The solution for that is if you don't know what they are don't shoot them. Mergansers don't fly like other ducks and they look different in the air than puddle ducks and other, even in poor light just like Cormorants, if you can see them you can tell if they are mergansers. I have been hunting ducks for a long time and I know a merganser in the air before it is in gun range. Some people can stomach them just like some people can stomach Coots. I am not one of those people so I just flat don't shoot them! If I have to go through all kinds of antics to make something that tastes like crap taste like a fart so it isn't as bad I let them go on by.
Last edited by Oldtimr; 03-21-2021 at 12:46 PM.