well, I don’t shoot them-but I wish I could! We have several Muscovy ducks- Muscovy Duck Habitat | Where Do They Come From | Earth Life - that visit our back yard. We are not happy about it. They are messy and huge. Did I mention messy? They hang around for hours, wattle over to our driveway and or porch, nose around the house and generally make themselves at home in our home. Hopefully they will wander off soon. They usually don’t bother us, but about ten years ago there was a serious infestation. It took fences and eventually nets to get rid of them.
Maybe just not in Australia? While goose isn’t as common today as in yesteryear, it’s certainly eaten (and as mentioned above, parts of 'em can be greasy). I have to imagine that even in Australia they’ve had mention of “A Christmas Carol” (the most obvious literary reference I could conceive of wherein goose consumed).
Recently I visiited Havre de Grace MD, which has a Duck Decoy Museum. Once inside the museum, I realized that I was at the epicenter of the 19th century Duck Holocaust. They invented ways of shooting ducks that have long since been banned. They had punt guns, huge cannon-like shotguns mounted on small boats. Many of the rail lines from the Chesapeake were built to transport the ducks to market (or so I was led to believe, I can’t really find a cite for this). In any case, yeah, people really *really *like to shoot ducks.
Ducks and geese that are fed will overwinter in places that they should be migrating away from. We have lots of places in New England where fowl have become big nuisances. Their poop can foul water supplies and make a general mess of things. In some places they are shot to reduce the population, and scare the others in autumn to migrate south.
We used to get overrun by Canada geese up here. Geese are big, honking shitting machines. The numbers were reduced by taking the eggs from the nests and destroying them, which means fewer returning pests in following years.
Now, if only someone could come up with a way to gather the dead ducks and return them to the hunters, so that they could be cleaned and cooked. Possibly breeding some dog to dive into the water and collect the duck…
Agree, big, flying, shitting machines and those are just the Canadianvariety. Don’t get me started on the mess that is the snow goose.
The way to roast a duck is to place it on a wire frame over the roasting tin. fat drips through, duck turns out nice and crispy.
Serve with roast spuds, garden peas, baby carrots and a smidgeon of orange sauce.
Mmmmm…roast duck
Yeah, that’s why when you buy a shotgun now, even if you have no intention of hunting anything but burglars with it, it comes with a little wooden rod that keeps you from putting more than two shells in it until you figure that out and remove it.
Is that what that stupid stick is for? To keep me from killing too many ducks? Oh, jeez. :rolleyes:
A plug. Limits you to two plus the one in the chamber.
The aforementioned punt guns, how they evolved, were used and finally outlawed, was dealt with pretty compellingly in Michener’s Chesapeake.
If they weren’t killing a few thousand a year they would most likely be pests by now. Geese are big, territorial and can become aggressive. Go give one a hug sometime and find out.
Hopefully the hunters are easting them. I haven’t eaten much goose, but love to eat duck. True, they are probably farm-raised, but I’d have no trouble eating duck claimed in a hunt.
The past several weeks I stayed in a hotel that served various game when it was available. It was available when the owner shot it. Mostly venison and pork. Wild pigs are apparently a bit problem in that area and need to be culled since there are few if any predators remaining there (besides people).
Just checking in to report there is an echo.
Not just ducks, any migratory bird.
Sorry to nitpick you here, but it’s Canada-, not Canadian geese. Although with newer passport requirements, who knows what may transpire.
We are getting your lovely foul here. But they are fun to hunt. I like my Goose marinade in a teriyaki sauce and then put on the rotisserie.
Then there is the Bird Flu issue.http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/facts.htm"]http://www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/gen-info/facts.htm
Yeah, they are nasty birds, aren’t they?
We’ve been trained to hunt ducks since childhood.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for NOT typing Canadian geese…like nails on a chalk board, that is.
Then there is the risk of spreading avian influenza. More birds, more contact with other vectors, more risk.
And then there is the risk of bringing down aircraft by being sucked into the turbine intake.
Leave it at that please Duckster.