Sunday, June 28, 2009

"Banding" Together





  • Canon XHA-1 HD Video Camera

  • Kodak ZD 8612 IS Digital camera

  • Wired Outdoors T-shirt and hat



Every June for the past 5 years, Don, Jimmy, Bob Miller and I have helped the Pennsylvania Game Commission Band Geese. This is an experience that we as hunters do in order to appreciate not only the game birds more but the Biologists that help to manage these birds.

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Jimmy Bob and I waiting to start the day.




The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service uses data reported from leg bands to track the flight paths of migratory birds. Bands are useful in determining harvest information and life span of specific bird species. Each band has a unique number that identifies the species of bird which is tied to the life history. When you call in a band number, an operator will ask you a few simple questions like the date and location of where the bird was harvested. You will then receive a certificate in the mail containing your name and information on the banded bird. You can also report your band online now and it will give you the information immediately.  You can either then print out your certificate or have one mailed to you. Nicknames among waterfowl hunters for leg bands are; jewelry, leg irons, and bling-bling are just a few.

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John Dunn, supervisor for the PGC Game Bird Division, records data on newly banded birds and any recaptures at each location.



This year we headed out once again in a neighboring County with Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Justin Vreeland, Wyatt Knepp, John Dunn, Chief Supervisor Game Bird Biologist, and Mary Jo Casalena, Game Bird Biologist.  The goal is to band approximately 150 birds per regions. Our first stop was a private owned bed and breakfast that acts as a waterfowl sanctuary and holds a great deal of birds.  Scouting reports indicated that there were approximately 150 birds there. So IF the birds cooperated this could be our only stop for the day.  This place was beautiful but HUGE. There were so many ponds with grass walkways in between this would be tricky in penning these birds.

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Meeting of the minds...Mary Jo, John, Justin and Cary Stultz come up with a game plan on gathering the birds.



So after John, Cary Stultz (volunteer), Mary Jo, and Justin came up with a plan, we headed to our posts to start the slow push to get the geese on land. Needless to say…it didn’t work as planned.


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Me, Jimmy and a few other volunteers from PGC Food & Cover wait with the panels to corral the geese.



The geese didn’t want to come out on the grass where we were set up.  After several failed attempts and a few hours later we were lucky enough to band 46 birds. On to the next location…a Wal-Mart retaining pond. There again the birds weren’t as cooperative and it took some effort to corral and band a few birds there.

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Me holding a juvenile to be banded.


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Adam and Grace Rucosky were helping out that day.


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Jimmy getting ready to release a newly banded gosling.


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Bob with a banded adult.



Regrouping we decided to head to another part of the County where some smaller flocks with sufficient goslings were scouted.  Our first stop another private company pond the geese here were actually across the street from the pond and we figured it may be more difficult than expected. However, this was probably one of the easiest locations. Justin, Bob, Don, Cary and Mary Jo drove down by the road and the birds all gathered in a cluster and walked up to the top of the bank by the water where John, Jimmy, Wyatt and I were waiting. We were able to close in the panels with no escape geese right under a nice shaded tree. There we noticed a couple recaptures. These are birds that are already banded. These numbers are again recorded by the Biologists for data. This helps to create a history of the bird’s life. Perhaps they migrated here, where they were banded as to where they were recaptured and etc. One recapture was a nice big gander with a double band.

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Justin holding the double banded goose.



Along with regular bands, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service puts ‘reward bands’ on some birds. Usually they put these leg bands on adult birds. John Dunn explained that the reward bands are typically worth 100 dollars. In studies they showed that the $100 price actually was enough incentive for a hunter to take the time and report the band. The government sends you a check only after you report the information regarding the band. I was fortunate enough to harvest a banded bird the first year I hunted waterfowl.  Actually my third time out.  It was like getting paid to hunt!  Bob Miller jokes around and says that was what got me hooked and they haven’t been able to get rid of me since. But I was hooked the first time laying in the blind and seeing a flock headed right for us. The sounds of honks, the wing beats over my head….my heart was pumping mad!! That is what got me hooked!

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John Dunn banding a goose.


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Don holding a juvenile to be banded.


We headed off to two other locations and banded a total of 142 geese for the day.  Not too bad after the way the day had started.



Geese are banded in June while in their flightless stage. Geese will molt their feathers at the same time the young are growing theirs.

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Adult goose with molting wings. Geese loose old feathers and regrow new ones.



In banding the geese we spread out strategically and slowly walk, almost like a drive and round up the geese to the area where other volunteers have panels (the panels are soft webbed nylon with aluminum rounded edges) that we surround the geese and corral them in. Mary Jo and John have kayaks that they use quite often in the waterways we band at to push the geese to the offshore location we are waiting at.

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John and Mary Jo try to use the kayaks to get the geese to move off the water onto land and our waiting position.



At that point the Biologists will enter the pen with the geese, separate the goslings from the adults, sex them male or female and hand the birds to the volunteers to take to other PGC Biologists or certified handlers to then band the geese.

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Justin seperating the goslings into the gosling pen.



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Above,Goslings in the gosling pen waiting to be banded. Below, all the birds corraled into the panels.


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Mary Jo sexing the goose before banding.


We then turn the geese back to the water, field, etc. Holding the geese can also be tricky.  Those that are familiar with a Canada goose know how powerful their wings are. Just because they are molting doesn’t make it any different!  You need to hold the wings close to the “shoulder” of the birds.  Also hold their feet. Which do have slight claws at the end of the webbing and oh yes…they scratch!  The goslings and juveniles really don’t have much of a clue as to what is going on. They don’t know any better and are more cooperative. But the older ones…now that is another story. They hiss, flap those powerful wings as fast as the can, and yes, they may even bite.


To expect to come home without feathers and goose droppings on you would be a total misconception.   So why do we do this?  Simply for the love of the animals we pursue. We as hunters usually only are able to have one of these magnificent birds in hand AFTER we have shot them out of the sky. So to be able to hold one of these powerful, elusive birds while they are alive is a thrill in itself. Not to mention how much we have learned about the life of geese from the Biologists that we are helping. Then there is the whole conservation aspect. It allows me as a hunter to have hands on opportunity in helping this literally continent wide effort to better understand our waterfowl in helping with its conservation through the North America Banding Program.



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Above, a leg band being placed on a goose.


The day was full of laughs, and more memories made with friends, family and our partners in the PA Game Commission “banding” together to help towards the conservation of waterfowl.


My opinion every waterfowl hunter should volunteer at least once towards this effort. To see the hard work, time and effort put into banding the geese puts a whole new respect and understanding to those involved in managing our game birds. I didn’t get a banded bird last year, but I know whenever I am lucky enough to harvest a bird with a little jewelry on it’s leg, I have more appreciation towards what went on at the time the leg iron was placed on that bird in hand. Makes the hunt all that more rewarding. It’s full circle!


Thursday, June 4, 2009

Alberta Bruins - The Highest of Highs and Lowest of Lows

  • Medalist Clothing
  • Hunter Safety System
  • Parker Frontier Bow
  • Gold Tip Arrows
  • Scott's Little Goose Release
  • LaCrosse Alpha Burly II Rubber Boots
  • Plano Pillar Lock Bow Case
  • Magnus Stinger Broadheads
  • Thermacell
Click the Video Below!


We are home from our trip with Alberta Backwoods Outfitters in Northern Alberta and the trip of a lifetime would be an understatement. The title of this article is a little misleading because the entire adventure truly was a fantastic trip.

On our way!

Fellow field staffer Don Ott was along on this expedition and would be filming and hunting for his first ever black bear. The trip there was very smooth until we arrived in Fort McMurray, Alberta and Don's bow wasn't there. We could only hope that it would show up the following day like the airline promised.

Glad to be in camp

Mitch Chapdelaine, owner of Alberta Backwoods Outfitters was there to pick us up right on time and we were going to get out hunting that night. We would be staying in a tent all week long with a wood stove to keep us warm, at least when we figured out how to use it. That is a whole other story!
Our home for the week

Tent camps are not for the faint of heart, you certainly are not in the lap of luxury, but that is what it is all about. Getting out and roughing it a little is always a blast.
Natasha, our camp cook

Natasha was our camp cook and kept us fed all week long. I think she got sick of me being in her kitchen all morning on my cell phone conducting business, but the only electric outlet was located there. The normal routine at camp was to get up in the morning around 9 or 10, chop some wood for the stove, eat a big breakfast, kick around camp for a while, eat a big lunch and head out hunting around 3:30 pm.
Me in Natasha's way gabbing on my cell phone

One of the things I like the most about bear hunting in Canada is how laid back the days are. It isn't like whitetail hunting where you will go out and sit all day long, but much more relaxed. Most evenings we would hunt from 4:30 pm until 10:30 pm and head back to camp for a warm meal before a small campfire and then off to bed.

I was up first thing in the morning chopping wood! We wouldn't be cold this night.

The first night we made the 1 hour drive from the airport to camp and hurriedly got ready to go hunting. We were a little late getting to stand, but were up and settled by about 7, which gave us over three hours of hunting. We did have a real nice bear come in, but he wasn't what I was looking for.

On Stand The First Night

Once back in camp we had a warm meal and we were off to bed. This is where it gets interesting. Unfortunately, Don and I never had wood stove 101, so needless to say we froze our rear ends off that first night, never really getting the fire started. This would not be the case the next night as I was up bright and early chopping wood and preparing all the kindling for that night. Don can attest that I am now the (self proclaimed) master of the wood stove. In fact, I had it so hot on several nights that Don had to get up and open the window and doors to cool things off. If you can't tell, I am very proud of myself (It is the little things in life).

Canadian version of horseshoes


Hanging out around a warm campfire
The next day we received a call from the airport that Don's bow had arrived, so we were on our way to pick it up. After getting back to camp Don took some practice rounds and was dead on. Since this was Don's first bear hunt, we decided that the bear we had in the first night was a very nice bear and we were going to go back in after him. Don would be hunting and I think I was more excited than he was to (hopefully) see him harvest his very first black bear.


Jaron, one of our fantastic guides



I think you all know what this. I tried to spend as little time as possible in here!


The first couple of hours were uneventful without any activity when Don felt compelled to play a little joke on me that I didn't find all that funny. I had to relieve myself, so while I was going to the bathroom, Don decides to tell me that a bear is coming. If anyone knows me, they understand that I am a little high strung and almost peed on myself.



Typical mud and muck that these quads went through all night long.
Needless to say I wasn't not very happy with Mr. Ott. I explained that there is one golden rule when hunting with me and that is you never joke about game coming! I also explained that it was ON and I would get him back.


Filming a bear on the ground

Well about 20 minutes later I spy a big black ball moving through the thick stuff and proceed to tell Don, "Get your bow a bear is coming!". What does he do, but laugh at me and say, "Yeah right". I of course again emphasize, "No, seriously there is a nice bear coming get your bow!" Again I get the same reply, "Yeah right, I am not falling for it!" Now I am irritated and proceed to call Don a few names and it is at this point and time that he sees the bear coming at about 45 yards away.

Don's first black bear

After seeing that, Don doesn't waste any time getting his bow and getting ready. We knew this bear was going to be shooter and was a bigger bear than the one we saw the night before. At this point and time I am focused on getting the shot on film and Don says to me, "Man, his head is ugly." I promptly replied, "He is a fighter, just shoot him!" After a half hour of in and out at the bait, the bear finally presented Don with a shot and he closed the deal on his first ever black bear.

Don with guides Mitch and Jaron

When we recovered the bear about 80 yards later, I saw what Don meant by an ugly head, this bear was completely bald. It was a very old bear with gray hair on its claws and face and it's teeth were completely wore down. The bear did have a beautiful coat and is going to make a great rug. Mitch, owner of Alberta Backwoods Outfitters, explained that in all his years of guiding that he has never seen a bear like this except on a trail camera one time.

I was really excited for Don. You can ask him and I am sure he will tell you, I was shaking so hard after his shot that the entire tree was moving. Congrats on a great bear Don!

Very gray and very bald


Gray hair all around the claws


New Beargaine for Bears experiencing hairloss issues


Don and I with his first bear
After getting Don's bear out of the way it was my turn to hunt again. Mitch had trail cams set up and had a bait that was being hit by two very big bears. We knew that is where we wanted to be. It is funny how sometimes bears don't like to cooperate and while we had trail cam photos of these two big bears showing up in the evening, that first night the only one that showed up was a decent size bear, but I knew he wasn't the one we were looking for.


Me not long after shooting my first bear of the trip, knowing it was a good shot

So the next evening we decided we were going to hunt the same stand again, and I am glad we did. The evening started with the same bear coming out again and wolfing down all the bait and we were starting to think this night was going to be more of the same like the night before, but that all changes about an hour before dark.

My Canadian black bear

As I already said there was a decent size bear at the bait all evening just making a complete hog of himself, when all of a sudden we see him sit straight up and ears go forward. Not long after that we see a really nice bear making it's way down the trail. I knew immediately that this was not the giant, but a very good bear and if I had the opportunity, I was going to take him.

My Canadian black bear

After running the small bear off, I didn't give him much time and let the arrow fly at 27 yards and put it right behind the shoulder. From the video you will see that this shot is almost a perfect shot on a whitetail, but not a bear. The lungs on a bear are farther back than a whitetail and the shot should have been about 8 inches back. I really believe that my practice all year long on 3D targets and hunting whitetail, it was almost instinct to put the shot right behind the shoulder.

Don and I with my bear

Fortunately after tracking this bear that bled like a stuck pig for the first 75 yards and then nothing but pin drops, we recovered it about 300 yards later through some of the thickest stuff you would ever want to go through. Mitch did a great job, like a little hound dog, finding this bear.

Me with guides Jaron and Mitch

As you can see it is a beautiful bear but what you can't see is the distinctive white markings on the chest. It will make a great rug.

Don's second bear

Now we have two very nice bears down and two to go. Thursday was very windy with little bear movement and I would start out hunting on Friday night in a new stand location. We weren't in the stand long when Don saw movement behind us. I could see a very nice bear, so I asked Don if he wanted to shoot it and he didn't hesitate. As the bear was making his way to the bait, we moved the camera so I could operate it, Don grabbed his bow, put a release on and knocked an arrow.

Within in minutes, Don let the arrow fly to what we both thought was perfect hit. After watching the film, it appeared it could be a little far back, but we both thought that it should still get both lungs. We thought wrong.

After an hour and a half, we got down and tracked this bear for about 75 yards when we jumped it. You could tell it was hurting bad, and Don took off after it. Mitch was there also looking in the opposite direction so we had no choice as we could see it go lay down again.

After getting within 12 yards, Don let the finishing shot fly and he had his second bear. It was very eventful and nerve wracking, but had a good ending.

The giant bear decides to scratch his back a little and let me get even more worked up before he makes his way in our direction

The next night the ending wouldn't be so good. Like I said before we had trail cam photos of a 7.5 foot bear at this bait everyday for the past four days at 12 noon. So we decided, since it was the last day, that we were going to go in at 10 am and hopefully catch this giant coming in.

Once again, the bears weren't all that interested in our well laid plans and we didn't see a bear until 2:00 pm, but once this little guy came in he decided to entertain us the rest of the afternoon. Including; figure eights, pirouettes, tumble rolls and more.

This photo and video don't do this guy justice. He was massive.

Things were looking bleak for getting a crack at the monster bear as 9:00 pm rolled around and we figured he wasn't going to make an appearance, when all of a sudden, the smaller bear sat straight up and stared in the opposite direction. Within in seconds we heard what we thought was an elephant coming through the woods and the small bear ran faster than a racehorse to the thick cover.

We both knew this could mean only one thing. The big bear was on his way and within seconds he made an appearance. To say I was a little rattled is an understatement. Eventually the bear made his way in our direction and I wasn't going to waste anytime when the shot presented itself. He initially was quartering to me, so I passed on him the first time, but once he came back in, he was perfectly broadside at 21 yards.

download Born in East L.A. I came to full draw and unfortunately was not quite positioned in this stand correctly and my elbow hit my safety harness and the tree. Instead of repositioning I made a crucial mistake and I knew it as soon as I let the arrow fly. I leaned my head into the kisser button instead of properly bringing the kisser button to my cheek.

What followed will remain in my head forever. The shot was a terrible shot and hit very low in the middle of the bear. I knew that the situation was bad and our only possible chance of getting this bear was to back out and come back in the morning. Unfortunately that wasn't an option. We were flying out and had to be at the airport at 6:30 am and Mitch had already packed camp up and we were his last hunters for the season.

We got down and examined the arrow and smelled it to see if there was any guts on it. Fortunately there wasn't and after trailing this bear for over 400 yards with very little blood, Mitch felt that the bear would survive. All I can say is, I hope so.

No one ever wants to wound an animal and in my hunting career I have been fortunate enough to have never mortally wounded an animal that I didn't recover. As you can imagine this would have been a storybook ending to a storybook trip with Don and I each coming home with two bears each, but that wasn't the case.

That is hunting and that is the way it happens. Doesn't mean I accept what happened and I will continue to practice with my equipment to make sure a mistake like that doesn't happen again. I may never get a chance at a giant like that again, but I feel blessed to have been given that one opportunity.

The week with Alberta Backwoods Outfitters was top notch. I would like to thank Mitch, Natasha and Jaron for a great week and all their hard work. For more information on Mitch and his operation, visit www.AlbertaBackwoodsOutfitters.com.

My Trapping Season - Part II

By Kevin McCloskey






Well trapping season (08-09) is finally over for us, and what a good year it was. The boys had a blast, and hopefully learned something along the way. We did real well most of the season, until all the snow showed up. After that much snow things really slowed down.



This would be the last open water we would see. This is one of our beaver area’s, it’s almost 1 mile from the road, add 14in of snow and the walk will wear you out. But when you catch these…




Michael with a 40 + lb beaver


it makes the walk worth it. By the time we got to this spot most of our day was done, the boys were tired, but look at the smile. That is why I do this. These are the times we all will cherish as we get older and the boys find other hobbies {girls} that catch their interest.



Coon and muskrat drying




Fox and coyote ready to sell



Cameron Hall [L] and Michael Mccloskey with some of their furs


This is the end of this season for us, but we are already planning for next year. We are going to do some float trapping down some of the rivers. Should be a blast for the boys.
Well till next time…. Final totals – coon – 38, red fox – 11, grey fox – 2, muskrat – 21, beaver – 4, mink – 1, and coyote – 1.


Sale amount…about $800.


But the memories….Priceless !