I plan on shooting my first waterfowl this weekend. After the shot, how to i care for my bird? I've never done this before...how to I clean it and get it ready to cook?

thanks,
ths78

Soap and water!

Just kidding. Easier to show than explain, but basically you just pull up some feathers and skin by the top of the breast bone and make a small cut. Then you just peel down the skin and feathers until you can see the entire breast. Then you cut it out. Again, hard to explain, easy to do!!

Good luck

Kill the duck first then come ask, lol ;-)

Like he said, just start pulling feathers of the chest until you see white skin, then make a shallow cut down the middle and peal the skin and remaining feathers.
Cut the breasts out and soak them in salt water over night. Cook away

Does it make a significant difference to brine the breast?

ya just pluck the entire chest, pull up on some of that fatty yellowish skin, make a small cut it that and start peeling that off. Then you will see the breast. Use a fillet knife and fillet it from the bone. You will have 2 breasts per bird, put them in water while you clean the rest, then wash them off and marinate in some italian dressing, wrap it up in bacon and bbq it.. best tasting duck you'll have .. good luck on shooting some birds.

So far, I understand.

How about the legs...do you eat them, like a chicken?

well most of us dont eat the whole duck, i just eat the breast. You could always gut it out, and pluck the whole duck and cook it up somehow but i havent. Not to sure about eating the feet, i know i would never. lol

I think you did a fine job explaining, not much to it. This is how I have been doing it. Thought about trying to pluck one and cook it up with some new recipes I have wanted to try.

I take the breast for the grill. Wrap it in bacon. The rest gets boned and I make chili out of it, any recipe works. The bones go into a crockpot for stock. I just can not let any of it go to waste.

if you want to use the whole thing then pluck it and gut it. if it a small duck such as a teal or wood duck we like to stuff them and then put them inside a whole turkey with stuffing around the duck, then just cook the whole thing, it takes all day but that duck inside will be mighty juicy and very tasty