Help Duck Identification

[hanson]

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

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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?"

[Grant Pearson]

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

[livintofish]

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 you probably never tried it.

[Grant Pearson]

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

[Bushwacker]

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

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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!!!

[TrophyEyes]

There is no difference between a Hollywood Mallards (Spoonies), coot, Mallards, teal, or blue bills. You have to cook them right. Would I rather eat mallards than bottom eating spoonies, absolutely. But here is how you cook them so no one can tell which is which. It is a good recipe all together.

Through all the breast in a marinade (2 hours) of:

Red Wine Vinegar

Pineapple Juice

Red Pepper Flakes

Season salt

Then put them on kabobs with onion, pineapple chunks and wrap them in bacon. Cook on the grill on High heat to medium rare (just make sure to cook the bacon).

[Farley]

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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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Hanson-I think jimmy was talking about the sock.

[livintofish]

There is a lot of truth to that sock comment (that was a buddy of yours I take it) I mean cmon if wild ducks really tasted great you would be buying bags of coot and mallard breast at the store, and Mcdonalds would have a sandwich called the Mcspoonbill on their dollar menu, ok maybe they would call it the Mcshovler.

[Huntin&Fishin]

It's all in your heads, I bet no one can tell the difference from a 1 inch chunk of mallard, from spoonie, from teal,or from woodie. At least I can't tell a little bit.

[ice-man/vexilar-king]

They decoy like a rock hard and fast! A great duck to shoot and donate!

[EYES101]

I certianly can't tell the difference once the are cooked but I will agree that when cleaning them , some ducks definetly don't smell the same or clean as easy. As far as spoonies being bottom feeders they actually more or less filter through the water. Forages by swimming along with bill lowered into the water, straining out small crustaceans and other invertebrates. It does not commonly tip its head and upper body forward into the water. They pretty much eat the same foods as a mallard they just don't typically feed in fields as mallards do.

[Jimmy from Cottage Grove]

That goose was awesome with the Italian dressing. Thanks for the recipe!! I think that is the only way I am going to cook it for now on!!

[Sartell Angler]

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It's all in your heads, I bet no one can tell the difference from a 1 inch chunk of mallard, from spoonie, from teal,or from woodie. At least I can't tell a little bit.

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If they're cooked the same way, I can absolutely tell the difference.

Best eating ducks, in rank-order:

1)Canvasback

2)Teal

3)Woodies + Mallards

4) Everything else...including geese

[PierBridge]

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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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What he said! Goose Balls!

[Hammer Handle]

The size of the bill gives it away...and they taste great.

And, if you don't like the taste of duck...why are you hunting them??

[Jimmy from Cottage Grove]

I have always marinaded them in caribean jerk. Now that I tried those I will never go back again. Those are fantastic!!! Mine looked just like that.

[hanson]

Jimmy from Cottage-

You ever cook your ducks or geese in a crockpot with Cream of Mushroom soup? That is another great way to mellow the taste while making the meat super tender.

I cut my duck or goose breast up into chunks about 1 1/2" cubes. Toss them in the crock pot. Add about 2-3 cans of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup, a little water (maybe 1/2 cup), and cook them on low for at least 6 hours stirring occasionally.

If you want, you can them put the meat and broth on noodles for a stroganoff type meal.

Yummy!!

[hanson]

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Best eating ducks, in rank-order:

1)Canvasback

2)Teal

3)Woodies + Mallards

4) Everything else...including geese

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There's a guy who knows what he's talking about.

Ducks prepared the same way DO taste differently and I whole-heartedly agree with the list above. Most puddle ducks have lighter meat, and most divers have darker meat. Big difference in taste.

My opinion, the most delicious part of a Mallard is that light piece of meat found between the breast and and the breastbone. Not sure if it has a technical name but when you breast them out, it usually separates from the breast. When you roast a plucked mallard in the oven, that little piece of meat was always fought over in our family.

[Sartell Angler]

yeah hanson, no doubt that strip of white meat is the best part on a duck or goose...I've thought about saving and freezing them separately, then cooking them up all together sometime for a real feast!

Most of my ducks get cooked in the crockpot with a method similar to the one you just mentioned

1) put in breasts of 5 or 6 ducks with a little black pepper, seasoned salt, etc.

2) add 2 cans cream of mushroom soup, a can of milk, some diced carrots, spuds, fresh mushrooms, onion, and a couple bay leaves

3) turn on crock and head to work

4) arrive home from work, dump in one small box of Uncle Ben's wild rice

5) wait two hours, crack yourself a craft beer or pour glass of favorite wine

6) dish it up! Tender, non-gamey meat you can eat a lot of because it is that good.

Total cook time: 10-12 hours on low heat. Serves 3 or 4 people depending on size of ducks. I've cooked just about every kind of duck we have in MN this way and all have tasted good!

[Lunker]

That would be an adult hen Northern Shoveler. Pretty bird besides the bill, I love the powder blue wings. My party has shot about 6 this year here in WI, they are good eating, not to worry. They mostly eat plant matter but eat some aquatic invertabrae as well.

The bill is huge obviously and has about 110 fine projections (called lamellae) along the edges, for straining food from water.Like geese, shoveler pairs are monogamous, remaining with their mates for long periods of time.

Yea, Wildlife is what I study

[doser]

SA,

I may have try that recipe. That sounds very good. Love wild rice and mushroom soup so that is even more interesting.

[Greg K (aka:CRAPPIEBAIT)]

There are a number of things that affect the way ducks,geese or any game animal taste, and it all starts in the field as soon as you make your shot.A few examples would be-

- How soon you clean the animal & cool the meat

- How WELL you clean it.(fur,feathers and blood)

- And most of all for waterfowl,soak the meat over night in a solution of water and a couple tablespoons of baking soda.

This pulls the blood out.Rinse with clean water before cooking.

These are a few things I am sure to do. I fry all meat in bacon grease,salt & pepper to taste. No need for marinades/dressings. In my opinion I can do all that stuff with a chicken if I don't want to taste the meat I hunted for.

[schr0563]

Greg - Interesting thought on soaking the duck... I soak all of my game in a salt water/milk solution. Just like you said - pulls all of the blood out of the meat.

[honker23]

I have a new recipe for you guys to try, my wife even eats this.

Take the breast, no skin, and cut it lengthwise, like a butterfly chop almost all the way through. Pound it down a little to tenderize it.

Spread cream cheese over the meat, add diced peppers/onions/musrooms to it and sprinkle cheddar cheese over it. Lay the meat on 2 pieces of bacon and roll it up like a pinwheel, then one more piece of bacon around it lengthwise, toothpick to hold it in place. Bake for 35-45 min on 400, eat with some stuffing or wild rice.

Sounds like a lot of work, but it is the best duck I've had.

[french_lake_kid]

I gotta stop reading this b4 I go to the local park and get some ducks My mouth is watering!!!!!