Trumpeter swan A early End to our morning Duck Hunting

[Johnch]

Me and 3 other guys planned to hunt a 25 yard wide and 200 yard long pothole in the marsh next to the Creek this morning
I figured the decoys in the pothole would get the Mallards , Black Ducks and Pintails ducks to decoy and we could pass shoot the wood ducks as they flew past
It was opening day of Big duck and Goose season

2 of us told the other 2 and the 3 guy agreed that there were NO White Geese in Ohio , the HUGE White birds were Trumpeter swans

I was trying out some cast Bismuth / tin shot that I had made

Well about 8:30 a flock of Swans came up the creek
3 of us were watching them
Guy #4 ignored what we had told him and shot one

One of the hunters on the other side of the creek called the police and we called the Game Warden
As we had told him to not shoot the White Birds and we new the guys on the other side were calling the police , so we felt it right to call ourselves

The police got there first , then the Ohio Game Warden and finally a Federal Game Warden

That mess up ended our hunt , as it took almost a hour to get the Police and Wardens to leave

We were told that will be a trip to the Federal Courthouse in Toledo , $2500 fine , Lawyer fees , Court cost ....AND 3 years loss of his hunting license

And I am sure the hunt club will kick him out ( I will ask for it myself )

Oh BTW the cast Bismuth shot worked great
Any miss was MY Fault , not the guns or the shot LOL

John

[lefty o]

there is no mistaking a trumpeter swan for a goose, especially a small snow goose. he deserves whatever fine he gets!

[JBinMN]

Sheeesh.. What was he thinkin'? I guess he wasn't thinking, but I am sure curious as to why take the shot knowing it wasn't a legal shoot... Particularly after you folks already discussed it & he was aware that it wasn't a duck when he shot. Even if he did not know the difference between geese & swans, if he couldn't ID the target, he shouldn't have shot...

He deserves what he gets.

[labradigger1]

Dual violations with migratory birds. One from the state and one from federal. Your friend isn't done yet.

[Hamish]

Good lesson for him to learn in impulse control. Good on you guys for reporting.

[aarolar]

This story describes perfectly why I'm super peculiar about who I hunt with, sorry to hear about your ruined hunt.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Kosh75287]

Sounds like justice might have been served if you'd shot the moron, and cut him up for FISH bait, or fed HIM to the remaining trumpeter swans.

[richhodg66]

Expensive mistake. This is one reason I have always been apprehensive about taking up waterfowl hunting. It's easy to shoot the wrong thing and then it's literally a federal case.

That said, I deer hunt close to a big lagoon on a lake that has all kinds of waterfowl and hunters. I had several flights of Canada geese fly over me while I was out that were in shotgun range and would have fallen over land if hit. I'm not going to invest in a boat and decoys and such, but if I could hide and shoot where they'd fall where I could get them, I think I could get a few. Gotta look into it a bit more, but the season is next month and I'm considering doing it.

[waksupi]

Expensive mistake. This is one reason I have always been apprehensive about taking up waterfowl hunting. It's easy to shoot the wrong thing and then it's literally a federal case.

That said, I deer hunt close to a big lagoon on a lake that has all kinds of waterfowl and hunters. I had several flights of Canada geese fly over me while I was out that were in shotgun range and would have fallen over land if hit. I'm not going to invest in a boat and decoys and such, but if I could hide and shoot where they'd fall where I could get them, I think I could get a few. Gotta look into it a bit more, but the season is next month and I'm considering doing it.


People use pit blinds in grain fields here, works well.

[farmerjim]

Do the swans taste as good as whooping crane?

[JBinMN]

Do the swans taste as good as whooping crane?

Nahh... More like Loon.
;)

[Johnch]

Do the swans taste as good as whooping crane?

Not sure
Also I am to CHEAP to even think about finding out
As I have a moral problem shooting a Swan
As they are DUMB ... shake a coffee can 1/2 full of corn and they swim up to you to beg for corn
Maybe we need to start shooting the people that drive up to the marsh and feed them to get better pictures

Oh My Great Grandfather used to tell me about hunting them YEARS back to sell
He said he paid more than 1 payment for the Farm Loan from the cash he got hunting them
Wonder why there not any more in Ohio ?????

LOL
John

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Not sure
Also I am to CHEAP to even think about finding out
As I have a moral problem shooting a Swan
As they are DUMB ... shake a coffee can 1/2 full of corn and they swim up to you to beg for corn
Maybe we need to start shooting the people that drive up to the marsh and feed them to get better pictures

Oh My Great Grandfather used to tell me about hunting them YEARS back to sell
He said he paid more than 1 payment for the Farm Loan from the cash he got hunting them
Wonder why there not any more in Ohio ?????

LOL
John

Mallard ducks do that in the London parks, but they are just wild duck that drop in for part of their year, and make a fine, professional job of being wild duck where they know the rules are different. I see how they could go wrong on howl far humans will comply with the law, though.

[NoAngel]

Did you tell the game warden that’s “Not My TRUMPeter” or that you were a “Never Trumpeter”?

[starmac]

Mallard ducks do that in the London parks, but they are just wild duck that drop in for part of their year, and make a fine, professional job of being wild duck where they know the rules are different. I see how they could go wrong on howl far humans will comply with the law, though.

They do not always follow the rules.
We have a problem with folks feeding the wild mallards here in town, in the river. Many of these do not migrate south when the rest leave, and then come freeze up they have to be fed or die a slow death. It is a bigger problem than you would normally think, if you are not looking at it year after year.

[Smoke4320]

Do the swans taste as good as whooping crane?

more like spotted owl

[runfiverun]

whooping crane is called roast beef here.

we can't shoot swans though, we just raise them so the people to the south of us can shoot them.
I have had swan before it is [shrug] like goose.
it was a draw tag in Utah.

[starmac]

there is no mistaking a trumpeter swan for a goose, especially a small snow goose. he deserves whatever fine he gets!

I bet it would suprise you to no end, how many people shoot a mule deer, thinking they are filling an elk tag every year.

[lefty o]

I bet it would suprise you to no end, how many people shoot a mule deer, thinking they are filling an elk tag every year.

i have no doubt plenty do. heck people shoot horses and cows hunting white tails.

[tomme boy]

Dual violations with migratory birds. One from the state and one from federal. Your friend isn't done yet.

Depends. Usually you get one or the other. If the Federal guy is a real prick he can actually make you go to a Federal court several states away. I know a guy that had that happen to him. He was being a jerk and said he would fight the ticket. Well he did and had to show up in court in Denver from here near me in Iowa.

[tomme boy]

Are you sure about they were Trumpeters? We have hundreds of commons here right now. Some states you can hunt them. You draw a tag just like for deer and you get one for the year. Swan taste just like a canada goose.

[MaryB]

Goose .... GAG I grew up eating a LOT of it. With 7 people hunting we would fill a freezer with them when I was growing up. Ate way to much of it and now I can't stand the taste!

[CLAYPOOL]

COOTS are much better that those "TRASH DUCKS + GEESE". I don't understand people eating those. Merganser is NOT quite as good as coot, but they will do in a pinch.

[JBinMN]

COOTS are much better that those "TRASH DUCKS + GEESE". I don't understand people eating those. Merganser is NOT quite as good as coot, but they will do in a pinch.

LOL I'd have used purple to post that...^ Mud ducks & Fish chasers are low on my list.
;)

[Ballistics in Scotland]

They do not always follow the rules.
We have a problem with folks feeding the wild mallards here in town, in the river. Many of these do not migrate south when the rest leave, and then come freeze up they have to be fed or die a slow death. It is a bigger problem than you would normally think, if you are not looking at it year after year.

It would be if that is the Alaskan Fairbanks. But for us the greylag goose and some other waterfowl are resident, and seem to make out. In exceptional winters in the UK I know of people rescuing moribund duck before the foxes could recycle them. When they were fed and the ice broken for them, they managed quite well. They are actually better off with water up to the plimsoll line, since it is fractionally above zero when the air is well below.

Many years ago I knew someone who shot a swan for Christmas dinner in France, in WW1 - in flight, with a Lewis gun. He said it tasted a bit fishy, which he thought odd as they don't eat fish, but a long way ahead of cold corned beef and hardtack. He didn't have to worry about the people where the bullets would come to earth.

[MaryB]

Fall at the lake the mud ducks would flock up, there would be hundreds of them. As you boated at them they would all take off and defecate at once... yup they taste as bad as they smell! Friend brought mud duck stew to our annual wild game feed one year... one bite was all anyone could manage... the muskrat stew was just as bad!


LOL I'd have used purple to post that...^ Mud ducks & Fish chasers are low on my list.
;)

[GhostHawk]

Goose is not so bad, cooked wet and slow till the meat falls off the bone.

Forget roasting it, tain't no tame critter with an inch of fat on its back to baste the meat with grease while cooking.

Goose stew is not bad either cooked well. Of course my favorite was always hunters luck stew. Piece of Venison, some rabbit, a grouse, a squirrel, whatever fell out of the freezer.

Coots and mud ducks, no never bothered to kill, clean or eat those. Nasty

[Johnch]

LOL Canada Goose is easy
Put some Goose Breast in a slow cooker with onions and peppers

Cook till it falls apart
Pitch the onions and peppers
Cool and pull apart like pulled Pork


Add BBQ sauce of your choice
Cook fresh peppers and onions to a crisp texture

Put in a pot , heat and serve on buns of your choice

99.9% of people will just think it is a lean pulled pork
BBQ sauce hides lots of odd game taste

John

[quilbilly]

Expensive mistake. This is one reason I have always been apprehensive about taking up waterfowl hunting. It's easy to shoot the wrong thing and then it's literally a federal case.

That said, I deer hunt close to a big lagoon on a lake that has all kinds of waterfowl and hunters. I had several flights of Canada geese fly over me while I was out that were in shotgun range and would have fallen over land if hit. I'm not going to invest in a boat and decoys and such, but if I could hide and shoot where they'd fall where I could get them, I think I could get a few. Gotta look into it a bit more, but the season is next month and I'm considering doing it.
Many, many years ago I bought a Savage 24V 30/30 over 20 ga for that very reason. I still have it, of course.