define game bird wildlife wastage

[Jack Diamond]

Just something I overheard a couple years ago ,3   I believe, while duck hunting.
A game officer was saying he was waiting for some campers to return, and he was going to cite them for wasting wildlife, as he had found where they had just breasted a limit of ducks and left the rest to waste. Well just about most I know do exactly that.       Is that defined as wasting?

[huntergreg]

Not sure but I am interested to know myself?

[Hangfire]

I would hope so.

A acquaintance of mine and I were talking about this very thing 15 years ago. He likes to hunt ducks, always cleans the whole duck and freezes any that he doesn't use right away. The next spring any ducks that are left over are thawed, boned out and made into sausage. He had gotten into the discussion with others about how there is little meat other than the breast and it wasn't worth fooling with. When he thawed  and bone out ducks one spring he placed the meat in two piles, one the breast, the other all the rest. He weighted the two piles and found the nonbreast pile was greater than 40% of the total meat weight.

The basic reason people do not take more than the breast is, they do not want to put out the effort or time, lazy.

[boneaddict]

I also think it is laziness.

[Gringo31]

The reason I never took duck legs was because I think they taste like crap.  

But, I haven't hunted ducks for many years now.

[MichaelD]

Kinda like taking the back straps and rear quarters and leaving the rest on an elk or deer when you just take the birds breast in my opinion.....

[canyelk48]

Interesting subject.  I'm betting a lot of people also only breast out dove, quail and maybe even pheasant.

[singleshot12]

Most waterfowl hunters I know only breast their birds and that has always bothered me. It only takes an extra minute to take the legs and thighs out and they are very edible. I even have great way of fixing up the heart, liver, and gizzard which are also very delicious.

I even know of some people who shoot ducks and don't even eat them, they use them for crab bait and claim that that is not wasting??

[Houndhunter]

i could see where just taking the breast on a duck is wasting some meat, ive done both and did not know that it was illegal to do so. but as for doves quail and grouse, theres not much on them to begin with except the breast especially doves and quail. i think its a little over the top to say breasting out those types of birds is wasting

[T-Bone]

I was raised by my Father to always pluck my ducks and even save the heart, liver and gizzard. Now in my late 50's, I generally only pluck teal or the occasional mallard and breast out the majority of my ducks. I do save the legs on the larger ducks. I notice most individuals cannot even properly breast a duck and just cut a couple strips from along the breast bone. Perhaps, that was the situation with the Warden or he planned to cite the hunters for their pre-home precessing? Many hunters don't realize the sex and specie of duck must be identifiable during transport.

The throwing away of pheasant legs is a real LAZY to me. Yes, the lower leg portion can be a bit tendon-y, but the thigh is not and I eat the breast and all the leg on all my upland birds. I didn't even realize the popularity of throwing away the entire pheasant leg until I watched a TV show by Jim Zumbo on a South Dakota pheasant hunt. To his credit, he was using the legs of pheasants harvested by himself and other hunters in a meal.

[Stickerbush]

interesting topic, so its actually illegal to just breast out and not take legs etc?

[bigtex]

In WA there is no exact definition of what parts would be considered wastage. Some states will actually say what parts you need to have with you in order to not be cited. But in WA it is up to the officer and the basic consensus is that if it is a well-known edible part then you need to bring it home with you. There is no problem with bringing the part home then not eating it (throwing it away).

[boneaddict]

AK is an example of specific, such as demanding ribs and neck meat in certain areas. (big game)

[canyelk48]

The throwing away of pheasant legs is a real LAZY to me. Yes, the lower leg portion can be a bit tendon-y, but the thigh is not and I eat the breast and all the leg on all my upland birds. I didn't even realize the popularity of throwing away the entire pheasant leg until I watched a TV show by Jim Zumbo on a South Dakota pheasant hunt. To his credit, he was using the legs of pheasants harvested by himself and other hunters in a meal.

Yup, I agree with ya.  I usually cook my pheasants in a crock pot on low heat and even the legs turn out great!  Gotta wonder if you'd get ticketed for breasting out dove, quail and grouse though; guess we'd need an "official WDFW answer" on that issue, or maybe it depends on the mood of the game warden.  My buddy almost got ticketed once for littering a dirt parking lot with duck feathers from a duck he was plucking on my tailgate!  You think that game warden was having "bad" day?

[Hunterman]

It all comes down to interpretation, thats why the laws are written the way they are in this state..How many people have been ticketed for shooting a grouses head off with a high powered rifle??

Hunterman(Tony)