Hey guys, a couple seasons ago I found a lanyard with 4 bands on it when the lake I hunted dried up. I gave my 3 of them to my friends and kept one that said Brit museum London on it. Turns out it came from a mallard banded in Europe way back in 1967. I can't find any name associated with it though. Any suggestions on what to do?

Contact the bird banding lab with the numbers on the bands. You should be able to get the reporters info. I have heard about people returning the lanyards to their rightful owners that way.

I kind of did that and they sent me a certificate as if I were the one who shot it. It's probably be easier if it was through USGS, instead if a place in England lol

it may have been previously unreported

I bet the guy that lost them was pizzed when he realized they were gone.

ill pm you my address so you can return my lanyard. thanks so much

Haha, I'll send them as soon as you tell me what calls were on the lanyard! Lol

Old school duck commander

Negative.

lol

he was no duck hunter then

Very interesting. I left a lanyard in a friends truck in 1991 that had 4 of my grandpas old bands that he then "lost". They were his old faulks calls. Mallard and a wood duck if I remember correctly. I was 16 and never thought he'd loose em.

Not sure if those bands were ever reported. I just found 6 more of his old bands that I'm going to see if they were reported.

Most recent ones I found were on this shower ring. Several bands and a tarsus band too.

Its mine, they were duck calls...pm sent

Were the 3 you gave to your friends from overseas too? Maybe try to track those down.

So what if you did find the owner now..."Hey mister I found some calls you lost several years ago...I gave all your bands away but you can have your calls back"

No they were from here, I'm not sure if they have researched them. Lol that would be kind of a awkward conversation I guess.

He would probably be happy to have whatever you have left considering the alternate is to get nothing back. The overseas band might have special meaning to him. See if you can get the address and mail it to him anonomously. I lost a call lanyard on Ray Bob several years ago. There is one call on there with Johnny Duck written on it. I would love to have that call back and in any condition. I could care less if the finder gave the other more valuable ones away.

Hold them for ransom

Cool story! An old hunting buddy of mine lost his lanyard several years ago. Prior to that he and I had shot at the same banded woodie and agreed to have the certificate put in both of our names. I put the band on my lanyard luckily bc if it was on his, it would be still sitting on the bottom of the flooded bottoms in north LA.

Cool story Id keep the English band chances of finding original hunter are slim. When I was about 23 I did a bay hunt at Matagorda with some friends in their boat I was going to school in Austin it was also very late in the season maybe the last hunt of the season. Several weeks later I was putting away my gear for the off season and couldn't find my calls on the lanyard were 6 bands all from geese I had killed since I had started hunting at 10 yrs old. When I was in high school and my early 20s I was an assistant for Jimmie Reel guide service and killed alot of geese. Any way those bands were gone nobody in the the boat knew anything I was sick. About 25yrs later my mother told me she was cleaning out a closet and was throwing away some of my dads old hunting clothes and found some duck calls in a coat pocket. It was my bands I got them back. I would borrow my dads stuff when I was younger because his stuff was alot better than mine and he didnt duck hunt. I kept that coat too I not a man that quits a garment due to a little wear. Those bands are on my lanyard now I killed only 7 more banded birds in those 25 or so years.