first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

you guys know i new, so ill finally got my first birds of the year today!!! (and remember i have a 6 month old Goldie, so its me in the water retrieving till he gets older)

im in north texas and got 3 birds this morning, but i dont know what the third bird is. Do you guys know? i think the first two are ring-neck ducks. i might be wrong though.

i also just finished my first cleaning and breasting of ducks. so any tips on how to cook up the meat?


thanks guys!!! im so hyped.

~drew

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

its a very nice Gadwall congrats

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

Yup its a Gadwall a drake I believe

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

Jerkey is a good choice....But soak it in salt water (really really really salty water) for about 24 hrs before cooking. Otherwise it will have a really strong game flavor. How much salt you ask? Go until you think, wow that is way too much....then put a little more. Put em in your fridge in the water for one full day. Then enjoy.

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

A bunch of talking on how to make jerky: http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=3171179

And that is two ring-necks and a nice gaddwal

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

Great job man! Thats the first pic ive seen of a gadwall on here. Nice ringnecks too.

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

You got a gorgeous drake gadwall. Always one of my favorites to shoot. Congrats

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

Got a good number of em myself. 4 Gadwalls and a mallard hen. My brother got 4 Gadwalls and a GW Teal Drake.

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

Way to go dirtyd!

Looks like you got a couple a ringnecks on the left,a nice drake gadwall on the right, and one hell of a nice mohawk in the middle ;). I'd jerky the ringnecks cause they a little on the gamey side. Gadwalls are fine on the grill though. I don't get too fancy with my duck cooking. Italian dressing for a coupla days, wrap em in bacon, and put em on the fire.

Congrats onyoursuccess.

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

thanks for all the help guys. i might try the bacon idea on a fire due to the fact i have no dehydrator.

im really looking for better places to hunt. i only had two sets of birds fly in this morning. im hunting public land. whats the best way to look for a good spot?

i am just hunting off of Lake Ray Roberts.

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

DD,

You don't need a dehydrator to make jerky. You can use other things like air filters and a box fan as described at this link:http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/beef-jerky-recipe/index.html.

I don't have a lotta advice to tell you for findin a better place to hunt though. Mosta the land in TX is private from what I understand, so you might look into getting a lease next year with some buddies.

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

Just so you know the season is CLOSED right now in Texas unless you were hunting west of Abilene!! You might want to hold off on any more hunting until Saturday Dec 13th when the season reopens!

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

you can set your oven to 200F and put a hot pad in the door so it stays open just a little bit. That will do the job of a dehydrator in about 1.5hrs.

RE: first birds!! and 2 questions...
 

whoops! crap ive felt like crap all morning due to the facts. man i feel bad.:([:@]

im one of those guys thats never in trouble because i hate being in trouble.

sry i feel horrible