Walked up to the Delaware River this afternoon, fired a few shots, got 4 ringnecks, 2 redbreasted mergansers and a drake black in a few minutes without using boats, dogs, decoys or calls. One of the ringnecks was a young drake banded 8/10/2013 7 miles east of Sackville, NB, Canada, for my 232nd bird band. The last 12 banded waterfowl that I shot in NJ were all banded in Canada. Today I was able to retrieve the floaters with a 6 oz pyramid sinker on the end of a spool of 80 lb test monofilament fishing line. I was able to cross a creek on the ice floes without drowning to retrieve the rest of my birds. According to //www.flyways.us, only 5 ringneck ducks were ever shot in NJ that were banded in NB.
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