Duck feathers

[TRACY]

If you posses a migratory duck stamp and you shot some legal ducks while hunting, could you use them for arrow fletching? I would think it would be okay..? What if a friend shot some and gave you the feathers....

You can be given feathers or wings with feathers w/o having a license or federal stamps as long as they were legally taken. I save all of my goose and duck wings and currently it is all that I'm fletching cane arrows with. With ducks, I use just the primaries, outermost feathers of the wing. Goose I use primaries and secondaries along with tail feathers. I've noticed that it doesn't take much fletching to stabilize an arrow to where it shoots great and duck feathers fit the Bill.

Tracy

[Don Case]

Sounds like one of those "laws for honest people", Good intensions but impossible to police.

[PEARL DRUMS]

I use domestic duck feathers for my arrow markers. How could you even prove that I wonder? Prove it copper!

[Don Case]

Do a Google search on "possession of feathers"

[Pat B]

That law was written in the early 1900s to stop the market is feathers used for ladies hats. It has saved lots of birds of all kinds over the years. There are plenty of feathers that are legal to use and generally more appropriate for fletching.

[Don Case]

Is there any reason for not using chicken feathers?

[Buck67]

Zuma, the Migratory Bird Laws were written by Teddy Roosevelt in the early 1900's.  At that time the Snowy Egret, White Heron, Sandhill Crane, Whooping Crane and Great Blue Heron were being hunted into extinction by market hunters.  Think about all those photos and movies depicting the Gay 90's.  All the women were wearing hats with massive amounts of long feathers.  The best feathers usually come into play during mating season, so the birds were being killed without being able to reproduce.  We are still trying to build the Whooping Crane population back up.

The law is a bit unusual in that they don't have to prove that you personally killed and took the feathers.  All the law requires is that you have illegal feathers.  The only birds that we are legally allowed to possess are those that you can legally hunt.  So Canadian Goose feathers, Duck feathers, Turkey feathers and other game bird feathers are legal.  The law doesn't say anything about what you do with legal feathers, buy, sell, trade, whatever.  You just can't do ANYTHING with protected species feathers.

I had occasion to look up the law because I picked up a bunch of Pelican and seabird feathers while strolling along a beach in Florida.  After I looked up the law I put the feathers in the trash.

I knew a woman that picked up a Blue Jay feather and stuck it in her hat.  A Conservation Officer saw it and wrote her a $175 fine.

[JW_Halverson]

Just last week at the Nebraska State Muzzleloaders Convention a fellow had a bag of various game bird feathers.  Somebody walked by and asked if he would sell the bag of feathers.  Up till then, he was going to use them on projects, but he sensed a quick buck and gave the fellow a price.  And immediately was fined for selling migratory bird feathers.  As for the turkey feathers and pheasant feathers, no biggie....because they are not migratory birds. However, that point will vary state by state. 

Buck67 makes a great point.  In a matter of three years the snowy egret population on Florida's nesting colonies was nearly wiped out.  What a waste of a beautiful bird, just to ornament some dame's Easter hat that she will promptly put in the back of the closet because she doesn't want to be caught dead wearing last season's style!

[Buck67]

It's a tossup as to whether the Canadian Goose is migratory or not.  In Indiana we have both a resident population and a migrant population.  I didn't take advantage of their molting season this year, but next year I will be frequenting their popular hangouts during molting season and picking up lots of free fletching.

[Pat B]

Have any of you read "The Witchery of Archery" by Maurice Thompson? He spent a lot of time in the Everglades plume hunting. At one point he talks about hunting the giant and plentiful Ivory Billed Woodpecker but not the giant Pileated Woodpecker because they were so scares.  Move forward 100+ years and the Ivory Bill is extinct(except maybe in an Arkansas swamp) and the Pileated woodpecker is plentiful, at least in our area.

[TRACY]

Buck, we have a lot of lesser Canada geese here right and a few snows. I agree we tend to have a large urban population of giant Canada geese throughout most of the year. If you're looking for feathers it's not hard to find someone that hunts the early goose and regular season to save wings in the freezer. Where I hunt there is a gentleman that hangs out at the duck check in and asks for body plumage from various ducks and uses them to make some impressive flies for fishing. Most guys throw away everything but the breasts.

Tracy

[TRACY]

Here's a couple Tonkin arrows in my quiver. The longer fletch is Canada goose primaries and the shorter fletch is mallard primaries. Both are 3 fletch by hand/eye and fly great. I'm liking the lower profile fletch with the goose feather as far as quiet and stabil.

Tracy

[Pat B]

Any feathers over about 4" will make good fletching.

[Bryce]

Keeps ppl from shooting birds just for their feathers to turn a profit.

[Zuma]

What a delightful education you folks provide here.
I am so pleased that I postured the question.
Last day here in LA lower AL
Thanks to ya all I can now make my own pillows also.
Zuma