Popular searches
Articles
Topics
Shop
Recipes
Waterfowl
What You Need to Know as a New Duck Caller
As a duck hunter whose enthusiasm regularly outweighs their actual skill, the calling aspect of the sport has always baffled me a bit. I seem to get two different answers—one from what I’m told and another from what I witness firsthand. Generally, I’m told that “less is more” and “don’t even pick up...
Steve Schwartz
Dec 5, 2023
Read More
Waterfowl
A Quick Guide to Run-and-Gun Duck Hunting
Duck hunting seems to be an all-or-nothing type of pursuit. As someone who generally relies on sweat equity to out-compete other hunters on public land, chasing waterfowl seems to be the outlier. Duck hunters will literally do anything to get themselves to the “X.” And, if you’re wondering, “They...
Steve Schwartz
Nov 30, 2023
Read More
Duck Dogs
Waterfowl
3 Drills Every Duck Dog Should Master
For waterfowl hunters it almost never fails: Your high hopes are dashed on the first hunt of the year when your retriever shows you his or her actual skillset. A seemingly rock-solid backyard gun dog can let you down as soon as the first woodies circle and the shotguns come up. This can be partly...
Tony J. Peterson
Jul 24, 2020
Read More
Waterfowl
Underrated Bird Dog Breeds You Should Consider
Check out the American Kennel Club’s rankings for the most popular dog breeds from year to year and you’ll see what you probably already knew: Labrador retrievers dominate. Going on nearly three decades now, the Lab has proven to be the most registered AKC breed out there.
Golden retrievers and...
Tony J. Peterson
May 15, 2020
Read More
Waterfowl
How to Introduce Your Puppy to Gunfire
The good thing about gun dogs is that they will forgive you for most of your training mistakes. You can flub your way through handling duties and eventually use a few mulligans to do things the right way—except when it comes to gunfire introduction. If you screw up this step, the odds are not in...
Tony J. Peterson
Jul 20, 2019
Read More
Ducks
The Real Difference Between American and British Labs
The hunting dog world is full of stereotypes and generalizations—none more entrenched in the bird hunters’ zeitgeist than the perceived differences between British and American Labrador retrievers. It’s commonly believed that British (or English) Labs are smaller, stockier, quieter, more easily...
Tony J. Peterson
Oct 18, 2019
Read More
Waterfowl
Should I Adopt My Next Hunting Dog?
For all the promise and anticipation wrapped up in a new puppy, there exists a certain charm in restoring the shine on a second-hand bird dog. Tailgate legend has a long chapter devoted entirely to these pups. Their stories feature washed-out trial dogs that just needed more time to blossom or the...
Dr. Seth Bynum
Aug 10, 2021
Read More
Waterfowl
Is a Raw Diet the Right Choice for Your Dog?
Few things will turn south an otherwise civil conversation about dogs faster than the topic of what to feed them. As a practicing veterinarian and bird hunter who spends a great deal of time engaged in tailgate banter, I’ve both received and dished out my share of subtle eyerolls and outright looks...
Dr. Seth Bynum
Jun 10, 2021
Read More
Waterfowl Recipes
Recipes
Steve’s Special Roasted Duck
(1)
In the world of ducks, there are divers and puddlers. Divers often eat more animal matter, such as fish and aquatic invertebrates, and can have an oily and off-putting taste; puddlers tend to have a more vegetarian diet and therefore a more pleasing flavor.
Because of its simplicity-there’s nothing...
Steven Rinella
Feb 7, 2018
Read More
Recipes
Steakhouse Goose
(0)
If I had a signature dish, this steakhouse goose recipe would probably be it. This is the same method I mentioned on a MeatEater Podcast episode, and a recipe I get a lot of requests to share.
The 2018 conservation hunts left me with a freezer full of snow geese, so I cook this dish regularly. When...
Danielle Prewett
Dec 5, 2019
Read More
Recipes
Whole Smoked Duck
(0)
Smoking whole might be the most versatile thing you can do with a duck. It can be served warm straight off the smoker, cooled for a charcuterie board, or incorporated into some other dish like duck ravioli. This also uses the entire animal, which the MeatEater crew always tries to do. Even after you...
Rick Matney
Jan 30, 2020
Read More
Recipes
Seared Duck Breast with Apple Sage Chutney
(1)
A lot of hunters are intimidated by cooking wild duck. If you are, you should not be. Steven Rinella shares the perfect way to prepare wild duck. There are many different duck recipes out there, this one is simple and is a sure way to make you enjoy cooking and eating wild ducks.
Brought to you by...
MeatEater Staff
Dec 19, 2017
Read More
Recipes
Duck Reuben Sandwich
(0)
I like to follow the mantra "set it and forget it" with this recipe. We're all busy, right? And the two most important steps to making these delicious sandwiches involve waiting. Pop the duck breasts in the brine, tuck them in the back of the fridge, and remove the meat in a few days, then toss them...
Lukas Leaf
Dec 16, 2021
Read More
Waterfowl Hunting Tactics
Waterfowl
3 Spreads Duck Hunters Don’t Use Often Enough
We all have that waterfowling buddy who moves the duck decoys incessantly, always looking for something to tweak. It might not even be legal shooting light yet but they’ve rearranged the spread five times. If you don’t have that friend, you probably are that friend. But since the goal is convincing...
Sean Weaver
Aug 18, 2021
Read More
Waterfowl
What You Need to Know About Duck Decoy Spreads
Waterfowl decoys are visual aids that serve to attract ducks and geese and convince them that an area is safe for landing. The placement and number of decoys that one uses is highly situational, but wind direction is always a major factor.
Like airplanes, ducks and geese approach their landing areas...
Steven Rinella
Sep 15, 2018
Read More
Waterfowl
How to Scout for Ducks and Geese
For waterfowl hunters, scouting often means hours of windshield time scanning skies, fields, and marshes. It also means hard work, devising a plan, and a bit of luck. Without scouting, a waterfowl hunter’s chances for success go down the drain.
But to say that scouting just boils down to driving...
John Pollmann
Sep 30, 2020
Read More
Waterfowl
How to Kill Ducks at Midday
The half hour before sunrise is the favorite time of the day for most duck hunters, and for good reason: there’s a flurry of activity as the marsh wakes up and many birds move from their roost to their feed. But that quick action is commonly followed by a long lull, sending many duck hunters packing...
Sean Weaver
Oct 27, 2021
Read More
Waterfowl
3 Reasons You Suck at Calling Ducks
It’s time to be honest with yourself. Your buddy sounds way better on a call, everyone in the blind tells you to “take it easy” when you so much as quack, your sole job in the blind is running the spinner remote, and every time you try a new duck call, it just doesn’t sound like the guy that sold it...
Sean Weaver
Dec 15, 2021
Read More
Waterfowl
The Best Waterholes That Duck Hunters Ignore
Whether in a field or on a lake, it’s hard not to love the sight of thousands of birds. But big numbers don’t always mean successful hunts, and oftentimes some of the best hunting can be on small water with low numbers of birds.
One of the best examples of small water is the standard cattle pond...
Sean Weaver
Sep 15, 2021
Read More
Species & Habitats
Waterfowl
The Truth About Duck Vision
If you spend a single day out hunting waterfowl, you’ll quickly learn that their eyesight is almost second to none. They can pick out even the most hidden blinds, they’ll flare off the simplest of movements, and they have an uncanny ability to see and land with a lone real duck instead of your...
Sean Weaver
Oct 19, 2021
Read More
Waterfowl
The Truth About the Molt Migration
Every summer, waterfowl across North America have to figure out where they’ll go to molt. The where, why, and who have been misunderstood by hunters for years, but knowing how the molt migration works is valuable and important.
What is the Molt Migration?
Every year, geese (and all waterfowl) lose...
Sean Weaver
Sep 1, 2021
Read More
Waterfowl
Are Flooded Cornfields Altering Duck Migrations?
The worst season ever? If you skim through various waterfowl hunting forums and social media pages, you’d certainly think last duck season was a bust. Many hunters across the country spent more time griping about the lack of ducks than they did shooting ducks. In some circles, intentionally flooded...
David Hart
Jun 4, 2019
Read More
Ducks
A Species Profile on Mallards
Duck hunting in North America usually means that mallards are the target species. A big flock of greenheads flying into a decoy spread instills excitement into the hearts of even the most seasoned duck hunters.
Mallards are the most common North American duck species, and the most commonly hunted...
Steven Rinella
Jul 9, 2018
Read More
Ducks
4 Plants Every Duck Hunter Should Know
Most ducks are opportunistic omnivores, feeding on a wide variety of plants, insects, invertebrates, and fish. From sunflower seeds to gizzard shad, I’ve seen them eat just about anything they can get down their gullet.
The plants listed below are the crème de la crème. These cornerstones of duck...
Sean Weaver
Jun 15, 2021
Read More