Hunting Washington Forum
Other Hunting => Waterfowl => Topic started by: sakoshooter on December 21, 2015, 12:24:20 PM
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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.
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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.
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I've tried Mergs and could 100% tell the difference. It wasn't for the better. :twocents:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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I'd love to know how to cook dogfish. That would be a fun thing to do with the kids in the summer!
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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. :puke:
Of course we were pretty bad cooks back then. Maybe there is a way to make them taste better? :dunno: I wish it was legal to shoot them and only keep the gizzards. I love gizzards. :drool:
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.
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:yeah:
We did the same thing on the coast. I have not shot one since
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I can say with absolute honesty that other that peperoni sticks, sausage, or jerky, I have never enjoyed any waterfowl I have eaten
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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.
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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... :puke:
Neither my girlfriend nor I could finish it. Now, give me a goose, mallard, pintail, widgeon and :drool: Even the shoveler I shot I managed to get pretty tasty. Scaup work great in stir fry. :tup:
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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.
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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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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.
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Harlequin. Early in the season. Salt and pepper in a hot pan. One of my favorites. Mix mayo and brown mustard for dipping sauce.
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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.
You might have something with the location thing.
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I have taken a few mergansers while hunting waterfowl and always take them home. My wife's favorite way to prepare duck is "duck stew", and you can't tell any difference in that.
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Stews,stir frys, stroganoffs, skewers and fajitas. It's all meat. Just rinse them well. Funny how a mallard who eats cow turds, pond scum and weed seeds tastes better than a mergie who eats salmon and steelie smolts. A toast to the lowly goosander!!
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Stews,stir frys, stroganoffs, skewers and fajitas. It's all meat. Just rinse them well. Funny how a mallard who eats cow turds, pond scum and weed seeds tastes better than a mergie who eats salmon and steelie smolts. A toast to the lowly goosander!!
Couldn't agree more!
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I've intended to try coyote, but always chickened out because of the smell. It does look like good light meat, similar to cougar. The rock chucks I've eaten were all young of the year, and had no flavor at all - very tender.
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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.
The dogfish population sure seems to be going strong here in the south Sound. You can't even think about using bait down here from July on. I'm going to give that a try next year. Do you soak them at all? I think I recall reading that soaking them helps.
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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.
The dogfish population sure seems to be going strong here in the south Sound. You can't even think about using bait down here from July on. I'm going to give that a try next year. Do you soak them at all? I think I recall reading that soaking them helps.
I don't soak them, but you could. The meat is less translucent than regularly fish. Be sure to trim off the red parts.
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I have done this. Mergs taste like pooh. Though I have had bluebill jerky and philly sandwiches that are awesome. Lightly pan seemed can is to die for. The only non fish duck I won't eat is salt water wig in December/January.
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I've intended to try coyote, but always chickened out because of the smell. It does look like good light meat, similar to cougar. The rock chucks I've eaten were all young of the year, and had no flavor at all - very tender.
Dog is also good.
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Great... Guess I misread the post... I've been force feeding my duck and he can eat a lot for his size... Oh nevermind... :chuckle:
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Ok. This post inspired me, so I went out on my lunch and jump shot two buffleheads from a pond at work. I check it for puddle ducks everyday, but I've been passing on the diving ducks.
I've got them cleaned out, so I'll report back someday soon how the flavor is. Cooking suggestions?
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I grew up in a non-hunting non-fishing family. I've learned to test assumptions. For example, I learned that my adoptive Alaskan family was wrong about copper and quillback rockfish--they're delicious. I've also learned that diver disdain is over-stated--ringnecks and scaup are good (if not quite as mild as teal or pinnies), especially when seared rare to medium rare. The texture and color IS a bit different, but flavor is still good, even with just salt and pepper. I accidentally shot a hooded merg early this season while targeting teal. I mixed the breasts of both species, sauteed, and ate. I could tell the difference, but they were all delicious, and the only reason I could tell the difference is that they were side by side--otherwise, it would have been tough, especially blindfolded. On slow days, hoodies will probably die in my spread again.
Common mergs get a pass. I shot one a few years back and made a modest effort to increase non-duck flavor in the dish to compensate... it was not good. For those taking notes, Sweet-n-Sour-Sawbill will not make it into my cookbook. I ate the entire portion out of a sense of responsibility to the animal I had harvested, but I haven't shot one since, and I don't plan to shoot any more.
Buffies usually get a pass. I don't like chasing them when crippled, I don't like cleaning them, and I'm not fond of eating them. When cooked through, such as in chili, curry, or stew, they're barely edible. I make exceptions if the same bird buzzes the decoys three times in a row. Those go in the pepperoni fund.
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Chukarhead, I think it's funny how you'll shoot a Bufflehead if it buzzes your spread 3 times in a row, LOL. How can you tell it's the same Bufflehead? I've eaten my share of them in years past but it's been a long time. The biggest reason I pass on them is because they're sooooo darn small, almost impossible to hit and even harder to clean. Good practice for the new guys in the group though. With them flying so low to the water, you can usually see how far behind you're shooting.
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Was just gonna PM this to Sakoshooter, but the rest of ya may as well enjoy it too.
A guy I spent some time with a long time ago in a land far, far away, married a Cajun woman in Louisiana, and can she cook.
Here is a duck gumbo recipe she gave me, it is excellent. I was pretty much a waterfowl pepperoni and sausage guy till I got ahold of this.
Duck Gumbo
4 to 6 large ducks or 8 teal - Whole or breasts depending on how much meat you like in your gumbo.
1 to 1 ½ lbs smoke sausage
1 lg onion, chopped
3 ribs of celery, chopped
¼ cup oil
½ cup Flour
Salt, pepper, Tony Chachere’s (original or creole) to taste.
Place ducks in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a slow boil and boil till meat falls off the bone. Can add salt and pepper while boiling, to taste. Remove duck, strain and save broth. When cool remove meat from duck and shred lightly.
Make a roux. Heat the ¼ cup oil and stir in the ½ flour slow cook till the roux browns
Add to roux the celery, onion and 1 – 2 cups of the saved broth. Simmer till onions cook clear. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. When done, put it back in the large pot.
Brown sausage and cut into slices. Add duck, smoked sausage and remaining broth into pot. Season with salt and pepper and Tony’s seasoning to taste.
Simmer 30 to 45 min and serve over rice.
My son in law likes to add shrimp to his, not part of the original recipe but it add a little something different to the flavor.
May you all enjoy the best season ever.
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Was just gonna PM this to Sakoshooter, but the rest of ya may as well enjoy it too.
A guy I spent some time with a long time ago in a land far, far away, married a Cajun woman in Louisiana, and can she cook.
Here is a duck gumbo recipe she gave me, it is excellent. I was pretty much a waterfowl pepperoni and sausage guy till I got ahold of this.
Duck Gumbo
4 to 6 large ducks or 8 teal - Whole or breasts depending on how much meat you like in your gumbo.
1 to 1 ½ lbs smoke sausage
1 lg onion, chopped
3 ribs of celery, chopped
¼ cup oil
½ cup Flour
Salt, pepper, Tony Chachere’s (original or creole) to taste.
Place ducks in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a slow boil and boil till meat falls off the bone. Can add salt and pepper while boiling, to taste. Remove duck, strain and save broth. When cool remove meat from duck and shred lightly.
Make a roux. Heat the ¼ cup oil and stir in the ½ flour slow cook till the roux browns
Add to roux the celery, onion and 1 – 2 cups of the saved broth. Simmer till onions cook clear. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. When done, put it back in the large pot.
Brown sausage and cut into slices. Add duck, smoked sausage and remaining broth into pot. Season with salt and pepper and Tony’s seasoning to taste.
Simmer 30 to 45 min and serve over rice.
My son in law likes to add shrimp to his, not part of the original recipe but it add a little something different to the flavor.
May you all enjoy the best season ever.
Amen to gumbo! A college friend's Arkansas wife would gumbo anything. She used Andouille sausage. One of the most impressive was a huge old white-tailed jackrabbit I shot, 10+ lbs, looked like a chunk of sidewall when skinned. Gumbo was still delicious. I highly recommend including okra in any gumbo, just a personal preference.
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Sounds delicious!
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Just printed that recipe Doublelung. Sounds darn good.
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Was just gonna PM this to Sakoshooter, but the rest of ya may as well enjoy it too.
A guy I spent some time with a long time ago in a land far, far away, married a Cajun woman in Louisiana, and can she cook.
Here is a duck gumbo recipe she gave me, it is excellent. I was pretty much a waterfowl pepperoni and sausage guy till I got ahold of this.
Duck Gumbo
4 to 6 large ducks or 8 teal - Whole or breasts depending on how much meat you like in your gumbo.
1 to 1 ½ lbs smoke sausage
1 lg onion, chopped
3 ribs of celery, chopped
¼ cup oil
½ cup Flour
Salt, pepper, Tony Chachere’s (original or creole) to taste.
Place ducks in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a slow boil and boil till meat falls off the bone. Can add salt and pepper while boiling, to taste. Remove duck, strain and save broth. When cool remove meat from duck and shred lightly.
Make a roux. Heat the ¼ cup oil and stir in the ½ flour slow cook till the roux browns
Add to roux the celery, onion and 1 – 2 cups of the saved broth. Simmer till onions cook clear. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. When done, put it back in the large pot.
Brown sausage and cut into slices. Add duck, smoked sausage and remaining broth into pot. Season with salt and pepper and Tony’s seasoning to taste.
Simmer 30 to 45 min and serve over rice.
My son in law likes to add shrimp to his, not part of the original recipe but it add a little something different to the flavor.
May you all enjoy the best season ever.
Sorry about that JJD, I looked at it under Doublelung's post and in my absentmindedness thought it was his recipe.
I still printed it and just gave it to the wife. Sounds like a good recipe to me ol timer.
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Chukarhead, I think it's funny how you'll shoot a Bufflehead if it buzzes your spread 3 times in a row, LOL. How can you tell it's the same Bufflehead?
It happens fairly often in a bay I like to hunt. They'll come in while I'm setting or pulling decoys and standing in the middle of the spread. First pass they get a smile, second pass they get a yell, third time they'll have to dodge steel. I know it's the same one because it never leaves my sight. It's been a couple of years, at least, since I've dumped one. And no, it's not rational. :chuckle:
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Chukarhead, I think it's funny how you'll shoot a Bufflehead if it buzzes your spread 3 times in a row, LOL. How can you tell it's the same Bufflehead?
It happens fairly often in a bay I like to hunt. They'll come in while I'm setting or pulling decoys and standing in the middle of the spread. First pass they get a smile, second pass they get a yell, third time they'll have to dodge steel. I know it's the same one because it never leaves my sight. It's been a couple of years, at least, since I've dumped one. And no, it's not rational. :chuckle:
:chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
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Germans traditionally smoke the belly flaps of the dogfish. Shillerlocken:
http://www.seagull-appetit.com/en/products/1219/schillerlocken
The best way I've found to prepare buffleheads is to give them to a Cambodian family I know 8)
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I shoot plenty or mergs and have not found a way I like them. I have shot coots several times. Im ruined because the first one tasted great and the rest were horrible! Feed anything enough corn and it will eat great! Ive eaten carp and they were ok and shark makes an ok fish and chips.
I would bet that many nasty eating animals can be tasty during certain parts of the year. I wouldnt eat a coyote unless I whacked it out of an orchard after lots of fruit had fallen... havent done that one yet.
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I have found with ducks depends a ton on what or where they are eating. Widgeon on west side have to brine but on east side taste great, gads don't taste too great on east side of living in muddy lakes. I have found buffleheads to taste pretty good similar to teal. Cans are still the best the few a year I get on river
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Ok guys, I ate a bufflehead tonight. I shot one at work today, took it home and took a breast out. I removed the fat and fried it up, with nothing but salt. I'd give it a B-. No fishy flavor, but a bit dark and livery for me. I don't think I'm ever going to roast one. I might keep hunting them to save up to throw in a batch of pepperoni. Like others have said, they're fun to shoot.
Thanks for the challenge. I'm glad I tried it.
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Doesn't the livery taste come from over cooking ducks?
I try to leave them a little rare in the middle to keep that taste down. :tup:
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Doesn't the livery taste come from over cooking ducks?
I try to leave them a little rare in the middle to keep that taste down. :tup:
Well, yeah. But I don't think that was the case with this duck. I tried it rare first, then put it back on the fire to medium rare. I didn't notice a change with this duck.
I'll say again though, it was okay. It just wasn't great. The livery taste wasn't as strong as actual liver.
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Ok guys, I ate a bufflehead tonight. I shot one at work today, took it home and took a breast out. I removed the fat and fried it up, with nothing but salt. I'd give it a B-. No fishy flavor, but a bit dark and livery for me.
I've eaten hundreds of buffs over the years. My grandmother taught me a secret to eliminating the liver taste - Butter and tarragon! Good hot, but extremely wonderful cold.
I agree with .300 WinMag...level of doneness same as a venison roast - medium to medium rare. Any sign of rice they become crab bait.
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:yeah: butterballs are another one of my favorites. Keep it on the medium rare side and they are awesome.
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The problem with ducks is that they all taste like duck........ YUCK!
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The problem with ducks is that they all taste like duck........ YUCK!
:chuckle:
They are definitely not a grouse, quail, or pheasant.
Hopefully the Buffleheads aren't "fishy" since they don't eat fish. ;) Scoters, Goldeneye, and Oldsquaw eat snails and clams, but not fish either.
wa_archer, you remind me of back in the 80's when I fist hunted the west coast. In the beginning of the season, I whacked a few tasty Widgeon. After the second week of the season, the Widgeon tasted like crap and I quit shooting them. I figured the eelgrass diet was messing them up. :dunno:
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I couldn't count the number of ducks that we used to pass up on back when I used to duck hunt all the time in the 80's and early 90's. We always passed on goldeneye, bluebills, mergs, etc. We only shot pintail, teal, gadwall, woodies, mallard, and widgeon. Just what my dad taught us. He had a name (that I can't type here because it would be censored) for all diving ducks.
It's funny because most of the divers eat basically the same things as the puddlers, they just dive to get to their food. It's really just the fish eaters (mergansers) that we should have been passing up.
The other funny part is that my dad refused to eat any duck. My mom would cook up duck for the family and make a separate meal for my dad. I guess we should have been shooting the other ducks as well since he didn't even eat them.
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I had bluebill livers and eggs for breakfast this morning – fried in butter and garlic - delicious :EAT:
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I pan seared some bufflehead and common merg breasts tonight. Yoshidas marinade for 2 hours. Bacon grease, onion, and garlic. 3 min per side. Tasted really good, wife even asked me to get a few more. I also tried it with a little goat cheese on a hunch. Gonna use that for bacon wraps next time.
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Were the mergs out of fresh or saltwater? I'm curious as it seems more people shooting them on freshwater are saying yuck. I've not noticed much difference.
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Were the mergs out of fresh or saltwater? I'm curious as it seems more people shooting them on freshwater are saying yuck. I've not noticed much difference.
I think between natural migration instincts, weather and water levels - both fresh and salt - these birds travel between fresh and salt water as needed. I think it'd be darn hard to pin down a particular area that any given duck sticks with. :twocents:
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The merg was off the canal so salt, and it was a common. I will say this, it smelled just as clean as the two mallards I cleaned that day. Also my wife and I did agree the legs had a finish similar to a fresh salmon sushi. Nothing bad or strong flavor wise but it was there.
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The merg was off the canal so salt, and it was a common. I will say this, it smelled just as clean as the two mallards I cleaned that day. Also my wife and I did agree the legs had a finish similar to a fresh salmon sushi. Nothing bad or strong flavor wise but it was there.
:tup: