I have eaten duck

R

razorburn

New member
and it was delicious. Easily the best white meat I've had, actually. I'd love to try out duck hunting, but, I hear it's expensive and very complex to try. Just what does a man need? In particular, I've been thinking of trying jump shooting. Seems fairly simple, sneak up on a pond, shoot the ducks as they try to fly off. But getting the ducks out of water would be the problem. I have a retriever, but she is scared of both guns and water. I have a canoe, but it's 150lbs, and would not be easy trying to portage the thing to duck water. Any hope of getting the basics to try it for $1,000 or so, or just surrender?
 
What you need. (what I have)

A gun (no really?)
Heavy shot or bismuth shells for said gun
Something to go into the water with, a cheap plastic kayak painted will do.
A place to go (tricky one)

The rest is extra stuff that you would add if you want to do better.

Me and my brother go out during the week and try to get ducks in a canoe, just move slow and you can get a shot. Another time we moved the canoe out and covered it and took a nap from about 3 pm until around 5:30 when they came back in. It worked but it took a lot of time to get a duck.
 
Gun, steel shot, camo including face mask and gloves, and means to get to the ducks, i.e. boots, waders, canoe/pirogue, or boat, and license with federal/state duck stamps. Leave the duck call at home until you can learn to blow it, you will scare off more ducks than you call in. Go for it, it is not brain surgery.
 
and means to get to the ducks, i.e. boots, waders, canoe/pirogue, or boat,
Click to expand...

Well, either that or just walk up to the edge of the pond/lake/creek/river and wait.

Essentials:

-Hunting license with federal waterfowl stamp
-Shotgun (20 ga or bigger) with steel or bismuth shot (bismuth preferred), and proficiency in using said shotgun at moving targets.
-Place to hunt where ducks are
-Camo, including head and hand covering (ducks see very well)
-Alarm clock - gotta get up about an hour before daybreak to get situated
-Knife to clean 'em if you get some
-Patience

Not essential, but preferred:
-boat and/or chest waders, to get to the best spots. If boat, then need a place/method to launch boat.
-camo'ed stool or chair to sit on to wait, if hunting from the bank
-decoys of the right species for your area
-calls and the knowledge to use them, including knowledge of the different types of ducks in your area, and which calls to use for which ducks (species-specific).
-other people to go with so you can space yourself around the area to form a web of fire to get the ducks if you miss or cannot get a shot.

Tangent: Yesterday while turkey hunting, I saw a mama wood duck with 6 ducklings do the classic fake-injury flapping in the water to draw my attention away from the ducklings when I surprised them...interesting.

And duck would be about as dark of a meat as it gets...guess you were kidding. Some like it, some don't. I can take or leave it.
 
razorburn,

I'm guessing the duck you ate was of the domestic variety rather than wild due to white meat reference.

Wild ducks and geese are long range fliers so all of their meat is dark and a little stronger tasting. Not offensive, but most uninitiated find they have to develope a taste for it.

A heads up....I don't know your grid coordinates, but just in case, stay away from sea duck species...........they suck.:barf:
 
.

I have to say that I have never had white meat from a duck.

Next what you really need is for someone to take you and teach you how to duck hunt. The material things are easy to get (gun, ammo, decoys and a place to hunt). Getting a duck to come into your spread really needs either luck or someone that knows what they are doing. Plus it is alot more fun if you can find someone that you enjoy hunting with.
 
Lissten get your 12 gauge a pair of waders about 1 dozen Decoys come winchester hv #4 shot in any length ger pretty cammoed out they will see you go hide in the trees around a body of water where you have been seeing the ducks and wait they will come I promise. Oh and by the way Duck is no where near a white meat.:D :D :D
 
Ahhh, wild duck, I love it. I like domestic too, but it's so far from it's wild cousin one would think it's a different species. I don't think I had domestic duck until I reached my 30s and tried it in a chinese restaurant. I'd take the wild over farmed everytime, but I was raised eating it.

Boy, do I wish it was October......
 
White meat?

All the duck I ever ate was dark meat.

The flavor of the meat varies widely and depends on species and what they have been eating. The flavor of home grown and grain fed duck is much better that most wild duck, especially the divers, which tend to be strong flavored.

My favorite recipe is: Soak the duck in wine over night. Cut the duck up for fish bait and drink the wine.

Personally, I would not start duck hunting for the purpose of obtaining meat.

Now duck hunting for the sport is another story.
 
i gave up duck hunting.
now i sit in a bath full of cold water and rip up $100 bills.
same results and i get to sleep later, yawn.
 
Me too. Now I sleep til 9, have brunch, and go hunt pheasants. And I don't have to sit in cold water up to my . . .
 
PSE, that's funny. Reminds me of my last goose hunt, back around '86 or '87. We hunted around the Horicon and Theresa marshes in WI. The goose populations had gotten real low and you could draw exactly one, yes one goose tag per year for the zones around Horicon Marsh. I was now living in MO. So here's the tab:

Gas for the truck to and from WI: $50
Non-resident small game license: $63
one box steel shot: $25
Goose Tag: $7 (IIRC)
Grand Total: $145

Nothing priceless here either. I was in the blind for exactly 5 minutes and took a single shot and the hunt was over. Never went back.
 
So if you had sat in the blind for say a week, then it would be worth it? You did not have to take the shot, you could have sat there for a whole week if you wanted to.

As for the guy that said that duck is only good for fish bait, you must be shooting crappy fish ducks instead of a nice green head.

I almost got two geese last year, I was all of 30 feet from them. I had big shot and was about to mow both of their heads off. But I looked around and could not tell where I was, I did not know where the houses were so I did not take the shot..... Guess what.... Yep would have been two perfect shots no houses around at all.
 
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