# Targeting survey



## hamernhonkers (Sep 28, 2007)

So did anyone else get an email from the dwr for the targeting survey on banded honkers? 

I would be very interested in seeing the results on this one. 

I wonder just how honest people will be on this subject?


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## stuckduck (Jan 31, 2008)

Got the same survey... 

Kind of hard not to get a band in Utah when they band a lot of birds... 

Isn't that the whole reason for switching to black bands because of targeting?


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

stuckduck said:


> Got the same survey...
> 
> Kind of hard not to get a band in Utah when they band a lot of birds...
> 
> Isn't that the whole reason for switching to black bands because of targeting?


Yep


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

Even when a guy has a banner year of goose bands without "targeting them", it gets implied on here that he is. -O|o-


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

i just filled it out. I did not lie i got one goose band and I did not know it was banded untell five min later.


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## brettb (Aug 23, 2009)

I shot one black band last year, picked up the bird, looked for a band, ran to pick up another bird and then realized the first bird had a black band. Didn't even see when I was looking for it. A few days later I shot a silver banded goose and didn't see it until I picked it up. I filled out the survey and was honest about it. 

I don't think that many guys are actually targeting bands. It does happen, just not as much as people think it does


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

dkhntrdstn said:


> i just filled it out. I did not lie i got one goose band and I did not know it was banded untell five min later.


Only targeting all the ones packing a piece of alluminum now huh Dustin??? Just kidding ;-)


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

utahbigbull said:


> Even when a guy has a banner year of goose bands without "targeting them", it gets implied on here that he is. -O|o-


Preaching to the choir my man... BUT the banner year of which i think you are referring to doesnt hold a candle to the numbers a "fortunate few" have been reporting over the _years_. lets just say for the sake of keeping this discussion short, that i believe this "survey" is calling a few names out to see if they'll plainly admit to the practice of landing geese to *Explicitly* kill the banded ones. Im not saying the practice is "wrong", just say'n that the "value" of a band taken the likes of Dustins example has much more "weight" to me/others than one that didnt come as such a "surprise" say in like landing a flock, picking out three that are sporting bands and letting them have it.... different strokes i suppose. :noidea:


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## Joh Fredersen (Sep 24, 2013)

Why would you lie on that survey?
I've talked to Rich before about targeting collared and banded birds, and he's always been glad to have the data, and never discouraged me in the practice, especially the collared birds.
I'm really interested in the survey results as well.
The one black band I watched get harvested last season was landed in the decoys at <20 yards while other birds worked. The shot was called, and this bird went down. It wasn't until the lucky #*%?€ put his hand on the leg to pick up the bird that he noticed the band at all.


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

brettb said:


> I shot one black band last year, picked up the bird, looked for a band, ran to pick up another bird and then realized the first bird had a black band. Didn't even see when I was looking for it. A few days later I shot a silver banded goose and didn't see it until I picked it up. I filled out the survey and was honest about it.
> 
> I don't think that many guys are actually targeting bands. It does happen, just not as much as people think it does


The proof is in how truthful the reporting(s) are/is.

My question to the individual/s that are targeting, would be WHY? What is the value?? BIG deal you can land em in the "kitchen" on private property just about anybody can do that... -O|o-:mmph:


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

utahbigbull said:


> Only targeting all the ones packing a piece of alluminum now huh Dustin??? Just kidding ;-)


lol im lucky if i kill a goose a year.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

I don't have this problem, I haven't shot a goose in Utah the last 2 seasons now.:shock: Honestly though, goose bands don't do much for me. Everyone knows duck bands are so much cooler.8)


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

Joh Fredersen said:


> Why would you lie on that survey?
> I've talked to Rich before about targeting collared and banded birds, and he's always been glad to have the data, and never discouraged me in the practice, especially the collared birds.
> I'm really interested in the survey results as well.
> The one black band I watched get harvested last season was landed in the decoys at <20 yards while other birds worked. The shot was called, and this bird went down. It wasn't until the lucky #*%?€ put his hand on the leg to pick up the bird that he noticed the band at all.


the collared geese around these parts (not collars et al) are being marked for death for a reason, the black bands were designed to do what the silver bands were designed for in the first place, data collection w/o being so openly marked for death. Now that the silver bands are being targeted, the black bands are being tested and it sounds like from your experience they are working to a point.


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

I too don't see the sense in letting them land. For me, it's all about getting them right in front of ya, just about to touch down. Then pop the blind doors open and seeing ther beady little eyes get as big as silver dollars with that "OH CRAP" look.

Anybody that can pick these out untill they pick up the bird, more power to them.


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

dkhntrdstn said:


> lol im lucky if i kill a goose a year.


Let's get ya out one day this winter and change that


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

Fowlmouth said:


> I don't have this problem, I haven't shot a goose in Utah the last 2 seasons now.:shock: Honestly though, goose bands don't do much for me. Everyone knows duck bands are so much cooler.8)


ive got two GWT bands! :^8^: both from AK...


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

One day.....maybe one day.... I will get a banded duck-*|*-


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

there's always ebay. :kiss:


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## Joh Fredersen (Sep 24, 2013)

utahbigbull said:


> One day.....maybe one day.... I will get a banded duck-*|*-


DITTO!
I'd trade ten 1048, 1068, or 1148 prefix goose bands for one duck band any day!
Hasn't happened yet.

And I'm not saying I "land and scan" targeting bands. 
But if I catch a glimpse of jewelry, that will be my target. And I do look.
One collared goose I shot, I somehow missed seeing the collar until the bird was in the dirt, so I must not be very good at looking!
I love the black bands, and the whole idea of the study.
Rich has some great ideas, wish we had more like him.


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## Greenhead_Slayer (Oct 16, 2007)

Call me crazy, but I still find some joy in shooting bands. Seems like the trend a few years ago was to shoot bands and the trend has turned to frown on shooting them. I'm sure it'll swing again before long. If they are feet down and up close I'll scan their legs to look for bling, and if some happens to be there I usually shoot those geese first. If nothing has bling, they still get shot. 

I fail to see the difference in having a goal to shoot a banded bird vs. shooting a 200" deer or 375" elk. 

First honk I ever shot as a scrawny kid was banded. It was like the icing on the cake. And hot dang was I good looking kid.


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## toasty (May 15, 2008)

I didn't get the survey, but I find this discussion interesting. I shot 12 geese last year and 8 of them were banded. I targeted the bands, but not in the way you think. I was aware of 2 different local flocks, both of which had the majority of the birds banded. I knew this from a good spotting scope. I targeted shooting birds in those flocks knowing a chance of a band was pretty good, however, I only saw 1 of the 8 bands before I shot and had I not seen a band, I still would have shot. I ended up taking 9 geese out of those 2 flocks and 8 were banded. Had none of the geese in those 2 flocks not been banded, it wouldn't have changed anything I did, I still would have targeted killing geese out of these flocks. So, is that targeting bands?


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

dont think so... sounds like you did your homework and the bands were just a result of a chance situation. Very unlike decoying a distant unknown traffic type-flock down to your decoys folding three cleanly then going out and discover one, maybe two, and even rarer still, ALL THREE were banded. Rarer yet, the three sport consecutive numbers. :shock:8)


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## Longgun (Sep 7, 2007)

toasty said:


> I didn't get the survey, but I find this discussion interesting. I shot 12 geese last year and 8 of them were banded. I targeted the bands, but not in the way you think. I was aware of 2 different local flocks, both of which had the majority of the birds banded. I knew this from a good spotting scope. I targeted shooting birds in those flocks knowing a chance of a band was pretty good, however, I only saw 1 of the 8 bands before I shot and had I not seen a band, I still would have shot. I ended up taking 9 geese out of those 2 flocks and 8 were banded. Had none of the geese in those 2 flocks not been banded, it wouldn't have changed anything I did, I still would have *targeted killing geese* out of these flocks. So, is that targeting bands?


much different from targeting landed-n-banded geese in your decoys...


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

utahbigbull said:


> Let's get ya out one day this winter and change that


sounds good to me.:mrgreen:


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## hamernhonkers (Sep 28, 2007)

For me, similar to Toasty I hunt in areas that are very rich in banded targets. It is so bad at times that I just can expect to pick up a goose and find it to be banded.

As far as targeting them. I can think of 5 geese over the last 30 years where I have actually seen the band before pulling the trigger and on those you can certainly tell where I was looking as I pulled the trigger:mrgreen:

I do personally know two individuals who specifically target bands when they land the flocks but with so few birds around it doesn't stop them from killing the birds if they don't spot any bands.

I will also be honest that it has lost some of its luster for me as I just can't seem to get lucky anymore and kill *non local bands*. There is still nothing like seeing that band and then wondering where that bird has been, what it has seen, and how many times it has been the "lucky goose" getting out alive. This is what makes bands so special, getting to see just a glimpse of that birds life and where it came from and how long it has been alive.

As far as targeting them, like greenhead slayer said, what's the difference between targeting a collar or a band or targeting that big bull or big buck? For that matter like the time I spent a week in another state trying to target and kill a blue goose? I sure know that one tested my skills and patience and was far more rewarding then any band or collar I have ever shot.

I guess it just boils down to what you take out of each experience and what matters to you.


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