jnicholes

Took a Merganser this morning. It was a legal take.

I guess that's a 1 day late birthday present!

Oldtimr

Don't try to eat it!

jnicholes

Its that bad, huh? Well, lucky for me, I did research. I found out how bad it was BEFORE attempting to cook it.

After further review, I decided not to risk it, and I gave it a funeral.

At least I got in some target practice!

Oldtimr

Wildlife is not meant for target practice! If you do not know the species of waterfowl on the wing or on the water before you shoot, it is irresponsible to shoot and kill it! Your research should have been before you started to hunt ducks so you knew what you were shooting at. I do not think your response was clever or appropriate, or puts hunters in a good light!

jnicholes

You make a really good point. Thank you for pointing that out. You're right, I should be sure of my target before I shoot. I guess that makes me an irresponsible Hunter, then. Not trying to be hard on myself, just facing facts. The fact is, I need to work on my identification skills.

Oldtimr

See your PMs

rogerstv

In Illinois the basic daily limit is 6 ducks of any species. However, daily limit can consist of no more than the following: 4 mallards (of which no more than 2 can be hen mallards), 3 wood ducks, 3 scaup, 2 redheads, 2 canvasback, 2 black ducks, 1 pintail and 1 mottled duck. Possession limit for ducks is three times the daily limit by species and sex.

Can shoot five Mergansers a day in Illinois. Mergansers do not count toward your daily limit of ducks, but only 2 can be hooded mergansers. Merganser possession limit is no more than three times their daily limit, including max of 6 hooded mergansers. We don't eat them either.

Most ducks are easy to identify while on the wing, but some aren't. Best to know which ducks are severely limited like a hen mallard or a pintail and avoid shooting too many of them.

Everydaylimits

Good target practice. We have so many around here.

Oldtimr

Really?? Wildlife is not meant to be used for target practice, if you know you aren't going to eat a species that is protected, don't shoot it. You certainly are not a sportsan and please don'r call yourself a hunter with your attitide.

jnicholes

Oldtimr is right. Not trying to be rude, but it is just plain wrong to shoot something just for target practice.

I admit, I was wrong to do it myself, and I learned my lesson.

It is VERY wasteful to shoot something that you dont need to use. If you are going to take an animal, you need to use as much of it as possible and not be wasteful. Target practice is NOT an excuse to shoot an animal.

We are stewards of this planet. As such, we as humans can use the resources around us like the animals (the ones we can legally take,) for our needs. HOWEVER, we also have the responsibility to maintain those resources for future generations.

If we take an animal, and have no need of the resources it provides, we are being wasteful.

In a nutshell, only take what you plan to use.

Jared