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Help Duck Identification

Jimmy from Cottage Grove

By Jimmy from Cottage Grove
in MN Duck Hunting - Geese - Waterfowl-Sandhill Cranes

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Jimmy from Cottage Grove Proficient

Jimmy from Cottage Grove

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I shot this duck this morning. I thought it was a hen mallard. Once I got it home. I am pretty sure it's not a hen mallard. Here are some pics.

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picture237ua9.jpg

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Jimmy from Cottage Grove Proficient

Jimmy from Cottage Grove

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I feel completely stupid that I don't know what it is. All I know is I have never shot one before. Unless it is a really imature mallard.

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Jimmy from Cottage Grove Proficient

Jimmy from Cottage Grove

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Thanks. So are they good to eat or anything? Or is it typically a duck you should let pass? They must not be that common around here.

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Swamp Scooter Proficient

Swamp Scooter

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They have darker than average meat. Not the tastiest birds but it can be eaten.

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lanyard Enthusiast

lanyard

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Jimmy, that's a mighty nice little muck raker you got there.

I recommend Lawry's Caribbean Jerk 30 minute marinade, for about 3 hrs.

Got mine at Spoonbill Bay this morning! looking forward to a tasty feast this evening!

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Jimmy from Cottage Grove Proficient

Jimmy from Cottage Grove

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Thanks. I will remember not too shoot them next time. We had a group of four come in. And we shot them all.

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fish4cats Collaborator

fish4cats

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Drakes can be beautiful in full plummage though. thats about all the good stuff I can say about them though.

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Lip'em Collaborator

Lip'em

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I have yet to see a duck that loves decoys more!! grin.gif Shot plenty of them before and in my opinion they taste the same as other ducks.

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Baerfisher Apprentice

Baerfisher

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First one to shoot one at our camp has to wear the "Trophy Duck" hat the rest of the day. Cammo hat with a Spoonie head mounted on the bill. Good Times.

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commander019 Contributor

commander019

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Grind it up and throw it in for sausage with the rest, you will never know the difference. We pass on shovelers unless its a skillet day and the shooting is REALLY slow.

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WollMan Enthusiast

WollMan

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smoked one in the head on sunday, tried to pluck it but smelled like Sh#t with the feathers off, they will decoy and fool you with their orange legs, but they are crap

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dirtking Community Regular

dirtking

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Quote:

Quote:

Its a spoon bill and they taste just fine

My thoughts exactly

I have never had a problem eating them - due to the dark meat I usually breast them pick the rest of the ducks

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livintofish Enthusiast

livintofish

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Spoonies are great, reguardless of their bad rap they are one cool looking duck, and lets face it, no duck tastes good. I once read a post on here that said somthing to the effect of even a sock would taste good merinated in italian dressing and seasoned with bacon wrapped around it (they all taste the same).

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hanson Grand Master

hanson

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Spoonies are great, reguardless of their bad rap they are one cool looking duck, and lets face it, no duck tastes good.

I beg to differ. grin.gif Mallard, Teal, Wood Duck and Canvasback are DELICIOUS! grin.gif Most diving ducks take a little extra preparation to become tasty in my opinion.

Spoonies, Ruddy Ducks, and Mergies are the Tri-Fecta of non-shooters. wink.gif

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Jimmy from Cottage Grove Proficient

Jimmy from Cottage Grove

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How do you prepare them with italian dressing and bacon? That sounds really good!! I usually do my ducks and geese in caribean jerk marinaide.

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hanson Grand Master

hanson

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Marinate the breast(s) for a short while in Italian dressing. I then cut them up into smaller pieces, say... 4" long by 1/2" x 1/2" or something like that. Take a piece of bacon and wrap the piece of duck in it and use tooth picks to hold the bacon on. Then toss onto the grill. When the bacon is done, its time to eat! Works great with geese as well.

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fishermann222 Proficient

fishermann222

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I never use to like to eat spoonies until i moved up here, man the spoonies taste as good as any duck down there. I don't know what it is, but they are awesome.

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hanson Grand Master

hanson

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okay guys, if you absolutely had to choose: Spoonies, or coots?

LOL! I've never been that desperately hungry where I had to make that decision.

Reminds me of my dad's stories eating Sheephead. I always follow that up with, "Couldn't you catch any bluegills?"

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Grant Pearson Experienced

Grant Pearson

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sorry, Just had to put that out there...... Spoonies are bad, but it could be coot......

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livintofish Enthusiast

livintofish

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I don't know guys, early season we shoot a wide variety of ducks and generaly chop em all up together and cook em. I can't taste the difference from one bite to another, and we may have 4-6 species. I will say that mallards would without ? be the best eaters to shoot, cause they are the biggest and good. Teal are good, but the size of chicken nuggets. Ross geese are really good. eelpout is darn good too, what do you guys think about that tongue.gif you probably never tried it.

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Bushwacker Experienced

Bushwacker

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okay, I modify my question: Coots, spoonies, or eelpout?

Definitely eelpout first, then Spoonies, and coots a distant third.

We have bbq'ed a few spoonies and there is not much difference from all the other ducks like mentioned above, but if you are plucking them and gutting them, they definitely have a unique stomach content. Pretty muddy stuff inside them. But then if you think about it, geese and mallards love a field full of fresh spread manure!!!

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