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Trophy ducks

15K views 65 replies 39 participants last post by  ADB391 
#1 ·
Given where you hunt and considering any and all ducks that you may kill, what are your trophy birds that you would have mounted for the wall?
Mine are first, a wood duck, then a pintail, then a redhead, which I got today!
Trap is hard to get a good picture of. I think he is camera shy.
 
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#52 ·
I did the same thing. One of the prettiest mounts I have.
 
#6 ·
still looking for that cinnamon teal drake in full on fall plumage, only seem to see them on the golf course...would also like a canvasback drake
 
#9 ·
I have a black duck mounted. Then mounted a widgeon and gadwall my last dog on her last hunt retrieved before she passed, just for that reason. I do it for the memories not the duck but I'm still waiting to shoot a nice pintail ;-). I wish I would of mounted a wood duck when I lived in N.C. because there I got tired of shooting them and here in Texas I haven't seen that many.
 
#15 ·
a Spoony,Spoonbill....thats what we call them down south in Tex and Louisiana...."Hollywood" because they look like Daffy Duck....known as a trash duck with the guys I hunt with, very poor tasting duck, pretty plumage, but will decoy to just about any set up and call
 
#17 · (Edited)
Spoonbills taste the same to me as other ducks. I eat lots of them. They decoy easy and offer lots of shooting for the new dogs. One of my staples.
YUMMMy Had a batch for dinner yesterday and lunch today.
A couple of tips from rtfer's made all the difference in duck preparation,,, they probably never thought it would work on shovlers.:eek:
Pete
 
#19 ·
nothin' wrong with a rice fed spooney!

as for taxidermy, my wife does not have ducks in her decorating plan! after we married i came home one day and she said, "the bass are on the bed." i thought she meant she wanted to go sight fishing for big sows in shallow water. nope, she had taken all the double digits off the wall and laid them in the guest room.....on the bed!:(
 
#25 ·
You know, Mark, its cool we are getting some red heads here. I only started seeming them 2 or 3 years ago, and now I shoot a few a year. I'd love to get a canvasback, and have heard of guys getting them now and again up at the quality waters, but I've never seen one locally.
 
#28 ·
Haven't seen any either.
Napi pond had 18 pintails on it last Saturday, along with a bunch of widgeons, gadwalls, mallards, ruddy ducks, gw teal, and just a few redheads.
Gonna try holding off to take a pintail first, then see what happens to all the birds after the first shot?
 
#31 ·
Ruddy ducks? Never seen those here, too. Neat! Every now and then I'll see a bunch of pintails, but they aren't regulars here. Hopefully when you shoot the pintail you can get another 'cuase you're right, they will leave. But they come back later, too, or at least that was my experience.

These local guys are spooky. I have a friend visiting last weekend and we went down to the river by my house. The ducks were flaring off of decoys long before they could see us. We would have been better without decoys. We need some migrants to show up!
 
#30 ·
I think for it to be considered a trophy bird it has to be a prime example in full plumage and relatively rare. Spoonies are kind of pretty, but jeeze they're spoonies for crying out loud. We used to call them Salton Sea Mallards. I hunted my first three years on the Salton Sea and never saw a Mallard, so the first greenhead I shot up in Mendota was a real trophy to me. Back then Pintails were our prime bird and a nice Bull Sprig in full plumage was special. Now I live in Montana where it isn't unusual to fill your limit with seven green heads, so the mallard went from trophy status to common. On the other hand a Bull Sprig in full tuxedo color is rare and special. Heck, I have even mounted a really nice Green Wing Teal, they are rare up here, and quite pretty.

John
 
#34 ·
IMHO a late season drake Canvasback, the King of Ducks, is a trophy of trophies.
On my list of birds that I've never taken and would like to add to the Mancave wall: Eurasian Widgeon and Cinnamon Teal

One word of advice: don't leave your insanely birdy 10mo old pup unattended in the man cave with all your duck mounts on the wall for less than 5 min to refill your coffee... looked like it snowed duck feathers. Lost three Woodies, a redhead, and a gorgeous drake widgeon the size of a 747. :cry: Only myself to blame.
 
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