Mergansers...what do you do with them?

[LandDr]

Well here's ther verdict...I cooked them fish ducks up last night. Wrapped them in bacon and slid the skewer thru them...put them on the grill until they were done nice.

Looked great!

Tasted just fine...just like you said, couldn't tell the difference.

But...I just couldn't get the thought of that pointy little fish eating beak out of my mind. I ate two halves and started on the third but I just couldn't keep going.

Again...they tasted just fine, just like the other divers. But that wasn't the issue.

I would say that I think the mallard, teal and woodduck were a little more mellow tasting however and better texture. But not enough difference to complain about.

I will say that duck wrapped in bacon on a skewer over the grill is a fantastic way to prepare a duck! Very good stuff. A small piece of crispy bacon with each bite of duck was excellent. I need to whip up my shotgun sauce some time as well.

Good posts and it was enough to get me to try eating that fish duck anyway...but I think I will just try really hard not to shoot them anymore.

[mwal]

At least you tried them. I marinade all of my duck in a teriaki based marinade and grill to medium rare. I mix all species together including coots and mergansers and spoonies and no one knows or complains and there are never left overs. IMHO I have more mallards that are gamey smelling and tasting than any other specie. I only use a marinade now no more plucking and roasting.

Mwal

[dan z]

We pass up spooners and Mergansers. I dont care want anyone says you can tell the differant in ducks. Well i can.

[TonkaBass]

Dan z... I will cook a chunk wrapped inn bacon of mallard, spoonbill, merg, and coot and I will bet you duck boats that you can't tell me which is which

[Muthagoose]

Shot my limit the last 5 days. First birds dropped each morning have been Hoods.

Tonka's totaly right if done correctly...

I used orange and apple juice with 3 cloves of crushed garlic and chili powder,marinate for 24 hours and grill to med...;; Ate duck Fajitas ande chili all week...

I dont see why they limit them to 2 day.. Ive NEVR seen so many and such big flocks,,,

Can't wait till the big commons swing in,should be after next wek.. Gonna skip deer hunting for MORE decoy time..

[walleyehunter80]

you might not be able to tell between the spoony and greeny but I sure as he double hockeysicks can tell if its a COOT or MERG! I will bet duck boats

[badfisherman]

Cook it up with your other ducks and give your merganser to the dogs as treats after the hunt. That's the same thing I do w woodcock

[TonkaBass]

I just made wild rice hotdish with vension sausage, canvasback, and common merg. every bite of duck tasted exactly the same and had the same texture. I didnt marinate the duck either, just chunked it up. WalleyeHunter 80, I'll take your bet, when you wanna meet?

[LandDr]

This is getting interesting!

[Tom7227]

The first duck hunting trip I ever went on a friend shot a merganser. I had no clue what was going on or what was what. A couple weeks later my wife was going to cook some of the ducks up for dinner. Just as I walked in the back door she dropped the first one into the frying pan. The smell about made me toss. It was the merganser! She never would cook another duck and on top of it she tossed the frying pan in the trash cause it stunk so bad.

[skee0025]

Just cause I wont eat em, doesnt mean something else wont. Consider it giving back to nature.

"Buzzards gotta eat same as the worms" - J. Wales

[magnum mike]

I don't think so. We lose between 6-10 ducks each year to the eagles. They have been doing this for years. They perch in the trees directly behind my boat and are on the duck as soon as it hits the water. There is no fighting it and we don't even try anymore. Even they won't take the lawn darts!

[fishduck]

I've shot lots over the years but never tried one. I leave them for the other animals and birds of prey. 9 times out of 10 they are gone the next day.I usually try to pass on spoonbills too but I've had some that tasted good. I think it depends on what they eat,gutting ducks right away helps on the flavor too I believe.Goldeneyes arent my favorite either.A taxidermist told me he was mounting a Hoodie and it had a 4 inch bass stuck in it's throat!

[JimBuck]

I will usually make a stew with mergs thrown in with other more desirable ducks and can't tell the difference from bite to bite. I don't like shooting anything I don't plan on eating.

[mixxedbagg]

Quote:

I've shot lots over the years but never tried one. I leave them for the other animals and birds of prey. 9 times out of 10 they are gone the next day.I usually try to pass on spoonbills too but I've had some that tasted good. I think it depends on what they eat,gutting ducks right away helps on the flavor too I believe.Goldeneyes arent my favorite either.A taxidermist told me he was mounting a Hoodie and it had a 4 inch bass stuck in it's throat!

You just kill them and leave them there? I'm pretty sure that's not legal and I wouldn't call it ethical either. I took one last week. I'm going to see how it turns out as jerky.

Also, what's wrong with goldeneyes? I've taken 3 of them this year and I don't think they're bad at all. Very tender meat.

[bobbymalone]

yeh, not sure i would be posting about wanton waste on the internet.

and the username - "fishduck" - the irony is palpable.

[thedanimalkmk]

I just started breasting them out and frying them up for the dogs. Funny thing though is my lab loves em but if I mix them in my vizsla's food he picks them out of his dog food piece by piece and puts them on the floor in front of his dish. He will not eat his dog food until they are all out of his bowl.

Dan