How old do..

Moosie

Grand poopa
Joined
Dec 9, 2000
Messages
17,666
Location
Boise, Idaho
.. geese and ducks get ?!?! I shot a 6 year old banded goose.. So I'm asuming at least 6 years old
wink.gif


Anyone know the Average age ?
 
MArv.. Sounds likethe Shooting isn't ALL that good ?!?! WEhy don't you come with us in Jan. to Louisiana to shoot some ?

Thanx for the info !!!
 
Have to keep that in mind...but already gonna do a Texas hunt for Sky Carp.

Funny thing is that I kicked the holy %$#*&^ out of the doves this year and now can't knock done ducks???? I'll chalk it up to the fuggin' steel shot...yeah, that's it
rolleyes.gif
 
I have heard of ducks getting upwards of 15 yrs old. My buddy shot a banded duck one day and the band was so old it was worn smooth and almost worn off...we took it to F&G office and they told us he could still send it in and they use some sort of acid wash to bring out the #s but it pretty much will destroy the band so my buddy just opted to keep it and not send it in. The biologist figured to be up in that range of 12+ just judging on the condition of the band.
 
Well, my 2 cents.

Canada geese (canadian geese can't cross into the US
wink.gif
)can live past twenty, but on average it is much lower. Hell, probably 1/3 don't make it through the first year. I would think 8 - 12 years is probably a pretty good range for those making it the first year.

As for the worn bands, the USFWS can use a wash to distinguish the numbers and it will not destroy the band. I don't have a personal experience with it, but spoke to one of the technicians at the lab.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>The biologist figured to be up in that range of 12+ just judging on the condition of the band.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I am surprised the biologist guessed the band to be that old. In my opinion, more of an impact on the band is a correlation of what type of habitat the goose used. In other words, if this was a bird that spent most of the year in sandy or gravel bottom shallows then the band would wear much quicker than one that inhabited a soft mudded marsh.

Hell, I am no waterfowl biologist, so take it for its worth.

Anyway, cool band stories. How far away were these guys banded?
 
I shot 2 geese that were neck/leg banded. The cool thing is the numbers were in sequence following each other, but to top that I shot both geese almost a yr apart from each other. I shot one in december of one yr and the other in an early goose hunt in september of the following yr. I sent off the first band #s and it came from Ladd Marsh in La Grande OR and I killed both geese off same reservoir in Juntura OR about 100 miles away as the crow flys. One neck band got a few pellets to it but the other is mint, I planed on having them mounted someday but never have.
 
I saw a site last year that said the oldest known Mallard was 26......a Canvasback was pretty old too. I can't remember much else, but there is a site out there that tells all.........
 
The oldest duck I have ever killed is a Black Duck that I killed in 2000. When I called the band in the lady told me the bird was banded in 1986.Then she sent the certificate that said it. The band was paper thin almost to the point of breaking when I took it off.
 
A friend of mine killed a goose in SW MT that was twelve. It was banded about 6 miles from where it was shot. I couldn't belive it made through all those seasons. They get hunted pretty hard around there.
 
Caribou Gear

Forum statistics

Threads
110,805
Messages
1,935,115
Members
34,883
Latest member
clamwc
Back
Top