Duck Eating Challenge

[sakoshooter]

Wive's Tales seem to dominate out beliefs to some extent these days and none more than what "some" wild game or waterfowl eat like.
My challenge is this: Next time you're out, take that Merganser or more that you normally pass on and prep it exactly like you would a Mallard or Pintail breast. Prepare it exactly the same and try them side x side and post your honest evaluation back under this thread.
I did this years ago just for the hell of it. My family couldn't taste the difference. Since then, neither can my hunting partners.
I also did this with a crow once and cooked it w/some Teal as they're the same size. Same results. Couldn't tell the difference believe it or not.
My wife(at my request)prepared a Coyote roast for Christmas dinner a few years back. I ran the results on this site. It was as good as any venison roast(same recipe - crock pot)we've ever had.
I'd like to hear your honest opinions after trying.
Coyote Roast Video.

[krout81]

I have killed Ring neck, widgeon, and mallard up on the Cipsus river all in the same day during late archery.  Cooked them all together in a frying pan with Bacon grease garlic powder, peppercorn ground up from bottle, and Johnny's.  Widgeon, and ring neck both had a livery taste.  Mallard tasted like Mallard, and Shoveler to me, different for sure.  Others in camp who have not eaten as many ducks commented on the taste being livery of the smaller ducks to include some Bufflehead from other days as well.

The 75lbs of duck and goose that I had Pepperoni made by the butcher has different tastes in the same stick when I eat it so I personally would not say that they all stay the same.

[WSU]

I've tried Mergs and could 100% tell the difference.  It wasn't for the better.   

[DOUBLELUNG]

I have shot exactly one merganser (male, common).  I prepared it as I would a mallard or wood duck at the time (seasoned, pan-fried, medium rare).  It was terrible, I ate 1/2 of one breast and that was enough for me.  I also don't care for the taste of buffleheads or shovelers, so these three are on my no-shoot list. 

My favorites are the other three teal species, wood duck, mallard, black duck, wigeon, pintail, redhead, canvasback.  Good eats but not my favorites include Canada geese, common goldeneye, scaup, ringneck, gadwall, ruddy.  Haven't tried any of the sea ducks, snow and white-fronted geese, Barrow's goldeneye.

My favorite waterfowl of all time on the table were the feral graylag geese we shot in New Zealand - flavor was most like lean, tender beef.  They were shot in the green wet meadows they had been sharing with the landowner's cows all summer.

I strongly suspect diet, body condition, and migration status play into the table quality as much as species.

[WSU]

I still shoot some of the less preferred birds every now and then.  They get made into sausage, pepperoni sticks, and the like along with the rest of the ducks/geese that I don't make fresh after shooting.  I don't freeze very much just to take and use later.

[syoungs]

ive eaten coot before, they smell terrible when cleaning them, but they have AWESOME gizzards, and if used in any kind of a recipe, not eaten plain, they are fine. even the breaded and fried ones I cooked up were not bad at all. ive found that most people like to talk about how terrible birds are, without first hand experience for sure.

same goes for fish, Lokidog made me some dogfish tacos this summer, I couldn't get enough! but most turn their noses at them.

[WSU]

I'd love to know how to cook dogfish.  That would be a fun thing to do with the kids in the summer!

[Curly]

Back in college my roomates and I were duck hunting and having a slow day when we came upon a flock of coots.  We blasted a dozen or so if I remember right and brought them home.  None of us had ever tried them before........I don't think any of us have shot any since. 

Of course we were pretty bad cooks back then.  Maybe there is a way to make them taste better?    I wish it was legal to shoot them and only keep the gizzards.  I love gizzards.

I breasted out a merganser once (probably over 25 years ago now).  It just smelled like rotting fish and was just nasty.  My hands even stunk like fish after cleaning it.  Ended up tossing it and didn't shoot any more of them again. 

[krout81]

 

We did the same thing on the coast.  I have not shot one since

[JJB11B]

I can say with absolute honesty that other that peperoni sticks, sausage, or jerky, I have never enjoyed any waterfowl I have eaten

[CoryTDF]

To the OP,

I have also eaten Coyote. It was delicious. Aside from the fact that I was the one who shot it and had to clean it. Picking the fleas off the meat was a little hard to handle. Everybody else loved it. We did the backstraps up same as we would with deer and they were great. My wife even tried them.

Ducks..... I like to eat mallards, woodies, pintail, and teal. We shoot a few divers on occasion but they go into sausage. I like to thin slice half frozen breast as thin as I can get it and cook it in a hot pan with salt and pepper. I have peppers and onions already fired up on the side and we make Philly type sandwiches with them and dip them in a Aue Juice.

The two worst animals that I have ever eaten are Rock Chuck and Badger. The worst was badger.... it is absolutely disgusting. They taste just like they smell and it is awful.

[jennyfell55]

When I first started duck hunting I had heard about the horrors of bufflehead. I pride myself on being a good cook, and i figured I could make them taste good. Marinated it, cooked up to medium/med rare like I read you should cook wild duck... 

Neither my girlfriend nor I could finish it. Now, give me a goose, mallard, pintail, widgeon and Even the shoveler I shot I managed to get pretty tasty. Scaup work great in stir fry. 

[sakoshooter]

Most if not all duck breasts that I'm planning on cooking get marinaded in Yo*censored*as Gourmet Sauce for at least 24hrs and most times 2-3 days. They then get covered in a mixture of flour and lots of my favorite spices then pan fried to medium or medium rare. Cut them into small pieces and cover liberally w/Worchestershire sauce.

[Stein]

I had a ring and buf this year and both were plenty good.  I'm new to the game but haven't had a bad one yet.

On another note, I used to curse the dogfish, but once I decided to make tacos I couldn't catch one to save my life.


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[lokidog]

I'd love to know how to cook dogfish.  That would be a fun thing to do with the kids in the summer!

Bleed. place on ice, filet, dip in egg and your favorite crumb, fry.  They are excellent.  Stein, the dogfish populations have actually taken a dive, probably in part to every salmon fisherman killing them just because.

OP, as much as I am a proponent of eating Mergansers, I won't put it out there that they taste as good as a Mallard, Wood Duck, or Teal cooked the same way like marinated and grilled.  However, if cooked appropriately, they do make excellent table fare as they do tend to be a bit more "gamey" tasting.

I've also tried coyote, mine made the bacon that was wrapped around it taste bad.  This does bring up the fact that the same species harvested in different areas may taste quite different from each other as well.