First Gadwall ever (Not...) but a pretty morning on the water.

[lokidog]

It was a nice morning, let a few Bufflehead swim around close early and then had some Goldeneye moving in when three Gadwall flew by, got two of them.  The dog had to swim out over a hundred yards to catch one of them.  Then had a lone goose come by and land out about 120 yards but could only entice him into about 90, so no shot.  Finished the hour and a half hunt with a hen merganser that I had passed while trying to work the goose.

Now to try to get a goose or two when I bring my daughter over to Lopez in a few minutes.

[seth30]

Great job on your first gadwall

[boneaddict]

     Good stuff.  Nice retrieval pic.

[sakoshooter]

Not a lick of wind out there. Pretty morning.

[cryfowl]

The birds on the left look like Wigeon to me.  Good shoot no matter what

[npaull]

Nice morning. What do you do with the mergansers?

[weathergirl]

I wonder who took the photos...

[h2ofowlr]

Looks like your doing fairly well on the birds in the islands. 

[lokidog]

The birds on the left look like Wigeon to me.  Good shoot no matter what

Yes, you are correct, both yoy birds one drake one hen.    

Nice morning. What do you do with the mergansers?

They go in a curry with apples and onions.

I wonder who took the photos...

My lovely wife of course!   

No Gadwall after all, but I did get three geese after dropping my daughter off.  I'm 9 for 10 shots on the geese this year.   

Looks like your doing fairly well on the birds in the islands. 

Yep, they think they're safe out here...  heh heh.  Five times out and 21 birds total, I'm happy with that.  Could have limited most times if I shot the Buffles.   

[npaull]

Lokidog I'd been under the impression that mergansers were practically inedible. Am I mistaken or is your stomach particularly strong? I've never shot them because I'm not interested in eating them... would be interested to hear about your experience with them.

[lokidog]

I've eaten, or tried to, some widgeon that were stronger tasting than mergansers.  They may be a bit more "ducky" than the puddlers but are certainly not inedible, especially if you are someone that really loves duck.

You would think though that there is a lot of meat on them from their size, but they are actually quite thin breasted.  They have much larger thighs and legs though than a mallard and those taste pretty much the same, at least to me, from duck to duck.  I save all my legs/thighs seperately and toss them in the slow cooker until they are fall off the bone tender, then I'll add them to the apple/onion/curry sauce and serve with napkins and some chutney.  This is always a hit at parties, even at Evergreen S.C. I rarely had left-overs.     I've posted this recipe a couple years ago but can repeat it or send it to you.

[seth30]

Great job on those geese!!

[MP123]

It might just be a trick of the camera but two of those geese look really huge and fat.  Nice job! 

I don't know about the merganser, think you're on your own eating that one! 

[RadSav]

I don't know about the merganser, think you're on your own eating that one! 

Yeah, you must use a lot of curry!  I've shot two in my life.  Rather eat a coot than those things.  Although the smell of fish might have been the worst part.  The last one was soaked for two days in apple juice and tarragon and then smoked with some salmon fillets.  Tricked my mind enough that it seemed almost edible.  Too much work so I just let them fly by after that. 

I do like those little buffleheads.  Males are the toughest little ducks on the planet.  I remember always dumping a male as they passed.  Guy would putter in circles upside-down.  Hens would make it to the end of the slough and return.  Dang male would start running and up, up and away with the hens on the return pass.    Little buggers still make me mad years later

[weathergirl]

Huh.  I'm usually the first one to complain if any meat is "too gamey" or something weird, but I don't remember mergansers being any "worse" than other ducks.  Maybe I just don't realize what a brilliant chef lokidog is (he generally cooks it...although I have developed my own "Kelli duck" recipe).   Well, since we have some fresh merganser, I guess I'll get a new taste test.