Duck hunting trip to the STA's / Lake O

[bman]

Six of us went down with 4 permits to chase ducks in the STAs
With a poor as the season has been up here expectations were high.

Three of us left early with a plan to hunt Okeechobee Friday am.

We had an interesting time on the lake but didn't bring home any ducks.
Ran 30 mottles out of this hole but they never came back


This is what a hunters Hotel looks like


The next two days we hunted STA 1, 2 and 5 with the expected great sucess!











My personal highlights
Shooting Mottles, Fulvus tree ducks, and Blackbelly Tree Ducks. Love shooting things we don't see here!

Shot my 2nd banded Mottle in two years


Now here is the crazy end to the story...

Tuesday Night we got together to clean ducks. Started pulling teal out of the trash to clip the feat off for duck stock(my wife likes it).
Look what I found!!

One of us had cleaned it and thrown it in the trash without noticing the band!

It is jsut crazy
How did it get shot and picked up out of the water without being seen?

How did it get put on a lanyard without being seen?

How did it get past the STA check station biologist without being seen?

How did it get put in the fridge without being seen?

How did it get spread out on the picnic table for the group photo without being seen?

How did it get from the fridge to the cooler without being seen?

How did it get sorted out from the divers for cleaning without being seen?

How did it get thrown in the trash without being seen?

Well I found it so DIBS Its MINE!!!

Banded 08/18/2011
Species Blue-winged Teal
Age HATCHED IN 2011
Sex MALE
Location , NORTH DAKOTA, USA



Band Story

[silverking]

Great report and photos, Bman. Interesting twist about the mystery band. Did you buy a Powerball ticket, maybe at the Publix in Melbourne Beach, on your way home?

One observation, though. In the group shot at the folding table, one of the "guys" is definitely cuter than the rest of you camo clowns.

[JIm Smith]

I heard cuter for sure, than the rest of that crew

[bman]

Since you mentioned it... here is the cute photo

[MudDucker]

I'm officially jealous! Wack em, stack and find jewelry! How can you sit down with the horseshoe placement?

[Tea Bone]

What kind of layout boats are those? The front one looks like a Carstens?

[RCS]

Barry, congrats! Looks like y'all had a great time. It's been 3 years since I was last down, but seeing those Fulvous and Mottled ducks has me wanting to get back down there next season. What was the band story for that banded Mottled drake?

[bman]

What kind of layout boats are those? The front one looks like a Carstens?

Carston Puddlers... Killer boats!!!!

What was the band story for that banded Mottled drake?

Banded 7/13 at STA1 The same place I shot it.

My other one was banded 9 or 10 years before I harvested it on STA3/4 and harvested on Lake Okeechobee.

Both were banded by the same man- Jamie Feddersen - the new head Biologist of Waterfowl and Small game for FWC.
He has banded over 3500 ducks and never shot one of his own!