Congrats on the band

Ive been duck hunting for 15 years and have not once got a band...ive been hunting with buddies that have got em countless of times but I just cant get the luck!

This

Unfortunately I didn't think to mount the woodie, I've got the band on the strap for my duck call now. How much does a taxidermy job on a duck cost? I could always mount another one and put the band on it.

average taxi for ducks about $250, find something cheaper let me know!
some lucky dogs.....been hunting ducks about 10yrs now....only have 1 band, Arkansas mallard drake

I am wierd this way, I check the bands for pellet scars. I don't know why but I think pellet scars are kewl. What I look for are signs of previous scars, not the one from the shot that killed the bird. You can tell the new ones from old ones. If the metal in the dent looks shiny and new, then it is probably from your shot. If it looks dull like the rest of the band or has obvioud debris from elsewhere, it would probably be an old shot. I think it was brazosboyT that posted a redhead with a healed up pellet wound in the webfoot of a bird that was banded.

Wow...a band on your first trip. Took me several years to get my first(and only at this point).

Congrats man! Did you call it in? Where was it from?

Luckily for everyone the guide did the calling! I've been practicing around the house but haven't tested my skills in the field yet.

I'm still waiting to hear from the USGS when and where the bird was originally banded, but the band is still pretty shiny, I wouldn't be surprised if he was tagged fairly recently.

Turns out he hails from Alabama, hatched this year.

Well that is pretty cool, Thanks for the follow-up!

Were you hunting off of Diemer road? If so I think I may know exactly where you were. I hunted that area from the time I was old enough to carry a shotgun through about 2002.