Why Mallards???

[Neighbor_guy]

While I'm opening up new topics, I figured I would ask the question...

 

Why Mallards??? Why is that the duck that everyone wants to take? Its the duck they all want on the TV shows. "Take the green head"

There are so many other ducks out there. I can name several I would rather put on the table before a mallard just based on flavor alone. 

In contrast, everyone is always tossing the spoonbill under the bus, but when cooked up with others I have ever had anyone spit it out and say "ugh, I got the spoonbill!!!" I have also had old timers tell me divers are dog food. (Highly disagree)

 

Are mallards the equivalent of the walleye??? No flavor and boring on the table, but everyone wants them???

 

[monstermoose78]

Agreed same goes for Coots as well. When I cook up coots no ever says I got the coot.  

I just got into diver hunting last year and boy those ducks were good. I only got ringbills, buffleheads, and a red head.  If I could shoot better I would have lots of other kinds of ducks.

Neighbor Guy lots of wood ducks are around this year. I have also seen a fair number of teal and lots of geese.

[Neighbor_guy]

Yeah the geese are definitely flying now. I've had as many as 3dozen on the lake at a time, but only 17that reside here. They are ahead of the ducks in that regard. 

[monstermoose78]

I have been checking ponds and some very early scouting for duck season. I used to hunt geese in the early season, but people started paying for fields and I lost my spots. 

[MJ1657]

Lots of ducks and geese over my way. We are combining oats and eye right now. We will be spreading manure on those fields after the straw is baled. That will really bring out the geese. 

[Neighbor_guy]

Nobody has offered a response yet as to why????

put yourself in the blind....

Teal or a Mallard????? -teal tastes better in the pan. Do you pass and take the Mallard? (Grilled over low heat and paired with baked beans and raw fries)

How about the local favorite, do you pass on the painted drake Wood Duck to take the mallard??? (Wrapped in bacon and served rare with a slice of apple pan fried in butter.....)

 

I know I would rather take a half dozen Ringnecks or Buffleheads. But every boat ramp I have ever been to the first question is "any mallards???" Why???

(sliced into fingers, dusted in Italian bread crumbs, fried and served with Tia peanut sauce with a side of wild rice)

[monstermoose78]

Early season I am wood duck and teal guy

 

Here is the answer big is better for a lot of people.  It takes a lot of teal to equal one mallard. I would take a limit of wood ducks and teal over a limit of green heads any day

[RuddyDuck]

They are common, but smart, so they are a bit of a trophy when you get a big drake. Yes some days they are dumb, but not usually. They are like the walleye, kinda of the standard duck that people by tradition like to get.

You can call them in sometimes, so it's kinda cool having a big drake lock up into the dekes from your calling. Some other ducks don't respond to calls well.

They taste good alot of ways. Not so much on the grill though for me. Teal seem better here. If your a plucker, then they are better than some of the oily and fatty birds.

The drakes look good, a drake bluewing, not so much around here. I think wood ducks and a few others beat them in the looks dept though. If I have a drake mallard and a drake Widgeon coming in, I will take the Widgeon. Cool looking duck and not as common.  Divers are pretty cool too, especially Buffleheads and goldeneyes.

Most of the TV shows show Mallard hunts, so it must be cool to hunt them if the TV show guys do.

These are some of my guesses for why they are popular.  I myself like the odd ducks, but won't pass on any mallards when given the opportunity.

 

[PFUNK]

I agree with Ruddy that mallards are sometimes pretty darn tough to fool. Hunting those big late season mallards can be a challenge, as they are pretty educated by then and you can screw it up for yourself fairly easy. They'll circle and circle and circle before they commit, but when they finally do it becomes a blast. IMO, there is nothing quite like seeing a huge flock of high flying mallards cup the wings and start a tornado descent into your decoys, chattering the whole way down. Other ducks are make it tough on you for other reasons, like the erratic flight of wood ducks or the teal that comes screaming through sounding like a jet and is gone before you get the gun off your shoulder. But nothing does it for me like a big flock of late season mallards.

[BoxMN]

I've always been, and still am, a diver guy. I have two goldeneye mounted over my fireplace  But I also have a three curl greenhead mounted, but this will be my only mallard, it was so big. But I like eating teal and woodduck the best. The rest all taste about the same to me, and I like them. I think having the choice between shooting a big mallard or a small anything else, many will go for the big one, probably me included. Same as a can - bluebills are more fun to shoot, but cans are big and even more predictable, so I would take the can  

But when I set out to hunt, I much prefer diver hunting. They are just more fun for me, I don't really get into calling except geese. We go to ND and then we do try to find mallards first, whatever else second. Though when we do find divers, that is what I go after, they are like fighter jets compared to cargo prop planes (mallards) ha!

Heck, many fair weathered duck hunters these days probably would not even know what a goldeneye or butterball are, if they don't hunt late enough.

[TylerS]

Why mallards? Because green is the color of money!

Seriously, it's what all the southern boys want, and a pile of green heads looks way better than brown. 

I think it's a bunch of PR talk if you ask me. Especially folks getting on other people for shooting hens. I think that's a lot of what is wrong with waterfowling today. We're very quick to pass judgment. 

My mentality is that, if it's legal and you want to kill it, enjoy yourself and forget about what others might think or say. If I was pressured into shooting only drakes or mallards as a youngster, I never would have started duck hunting. Talk about a buzz kill!

[fivebucks]

I like the challenge of a limit of greenheads over a field.  You have to pick the right spot, set your dekes right, call right, and be patient enough and hidden enough to get em in.  They are a tasty big bird also.  For our group it's always some fun ribbing if you drop the hen instead of the drake - when they are coming in nice.  Slow days will have a better mix of birds but there's something about a picture in the field at the end of a hunt with about 15-20 big old curly tails.

[ClownColor]

While I'm opening up new topics, I figured I would ask the question...

 

Why Mallards??? Why is that the duck that everyone wants to take? Its the duck they all want on the TV shows. "Take the green head"

There are so many other ducks out there. I can name several I would rather put on the table before a mallard just based on flavor alone.

In contrast, everyone is always tossing the spoonbill under the bus, but when cooked up with others I have ever had anyone spit it out and say "ugh, I got the spoonbill!!!" I have also had old timers tell me divers are dog food. (Highly disagree)

 

Are mallards the equivalent of the walleye??? No flavor and boring on the table, but everyone wants them???

 

LOL. I do have to laugh at this topic. Let's bainstorm...why do hunters want to shot big bucks when doe's and small bucks would obviously taste much better? Why are walleye more sought after then panfish? Have anyone of you eaten Lion?

Huting for food has decreased largely below huntign for sport. Mallards, like walley, like huge bucks, like most sought after game, are challenging but also "flashy." how many mounted coots do you see? how mansy mounted doe's do you see?

[TylerS]

I tend to disagree somewhat with the idea that mallards are more difficult to decoy than other ducks. If pressure is equal, I think pintails may be the wariest puddle ducks in our area. There always is a kamikaze young pinny that might dump into the spread when everything else is flaring, but by and large it would seem that, in my experience, pintails give you the finger before most other birds. 

[fivebucks]

Have to agree with you on the Pinnies Tyler.  I should have said nothing better than a mixed limit of greenheads and drake pinnies.

[PFUNK]

I tend to disagree somewhat with the idea that mallards are more difficult to decoy than other ducks. If pressure is equal, I think pintails may be the wariest puddle ducks in our area. There always is a kamikaze young pinny that might dump into the spread when everything else is flaring, but by and large it would seem that, in my experience, pintails give you the finger before most other birds. 

Have to agree with you on the Pinnies Tyler.  I should have said nothing better than a mixed limit of greenheads and drake pinnies.

Funny how different folks have different experiences. I don't shoot that many pintail in Minnesota, but when we get into them in North Dakota they decoy very well for us. Over water, Gadwall have to be the most suicidal ducks that we decoy, but in the fields we have a lot of pintail that decoy without a single swing. I wouldn't say that mallards are a lot harder to decoy, as they come in very well some days; but I've had enough late season hunts where the mallards are a real pain to get into range and will circle and circle until you're dizzy. On those days, managing a bunch of greenheads is pretty rewarding as it is a real challenge.

[TylerS]

Gadwall are a nice bag filler. Redheads are right up there. I think possibly the easiest ducks to decoy over water are these two. And you can always count on spoonies!! 

The trifecta

[leechlake]

last year in ND my nephew was walking in a picked bean field to pick up a mallard and here comes 5 gadwall towards us.  He bent down but stuck out in the picked fields like a sore thumb, they just kept coming and he took one shot and three gadwall fell out of the sky, great memory. 

LOL. I do have to laugh at this topic. Let's bainstorm...why do hunters want to shot big bucks when doe's and small bucks would obviously taste much better? Why are walleye more sought after then panfish? Have anyone of you eaten Lion?

Huting for food has decreased largely below huntign for sport. Mallards, like walley, like huge bucks, like most sought after game, are challenging but also "flashy." how many mounted coots do you see? how mansy mounted doe's do you see?

back 40 years ago my dad's buddy has a great mount of a buck and a doe together on one of his walls at his cabin.  It was a great display I've thought of doing myself.  

[bobberineyes]

I truly believe it comes down to the talk of the hunt, bragging if you will. Yep it sure is nice to have a mixed bag , but imagine sitting in the saloon after the hunt and saying , yep we got our limit of teal,  most people would probably say, good shooting. On the other hand you say we shot our limit of big fat orange feet greenheads , now you have everybody's attn. 

Edited August 26, 2015 by bobberineyes

[TylerS]

I truly believe it comes down to the talk of the hunt, bragging if you will. Yep it sure is nice to have a mixed bag , but imagine sitting in the saloon after the hunt and saying , yep we got our limit of teal,  most people would probably say, good shooting. On the other hand you say we shot our limit of big fat orange feet greenheads , now you have everybody's attn. 

Yup, water swatted the lot of 'em!! It was a great hunt

[Pherris]

I like to eat Teal and Woddies rather then Mallards. I also like northern pike over walleye. Go figure. 

[fishuhalik]

I'll take a nice limit of woodies over mallards all day, e'ry day! But they gotta be all drakes  

To those of you saying pins are more decoy shy than mallards...nope. That's our prize bird down here on the coast & believe me, they are nowhere near as hard to decoy as educated mallards.

Easiest (dumbest) duck to kill? Redheads, hands down. I swear I could be standing in waste deep water with my dekes out & they'll cup right in. I've actually pass shot em like that. 1/2 mile from land standing in my waders on a salt flat & they were buzzing right over top of me, 20 yards off the water. And that's why I love em :)  

[SledNeck]

as they say in Arkansas, if its not a ,Mallard, its not a duck

[Kettle]

I'm a equal opportunity hunter, drakes, hens, mallards, pins gadwall take any of them. I think we should be talking about what is more embarrassing to shoot, love catching a buddy off gaurd, "mallard to your right, shoot!" Then it's a spoonie!! I try and avoid shooting the spoonies or Rudy ducks. More of a stigma thing, I like getting a mixed bag. I like my big water diver hunts the best so a nice bull can is my favorite to get!

[TylerS]

If it gets my home before noon, I'll take whatever ducks fly by!!! My dogs need lots of fetching otherwise they get grouchy...just like their old man.