I shot this drake Gad yesterday and here where I live we don't have a great volume ofdifferent species so it was quite a treat!! Whats you thoughts and opinions...
we get tons of gaddys early in season and they are stupid easy to decoy and kill so to us they arent a good or prized duck like a mallard, pintail, or a wood duck.
Yeah see to us we don't care as much about lards and woodies because that's what we mainly shoot!! So to me this is amazing... and i was just wondering what your opinions of it was. If it was fully mature drake or what.
If it's rare and a trophy to you do it. What most people mount is what is hard to come buy or their first kind of that species.. Here it's mainly gadwalls and woodies.
We are inundated with black duck, yet it is my favorite to shoot because they are very smart and you realllly have to get it right.
I'd love to have one in a fat, squat, rester position on my shelf...
It's as common as can be, but still the prize
I think gadwall are under-rated. They are a common bird like the mallard, but are very pretty in my opinion. If you don't already have one mounted, I would certainly mount it…..along with every other nicely plumed species that exists…..including both hens and drakes!
To me, you just answered your own question....to you that bird was an amazing experience...nuff said that bird should be on its way to taxidermy :thumbsup:
I had the same happen to me this year, had two snows come into the decoys while on a solo hunt and got both. Had never seen a live snow goose before in my life, now ones due back from the taxi any day .
Congrats on your gadi!
We are inundated with black duck, yet it is my favorite to shoot because they are very smart and you realllly have to get it right.
I'd love to have one in a fat, squat, rester position on my shelf...
It's as common as can be, but still the prize
mhm, woodies and other birds are also common but that didnt stop me from mounting it, when nonhunters come into my gun,reloading rooms and see the colorful birds i feel fortunate to be able to harvest such beautiful critters
I'd mount it. Its a nice drake for sure. I've been looking for one like that for a few years. Hard to come by in NE Ohio too. I've got a few, but never a nice drake like that one. It's been 10 years.
yea like the rest said.......if it means something to you i would mount it. If it dosen't really "mean" something to you then you might want to wait for that really nice plumed fat and big bird. We all have our own "rare" birds for our own areas so it's personal discretion. We see and shoot gadwall all the time where we hunt so they really don't mean enough to me to put on a wall but my drake canvasback that I shot last year.....there was no doubt he was going on the wall because that's prob a once in a lifetime trophy for me based on where we normally hunt. Good luck, nice bird!
If the bird means something to you, mount it. Don't matter how good it looks. It'll be a great way to remember that bird in the future. Where I'm located,over 70% of the birds we shoot are gadwall. Still an awesome looking bird to me. Shot this one a few weeks ago. He'll be going on the wall.
Gaddies are real underrated. I shot a full plumed drake about 3 weeks ago. I would mount him but i shoot so many of them. Check out Birdmanstudios.com and he has some mounts on there that look really good for a gaddie. That should give you some ideas.
It's your call, but the only regrets I have regarding mounts are the ones I didn't have done and the one I had done by a taxidermist that didn't specialize in waterfowl. I think every species represents something different. Gadwalls are gorgeous birds in my opinion and have some subtle characteristics that make them unique. It's a great way to hang onto to a memory of a good hunt.
Thanks for the kind words guys. Deffinately an awesome experience and a real trophy for me. Im still devating wether I have the money to afford it and such. We will see... If I get it mounted I will be sure to post a picture of it on here!
I'd say this would be the first deciding factor if you're debating on mounting it. Hope you come up with the cash. I ate a nice gaddy because I was a little short on funding.
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