Bands, Bands and more Bands

2009 has proved to be another great season for banded birds. Our hunters from across the country have compiled 20 banded birds so far ! One hunter that stands out in this department is Mr. Todd Stauffer from Cleona, Pa. This was Todd's first sea duck hunt and he had informed me that he wanted trophy birds. The next morning came early 3;30 a.m. with a couple cups of coffee and a quick bite we were off. With a short ride to the boat ramp, the 20 ft. Lund was launched and the Mighty Boys Super Mag layout was loaded. As we headed out of the harbor in the pre-dawn darkness, the ocean was calm and quite, signaling a great day on the big water. This gave us time to chat about the way things should go for the morning hunt. Once at the hunting grounds layouts were deployed and strings of eider impostors were set. With Todd now in place in the layout it was "hurry up " and wait for legal shoot. At exactly legal shoot, a small group of eiders with 4 hens and 1 fully plumed drake were headed into the impostors cupped and committed unaware of a layout boat. With Todd rising and shouldering the Remington SP10 he had picked the drake out of the flock and crumpled him with one shot. A quick call on the radio, and I was headed in to pick up Todd's first ever eider. As I picked the bird out of the water, I noticed something shiny...it was a band !! Without a word I motored up to the layout so this gentlemen could look at his first eider. "Wow a band" exclaimed Todd..."my first eider and it's banded"!! As we were admiring this trophy, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, it was a fully plumed hen with the landing gear down. With an instinctual "take that bird" the Remington sounded again, with one shot the trophy hen lay lifeless on the water. Motoring around to retrieve the bird, I said "you are not going to believe this" another band. Before I could motor back to the layout, I noticed small ripples on the calm water and it was coming from layout...it was Todd, he was so excited he was shaking all over. Mr. Stauffer promptly said "that's it for today...it doesn't get any better then this" So the boat ride back to the harbor was filled with high fives and congrats. A couple of weeks later Todd had received the results from the band info. The drake was 8 years of age and banded in Nova Scotia, the hen was banded in Newfoundland with an age of 17.5 years old !! This is what makes guiding all worth while. Being involved with people doing something for the first time and leaving a life long memory.