Advice sought and my success so far

[mb121]

Well off to a some what of a good start for a beginner, have gotten a Scaup and a Coot (tasted just like it smelled). But I have been hunting the available areas on base and one day tried the Scatter Creek wildlife area and haven't been having very good luck, or even for that matter seeing or finding a duck in shotgun range.  So looking for some advice but I'll explain that at the bottom of the post, on to my story so far.

My first trip bagged a Scaup.  Was scouting out a lake and three of them happened to jump from the cattails and offer a good crossing shot so I took the opportunity presented to me, unfortunately I only crippled him and spent the next 5 minutes trying to find him and finish him off.  Well after 5 more shots later he was dead in the water (he kept diving on me)...but out of wadding range.  So with no other alternatives to retrieve him (no dog and didn't have my fishing pole) I manned up, stripped off my gear and swam a quick 15 yards out and back.  Couldn't leave him behind out of principle.  Learned some valuable lessons that day 1) 15 yards both there and back is a long time in cold weather and water , 2) Never leaving the fishing pole behind, though my friends think it is crazy it beats swimming, 3) I really need to get a dog when the opportunity comes along or I am able (no pets allowed in my present living situation).

Second success was a much easier retrieve.  Walking along the shore of another lake on post I spotted a bird swimming, stalked up to him and was able to get him to flush.  One shot and he was dead in the water, waded out and retrieve him but quickly realized that he was a Coot and when telling my buddy when I got back to my room his only reply was "that probably won't taste good."  Well he was right and I realized this upon making the first cut to dress it (had to suppress the urge to ).

Does anyone know of any decent spots to jump shoot and get a few ducks?  Not looking for anyone's secret spots just some accessible land that I can have some success at.  Currently hunt alone as my buddies up here don't hunt birds or waterfowl, don't have the money to, or don't know where their hunters ed certificate is from their home state.  I don't have much in the way of gear, just waders, my Rem 870, a set of BDU's and a can do attitude that is sometimes punishes me.  Have been thinking of doing a guided hunt but money is tight this time of year and doesn't look like a option.

ETA: I live on post at Fort Lewis, willing to drive but travel restrictions means anything pass the Cascade mountain pass and anything North or South farther than a hour or two is out of the question.  I am able to travel to the coast with no problems.

[Black Plague]

well, I think you can register to hunt fort lewis.....   pulled this off a site....

To hunt Fort Lewis there are some work you must do first.
1. Register your firearms with the Provost Marshall. They will check the serial number of your gun to see if they are hot.
2. Firearm registration paper work is needed prior to registering to hunt on Post. And
3. You will also need to provide your vehicle registration, proof of insurance, current Drivers license, current Hunting License.
4. Watch a 30-45 minutes hunters information video.
5. Complete hunter registration and pay $10.

All this can be accomplish easier if you have a military ID. If not, it can be done as well, but takes a little longer. Call the Northwest Adventure Center in Ft. Lewis 253-967-8260 / 8262 / 8275. http://www.fortlewismwr.com/nac.htm


you might need a boat or canoe or something though....look on craigslist for used dekes...

you can also go to Cabellas or Sportsmans or whatever, and just hangout in the waterfowl section bothering people til you get enough info to figure some stuff out...who knows you might even meet someone who is willing to show you the ropes a bit... I live on the east side so really cant help that much...good luck though

[White Tornado]

Hello MB121,

  Sorry I live farther away than you can travel but I sure do hope someone in your area steps up to show you the ropes. Anyone willing to swim for a Scaup or cook a coot really needs some help.      Hell of an effort to teach yourself!!!!!!

[Glockster]

If you can go to the coast you should check out the Chehalis wildlife area (do a search on the WDFW site...they have a 'go hunt' mapping function.

For the boat-less hunter that would be the only one I can think of off the top of my head.  W.WA public walk in opportunity has taken a severe nose dive over the past 5yrs unfortunatlely.

There is also Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge but that is about 2hrs south of you.  Assigned blinds, you don'nt need a boat there and the retrieving is pretty easy.

I want to congratulate you commend you for your ethics on retrieving your birds!

[CP]

You might want to work on your waterfowl ID skills.  It’s best if you can identify the bird’s species before you shoot it.  It can keep you out of trouble and keep you away from coot tacos.

The DU site has some good material


http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfowl-id/

[Glockster]

I have eaten coots when i started.  There's nothing wrong with them....There just isn't much meat.

The secret to making any waterfowl taste good is getting them cooled off asap.  If you pile them on top of eachother they never cool and that's where the 'gamy' flavor comes from.

For all ducks I fillet the breasts and soak in saltwater over night...draws all the blood and helps get any feathers out of the meat.  Blood is where bacteria start and is the root of all evil in any game meat or fish.

For coots and divers i also soak in butter milk for another day.

Marinade after that and cook rare.  That will make any duck good to palatable depending on the species and what they eat. 

The only duck I refuse to eat is the spoonies.   

[Black Plague]

...on a side note ...seriously Glockster?   you eat coots but not spoonies??? whats wrong with spoonies, sure a third of their diet comes from invertebrates but whats so bad about them?...especially compared to coots  ....though I have had teryiaki coot that was edible.

[Glockster]

Past tense, my friend!  ~!I used to eat them when I started duck hunting, which was about 16yrs ago....back in my killing stage.  I don't touch them now.

Kind of a funny story:  I was dating / engaged to a chinese girl at the time.  She would B&Moan about the costs of me going hunting every weekend and the fact that I was hardly killing any ducks to make it "worthwhile" in her mind.  I was just starting, didn't know many spots and was on the front end of the very steep learning curve as our dear OP appears to be.  So I started killing them coots just so she would stop bitching.  I never kill without eating, so I figured out how to make them palatable.  (She and her family thought I was the best hunter in the whole wild world..the limit was 25/50 in possession.  LOL)  So that's how I got into killing/eating coots. 

How I got out of the biz of killing and eating spoonies is another story.

[White Tornado]

Past tense, my friend!  ~!I used to eat them when I started duck hunting, which was about 16yrs ago....back in my killing stage.  I don't touch them now.

Kind of a funny story:  I was dating / engaged to a chinese girl at the time.  She would B&Moan about the costs of me going hunting every weekend and the fact that I was hardly killing any ducks to make it "worthwhile" in her mind.  I was just starting, didn't know many spots and was on the front end of the very steep learning curve as our dear OP appears to be.  So I started killing them coots just so she would stop bitching.  I never kill without eating, so I figured out how to make them palatable.  (She and her family thought I was the best hunter in the whole wild world..the limit was 25/50 in possession.  LOL)  So that's how I got into killing/eating coots. 

How I got out of the biz of killing and eating spoonies is another story.

Don't leave us hanging!!!! Whats the story about Spoonies?

[mb121]

Black Plague:  All ready registered with Fort Lewis, haven't seen much other than what I guess you could consider local ducks, did see a flight (about 7-8) of Canadian or Crackling Geese fly over while driving around post today.  Most of the marshes that I have visited have all been frozen over (this was about a week and a half ago, could have changed still need to do another scouting drive), the streams haven't yielded anything when I was walking/driving by when scouting, and the larger lakes if they have any ducks on them they are sticking out in the center of the lake.  Have seen a few Mallards by the man made ponds on the main post but I'm pretty sure the Post Commander would be pretty sore at me if I shot them out in front of the hospital.  But thanks for the advice on checking out craigslist.

Glockster: Thanks, my uncle who taught me about big game hunting always enforced the "you kill it, you haul it out" philosophy that still sticks with me.  If he found out that I left a kill laying there I would not hear the end of it for a good while.  But he only hunts big game so he doesn't encounter the same situations as I do.  I will look into the Chehalis wildlife area, saw it on the go hunt map before but didn't want to waste a trip if it wasn't walkable not to mention the gas.

CP:  Yes, still need to master the ID for waterfowl, after that will come learning to call for them which I can all ready guess is going to be another slow process.  When I saw the coot from a distance (I forgot my binos at my room ) thought I had IDed another Scaup, but slowly working on it.  Right now I am still experimenting, won't know what I like to eat unless I get one to try, but for Coot I learned my lesson and think that I'll pass on that one.

[Glockster]

Saga of the spoonz:

I used to shoot them all the time in my early years, (if it flied it died stage), but one time we shot a mess of them near Moses Lake....one of those days where my buddy's dog ate the only mallard in the pile, i forgot my gun after we left for the evening and had to go back, basically a FUBAR day.

It didnn't end in the field.  We got back to the hotel and being poor, just out from college duck hunters, we always cooked our own food on the tail gate to save $.  We we whipped up this batch of chillie and my 'friend' suggested we ad some of them there spoons.  So fresh from the field is great with most meats but not with spoons!  I had no chance to soak or marinade them and in to the chillie they went.  I have only been that violently ill one other time and that was in Mexico.    

Since that wonderful experience the big beaked ones have nothing to fear from my gun.

MB121, sorry to hijack your post.  Your experiences matched my early duck hunting years so i had to share.  It gets better once you learn the spots and do a bit of leg work and yo sound like my kind of hunter.  As a matter of fact I would take you to some of my jump shooting areas in EWA but that sounds too far for you.   Duck hunting is a lot of fun.