A rare find for a detectorist, Avise Goose band

DIGGER27 · Mar 15, 2015

This is going to be filed under weird things we dig up.
About 5" deep I dig up this band.
No bones anywhere in the vicinity, just the band.
Doing research I find these are pretty collectable since only about one out of a thousand geese are banded, if you are a hunter and kill one with a band that makes you a proud hunter indeed.
They are posted on E Bay for some crazy prices, the older the more expensive.
I have seen a few other posts on other forums that a few others dug up but not many, a goose band is one of the largest types out there.

The cool thing is there is a website you can go to and plug in the numbers and they will tell you all about the bird it was attached to.
I did it and got an immediate answer.

This thing evidently got up into the air sometime because it flew south 700 miles to my area where I found it.

Pretty neat, it will look cool on display.

BentRod · Mar 15, 2015

That's cool! Is that one from Washington State?

holedigger · Mar 15, 2015

That's cool. I have a Ziploc bag full of duck and goose bands and a couple of reward bands from years of waterfowling.

DIGGER27 · Mar 15, 2015

BentRod said:
That's cool! Is that one from Washington State?

Banded in Karnak ND in 1988 when it was still too young to fly.
Oh, I see, the Washington thing threw you.
Some of the newest ones have phone numbers or web addresses on them so you can report them and the govt. can track them.
Most that report the location found are new that are on freshly killed game birds or dead birds that people come across.
This one is unusually old according to the info on the tracking site at 25 years.

Info on it...

Federal Bands

Federal bands issued in the USA and Canada have 8 or 9 numbers with a legend indicating WRITE BIRD BAND LAUREL MD 20708 and WWW.REPORTBAND.GOV. The older bands had the legend WRITE BIRD BAND LAUREL MD 20708 or AVISE BIRD BAND WASH DC. Avise loosely means advise in several languages

WBL TH · Mar 15, 2015

Too bad it was not a reward band you could have gotten a Payday! I have hunted ducks and geese for a lot of years now and have only recovered 3 banded ducks. All local sportsmens club bands.

Awesome Find.

Greg

gcsod45 · Mar 15, 2015

wow cool find

Metal Maniac · Mar 16, 2015

Excellent find. Which machine were you using?

pescadore · Mar 16, 2015

Very cool find !! i have never seen one of those before but i'm not a hunter. Congrats.

steveFL · Mar 16, 2015

Without a doubt a rarity, congrats!

DIGGER27 · Mar 16, 2015

Metal Maniac said:
Excellent find. Which machine were you using?

F70/DD sniper coil in the woods.
It was about 4-5" deep, I was just digging anything that wasn't iron.

coin chaser · Mar 16, 2015

Cool find man! The only bands I seem to find are racing pigeon bands.

~Alan~ · Mar 16, 2015

coin chaser said:
Cool find man! The only bands I seem to find are racing pigeon bands.

Same here, and they aren't even metal !!

DIGGER27 · Mar 16, 2015

Thanks all...if I can't find the regular stuff the irregular things are really neat to find as a substitute.
Over on Treasurenet some guy posted about one he found, then another guy replied that he dug one up too with a leg bone.
Get this...his wife thought it was so cool she shadowboxed it and put it on display in their living room.
Pretty sure an idea like this would never enter my wife's mind.
Even I think this is pretty weird.

coin chaser · Mar 16, 2015

DIGGER27 said:
Thanks all...if I can't find the regular stuff the irregular things are really neat to find as a substitute.
Over on Treasurenet some guy posted about one he found, then another guy replied that he dug one up too with a leg bone.
Get this...his wife thought it was so cool she shadowboxed it and put it on display in their living room.
Pretty sure an idea like this would never enter my wife's mind.
Even I think this is pretty weird.

I'm with ya, don't think my wife would make that but it sure is cool!

TommyJay · Mar 16, 2015

No bones? It was probably passed by the critter that had it for lunch.

RyanChappell · Mar 16, 2015

Very cool find!! I had a boss a few years back that was obsessed with duck hunting, I remember him talking on the phone with another hunter, about what a big deal bands are.

I thought bands obligated the hunter to report them, (hunting laws, etc) for the value of the information of where the bird was shot? So that the migratory patterns or releasing of young birds could be traced.

What are the rules on this?

coin chaser · Mar 17, 2015

RyanChappell said:
Very cool find!! I had a boss a few years back that was obsessed with duck hunting, I remember him talking on the phone with another hunter, about what a big deal bands are.

I thought bands obligated the hunter to report them, (hunting laws, etc) for the value of the information of where the bird was shot? So that the migratory patterns or releasing of young birds could be traced.

What are the rules on this?

Yep report them and you will get the bird info for your tag. Some even have a reward on them.

yrekadude · Mar 17, 2015

Really cool find! cool story too

DIGGER27 · Mar 17, 2015

RyanChappell said:
Very cool find!! I had a boss a few years back that was obsessed with duck hunting, I remember him talking on the phone with another hunter, about what a big deal bands are.

I thought bands obligated the hunter to report them, (hunting laws, etc) for the value of the information of where the bird was shot? So that the migratory patterns or releasing of young birds could be traced.

What are the rules on this?

Report them and they will send you info in an e mail or a certificate in snail mail about the bird.
Kind of like a badge of honor when you take a bird and find one on its leg.
No law against not reporting them, but I think most hunters do and with a website, address or phone number of some kind on most of them the gov't makes it easy to do.

Look on eBay at the prices of these things.
Newer ones aren't all the much, but the older they get the prices start going up.
These seem to be a popular addition when they are attached to bird calls that are up for sale.

FelixtheCat · Mar 17, 2015

DIGGER27 said:
Report them and they will send you info in an e mail or a certificate in snail mail about the bird.
Kind of like a band of honor when you take a bird and find one on its leg.
No law against not reporting them, but I think most hunters do and with a website, address or phone number of some kind on most of them the gov't makes it easy to do.

Correct on this. I found one for a pelican a few years back and I reported through their website. To this date, that's one of my favorite finds.

A rare find for a detectorist, Avise Goose band

DIGGER27

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