# They shoot ducks don't they? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832 "2009-03-18T02:37:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/1 "2009-03-18T02:37:31Z")
I can understand shooting rabbits, wild cats, foxes, wild horses, kangaroos and pigs for fun - animals that can be pests. But shooting ducks - whats all that about? Gee, the ducks are pretty bad - time to get out the shottie. Are there parts of the world that have duck problems? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/2 "2009-03-18T02:39:29Z")
Well, people eat duck. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/3 "2009-03-18T02:42:24Z")
It’s a sport, and you eat them. ---
**Author:** ![Race\_Harley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Race\_Harley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Harley)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/4 "2009-03-18T02:44:04Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > Are there parts of the world that have duck problems? The East River just north of LaGuardia Airport. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/5 "2009-03-18T02:44:40Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > I can understand shooting rabbits, wild cats, foxes, wild horses, kangaroos and pigs for fun… ? Really? How odd. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/6 "2009-03-18T02:51:48Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > Are there parts of the world that have duck problems? Yes, in the 24th and 1/2 century. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/7 "2009-03-18T02:58:43Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > It’s a sport, and you eat them. Doesn’t the shot tenderise them a bit much? ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/8 "2009-03-18T03:02:58Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > Yes, in the 24th and 1/2 century. With a 24.5C style energy beam pistol. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/9 "2009-03-18T03:06:26Z")
Rabbit Season! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/10 "2009-03-18T03:09:55Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > With a 24.5C style energy beam pistol. No, with a disintegrator gun. And boy when it disintegrates, it really disintegrates. ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/11 "2009-03-18T03:13:58Z")
From [this site:](http://www.safariinscotland.com/html/en/goose.html) > [@](#): > > Aberdeenshire in North East Scotland is widely known as the number One Goose shooting area in the UK. Over 60,000 Pinkfoot and Graylag geese arrive in Aberdeenshire in the last weeks of September. They spend the whole winter and spring in the area before departing back to nest in Iceland in April. Aah, you think. That sounds nice. Then you read the next paragraph: > [@](#): > > Safari in Scotland has built up contact with over 200 farmers and landowners and has exclusive rights to shoot the geese. As you will see in the photo gallery every year all our clients shoot plenty of geese, during the 2002/2003 season our clients shot over 4000 geese. oh. That’s a shame. Could you maybe _not_ have shot them? ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/12 "2009-03-18T03:18:47Z")
> [@mutantmoose](#): > > From [this site:](http://www.safariinscotland.com/html/en/goose.html) > > Aah, you think. That sounds nice. Then you read the next paragraph: > > oh. That’s a shame. Could you maybe _not_ have shot them? But are they pests? And are the geese eaten (by people)? ---
**Author:** ![mutantmoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@mutantmoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mutantmoose)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/13 "2009-03-18T03:22:36Z")
Certainly not pests. And the eaten ones get grown in special farms, I would think. They don’t need to shoot wild ones to feed the food industry. Geese are pretty easy to keep - like big hens really. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/14 "2009-03-18T03:27:00Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > I can understand shooting […] wild horses […] animals that can be pests. Wait. What? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/15 "2009-03-18T03:38:02Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Wait. What? Like any herbivore in areas where natural predators are reduced or absent, if they become too numerous, they can cause problems by overgrazing. [Here’s](http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20080204-1715-wst-wildhorses.html) a case of overgrazing by a wild horse herd. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/16 "2009-03-18T03:43:48Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Like any herbivore in areas where natural predators are reduced or absent, if they become too numerous, they can cause problems by overgrazing. In Australia, where the post is coming from, the problem isn’t that they overgraze. The problem is that the continent has no native hoofed herbivores. Even at densities where they pose absolutely no threat of overgrazing they are prone to causing problems due to soil compaction, erosion and disease transmission. A single horse is probably too numerous to be sustainable in a conservation area in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/17 "2009-03-18T03:47:59Z")
Hm. Well how 'bout that. (I had assumed that the solution to “too many wild horses” wouldn’t be to shoot them, but to relocate them somehow. But I guess in some ecosystems, you gotta do what you gotta do.) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/18 "2009-03-18T03:58:08Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > Doesn’t the shot tenderise them a bit much? At the range that ducks are hunted, they only get hit by 3 or 4 shot, hardly makes a mess at all. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/19 "2009-03-18T05:10:25Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > (I had assumed that the solution to “too many wild horses” wouldn’t be to shoot them, but to relocate them somehow. Relocate them where? Wild horses are, well, wild. The world already has too many horses so they have no economic value and there is quite a cost involved in live capture and transport of these animals even if you do have somewhere to relocate them to, and who pays that cost? The fact is that whether we are talking about sparrows or horses or elephants, in most cases when there are to many of them the only sensible solution is to shoot them. There simply isn’t the money to move them and even if there were there is nowhere to move them to. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832/20 "2009-03-18T07:30:55Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > But are they pests? And are the geese eaten (by people)? Yes, although they can be greasy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-shoot-ducks-dont-they/489832.md?page=2)