[tule]

While kicking rocks in the grasslands on Saturday, a guy pulls into the parking lot from the main road, comes into the check station and asks if anyone wants some ducks. I look at the check station staff and procede to shake my head, then the guy goes into the parking lot and starts asking around, with no takers he gets in his truck and drives out of the parking lot. It was obvious to everyone he was a clubber and had either shot over his limit, or the shooting was so great there, that he wanted to go back out for more, double dipping. I didnt even check to see what kind of birds they were, but i bet they were "ditch ducks".

 

[FastAttack]

Damn straight...eat what you shoot. Anything else is just wrong. I hope he didn''t just dump 'em.

Giving it to charity is about the only exception I'd make, and even that wouldn't justify it if he just wanted to shoot more.

 

[Nabs]

Whether he gave them away or not, if he had a limit of 7 his day of hunting and/or killing ducks is over.

 

[GGibsonl34]

Ok, I'll be the dissenting opinion here. First off, if the guy was trying to get rid of ducks so that he could go bag another limit? Absolutely wrong. But merely giving away the ducks he shot should not be considered an immoral act in itself.

For perspective, I love cooking and eating wild game. Half the joy I get out of hunting is preparing and eating what I kill. I'll take deer and duck over beef, pheasant and quail over chicken, wild pig over domestic, and so on. In a good year, I'll only visit the butcher's counter 4-5 times (and I cook dinner for my girlfriend and I almost every night).

I do not, however, cook and eat what I kill out of some moral obligation of "I killed it, therefore I have to eat it." This mentality doesn't make sense to me, and is the cause of some of the outrageous cooking methods I see people use. Those who like to shoot ducks, but do not like the taste of it still feel morally obligated to eat them and wind up using some revolting combination of soy sauce, teriyaki, worchestershire sauce, cream cheese, jalapenos, bacon, and whatever else they can find to mask the flavor of the duck. What a waste of a delicious cut of meat. If someone is going to go to all that trouble to mask the flavor which they obviously don't like, why not give them to somebody that actually LIKES duck, and is not eating it out of some perceived obligation.

I agree with the basis of the idea, that an animal should not be wasted. If a guy shoots a limit of ducks only to throw them away? Detestable. But if he gives them to somebody else who will enjoy them, what's the problem? The animal is not going to waste, and will hopefully go to somebody who likes duck.

I only shot 3 ducks this weekend. Had i been in that parking lot, I would have gladly taken them, thanked him, and gone home and cooked a very nice dinner.

 

[X_WATERFOWLER_X]

I don't want to start it up the whole Stinky Duck thing,
but that one too bothers me too, that there has been so much hype
on shooting bay diver ducks and I bet you most don't or will never
make it past the trash cans. its all fun being able to shoot'em but
I know for a fact they don't taste that good.

its like the squid trips they run out HMB or Monterey and put a whole
boat load of squid on deck just laying around for hrs in the sun.
if I boat 2 of them thats meals for over 6 months. I saw one car
last yr put like 15 of them in the trunk of his car, :no:
I know they don't make good meat for tacos... :lol3:

if you aren't going to eat what you take, put it back...
works for Fishing and Buffets, and as for stink ducks
unless you have a use to take them, then otherwise just
shoot a round of sporting clays instead. IMHO

.

.

 

[FireTeal]

I think you should rephrase that statement to "if it isn't going to get eaten, dont shoot it".

 

[plumgold1]

After you pull the trigger all the fun stops. All the planning and preperation paid off and the work begins(plucking, skinning, gutting, boning, etc etc)

I bet if fish and game were to check our freezers we would be in trouble. You never put ducks away for off season training with your dog? Who shoots a limit of ducks then eats the ducks within the time they go out and shoot another limit, then eat that limit before they shoot another limit? I couldnt choke down 14 ducks a week... and thats assuming im hunting on the weekends...what about those 3 storm days where your blind shoots 28 saturday and sunday, but magically 14 dissappear and your able to take another 14 on monday from your blind. Did those 14 get eaten or breasted and put into the freezer? If you have a duck meat chili mix going, does every 2 breasts count as a duck? Does a frozen cleaned mallard in the freezer count as a posession limit?

Dont feel bad if you feel obligated to eat the ducks or dont enjoy the taste as much as you wish you did, your not the only one. We all know its more fun to shoot them than anything else we do with them. Of course I like to eat ducks but come on, theres no way you could eat them all within the timeframe DFG says you have to, let alone eat your two limits before you go shoot another, it wouldnt even be healthy. You really gunna eat duck for every dinner during duck season to have a clean conscience?

But yeah I think that you should eat what ya kill out of respect for the animal.

 

[VANIMAL]

If a guy was going double dipping he would not go to the check station and try and give away his ducks. The game warden does watch clubs during storms and does check trailers for more than two limits. They also watch blinds and make sure people do not shoot over their limits. I was surprised with how much he knew about the club I hunt. I also heard that they sometimes keep track of what you have being plucked and cleaned at local businesses. It is best to play it by the rules.

 

[quackaholic88]

Everyone here needs to get some crabbing buddies. I hunt Los Banos and I know for a fact some ducks taste better than others. (A spoonie vs. a Sprig) Thats just because down in Banos, the birds that I'm shooting arent eating rice anymore. I have found a simple way around eating the sometimes unfortunate spoonies I have to resort to shooting. I give them to a friend, he breasts them out regardless, takes the rest of the body and puts them in crab traps. Apparently, crabs love the taste of duck carcass and will eat the feathers and all. So when he catches all these crabs on the ducks we gave him, he willingly give us crab in return for dinner. Now I don't know about any of you or your taste buds, but I certainly like the taste of crab over a spoonie any day. I see no problem with trading away ducks to people for other meals or even giving them away to someone that will make a better meal out of them. If anyone has any other proven recipes for duck breast though, let me know because I'm always open to suggestions

 

[pgquackstacker]

Everyone here needs to get some crabbing buddies. I hunt Los Banos and I know for a fact some ducks taste better than others. (A spoonie vs. a Sprig) Thats just because down in Banos, the birds that I'm shooting arent eating rice anymore. I have found a simple way around eating the sometimes unfortunate spoonies I have to resort to shooting. I give them to a friend, he breasts them out regardless, takes the rest of the body and puts them in crab traps. Apparently, crabs love the taste of duck carcass and will eat the feathers and all. So when he catches all these crabs on the ducks we gave him, he willingly give us crab in return for dinner. Now I don't know about any of you or your taste buds, but I certainly like the taste of crab over a spoonie any day. I see no problem with trading away ducks to people for other meals or even giving them away to someone that will make a better meal out of them. If anyone has any other proven recipes for duck breast though, let me know because I'm always open to suggestions

It's not the giving them away part that bugs me. It's when they are thrown away or given away just so somebody can shoot double limits. I give away plenty of ducks throughout the year because I have friends who love eating duck. Perfectly legal. Giving or throwing away ducks to shoot double limits. Not legal.

 

[tule]

For one, i am not AGAINST giving fish and game away to friends, family, people in need and so on. If i hunt with buddies, a lot of the time i end up with the bounty which either hits the pan or the smoker for all of us to enjoy. My point is that this guy shot some ducks and tried giving them away to perfect strangers, people who were waiting to get on to the refuge so they could shoot their own ducks. Body language tells a lot, and this guy was not happy that no one took his ducks.

Whats to say this guy wasnt double dipping??? For those of you who think it doesnt happen, you are naive. I know a club within minutes of the refuge i frequent that shoots enough ducks on the storm days to make up for the slow days, is it right, NO, will i turn them in.................NO. I also know for a fact that everyone of those ducks are consumed and not given away to random people at check stations.

As for the remark that these people would not give away ducks and then go and shoot more, hehehehehe, dont kid yourself. IF you were to double dip, would you want the first limit on the premises if you were checked by the warden, or would you want to get "rid" of the evidence so if you were checked atleast you wouldnt be "over the limit". Most poachers are not smart enough to think that wardens are watching them, until its to late. Its like people who drive drunk, they may get away with it 99 out of 100 times, but all it takes is once to get caught.

 

[X_WATERFOWLER_X]

Everyone here needs to get some crabbing buddies.
I give them to a friend, he breasts them out regardless, takes the rest of the body and puts them in crab traps. Apparently, crabs love the taste of duck carcass and will eat the feathers and all. So when he catches all these crabs on the ducks we gave him, he willingly give us crab in return for dinner.

careful,
so what happens to your fishing buddy when the DFG guy checks him
and he has more than 14 ducks and no hunting lic with stamps.... :huh:
thats a tricky one... :yes:

 

[Nabs]

I gift birds at the parking lot all the time, a simple note saying

I ______Name_____ gift # of birds to _____________ which includes 4 drake mallards 2 bull sprig and 4 speckled geese.

Signed Date HL# Phone Number

 

[NorCal Cazadora]

Personally, I won't kill anything that I won't eat. And what I love hunting most has a lot to do with what I love eating most (ducks first and foremost, then pigs).

As for other people? I've met someone recently who loves hunting ducks but doesn't love eating them and gives them away. I don't pretend to understand it. But I'm glad he gives them away to people who appreciate them. Regardless of what may be going on with people trying to thwart limits, I think my bottom line is this: Don't waste what you've killed. Not because of the wanton waste law. Just because, really, it's an insult to take an animal's life for nothing.

That's my pollyannish chick view, for what it's worth.

-Holly

 

[Huntingdog45]

i think we would all be appalled at the number of ducks that do not get eaten...i would bet money the number is a lot higher than most imagine.

 

[FranknBeans]

well all of the spoonies that get shot in the grasslands.. those are known to be on the fowl side (I honestly dont like em from that area.. rice up north is a different story) i hear guys in the parking lots all the time saying they just dump them on the way home. that's a fowl waste to me. I am guilty too though of marinating and trying to cover up that lovely gamie-taste.. it doesnt thrill me but once that strong taste is gone its sure good to eat. soaking it in beer makes a big difference to me, that's not slopping sauce and all kinds of goodies is it? lol

 

[FastAttack]

I have to be honest, the few spoonies I shoot end up as a reward to the pup. She participates, so she should participate in at least some of the rewards. Believe me, she doesn't mind the taste and it helps boost her protein (and if you knew my hyperactive dog, you'd know she needs it).

 

[NorCal Cazadora]

Sigh. Every time someone tosses a duck because it was good enough to shoot but not good enough to eat, it's a knife in the gut of all hunters - THAT'S the crap anti-hunters use against us. So if anyone reading this does that kind of thing, please think about that, and consider some little changes in how you hunt. It's just not that hard to hunt in a way that's easy to explain - guilt-free - to the non-hunting public.

Franknbeans, I came home with an abnormal number of spoonies from Yolo last week (plus a buffie hen), and Hank (Duckjumper), said, 'just skin 'em - we'll make sausage.' And I guarantee you we'll serve that sausage to some unsuspecting guests who will say it's the best thing they've ever eaten. It is possible. (I think Hank will blog about the spoonie sausage soon - http://www.honest-food.net.)

-Holly

 

[NorCal Cazadora]

And FastAttack, I have no problem with you making dog food from your spoonies. At least the bird is being used.

 

[#4Buckshot]

So then, I guess that means that if I "breast-out" some of the marginal ducks I've shot I'm obligated to ship the remainder to the Sudan?