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Double Curl Mallards
#1
I spent thanksgiving up at a Simplot ranch in Idaho which just happens to sit on a bee-utiful little stream and a private pond....though I'd bring along the scatter gun for in between pies!

I tagged a couple geese off the pond a few weeks ago during the wife's elk hunt.

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They were still around but I couldn't get close enough to them for a kill shot. Spent my afternoons working the river and pulled out a few goldeneyes, some mallards and one wayward blue bill hen (she musta been wayy lost!)

One of the mallards I knocked down was a real looker! Must have been an older bird, huge gray body and a double curl tail! Would have considered him for mounting if I had the money.


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#2
Not a bad way to spend turkey day!
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#3
Very cool. How does one prepare duck for the table? I've had it in Asian restaurants and wonder how different it is with a "wild" bird.
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#4
My wife's a chef and prepared some domestic duck for me once....tasted like manna from heaven with almost no spices!

Wild duck is not the same thing.

I usually marinade it in either milk or soy sauce and something else (vanilla coke was pretty good!). I then slice it thin across the grain and bread it then fry it in butter. Turns out very edible.
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#5
Nice work on the honkers, bet that felt good. Also looks like that Suzy was a looker too. Even from a distance I can tell that was one of them beautiful trophy hens. You are right, that would have been a nice pair to mount if a guy just had piles of money stacked up about his living room.

As a consolation prize, I would have picked, stuffed, and roasted both of them!
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#6
Domestic duck has a greater chance for success because they were probably fed exclusively on wheat or corn, but I have seen wild ducks that looked like they were raised on a farm too. But they do vary a lot because some birds have access to good food and some don't.

Years ago, I used to really struggle with duck. Fish or Die's recipe is pretty much a can't miss, but if you have a good duck season, it gets tiresome eating the same old thing every time.

I came across a post of fishjon's (I think that's who it was) a while back where he was marinating duck breasts in a 50/50 of worcestershire and Italian dressing, then wrapping them in bacon with cream cheese and jalapeno. Then you grill them (charcoal preferably) to medium rare. Let me tell ya, that is heavenly and I don't know if I could ever get sick of eating it that way.

The trick though, just like any wild game, is to cook it medium rare. I don't think any wild game tastes any too wild, gamey etc. until you start cooking it to medium-well or well-done. You can do pretty much anything with duck meat, and if you cook it to medium rare (especially over a charcoal fire), it almost never disapoints.

Another winner, as I mentioned in the previous post is to pluck, stuff and oven-roast a duck (I am going to try smoking one). When done right, it's better than your mamma's best Sundy dinner roast beef. And it will make you cry at all the killer meat you throw away when you just breast them out - the breast is the worst part on a duck! Make sure you get a big healthy well fed duck that isn't shot up too bad though. And try to pluck it in the field while its still warm. 10X easier.

Another final tip for waterfowl table success is to trim out all that bloodshot meat. That super fast steel that everybody is shooting these days is sure nice for reducing your required lead, but the downside is usually a lot of bloodshot meat. Trim that out at all costs. It tastes like crap.

My brother just told me this month's Field and Stream has like 8-10 dynamite recipes for duck. You can bet your waders that I am going to be checkin that out!!
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#7
I've shot a few with triple and even quadruple hooks. The real trophy is a silver curled Drake. I have only seen 2 mounted. Cabelas in Lehi has a Quintet curl Mallard.
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#8
Serious? I need to pay more attention next time I'm there!
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#9
If you look close you will find that a mature drake has 4 curls. There are a pair of curly feathers that make up each curl. Those mature birds have alot of neat feathers. gshorthair
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#10
That is a nice green head! Last year I shot a really nice two curly with a band, still have it in the freezer waiting to get it mounted.
A good way I have found to prepair duck is to get a marinade called dakota buckaroo sauce( walmart is the only place I have found it) but it is amazing even my wife likes it. slice the meat up and soak in salt water for for a few hours, then put the meat in a ziplock bag and fill with the buckaroo sauce let sit in the fridge for a night. Get your hot oil ready then go from the bag to flower then fry till golden brown. Honestly I think everyone should try it, I ate all my duck last year this way and didn't get sick of and everybody loved it!
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#11
qbout a month ago on willard i killed a 4 curl mallard but i shot it with bb and kinda slayed the thing if i hadn't i would have mounted it.
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