie provinces but it's a new and exciting discovery for me in Ontario. Was out goose hunting with a friend yesterday and the only flock that came in had about 7 birds. My buddy and I only managed to take two of them, the rest flew away unharmed. I retrieved my friend's goose (closer to me) and happily discovered a band,shouted at him with glee...just as he was retrieving my goose and returning the favour!

Marked his goose with a piece of rope so we could distinguish the two but as it turns out there was no need to... The band numbers were only 3 digits apart. Both banded on the same date, in Moosonee Ontario, on the shore of Hudsons Bay, summer 2015. Both males, one birds info came back as "Banded when too young to fly" the other's "Hatched in 2014 or earlier". I assume that one was an adult, the other a gosling and that they were both members of the same family group.

 
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FLHTCUI said:
Nothing like some jewellery heading into the Christmas Season.
Any weight to these birds?
Congrats and Thank You for sharing,
Rob
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My pleasure! Thanks for everyone's kind replies. Did not weigh the birds but they were both average sized, according to my buddy they tasted mighty fine!
 
yorgi said:
I'm sure that it's a regular occurrence in the Prairie provinces but it's a new and exciting discovery for me in Ontario. Was out goose hunting with a friend yesterday and the only flock that came in had about 7 birds. My buddy and I only managed to take two of them, the rest flew away unharmed. I retrieved my friend's goose (closer to me) and happily discovered a band,shouted at him with glee...just as he was retrieving my goose and returning the favour!

Marked his goose with a piece of rope so we could distinguish the two but as it turns out there was no need to... The band numbers were only 3 digits apart. Both banded on the same date, in Moosonee Ontario, on the shore of Hudsons Bay, summer 2015. Both males, one birds info came back as "Banded when too young to fly" the other's "Hatched in 2014 or earlier". I assume that one was an adult, the other a gosling and that they were both members of the same family group.
Click to expand...

Actually you run better odds of shooting banded birds in Ontario than here on the prairies. We rarely shoot a banded bird here in my neck of the woods. I have recovered only one since moving here in 2012 but used to get numerous bands in Ontario in a season and wasn't even in a band rich environment like souther Ontario! Getting your first is always a big thrill, congratulations!
My first ever goose band I knocked down a pair of Canada's from a flock of three with my o/u. When the dog brought back the first I noticed a leg band and started whopping it up like I scored the winning goal at a Stanley cup final. I sent the dog to retrieve the other bird and when he came back I see this big orange ring around its neck! NECK COLLAR!! And a leg band! Guaranteed bird #3 was banded too but I didn't have a 3 shot gun so it got a free pass.
 
Awesome to find and as Spank said very rare on the prairies. In certain banding areas in MB you can find crazy high numbers early in the fall but I haven't come across a duck in probably 10 years and a goose in likely 5 if not more. Enjoy the moment
 
I dream of shooting a neckie some day...think that's part of the reason I've started chasing snows (much better odds)
Congratulations on the bands! Love hearing the story behind banded birds. I reported a neck collard snow I spotted a couple weeks back just west of the Quebec boarder. It was banded in Nunavut in 2009 as an adult. That's some serious flying.
 
Congrats on the bands! But as far as shooting bands on the prairies, your odds are slim. Put this into perspective, in the 11 000 birds that 2 outfitters I worked with harvested, there was 3 banded birds in the bunch.
 
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