LEH dammit

[Crazy_Farmer]

I want an LEH for these guys, come on.

http://members.shaw.ca/stevensml/hunting/swaners3.jpg

And the collared ones are all tundras which are the only ones you're allowed to shoot in a couple states in the US. All I want is a one bird a year tag. Imagine that mount in your house, wing span from wall to wall.

4 collars total, 2 black, 2 blue(which are in order)

http://members.shaw.ca/stevensml/hunting/swaners5.jpg

[BearSniper]

I dunno:???:


Given that they were nearly extinct 60 years ago, I'm not sure we should be hunting them yet.

They have a high mortality rate in the Fraser Valley due to old lead pellet buck shot poisioning.

If they were as plentiful as Canada's I think I'd agree with you. They would make a beautiful trophy, but my gut tells me we should wait a few years.

Just my 2 cents

[PGK]

Tough to have an LEH for a species the entire continent wants a crack at!! I saw three in a group of five that had collars last week. So cool. If they keep going at the rate they are, we may be able to hunt them in the next 5 or ten years!

[Crazy_Farmer]

The numbers are way up thats for sure. Almost half the ones I counted in the field were still grey or greyish so the young are doing great. Over the last 4-5 years the numbers have increased in our area quite a bit each year. And when you drive over to chilliwack theres always one field just packed with them.

I also went back out and waited till I could get a photo of all 4 together. They finally came together after a bit.

Just waiting now on the info to come back. Theres a website with info on the blue collared ones, part of a research into the possible avian flu spread becuase some tundra swans nest on part of russia and some whooper swans in Japan died from it. So they want to track the routes doing down but also back up to see if they are mixing with the ones on the russian side.

http://members.shaw.ca/stevensml/hunting/swaners4.jpg

[scallywag]

i saw a bunch of them on the island today too...

[longshot]

saw a few down where i was hunting, flew right over. Definetly more and more each year

[f350ps]

Sh%#loads of them here in Ladner also. You'd need a semi trailer to pack the decoys in. I shot a limit of greenheads today and they were 50-50 local and northerns. A good sign for things to come. A beauty day in the marsh, sun shining on those greenheads sure looked sweet! K

[Crazy_Farmer]

You'd need a semi trailer to pack the decoys in.

Nahh, I can get it done with only two magnum canada shells repainted as swans :tongue:. Dont use them much but this morning I decoyed probably 5 different flocks of swans right into them. It wouldnt matter though, the damn things fly so low all the time you could pass shoot them almost anywhere.

[Tanya]

Eewww! The white scourge! Those darn things absolutely mangle the fields. I agree that there should be either an LEH or a 1 or 2 bag limit per season per person, mandatory reporting of some kind. Saw our first one today, they'll be here in droves shortly. GRRRRRR. They have no fear of shooting. We have shot ducks while the white scourge fed a hundred yards away in the the field and they don't even move.

[porcupine]

By brother and nephew have hunted them several times down in the states. My brother had a full mount of one flying done for his living room and it looks really nice. The wings are in a downward, vertical position. However, they are regulated by the Feds so I doubt we'll get a crack at them.
________
Drag Pack (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Drag_Pack)

[sneg]

Have seen two with RED collars in Ladner.Interesting... Some guys were shooting at them, two different groups. They said they have mixed up with snow geese. Lucky they missed. I do not know what kind of shooter you need to be to miss low flying huge bird ,such as swan ?? Second question where those guys got their CORE from if they can not see difference between swan and geese ??. Unbelievable. Those guys were not far from us and when I shouted that they are shooting at wrong bird ,they said they mixed up with geese. When I made move toward them ( I was leaving) ,those guys start running out from marsh. Strange people.

[Crazy_Farmer]

I havent got the certificates back but I did get a bit of info from the alaskan study page. The two blue collared tundra swans are part of this study.

http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/avian_influenza/TUSW/index.html

And the info on the two swans, a breeding pair I assume.

P713 and P714 were both marked on 21 July 2006 near King Salmon, on the north end of the Alaska Peninsula.
P713 is an adult female, and P714 is an adult male

[sneg]

not sure if i would ever wanted to hunt swans.way to easy and meat is not tasty

[Dirty]

I saw a whole bunch over the last 2 years with yellow and red tags around their necks. I was wondering what it was all about. I guess now I know. I knew there were two different species, but I didn't know it was the Tundra's that are being neck banded. Cool!

[Crazy_Farmer]

Well the red ones should be trumpeters fi I remember correctly. Seems like all the guys are seeing in Washington have red collars, we saw one of them last year here but I couldn get close enough to find the numbers. I think they may of even captured some red collars down in washington.

Thats the main thing with neck collars. For birders to see the collars and report them in, it gives the biologists an idea of the exact migration route the birds are taking. If you can get close enough to see the numbers you should send the numbers in as its a helpful thing to do.

[Dirty]

I saw all kinds of them with neck collars last year, and close enough I could have read the numbers. If I see any this year I will report them all. Thanks CF.