[Matt Jones]

Well I got the certificate for the banded drake mallard I shot on opener during the greenskins classic today. It was banded near Freelton, Ontario on September 16,1998 (located on the west end of lake Ontario). It hatched in 1998, so it was 4 year old bird. It was shot the 21st so I shot it almost exactly 4 years after it was banded. I was a nice little suprise, It was expecting it to be from J.Clark. I'm thinking since it was a drake it must of "shacked up" with one of our good looking suzies down south and followed her up this way.

 

[mallard]

Myself and some of my friends have had some interesting band returns.I shot a small mallard drake on the opener by arrowwood a couple of years ago.It was 4 years old and banded at Punichy,Saskatchewan.Another motley drake my hunting buddy shot at our duck hotspot was 6 years old banded at Flin Flon,Manitoba.Last year another friend shot a 2 year old banded mallard that was banded in Michigan(the state).About ten years ago I shot another drake mallard that was banded in central Louisiana and was 11 years old.

 

[Dunk221999]

Last year I was hunting near medina on a late season duck hunt and we shot a cackler you know small sub-species of Canadian Goose that was 11 years old. It was banded in the far northeast above like New York in Quebec. I'm not sure of the exact location but I will go and look it up right now and post it later. That same day we also shot 2 drake mallards with bands. One was banded in knife river Sask. and the other in minnedosa mannitoba. It was a great hunt in the snow. Three banded birds in one day!! I had hunted for three years and not shot any. Well that is my story. Good luck hunting everyone

 

[Flick]

Last year while hunting near Jamestown we shot two banded blue wings in a weekend. When we got the info back they were banded only 3 miles from where we shot them! One was hatched that spring and one was a year old.

 

[prairie hunter]

I thought much of the band data and research using plastic beak ID tags have shown that the hens "typically" return to where they were born and drakes follow what ever hen will let them hang with them.

Oak Hammock Marsh north of Winnipeg has been studying hen returns for awhile now.

Dr. Cox have any comments ??

I too shot an Ontario banded drake mallard in the mid '90s. It came into the decoys with about seven other drake mallards.