Hunting Washington Forum
Other Hunting => Waterfowl => Topic started by: jbeaumont21 on November 24, 2020, 08:44:58 AM
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I grew up in the Midwest shooting mallards in cornfields and wood ducks in river bottoms, and always dreamed of one day shooting a canvasback to put on the wall. It was my top bucket list duck! I have hunted ducks for over 30 years (20 years in Oregon & Washington) and have never even seen a canvasback during the season let alone have a shot at one. That was until the last two weeks.
Last Friday I took a new hunter out for his first time and when asked if it was legal to shoot ducks on the water my response was yes, but that I typically give them a sporting chance and try and shoot them in the air as they are landing or spook them back up into the air if they land in the decoys. Well not 5 minutes after those words left my mouth a drake can lands in the decoys and I immediately pull up and swat him on the water. My friend looks over at me and says "you're a real sportsman I see." I quickly explain to him that it was a drake canvasback and the king of ducks. His response was a who what? Nervously I made my way out into the water to retrieve my prize, my golden ticket, my bucket list duck for the wall, only to discover it was a young immature drake and in my opinion not worthy of getting mounted. I was still very excited and it felt like an accomplishment, but it was bitter sweet.
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Yesterday I went back at it again for some more ducks, in an area that you would not typically ever think of seeing a canvasback. The morning started with lots of action. Tons of widgeon and teal flying by with a few mallards and pintails buzzing over. 7am finally came and it was on! First group of ducks was a nice flock of widgeon that came in on the left side, I was sitting to the right of two good hunting buddies, so I let them take the first crack. They both dropped a bird from the flock with one sailing out a ways. I sat tight in my spot as they both waded off behind us to retrieve their birds. Just as they were getting back to the blind a pair of ducks came in low left to right. I quickly noticed the red head and white body on the lead duck, about the same time the pair of cans noticed my friends dashing to hide in the weeds. The drake quickly banked a hard left away from us as I instantly shouldered my gun, took the shot and connected. Canvasback down! As I waded out to retrieve my bird I couldn't help but worry if he was going to be a nice mature drake or another immature bird. To my surprise he was a beauty! Finally I got my bucket list bird for the wall, and to do it in front of my buddies, and to make a clean shot in the air all topped it off for me. 2020 has been a terrible year but this is one small highlight that will keep me smiling through the holidays.
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Lots of season left so was hoping others could share stories/pics of their success shooting their bucketlist duck.
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Very pretty bird. Who do u have do your bird taxidermy near Vancouver? And going rate?
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Not sure yet. One of my buddies has used a guy up in Woodland for a few mounts so I may look into him. The guy who did my bear rug a few years ago I guess went to prison so I can rule him out. Its been a long time since I had a bird mounted so I'm guessing it'll cost around $300-400, maybe more?
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Congrats on fulfilling your dream. :tup:
Hopefully your taxi does it justice for many more years of enjoyment
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I use Cheri's Taxidermy in Idaho. The absolute best I have ever seen. http://www.cheristaxidermy.com/index.html
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Also nw wings in venetta, oregon. He knows birds as well.
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Thanks for the taxi recommendations. Anyone have one closer to Vancouver? Maybe within an hour drive?
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I had a canvasback done by NW Wings down near Eugene, he did an ok job but honestly I wasn’t as impressed as I was with others, I consider the job he did as average. Advanced Wildlife Taxidermy in Moses Lake or Leon Matthew’s in the Tri Cities gets my vote.
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Well kids it was the year 2020 I’m sure you have read about it in your history books. But that duck that duck right there that turned it all around for me. So there I was..........
This is the story you are going to tell your grandkids someday. Congratulations buddy!!!!!
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Nice job! Man, I bet you just kept staring at and thought “Damn. Sweet.”
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Congrats on a beautiful bird!!!
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Much like your introductory story. On opening day I had a bucket list bird show up in my decoys and I water swatted him. A beautiful drake wood duck. And I blew his head clean off. The wad must have hit his head... D'oh!
Congrats on your Can!
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Nice looking bird!
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I'm a little jealous. Always wanted a bull can, one of the few divers I didn't get in WA.
:tup:
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Beautiful canvasback, congratulations!
If I was getting a bird mounted, I'd be taking it to Seth Lane in the Tri-Cities.
http://www.lanewildlifeartistry.com/
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Send it to Josh Herman Of jherman taxidermy. He is out of Mollala Oregon and does a great job.
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Seth Lane in Finley is phenomenal
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I've always thought the wood duck is the most beautiful duck around, almost too cool to kill.
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I second that, but I would shoot a drake woody in a hot second.
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Much like your introductory story. On opening day I had a bucket list bird show up in my decoys and I water swatted him. A beautiful drake wood duck. And I blew his head clean off. The wad must have hit his head... D'oh!
Congrats on your Can!
OK this made me snort, damn funny!
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That is a nice looking bird.
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Send it over to Seth Lane, don't even waste your time with anyone else.
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Congratulations! That and a redhead is on my bucket list next year.
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Thanks all for the taxi recommendations. I'm still researching them before I commit, just want to make sure its done right.
There are definately prettier ducks than a canvasback and I agree wood ducks are probably the most beautiful duck in the world, that and or maybe a mandarin. However, the canvasback is such a cool duck, fastest flying, deepest diving, and has a elegant sophisticated look. Also the history of them being commercially hunted for fine dining to near extinxtion but making a great comeback adds to their allure. They remind me of books ive read about hunting big open water during late season with a big weather front of snow, sleet and rain pushing the migration, and having a flock of can's drop out of the sky and set in your dekes. The prize of all ducks, the king of ducks!
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Looks like you'll be mounting a red breasted merganser next as it passed the can in speed by 28mph! Fastest recorded can at 72mph, merg clocked at 100mph.
Surely a coot is top in rank in something and can find a spot on your wall. :chuckle:
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Nice going, neighbor. Beautiful birds. :tup:
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Looks like you'll be mounting a red breasted merganser next as it passed the can in speed by 28mph! Fastest recorded can at 72mph, merg clocked at 100mph.
Surely a coot is top in rank in something and can find a spot on your wall. :chuckle:
Mount a limit of 25!
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Looks like you'll be mounting a red breasted merganser next as it passed the can in speed by 28mph! Fastest recorded can at 72mph, merg clocked at 100mph.
Surely a coot is top in rank in something and can find a spot on your wall. :chuckle:
That's only because it was being chased by an airplane. I'm sure a canvasback could break that if it had to.
Flock of coot would be awesome but you'd have to have a giant fake pond to mount them on since they seem to hate flying. By the way, how do coot migrate? I've never seen a flock of coots flying south. They must swim/walk the whole way? Now that is impressive!
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Large and fast, Canvasbacks ducks are in a class by themselves.
https://www.chron.com/sports/outdoors/article/Large-and-fast-Canvasbacks-ducks-are-in-a-class-1641577.php
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Lots of season left so was hoping others could share stories/pics of their success shooting their bucketlist duck.
Like you, I have been after that Bull Canvasback. And first off, Congratulations on an awesome bird!!! This week I officially started to dedicate all my hunts to target canvasbacks. My late stepfather, who passed of cancer, had a whole bunch of cork bluebill decoys that he used to use in Canada back in the 80s and 90s. I found a few cork canvasbacks in there as well! I have wanted to put these decoys to use for a very long time and did it this week. First hunt, I dropped my bluebills in about 15 minutes from setup which was kind of neat on its own because of the cork spread. I was seeing Canvasbacks flying here and there. Had some skirt the decoys and I missed the first 3 I saw before I connected on a hen that decoyed beautifully! Not 15 minutes later, out of nowhere, a bull can comes zipping across and over top of my decoys. I dropped him! It was a really good feeling getting that bird and over my stepdad's decoys on top of it all!! Two days later I shot a trophy bull and that bird is headed to the taxidermist! Watching cans buzzing around is like nothing I've ever seen before and possibly the most amazing species that I have targeted!
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Lots of season left so was hoping others could share stories/pics of their success shooting their bucketlist duck.
Like you, I have been after that Bull Canvasback. And first off, Congratulations on an awesome bird!!! This week I officially started to dedicate all my hunts to target canvasbacks. My late stepfather, who passed of cancer, had a whole bunch of cork bluebill decoys that he used to use in Canada back in the 80s and 90s. I found a few cork canvasbacks in there as well! I have wanted to put these decoys to use for a very long time and did it this week. First hunt, I dropped my bluebills in about 15 minutes from setup which was kind of neat on its own because of the cork spread. I was seeing Canvasbacks flying here and there. Had some skirt the decoys and I missed the first 3 I saw before I connected on a hen that decoyed beautifully! Not 15 minutes later, out of nowhere, a bull can comes zipping across and over top of my decoys. I dropped him! It was a really good feeling getting that bird and over my stepdad's decoys on top of it all!! Two days later I shot a trophy bull and that bird is headed to the taxidermist! Watching cans buzzing around is like nothing I've ever seen before and possibly the most amazing species that I have targeted!
That's awesome man! Congrats!! Looks like a nice one, super bright white on the back. Who are you going to use for a taxi?
By the way I ended up eating the first immature bull can I got. He wasn't shot up at all so I plucked and breasted him out and pan fried fat side down. I have to admit it wasn't as tasty as a mallard. My wife did not like it at all and she likes duck. Tasted more livery like you'd expect from a diver duck. I'm sure they taste different in other areas of the country depending on what they eat. Still, not sure why they were considered such a delicacy back in the day. :dunno:
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I'm not sure on taxidermist yet. Need to do a little research, but seems like Seth Lane's work is pretty legit. Was also eye-balling whidbey island taxidermy. But I'm going to shop around a bit and research. Have to do the hard part of picking out a pose too! So many good ones to choose from.
I wonder if it was the fat. I've always heard that you want to make sure all the fat is off the divers. I ate some canvasback a couple nights ago and it was legitimately the best duck I've ever eaten. I've got lots of old duck hunting books and they all talk about how good cans are. I was impressed! Wild celery seems to be the ticket.
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Lots of season left so was hoping others could share stories/pics of their success shooting their bucketlist duck.
Like you, I have been after that Bull Canvasback. And first off, Congratulations on an awesome bird!!! This week I officially started to dedicate all my hunts to target canvasbacks. My late stepfather, who passed of cancer, had a whole bunch of cork bluebill decoys that he used to use in Canada back in the 80s and 90s. I found a few cork canvasbacks in there as well! I have wanted to put these decoys to use for a very long time and did it this week. First hunt, I dropped my bluebills in about 15 minutes from setup which was kind of neat on its own because of the cork spread. I was seeing Canvasbacks flying here and there. Had some skirt the decoys and I missed the first 3 I saw before I connected on a hen that decoyed beautifully! Not 15 minutes later, out of nowhere, a bull can comes zipping across and over top of my decoys. I dropped him! It was a really good feeling getting that bird and over my stepdad's decoys on top of it all!! Two days later I shot a trophy bull and that bird is headed to the taxidermist! Watching cans buzzing around is like nothing I've ever seen before and possibly the most amazing species that I have targeted!
That's awesome man! Congrats!! Looks like a nice one, super bright white on the back. Who are you going to use for a taxi?
By the way I ended up eating the first immature bull can I got. He wasn't shot up at all so I plucked and breasted him out and pan fried fat side down. I have to admit it wasn't as tasty as a mallard. My wife did not like it at all and she likes duck. Tasted more livery like you'd expect from a diver duck. I'm sure they taste different in other areas of the country depending on what they eat. Still, not sure why they were considered such a delicacy back in the day. :dunno:
I did a project on a sewer lagoon one fall.........therefore i dont eat ducks or geese.
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I've decided to take mine down to Josh in Molalla. Here is the pose I'm going with, except it will be attached to a piece of wood on the wall.
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Finally got him back from the taxi. I think Josh did a great job!
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More
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He looks angry
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Finally got him back from the taxi. I think Josh did a great job!
Neck is a bit messed up. Did it tip over on the drive home?
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That looks awesome.
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Cool bird. I would not be happy with that mount and just having straight up wire showing from the wood to the duck.
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Lot of critics on here. I'm happy with it and I guess that's all that matters. The bird was shot in the neck so had some damage he had to work around. I think he did a good job with what he had to work with.
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Looks good! :tup:
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Nice mount. I really love the pose
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Cool! I'm still waiting to get mine back. He is going to be starting it soon. I actually got a better bird this last season to replace the one I had already sent in. I ended up going with a taxidermist, through a friend, back home in Iowa. Shipped some canvasbacks and redheads. I ended up gifting him a few birds, for shows, as well. He even wanted some coot. Can't wait to get my Can and Redhead back! The can will be flying and the redhead will be sitting on water.
Love those birds.
Enjoy your mount!
Brian
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Cool! I'm still waiting to get mine back. He is going to be starting it soon. I actually got a better bird this last season to replace the one I had already sent in. I ended up going with a taxidermist, through a friend, back home in Iowa. Shipped some canvasbacks and redheads. I ended up gifting him a few birds, for shows, as well. He even wanted some coot. Can't wait to get my Can and Redhead back! The can will be flying and the redhead will be sitting on water.
Love those birds.
Enjoy your mount!
Brian
Who's the taxidermist you went with in Iowa? I grew up in Clear Lake, IA and still go back every year to hunt and fish with my dad. Sounds like you had a pretty successful season out here last year. Would love to see some picks when you get your birds back.
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Nice job on the birds, man, and on the sportsmanship lesson. No sluicing!
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The only canvasback I shot was a hen heavily loaded with fat. I plucked it whole and roasted it in the oven stuffed with spiced oranges, then broiled until the scored skin was crispy and internal temp was 145. It remains the best tasting bird I've eaten in my life. After that you couldn't convince me to get one taxidermied unless it was bone skinny.
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Who's the taxidermist you went with in Iowa? I grew up in Clear Lake, IA and still go back every year to hunt and fish with my dad. Sounds like you had a pretty successful season out here last year. Would love to see some picks when you get your birds back.
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Jeff Baker is his name. Real Life Designs out of Spirit Lake. I grew up in NE Iowa. Garnavillo. That's cool! I always hunted the Mississippi River. Fun one to hunt.
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Here is a Redhead we harvested 2 seasons ago here. I gifted him this bird from the same hunt that I got mine. He competes in shows and won 2nd place with it. This was a world competition too. A pintail ended up winning and the Judge said he would have picked both but had to choose one. I'm really excited to see my birds when he finishes. He's had them for almost 18 months now, but it will be worth the wait!