Waterfowl Report

[dean nelson]

And if I read that right you can end up with the eight and 5 more if you get into the mergansers.....=13

As long as we're blasting away don't forget the 15 coots to make it 28!

 

[Duckslayer100]

As long as we're blasting away don't forget the 15 coots to make it 28!

I think I have a new regular season stretch goal. Somehow muster the courage and personal fortitude to wind up with the North Dakota Trash Stash Limit Pic: 15 coots, 5 mergies, and 6 spoonies! I'm pretty sure anyone who manages that feat gets automatic PRO HUNTER STATUS.

 

[Kurtr]

Spoon bills are not on the list with those other two bombs. Biologically speaking how does a spoon bill feed any different than any other puddle duck? I have had an actuall biologist answers this for me but it is always fun to hear all the miss conceptions.

 

[dean nelson]

Well if you're trying to compare them to Mallard you're going to come up a little short. Spooner's are pretty much straight-up carnivorous eating almost entirely gastropods and other crustaceans that they filter feed generally off the surface where as something like a mallard is omnivorous but by fall is almost exclusively on plant matter. Weather that be duckweed or Sago pondweed in the water or whatever they're picking out of a field in the end you are what you eat and it definitely makes a distinct taste difference. Even the spoonbills kissing cousin aka the blue Wing teal although they feed similarly to The Spooner is far more vegetarian then carnivorous so once again leading to a distinct taste difference. In the end there's a reason why merganser taste like s*** and that's because their carnivorous. Now all that's said you throw them in a Crock-Pot with some cream of mushroom soup and I can't tell the damn difference.

 

[Duckslayer100]

Spoon bills are not on the list with those other two bombs. Biologically speaking how does a spoon bill feed any different than any other puddle duck? I have had an actuall biologist answers this for me but it is always fun to hear all the miss conceptions.

I'm actually a spooner aficionado, and go great lengths to proudly display any grinner I get on top of the mallards, pinnies or whatever else I shoot. While they may have a face only a mother can love, my kiddos can't taste the difference when they're wrapped in bacon and grilled to medium-rare perfection. And that's all I give a shit about.

 

[dean nelson]

I'm actually a spooner aficionado, and go great lengths to proudly display any grinner I get on top of the mallards, pinnies or whatever else I shoot. While they may have a face only a mother can love, my kiddos can't taste the difference when they're wrapped in bacon and grilled to medium-rare perfection. And that's all I give a shit about.

As for their looks I'd love to get one in full plume this is about as good as I've ever gotten. And yes we were straight up targeting them on this day trying to pick out who could get the whitest one.



And to prove I have no hatred towards the bird I spent a fair amount of time converting a bunch of hot buy mallards a few other Oddball crap decoys into these 2 years ago.

 

[espringers]

those are effing sweet!

 

[CutEm]

Well it happened, had a great spot and had a couple really good shoots. Saturday rolled around and the blue boat parade showed up. Offered to let them sit with us in the field to try and save the roost. Nope they were having none of that and went straight to the big water. Sunday evening not a bird in the area. Say what you want but it sucks. We could have hunted that area every few days all year if the water would have been left alone.

What gets me mad is we offered to let them use our stuff and explained we wanted to try and keep the birds around. The response, and i quote "were only here till monday so it doesn't matter to us". Its getting tougher and tougher to find good spots without the crowds and the lack of respect for locals is disheartening. I mean they drove 8 hours so their hunt is more important.

 

[Kurtr]

Good thing new ones will migrate in

 

[Duckslayer100]

Well it happened, had a great spot and had a couple really good shoots. Saturday rolled around and the blue boat parade showed up. Offered to let them sit with us in the field to try and save the roost. Nope they were having none of that and went straight to the big water. Sunday evening not a bird in the area. Say what you want but it sucks. We could have hunted that area every few days all year if the water would have been left alone.

What gets me mad is we offered to let them use our stuff and explained we wanted to try and keep the birds around. The response, and i quote "were only here till monday so it doesn't matter to us". Its getting tougher and tougher to find good spots without the crowds and the lack of respect for locals is disheartening. I mean they drove 8 hours so their hunt is more important.

As much as I can commiserate, I certainly don't think the birds are completely out of the state. And to be honest, with the weather to the north, I imagine we may not have much of a "stall" this fall as in the recent past.

Even if your roost got busted, you certainly aren't going to shoot ducks from the couch.

 

[guywhofishes]

shooting ducks from the couch

sign me up!

 

[dean nelson]

As much as I can commiserate, I certainly don't think the birds are completely out of the state. And to be honest, with the weather to the north, I imagine we may not have much of a "stall" this fall as in the recent past.

Even if your roost got busted, you certainly aren't going to shoot ducks from the couch.

Unfortunately the weather to the north is starting to look more like a gut punch up the middle. One thing's for sure whether it's snow or rain at the rate that we're going these fields are going to undrivable for a while.

 

[guywhofishes]

what units are those?

 

[Kurtr]

Unfortunately the weather to the north is starting to look more like a gut punch up the middle. One thing's for sure whether it's snow or rain at the rate that we're going these fields are going to undrivable for a while.

flooded corn and a couple spinners is mallard city

 

[walleyeman_1875]

Unfortunately the weather to the north is starting to look more like a gut punch up the middle. One thing's for sure whether it's snow or rain at the rate that we're going these fields are going to undrivable for a while.

I’ve been wondering for awhile now. What unit are those projections in? cm or mm or is a yearly projection in inches.

 

[Duckslayer100]

Good thing I just hunt water

 

[dean nelson]

I’ve been wondering for awhile now. What unit are those projections in? cm or mm or is a yearly projection in inches.

That would be inches of snow. Mind you that's two different storms, the one we are seeing tonight and the one that will be here sun-wed.

 

[Allen]

If you have the patience to snip, hack, and slice away the skin from their breast meat, they're not totally unpalatable. I mean, if people will stir fry a duck's asshole, SOMEONE will find lawn darts appetizing.

Who in the hell does that?!?!

 

[dean nelson]

Who in the hell does that?!?!

Probably cajuns those crazy bastards will eat anything.

 

[Kurtr]

They have shoots where they round up coots so a mergansers ass hole would probably be a delicacy