Off Topic First time out duck hunting

Three Bouys

Well-Known Member
R.O.C. (Radio Operator's Certificate)
I know it’s not a fishing report but I thought I would share this as many of you know who I am in the fishing world.

It’s been well over 25 plus yrs since I last shot ducks. Went out with my son and his friend for the evening hunt. They gave me the honours for the first duck to enter our spread. Don’t know if if was luck or not, but 1 shot and that’s all it wrote. Guess my eye sight is still good😂😂. Heading back out tomorrow morning for a different style of hunting. They want me to try shooting in a layout boat 😱. But I will give it a go and try it.

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I can see some Duck a l'Orange in your future @Three Bouys... it's great for those northern mallards and blacks! When I used to hunt ducks my son as a boy absolutely loved it. My father-in law once said to him at dinner "hey you really like that duck don't you? He replied "oh yeah Grandpa I could eat a whole flock." 😁

 
I’ve always had a few ducks given to me over the years @Wave Runner. It’s like having fish given to ya but actually getting them yourself is a reward. The boys are all setup now in the layout boat and I’ll be heading out in about 1 hr. Need to do some chores around the cottage before my Trophy Wife shows later today. Clean cottage, happy wife😂😂
I’ll post later from today’s hi-tech layout😂
Huge flicks of divers fly in every night from the lake side and return back to the lakeside in the morning. My son just sent me this shot of a flock. It’s in the distance but you can just make out the dark spot and that’s the layout boat with all their decoys strategically positioned
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Good luck Jim,
I've been at it for over 60 years and it's as addictive as fishing excepting that most of our fishing is done when the weather is fine and the best duck hunting occurs when the weather is nasty. That has been a problem this November. Indian summer is supposed to happen in October.
 
Follow up from this mornings experience in a layout boat. I thought I had to buy every gadget and lure there was to go fishing, but in the case of my boys and their friends, they have me beat😂
For this type of hunting they start out stringing decoys on a mainline that is anchored at each end and holding approx 30-40 decoys and run 4 mainlines. Plus there are a few individual decoys scattered around.
Then comes the fun part getting into the layout boat. It’s approx 12” off the water and 10’ long. I’m told that I must get in and lay down as low as possible. It is very cozy and spacious but how in the hell do you shoot laying down asking them!!! My son says you have to use your core muscles to quickly sit up, grab the gun, point and shoot...... ya 🤬right I said.
After 1 hour in this position my lower back was killing me and not a duck to be had and radioed them to get me the 🤬out.
I’ll stick to the old fashion way of hunting in the marsh and tossing decoys here and there.
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Weather=Ducks. Keep at it. When divers are in the bay you won't even need to slouch down in that pumpkinseed. The Canvasbacks of late December is where it's at and if shooting is good and you can shoot sitting down 15 mins. or less and she's over. Then it's time to warm up in the tender boat and laugh at the youngster's who can't hit squat....
 
Thanks for sharing three bouys..
ya I just checked out the photos...ya that looks very uncomfortable.. so thats the classic layout boat..never seen one...how can you see to the back sides & behind you? How do you shoot..in that position? That looks awkward to me..

Last 3 seasons 17,18 & 19 we been hunting from a camo coloured small 14 boat with a home made highside collaspable weaved cover infront hiding in the reeds LSC marsh..wind direction behind us...using under 2 dozen decoys and a robo duck..2 man limit everytime both puddle ducks & divers..
the problem is i don't like eating my duck breast recipe anymore

oh ya the domestic duck.. a la orange...little greasy & absolutely delicious..

I have quality wild duck breasts vacuum sealed in the freezer.....just under my possession limit 18 ducks..mallards gadwalls redheads

seriously does anybody eat wild ducks here and enjoy it
maybe you can offer your best wild duck breast recipe..
not to to complicated...yes I have a full kitchen..
 
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Duck Roulatine...friggin' awesome and even non-wild meat eaters....love it!

Butterfly the breast length-wise nearly cutting through. Use meat tenderizer to, well, tenderize. I only tenderize one side (I don't flip). Orientate the long meat narrow to widest. I season the meat with minced garlic. Quarter or half big dill pickles lengthwise. Place swiss cheese (I use sandwich sliced swiss) on meat. Add the pickle 1/4 or half at one end. Roll the pickle in the cheese in the duck....again, starting from the narrowest end to the widest. Once rolled, use one strip of bacon wrapped over the widest followed by rolling the entire duck roll in another piece of bacon. I will then use a toothpick to hold the rolls together. Place rolls in cooking pan....season over the rolls. Oven heated at 375....roast for about 40-45 min. Out comes these little roasts. Slicing across the roll, the cheese and pickle is nice to look at as well as tastes awesome. This is a family favorite for sure.

King Joe Outa Here!
 
thanks kingJoe for the recipe...ya that recipe is almost close to the popular one with jalapeno pepper instead of dill pickle...but done on the BBQ...
Well now i am convinced of the bacon and cheese part..lol and baking roasting in the oven at high heat sounds good..especially with snow outside..
maybe do half dill pickles/ half Jalapeno seperate.... melted swiss sounds good
I won't forget the meat tenderizer....maybe a tiny minced garlic..lol
I will let you know how they turn out..
 
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@mick I’m very fuzzy on cleaning fish and ducks as well. There are only 2 ducks that I will eat as a whole bird. Teals and Cavasebacks, the rest I just want the breasts.
I’ll take the breasts and cut a pocket in them. Fry up garlic, onion and portabella mushrooms. Then stuff the breast and add a good slice of philly cream cheese, wrap a slice of bacon around the breast and toss on the gas bbq.
As for a whole duck I like it simple. A little spice on the outside and a good slice of lemon in the cavity and toss on the bbq. But this year I’ve done the same prep for whole duck on the pellet smoker grill and it kicked it up a notch or two for flavour.
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Plan B,, Im sold on the " discard the vegetable " part....
Sounds like a great PHO broth, will try..

We pluck all our ducks, they cook soooo much tastier with skin on. BUT, you can make it a lot easier than trying to clear out the gut cavity, esp if your not stuffing them..

Pluck when the duck is still warm when at all possible, yes, in the boat/blind.
Feathers, even pinnies come out way easier, and doing one or two at at time is better then 18 when your cold and tired.

And interesting people will not gut a duck right away, but would never leave a deer all day.??

It doesn't take more than a couple minutes to just pluck the belllies, and the legs.

Search for bird hitch by duck slayer, its a device that cleans yours ducks like cleaning a grouse.

If ya dont have the bird hitch, you can accomplish the same with some hand pruners by cutting the legs bones off at the spine and the collar bone above one wing, and under the other, so one wing stays with the breast and one wing stays with the guts. Use a fillet knife to score the skin over one wing and under the other, around each leg and across the bottom of the breast. Then pull the breast away from the neck and back bone.

If done right, you end up with full, skin on, bone in, breast with two legs.
No guts to pull out of a cavity.

Cook as desired, but simplest way is put breast on top rack on BBQ. Cook on high, lid down, skin side up until your desired done ness... Any flare ups are handled by the breast bone ya left in. ALmost fool proof.

Cut the legs from the breast, baste in BBQ sauce, cook on bottom rack on high with feet sticking out the BBQ, or they burn up into charcoal,,, Ya can toss em in for a bit to heat em up if your worried about them being germy... Serve as appetizers while the breasts finish up..
 
Jerk marinade works pretty good. Give them a full 24 hours in the sauce to really suck up the flavour !
I stuff whole birds with orange and ginger and some Chinese 5 spice.
Can't argue about cooking anything with bacon but for some of us it's a rare treat due to doctors orders.
Over cooking wild game is the big No, No !
 
very good Threebouys..you are a chef...ya i am going to try King joes recipe with replacing the dill pickle for Jalapeno( if I can find jalapenos?)..and I haven't bought a pound of bacon in years..

I been hunting duck on & off for 46 years..my mother use to roast our ducks mostly mallards we brought home.. stuffed with apple & onion in the cavity then discarded and pork on the breasts

early season teal & wood duck..october widgeon & gadwall Nov. corn fed mallards, all good quality..
2 seasons ago I tookin a mixed bag of 36 duck breasts and spring bear ground to highgate meats processed into honey garlic smoked pepperettes.and a selection of other big game meats into sausage, baloney, salami,..all were really good

I went thru an old wild game cook book this week from a buddy..interesting how alot of the wild duck recipes call for orange juice or lemon juice..oh ya and alot of other ingredients I don`t have...way to much work..
 
When I clean a grouse, I place it on the ground, head facing away from me, I stand on the wings tight to its body, grab both feet in one hand, and pull upward. If you pull in a slow constant motion, the guts, and head pull away from the breast meat and stay together with the legs so that you only have the wings connected to the breast meat. Cut off the wings and you're done, never touching the guts. It takes less than 30 seconds to clean a grouse.

I am wondering if a duck can be cleaned the same way?
 
very good Threebouys..you are a chef...ya i am going to try King joes recipe with replacing the dill pickle for Jalapeno( if I can find jalapenos?)..and I haven't bought a pound of bacon in years..

I been hunting duck on & off for 46 years..my mother use to roast our ducks mostly mallards we brought home.. stuffed with apple & onion in the cavity then discarded and pork on the breasts

early season teal & wood duck..october widgeon & gadwall Nov. corn fed mallards, all good quality..
2 seasons ago I tookin a mixed bag of 36 duck breasts and spring bear ground to highgate meats processed into honey garlic smoked pepperettes.and a selection of other big game meats into sausage, baloney, salami,..all were really good

I went thru an old wild game cook book this week from a buddy..interesting how alot of the wild duck recipes call for orange juice or lemon juice..oh ya and alot of other ingredients I don`t have...way to much work..
jalapenos at lacocos last week in brantford. They had great heat 👍
 
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