Ok so where we have our hunting blind it is a borrow pit of 10 acresWe have so many swans that co mingle with the geese it kinda screws up our hunting. Any solutions to this or thoughts of what we do differently? There is a other borrow pit about 5 miles away and the owner prides himself woth swans and habitat, has helped I guess reintroduce them. At times on his 25 acre lake there are 50-75 + swans
Thanks
Lobby for a swan season.
Until then, make sure you don't mistake a swan for a goose. Swans will go where they want and anything that will scare them enough to leave a place will also scare off the geese. Unfortunately, you are stuck with them.
Tundra Swans or Mute Swans?
If they've been around since spring, most likely Trumpeter swans. Tundra swans migrate from the tundra and this is a bit early in the year for them. I'll start seeing them show up in numbers the last week of October here in Minnesota. Flock sizes are usually bigger than with trumpeters, I've seen a couple hundred more than once but 50-80 is more common. In the spring most tundra swans migrate northward through the eastern states though last year was an exception. Still, tundra swans would go much further to the north.
Trumpeters were once endangered but they have been successfully introduced everywhere. They will probably become the next Canada goose. I probably have 50+ within a 5 mile radius of my house. Trumpeters tend to migrate as family units to small flocks. I would guess the largest flock I've seen was around 30 birds.
Mute swans are domestic swans gone feral. They are far more aggressive than trumpeters or tundra swans and some states have no restrictions on them. I've seen a few here and there but they seem to disappear in short order. Must not be able to withstand predators very well.
I took a swan in NC on a draw permit about 10 years ago. Seeing birds that big come into the decoys is pretty cool. I shot a juvenile bird (grey on neck and back) because I was mostly interested in seeing how they ate on the table. It was really good meat. Don't think I would ever shoot another one.
MD used to have volunteer egg shakers going around the wetlands trying to render the Mutes’ eggs unviable. Goodness knows they wouldn’t want anyone shooting and eating those big tasty birds.
An early sign of how fugged up things were going to get……
Trumpeter yes!
Couldn’t think of name except annoying local guy famous for helping reintroducing them here has a little “sanctuary lake” for them and geese really screws up hunting around here