In my teens thru my twenties, I duck and goose hunted 30 plus days a season. We’d pile up the Mallards, Widgeon, Teal, and geese to the point where our freezer should have sprouted wings.

I enjoyed eating a fat roasted mallard or goose a couple times a month. The problem became we had more ducks than we could eat just by oven roasting. We started breasting out our smaller ducks, then sauté them with different herbs and seasonings, including Teriyaki sauce and stir frying to change up the flavor.

All cooking methods produced good to decent table eats, but, eventually we’d tire on Donald Duck. Enter the smoker - We starting smoking duck breast, which was pretty good. That’s as far as we took it for ways to prepare duck.

I stopped serious duck hunting the last 20 years, but the past couple years I started getting a serious itch to start hunting them again.

I took it a step further by getting myself a duck boat last week. Ducks are gonna fall this winter, so I’m looking for some good ways to prepare duck, besides the ways I mentioned above.

What do you all got for turning a duck into some tasty food ?

🦫

PS

Some high priced restaurants have charged upwards of $60 bucks for a whole duck. Never ordered it, but I’ve heard Liberals say it’s amazing !??! Amazing, wtf am I missing ?

I love duck hunting and eating but I hate plucking. It was a great day when my kids got old enough to argue over who “gets” to pluck the ducks. My favorite ways to eat them or either duck gumbo or a pot pie

Save-a-lot stores stock em.

Next to the turkey nex and pik foots.

I buy one for thanksgiving.

My mom makes homemade dressing with duck. I’ll get my fill of dressing for the year in turkey day.

I like to marinate the breasts in this and cook to medium rare over charcoal. Chew slow on account of steel shot.

https://www.basquenorte.com/the-marinade.php

Recipe?

I could DuckDuckGo it. But, then it wouldn’t be your favorite

Grins

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I will send you 40

What’s your address ?

😝🦫

Cool !

Thanks, Higgy

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... breasts, wrapped in bacon, and grilled.

Damn !

Bacon makes anything taste better.

Excellent, ADD

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Duck and or goose gumbo is my favorite way to eat them too.

Goose fajitas. As a change of pace most anything goose, venison, and turkey taste good as a fajita.

RECIPE ! ! !

🙄🦫

I've found the best way to have good duck is to chuck those nasty mallards and geese in the ditch and go shoot you some wood ducks for the table.

We skin them, debone, then grind them.
Taco and burrito goodness.

When I started waterfowl hunting in the late 70's -early 80's my parents would ask what I was going to do with the ducks.
Before too long the tune had changed to when I was going duck hunting again.
Plucking it a must, roasting a necessity, and the recipe is critical.

Thanks. But no thanks.


Duck hunting isn’t big around here. ( actual sport. ).

Of course if you went by all the Duck commander , Drake , DU stickers on trucks you’d think it was a hotspot.

Around here about all folks do is jump shoot woodies on creeks.

30 days a season? lol! Sing with me now: Mary had a little lamb, little lamb... Assuming you're actually going to nut up and follow through on your threat to join for sea duck/brant/coastal diver & puddle duck killing in December, you best bring your game face and at least a case of #2s. And a pacifier. I've got some giggles in store for you, softcockee!

We like to cut the meat off the breasts, cut it in strips, salt and pepper and a little Slap Ya Mama, roll it in flour and fry it in butter.

🙄 ^ ^ ^


It’s always fun and extremely amusing to listen to a “Shootist” run his gums before a hunt. “I’ll give you the first couple birds to let you get warmed up on before I start busting wings”.....” I’ve been shooting this Ithaca model 37 pump forever (insert any Browning stack barrel here too) and I don’t miss”....”You better be quick with your shotgun - just saying”

I’ve heard these words and others said by guys thinking they can shoot. Big Emphasis on “Think”.

LMAO

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Super simple. Breast and cook them with a pot of pinto beans. Delicious.

'Busting wings?' lol Around heah we shoot 'em in the face, bigtime. I own a GoPro. Keep talking! Ask our boy Kingston how much I miss when the birds are flying. Or Doc Rock. Or STX. Nevermind. Just bring your West coast A game and a size large hankerchief.

My favorite is duck and dressing. To me duck dressing is the best that you can get. miles

Cube the breast (1”). Marinate the cubes in Heinz 57 for 24 hrs. Wrap in bacon and cook on the grill. Sounds weird but it’s amazing

XXL size can of extra-strength Cream of Mushroom...

Separate breast from bone, remove skin.

Cure in Brine for 5 days, smoke, Duck/Goose Pastrami.
Add Pickling spice to brine, Corned Duck Goose

Grind, mix with pork and pork fat, make summer sausage, polish sausage, etc.

I don't shoot or eat the nasty things.

Roasted
Purlow
Fajitas
Jerky
Poppers

We eat ducks all the time here... lots of ways to make them great.

I have read the whole thread...my conclusion is that you must season waterfowl sufficiently to kill the taste.

DU has lots of cooking tipis online. They work. I think it’s out of print but Eileen Clarke has a good book on it. Quick answer: Puddlers? Keep the skin on the breast. Brine ‘em, cook ‘em in the skillet (carefully) or on the grill. Never go past medium rare. They love red sauces or drizzle a bit of raspberry or cherry preserve on top. Better than pheasant IMO. Divers? Only Cans or Redheads need apply. Others are best given to very hungry friends.

Trade them at the Chinese restaurant for other food.

That’s been my experience. Canadian’s, we boil breast in water til the “foam” comes up white. First few times it comes up grayish, dump the water and bring back to a boil with fresh water. When it comes up white it’s ready for however you want to fix it. Do the same with bear roasts.
We usually take it and cut medallions with a slice of bacon wrapped around it and fry in garlic butter like a scallop.
I wouldn’t eat duck/goose twice a month on a bet though.
Sounds crazy, but we use a lot for making jerky. Goose jerky is damn good.

They take Pigeons and Ravens also.

We eat a lot.

Grilled
Seared in a hot pan, make a pan sauce
Gumbo is always great
Just made a batch of duck chorizo
Fajitas
Poppers, always a favorite
Asian popper (duck marinated in sesame oil and sirin, a water chestnut and wrapped in bacon)

Seared on wilted spinach with a honey drizzle



Seared, skin on with a wine sauce

Tell us about the wine sauce there.

Wrapped in jalapenos, bacon and cream cheese is good on the grill, duck dressing, as well as the traditional ways: you can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it, duck-kabobs, duck creole, duck gumbo, pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried, pineapple duck, lemon duck, coconut duck, pepper duck, duck soup, duck stew, duck salad , duck and potatoes, duck burger, duck sandwich. That-that's about it.

I like giving them to someone else and making myself a hamburger.

Loco you about right, lot of things taste way more better than duck.

Especially if they been feeding in sewer pond water.

I like a good Bullfrog, Squirrel, Quail, or Catfish.

I was born and raised on Bayous and Deltas all over the south.

Yep, duck meat pieces in cornbread dressing. Maybe throw in a few squirrel back legs boiled in the pot with the ducks.

Soaked in Allegro sauce and seared.

Duck and rice. Throw a half chicken in the pot for those who dont like the taste of anything new.

Duck fillets sliced and chicken fried after flour or egg and flour drench.

Ducks taste like s h I t.
Cracks me up to see the duck recipes.
You could make dog s h it taste good using those recipes.
Every part of cooking them is about masking the horrible taste.

It really depends on many factors or the duck menu and the skill of the cook

Whoa. Nice

I have a friend who Duck Hunts everyday of season. He breasts the ducks and throws the skin and fat away. But he gives me a bunch every year.
I season them with pepper onion and garlic powder. Put them in a ziplock bag and marinate them all day. Last thing I used was.Allegro marinade and it was excellent. Tooth pick some thin bacon around each one.and grill medium rare.
I would eat them once a week happily.

Ducks that have been living on shrimp or minmows are horrible.

Those that are grain or rice or pin oak acorn fed are great.

People would say that about honey if it were made from pistachio pollen.

Pan seared mallard with bourbon butter sauce.

Beaver10;
Top of the morning to you my cyber friend, I hope you all got a wee bit of rain or it's cooled off some or both.

With the understanding that I've personally not shot a duck since the mid '80's, here we go with another story.

Because of the beer flu mess last fall, Canuck outfitters were offering screaming deals to Canucks to come hunting.

Good neighbor across the gully who was also an award winning wine maker has for years used our game pole in the yard here to skin his bucks. I help him if I'm around as frankly I find debarking animals a very satisfying activity, much like digging potatoes or picking beans actually now that I think about it.

Anyways, even though he's always been told he doesn't need to, he'll drop a bottle of wine off afterward and to be honest, I really appreciate it - did I mention he's an award winner???

Because of the outfitter situation, last year he went moose hunting in northern BC and then duck and goose hunting up out of Cold Lake, AB. For the moose hunt, I took most of an afternoon to set up a rifle he'd won at a game banquet and again said he owed me zip/zero/zilch - we've both got German names and understand zilch...

In spite of my protestations, he knows I am an unabashed carnivore Beaver, so he brought over a big boot box containing a bottle of very, very nice red AND here's the part pertaining to your thread - a mixture of the goose sausage they'd made.

They shot so many ducks and snow geese in Alberta that they'd skinned them, filleted off the breasts and made a couple kinds of sausage. I want to say they used pork fat Beaver, it had that creamier texture to the meat like pork has.

They made a chorizo and a smoky, both of which were good, but the smoky honestly I couldn't tell it wasn't say pork or beef. They were great.

There's my suggestion sir, if you get too many waterfowl, make a batch of your favorite sausage!

Hope that was useful and good luck on the hunts.

Dwayne

In my experience , what you do with them depends on the species and time of year. A fat northern mallard deserves only the best by being either grilled or cast iron skilleted, with skin side down (skin still on) to render the fat. Then cooked until rare to medium rare, sliced against the grain and eaten with only salt and pepper to your liking. If you like venison you should like a duck this way. If you have divers, you’d best have one of those “hide the flavor” recipes but they can be palatable. If you don’t like any of those, jalapeños, cream cheese and bacon will get the extended family to gorge on them during the holidays.

One Thanksgiving when I was a kid my mom decided we would have duck instead of turkey. There was a revolt. It's become legend.

I do not like duck so I quit hunting them 30 years ago. Felt bad shooting them for nothing, as I do not have a vendetta against them. If I were starving or dirt poor, I would hunt them...but its much easier to go to the grocery store these days.

Breast em out throw em in the pepperoni/sausage/kielbasa pile with the rank blacktail meat. 👍

Is blacktail gross? I am not much of a fan of eating mulies. Elk or antelope for the win!

k

This is the reason you hunt ducks (and all birds really) anyway. 😁

Ya, hate the stuff. Very much prefer whitetail/muley. Gamey as hell. If I can’t give it away goes in to pepperoni. And ya, elk and antelope for the win for sure. 👍

I concur. The same can be said for geese, IMO.

Sunday Bingo Amen !

Soak the filleted breasts in slightly salty water overnight, lay them out flat and then wrap with bacon and anchor the bacon with toothpicks. You will then have what looks like small fillet mignons. Grill or pan fry to no more them “medium”.
To me, done this way they’re almost like deer backstrap.

Blacktails ain't rank.
Ducks are.

100% spot on.

Stomp em into the marsh and pick up steaks on the way home.

I cook them in a Brinkmann smoker using cherry wood. An electric element. I put red wine in the water pan. It takes about 10 hours and they are just fantastic!
This is domestic duck I don't know anything about mallards or wood ducks never have hunted them.

🤣

True.

This sounds like some Sage advice that should always be used when cooking up Buffleheads

We get a lot of shooting on Buffs throughout a typical day of hunting.



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As they are when gutted, aged cold a week, filets sliced 3/4 inch thick and chicken fried.

This looks like a $70 dollar plate of duck goodness at a high end restaurant.

👍🏼🦫

I’d argue that bird’s with a good amount of white/yellow fat make pretty good table fare without a lot of seasoning help. Aside from not over cooking them. Rice and corn fed ducks help in this department.

Birds that lack any fat and are purple in color will probably benefit from more seasoning and cooking trickery. Again I don’t feel overcooking does them any favors.

Laffin.

Sal, Duck ain’t that bad. I’d never choose it over a well marbled ribeye though.

Some of these recipes do sound good.

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I cooked some in a pan with shallots and other stuff I can't remember many years ago...
it was tasty...

Fat Mallards with yellow fatty goodness coming into water from the farmers fields are pluckers and a simple oven roasting bird with good side dishes.

They eat real well.

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BTDT

Try it like we Dove. Small pieces wrapped with Bacon over La Costena pickled jalapeños.

We took a bunch in one time and had the restaurant work it’s magic. Fantastic but pretty sure we didn’t get the same birds back that we brought in. Didn’t matter they were that good.

DeWayne,

I’ve been paying attention to the guys suggesting duck sausage. Thanks for the confirmation that it’s delicious.

I will definitely put some ducks away, in a few casings for the smokehouse.

🦫

PS

Wifey loves her wines. She get’s a case of wine every other month from Maryhill Winery.

Always have good wine on hand.

LMFAO !

My mom did that on Thanksgiving with a huge Canadian Goose I had made a lucky, one BB head shot on....We wanted to kill her. My grandma showed up with a turkey and saved the meal and moms life.

Grandma wasn’t about to eat some flying swamp bird over a turkey on Thanksgiving. Thanks, grandma !

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OMG !

That’s a great idea !

🤣🤦🏽‍♂️🦫

I’m trying to keep my wifey engaged with an assortment of culinary ways to prepare a duck feast from all these suggestions.

Wifey, is a hobby chef, and a fine cook. When I met her she made a lot of fancy dishes that you would find at an expensive restaurant. They always tasted amazing. The problem, at least for me, was how small the portions were. 2 small medallions of a tenderloin, 4 stalks of asparagus, and two small, marble sized potatoes, all covered with a thin drizzle of some wine sauce.

I had to help her understand that portion control didn’t mean starvation at my home...Let’s make some food women and leftovers are okay. Laffin


Thick cut bacon is always on hand. Making duck poppers with jalapeños is 100%

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I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Something about the certain vinegar in the La Costena brand that just makes an extra special turd.

FYI on Dove we filet each side of the breast off, just for a size idea.


Sliced japs

Copy that 👍🏼

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Thinly sliced goose breast makes excellent jerky. Especially Specks.

You eat wannabe blacktails, real blacktails are gamey pepperoni fodder. 🤣

My wife will occasionally roast a duck to get duck fat which is amazing. I like both goose and duck when well prepared.


mike r

My timeline of peak numbers and tapering down to close to retirement track with the OP. It’s so rich. Jerky was the method that ended up utilizing the surplus. More tender and finished taste was in line with deer.

100% wrong.

The only gamey deer I've ever had (and I've killed over 70) was a rutted out, sage eating muley.

Ever eat a western wa briar eating buck? I didn’t think so, in my opinion they are far and away the rankest gamiest deer there is hands down. 100% right

Killed truckloads of rutted up Muleys from Alberta, Idaho and Montana, I’ve never had a bad one.

Beav, this post inspired me to throw together a duck/shrimp gumbo. When I say throw together, I've been cooking for a solid 3.5 hours. The wife brought me a beer a few minutes ago, so thought I'd sit down.

The kitchen smells great. I'll have some pics in a bit. Gotta get the shrimp peeled.

Excellent News !

While you’re drinking and before you get hammered, please post a quick recipe for your gumbo.

Wife has been made aware of your other ways to prepare duck. I say this like wifey is the only means I have for getting food on a hot cooking surface....I’m a good cook too. Laffin

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Here's my take on ducks. First, store bought duck and wild duck are 2 different animals on the plate. It's like comparing corn fed beef to wild elk or deer, they're just not the same. Second, duck (and from here on when I refer to duck, it's wild duck, blasted out of the sky) shouldn't be over cooked, medium at the most (same with geese). Third, there's a lot of variation in taste with duck depending on what they've been feeding on. So, lumping them into either "they all taste like sh%t" or "they're the best tasting meat on the planet" isn't really fair. I've had teal that was simply fantastic and also a mallard or 2 that must have been feeding on a cow turd pond that had to be thrown away they smelled so bad. And lastly, if you're going to the trouble of going out to kill them, put them to use. Play with recipes until you find some that work.

My favorite ways to eat ducks and geese are as poppers or breasted and brined then smoked with apple wood and cut thin or jerky or ground up and made into summer sausage and pepperoni sticks. Honestly, I really enjoy hunting waterfowl more than I like eating waterfowl, my wife loves it though so I keep going. And it's good exercise for the dog!

Breast them, fillet them, stuff with jalapenos, pineapple, or whatever your heart desires.
Cook over a hot grill. Eat rare.

Also, a bunch of drumsticks in a crockpot with BBQ sauce is good.

Gumbo

1. make roux. 1/2 cup oil or lard and 1/2 cup flour. Can do on stove top or in oven. Cook till chocolate brown. Not burned, just dark. Takes hours.

2.Mirepoix
Chop 1 green pepper, 1 yellow or red pepper, 6 ribs of Celery and two onions. Need several tbsp of garlic and I like to add a chopped and seeded Jalapeno or two to it.

3. 3/4# of andouille sausage cut into 1/4" rounds. Start sautéing those in a heavy duty Dutch oven. Put about 3/4# duck meat (breasts or legs). Cook all until browned. Remove meat.

Sautee Mirepoix, starting with onion and Celery, when onion is soft and translucent add peppers, garlic and Jalapeno. Sautee until soft. Move pan off heat.

When roux is done, add to Mirepoix and then add 4-5 cups of stock. You want it to thicken, so don't add too much.

Then add meat back, 1/2# of chopped okra, several tbsp of tomato paste and spices. Today, I used paprika, Thyme, marjoram some chopped fresh Parsley salt and black pepper.

Cook another 1-1.5 hours, until thickened. Turn off heat and add 3/4# of shrimp, cover and let residual heat cook shrimp for 8-10 minutes.

Serve over rice with hot sauce and fresh chopped Parsley.

You can use venison, or other seafood too.

I have yet to find a way to make ducks or geese taste "good", and yes......I've had easily a dozen people tell me over the years "you haven't tried my duck jerky, gumbo, hamburger, X, Y, Z", to which I did and I still can't say it was good. Even when ground up and mixed in with deer/elk/whatever grind with bacon and turned into sausage, I could still taste the.......duck.

I largely quit (but not totally) hunting them for multiple reasons beyond taste, though they are fun as hell to shoot.

I truly believe the subjectiveness of taste buds is a huge part of why some people like ducks but hate whitetail, love elk but hate mule deer, etc. I can't tell the difference between any kind of deer, elk or moose, but can for damn sure taste waterfowl's nastiness.

Ha ha.. Tinman a lot of truth right there.... gave up duck & goose hunting 30yrs ago for that exact reason

High 5

Thanks !

🦫

Oh, ok, now you’re gonna make this a West Coast against East Coast, Gangster Challenge. Sorta like I’m Tupac and you’re Biggie Smalls. You know they both died, right ? Laffin

I’m calling you “Smalls” from now on, brother. No more racist trappings from me towards you. You’re just “Smalls” forever.

🤣🦫

The thing about ducks, and geese to some extent, is that one never knows where they've been recently.

Watch them come out of a grain field, or a nice clean marsh somewhere, shoot a couple, and then wonder why they taste like "duck"?

Maybe because the night before they just came off the sewage ponds after a week of feasting there, then they continued their migration and ended up in the neighbor's stubble field, or under the flooded oaks.

I've only killed a couple, ate more that were gifted to me, and they are fine with me. Some folks, my wife for instance, have a strong dislike for them because they taste like liver they say................which is fine by me as I love liver.

I used to laugh at folks telling stories about "only eating nice mallards and teal" and such, because they eat grass and water plants and the like. Then I told them I worked on salmon rivers and streams it was always cool to run across a big old black and white fungussed up post spawn king salmon with a couple of mallards working it over. And the next day those birds might be shot flying over the hay field two miles away.

I hope to get out after some ducks or geese this season, and I will likely eat them and enjoy them..................the dogs never complain about the parts I toss them either.

Good luck Beav. Just realize, if you hunt that trout pond we've discussed, those mallards might taste a bit fishy if they find a nice dead one to mack on!

Found a shot detector at Cabela's last year. Running it over frozen duck breasts showed quite a few missed pellets. It is now a standard step in duck processing. It was cheap, too. Looking to upgrade...

Kodiak mallards typically target salmon redds. Horrible birds! Both flavors of goldeneye are great in the same time and place. Bufflehead, gadwall, redhead, and cans are great.

What Timberrunner said.

Another way for duck and goose breast as done by a buddy at the deer camp:
Marinate breasts in orange juice overnight in a Tupperware container, allow to come to room temperature, dredge In seasoned flour.

Heat an iron skillet very hot and coat the bottom with evoo and a large pat of butter. Sear both sides of breasts and don’t overcook.

Good eating.

Leftover duck/shrimp gumbo.

I've only shot a couple wood ducks. Tasted fine.
Used to blast a fair number of geese in the early season.

My kids think they can cook ( now adults ) so want me to fill the freezer w small game and waterfowl.

I'd eat that..................for sure!

Looks like some straight up culinary skills from TR.

Duck gumbo will be the first attempt at making duck not suck.

Laffin

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Ducks and geese. Pluck whole bird. Salt and pepper inside and out. Stuff with yellow onions 🧅. Cook in a roasting pan on high heat. Do not over cook.

Duck breasts. Butterfly and stuff with whatever you like. Wrap in thin bacon bbq or smoker.

Never had duck gumbo but would absolutely like to try it someday.

When my teenage girls are asking where the leftovers are for dinner, I consider it a win. Of course, half the guys on a hunting forum consider it unedible.

Laffin.

Here’s TR gumbo recipe...If you didn’t already see it. 🙄😝🦫

Thank you sir.

be careful but thyme is where the secret cajun flavor lies for gumbo that and a good roux

I’m going to have to watch how that is done a few times before I try it.

Mark, again, breast em, throw em in with blacktail, sausage/pepperoni… there’s not a wild duck in the world that tastes like a legit 5 star restaurant duck… period

I quit huntin em for the same reason. Loved huntin em but hated fuuckin with em. FIL has a lease in the Chehalis river bottom out towards Fred’s place, he’s like some here, nothing better… but he thinks liver and bear are good eatin… haha

Cajun buddy of my FIL made us some combo duck and squirrel gumbo. I grew up eating squirrel, so no problem there. After a few bites, I finally started eating around the duck. Ruined an otherwise fantastic gumbo. Most duck is horrible. Chicken and turkey is still too cheap to waste my time on duck. You guys can have my share....

Sc, it’s a duck...So what if you blow the dinner up by f’n up the roux ? Grab a box of cereal and milk while looking at your wife, shaking you head in despair.

LOL

🤣🦫

God damn I forgot, folks eat rabbit and squirrels too!!! Haha

Yeah, I’m going to make sausage with some...I’ve got easy access to decent hunting here. Been several great cooking ideas already presented.

Kinda stoked to try them out.

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Dude, winter cottontails are great eats. Skin, bone, deep fry - taste like chicken...Olive oil, season and flour, brown in a hot skillet. Turn burner down pour in gravy and let it simmer.

Serve with mashed taters or steamed rice.

Awesome !

Squirrel ? Never ate one.....Yet.

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I actually miss it, got some world class goose/duck huntin in Montana, just ain’t done it yet. Love huntin pheasant, or ditch parrot as the spoiled fuuckers call em. Personally I like pushin wind rows with a fancy O/U instead of slickin em up on the gravel…

Sorry can’t bring myself to eat rabbit. 😂😂

Skin and grind and make jerky with a jerky shooter. Good stuff, even makes Sky Carp edible.

Sky Carp....LMFAO

I haven’t heard a goose called that in years.

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I think we’ve figured out almost every possible way to make a duck eat.

You all crushed it with ideas and recipes...Except, Jud 🤣

I think I will start a thread on another unfriendly cut of game meat that can be made into a seriously tasty feast.

Watch for it.

Beav out

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Tough, stringy meat with no taste.

You are in the best area to hunt duck. None them chit pond lower 48 ducks man.

Had grilled duck and teal breasts Sunday. They were great.

Yeah, most all of what they ate while down south for the winter has been converted to duck flesh!

Pepperoni or summer sausage is our usual outlet. Though chunking up breast pieces, a good soak in Yoshidas then wrap in bacon with a slice of jalapeño and grill usually works for me. Also been known to slice thin, marinate and use in stir fry

Yeah all those salmon eggs add great flavor to a already borderline inedible bird….

What, you don't like the flavor of incorporated caviar?

Waterfowl hunting is my Dad's favorite thing (and keep in mind he earned his GS of NA Sheep in the 60's)

We have a duck camp south of Abbeville, LA. I have a place in Nebraska. Before I retired I was over O&M on a couple of plants in North Dakota where they've given me forever hunting privileges. Let's just say we kill a lot of ducks. That said:

#5: Follow Emeril's "Turkey Bone Gumbo" recipe, with duck. (Also the BEST way to use wild turkey...I do a turkey slam most years)

#4: Weirdly, the best Chinese Crispy Duck I ever had was from a small place in Aberdeen, Scotland. (and I worked in China!) I swore on my honor I wouldn't share their technique, but just use a "Crispy Duck" with orange or plum that ranks high on the web searches.

#3: Stroganoff! Totally de-fat, soak in chicken broth, then substitute for beef in your favorite stroganoff recipe.

#2: Jerky! Both dehydrated and ground and gunshot can be really freaking good if one knows how to make jerky!!

#1 Shoot. Gather. Bring home. Clean. Shrink wrap. Put in freezer. Wait the appropriate time until that [bleep] is TOTALLY freezer burned...then throw in the garbage.

Crispy Chicken caught my eye.

#1 Trying hard to avoid it...BTDT 😬

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Timberrunner and SK, right on. As a guy who's killed and cooked waterfowl numbering into 4 digits, I have thoughts on t'matter. 1st, depends on type of bird and what it likes to eat. A black duck on the coast feeding on marine invertebrates will taste much different from one just inland in freshwater feeding on corn and the like. Table quality of ducks/geese can range from inedible to damned delicious. Declaring all across the board to be unfit for consumption is, to me, similar to taking Sal's ubiquitous long-arming fish pics as reality. If you've never had properly prepared, plump wild duck served up for dinner, you're not entitled to an opinion. YMMV.

I hunted waterfowl hard for a dozen or more years in the famed rice fields of the Sacramento Valley.
I killed hundreds of them.
Mallards, Pintail, Widgeons, Gadwall, Teal...all of 'em.
I could no longer justify killing the beautiful creatures that I really could hardly stand to eat.
I ate them prepared in every imaginable way, every bacon wrapped, marmalade and teriyaki and garlic slurry possible.
Rare, medium rare, medium, well done and burned to s.h.i.t.
They were edible...not enjoyable.

I agree with T_Inman 100%.
Everything you do in a duck recipe is designed to mask the taste of the duck.

Give me scales over feathers any day, even dinks like this...🤣😉



Photo Nazis...🤣🤣🤣

"Good" ducks (Mallards, wood duck, teal, etc.) you treat like beef. Do not overcook or you will get the same result as you will with beef.

Shyt ducks like shovelers and most divers gotta be cooked into oblivion. That's where the gumbo comes in.

There is no comparison between domestic and wild duck.

Domestic ducks or very fat (confit). Wild ducks fly.

I've heard that California ducks taste like chit.

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Up for more fish pictures

LOL

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OK !

Laffin....At least I know that meal will taste great.

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Some stuffed bacon wrapped duck breast I made for my kid the other day. Not to bad.

Damn !

Sc, you’re a fine cook...PM me a picture of your face, and maybe I’ll consider dating you.

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Um no…

Pfft....That’s the drugs talking.

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Back to seriousness....That wrapped duck breast looks delicious.

You grilling to medium, or medium rare ?

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I am surprised to hear y'all making fun of the Canada Goose. My buddy lived in South Dakota and he shot a few of them. His wife cut the goose up into big chunks, and breaded and fried it. Big 2 ounce and 3 ounce chunks of fried goose, it was more than the 3 of us could eat. About 5 pounds of that meat and it was just delicious.

Medium rare. Once the bacon starts to crisp on both sides it’s done. Cajun seasonings and stuffed with jalapeño cream cheese. Used a Treager on high to cook.

Got the idea from the duckmen.

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Just like ducks, it depends on what the "sky carp" have been eating !

We find making pastrami out of their breasts, the best preparation !

Use the Meateater recipe.

I'd be willing to try some of the suggestions here...but I have my doubts.

I've hunted and cooked ducks and geese from both coasts and the interior, as well as some swans. Farm field fed to pond scum fed. Plucked, breasted, smoked, grilled, stuffed, marinated, aged, fresh, whatever. I have yet to even smell a cooked duck or goose that was appealing. Not unlike any other dark meated (ha!) bird to include huns, sharptails and sage grouse. Waterfowl has consistently been at the bottom for me, across the board. Even breakfast patty sausage made from 75% elk and 25% duck, with bacon used as fat and all the spices had a duck stench to it. I'd love to find a way to feel different but am not hopeful.

Then, there's the expensive non-tox shot, the various state and federal stamps to buy and keep track of, the sunset to sunrise federal shooting time limits, the X of these, Y of these (but only 2 can be hens), Z of these (only one can be a hen), two of these can be lessers and only 1 can be a greater, etc. plugged shotgun mandates, the cold and wet weather, sitting in front of decoys between flights is boring as hell to me, etc. I could go on and on about the negatives.


I am glad others enjoy it all though.
Some species' drakes are really beautiful and they're fun to shoot, but I will stick to my grouse and chukar hunting, thank you. That said, I am planning an Emperor Goose hunt in the Aleutians this next year. Anyone in?

Hank Shaw is a great wild game resource !

Paul, has been awakened and sharing a buttload of good ways to prepare ducks and geese.

Everyone should now go out, buy a camo’d shotgun, shells, waders or hip boots, decoys, duck/goose calls - learn to use them - cuz if you suck, which you will at first - not many duckies for you....Get a Labrador Retriever, maybe a duck boat, or build a duck blind and start hunting some ponds, bays, or open water.

So much fun to be had...And now you can enjoy eating the days limits.

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Hank Shaw is a great source for wild game cooking.

This duck is especially good.

Beav Bro, Doug shot some wild ducks last weekend !

Marinated wild duck breast;



So, so good !

Never had wood duck. We eat maybe one meal a year of mallards. That’s as much as we want. Most recipes that I’ve tried required lots of ingredients to hide the taste of the duck.
I don’t hunt ducks much anymore but when I do, I give them to people that like to eat them.

Slice breasts 1/2” thick and dredge in flour, egg wash then roll in panko. Salt, pepper and garlic pan fry in avocado oil medium to medium rare. My grandkids beg for duck dinners when we get them overnight.

Dang that looks good (except for the asparagus, can't handle it)!

I roast my ducks in a very hot (475*) oven for about 12-15 minutes after breast and legs have been carved off the bone; a bit longer if a whole duck. Marinate however you want, just cook 'em hot and fast. I marinate mine in red wine or grape juice, lemon juice, and worcestershire sauce. Should look like New 2 99s when served, or even slightly rarer. Any puddle duck is good, woodies especially so. Can't do much with divers; or anything with mergs, shovelers, or sea ducks.

Looks great, Paul !

I got schooled by several duck chefs here....Don’t over cook the duck, or you’ll ruin it !

That was the biggest takeaway from the entire thread. You look up FDA guidelines on cooking fowl and it mimics the internal temp for chicken, which apparently ruins the flavor of ducks.

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I'd sooner eat a dick than a duck...but since they're only separated by one letter which are also right next to each other on the keyboard, I guess that they'd taste nearly identical.



Pass the steak! Tube steak, or whatever kind.



Christ, I haven't even started drinking yet....this is going to be a GOOD night!

Duck and how good they are to eat is all dependent on what they are eating. To me rice fed ducks are the best. Corn fed aren’t bad. I know in the south I have heard they eat peanuts. I have never tried those.

Whole ducks are my favorite. Seasoned with salt and pepper inside and out and stuffed with yellow onions. Cooked on a bbq or smoker on high until juices run clear. Do not over cook. Crispy skin and rare inside. Good stuff.


Good red wine as well.

free photo upload

Plucked, split, and grilled on high heat.

Served with adult beverage of your choice.

LMFAO

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Yeah, that looks good ! 👍🏼

I didn’t know you could cook.

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I have been hunting ducks (mallards, pintail, and teal) and greater Canada geese here in the corn fields. They are all good eating. My favorite ways to cook them are gumbo and blackened mallard breast, rare. I only roast the teal.

Our favorite for years was diced duck gravy poured over biscuits.

What’s the story on eating duck medium rare, to rare ?

Everything I read on the internet, including members posts here, all say medium rare to rare is the proper way to cook and enjoy duck.

Can’t it make you sick, like eating chicken that’s not thoroughly cooked ?

As I mentioned before...Over cooking duck, like we use to do, always produced the same dry, liver taste. Yuck !

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why pluck just peel them it's a hell of a lot neater and easier.

Past medium rare, waterfowl gets chewy and liver-tasting. If cooking on high heat, I wouldn't go past 135 deg or so.

If cooking in gumbo, stews, etc, you can cook low and slow until it falls apart. Then the above doesn't apply.

Duck fat and crispy skin is worth plucking

no thanks

TR,

Thanks !

I just included the 135* degree internal cooking temp in the cookbook.

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I can’t.

Grill only!

Splitting them allows them to cook faster, and leaving the skin on keeps them from drying too much.

This thread alone should get members into the fields and marshes to hunt ducks that haven’t before.

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Breast the ducks, soak overnight in a 50-50 orange juice, apple juice mixture. Remove pat the breasts dry. Fire up the bbq, season with onion, garlic salt and pepper to taste. Place the breasts on an alder wood cooking plank. Bbq until breasts reach 140 degrees! Remove from the bbq, drop breasts in the garbage and eat the plank! The only way to eat duck! I quit hunting them in the early 70's, because I see no reason to kill a bunch of inedible ducks! Beaver duck and goose hunting is very good in my area. If you come this way, let me know. A few friends live to hunt birds. And would show you some good places to shoot donald!

Might take you up on that...Cut some extra planks.

LOL

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The way ducks and geese taste is all depends on what they are eating. I have eaten plenty of both and on rare occasion gotten a really bad one. That being said most if properly cared for after killing them are very good eating. To each there own.

Hell I have met guys who don’t like venison, elk, antelope, etc.

Look, I applaud everyone who gives up duck hunting.

Just doesn't seem to be the case everytime I go to the boat ramp. More and more people.

I love Ducks. Geese not so much. Snows are bad. Specks are not even good.
Mallards Woodies and Teal are fine eating. I have one pack of Mallard breasts left in the freezer. They will be gone in the.next week or two. Marinated in allegro spicy wrapped in bacon and cooked on charcoal with hickory smoke Med. Rare

I took the breast off a mallard yesterday, split each side in half to butterfly it and put some olive oil and sprinkled it with some https://www.tonychachere.com/product/original-creole-seasoning/ and cooked it on a 500 degree grill for 1 1/2 minutes each side, sliced and served it with a dipping sauce of sour cream, mild horseradish and salt/pepper.

The leftovers got used for pizza topping.

Pugs that sounds really good. Going to try that.

I killed 1/2 a dozen blacktails on Whidbey Island and they were among the very best deer I've ever eaten.

I love ducks too but no so much to ever go shoot and eat a sea duck again!