Shooting goldeneye

Eddie B

Last season, i done a lot of decoying for ducks on lough ree with a mate, which produced some good sport, and on a few occasions some big bags! The bags included various species, including goldeneye and tufted, which tend to decoy easier than say, mallard or widgeon! I don`t particularly like the taste of these black and white ducks so i choose not to shoot them. no point shooting somethin your not going to eat! The thing is, when i asked my mate what he was doing with them he said he was boiling them up for his dogs!!!!! Does this justify shooting them!!! For me, that just sounds wrong!! So whats your opinion?

meathstevie

I do that with pigeon carcasses after I removed the breast meat.

clivej

Eddie B wrote: »

Last season, i done a lot of decoying for ducks on lough ree with a mate, which produced some good sport, and on a few occasions some big bags! The bags included various species, including goldeneye and tufted, which tend to decoy easier than say, mallard or widgeon! I don`t particularly like the taste of these black and white ducks so i choose not to shoot them. no point shooting somethin your not going to eat! The thing is, when i asked my mate what he was doing with them he said he was boiling them up for his dogs!!!!! Does this justify shooting them!!! For me, that just sounds wrong!! So whats your opinion?

And the dog meat comes from where exactly. Its not like the duck is going to waste is it.

lucy333springer

Eddie B wrote: »

no point shooting somethin your not going to eat! ?

Eddie,
maybe your post should of read---no point shooting something if me or the dog's not going to eat it. My dog eat's the bunnie's I shoot, and the carcuss is kept in a bag, head, gut's and fur, for a few day's to furment, then the crow's and magpie's fight over it while i'm pumping lead into them, it's great I love it, and nothing's wasted.

stevoman

personally id have to disagree. i wouldnt hunt anything unless I was going to eat it or it was at least going to human consumption.

okay some exceptions may apply, say, if you where asked to stop a pideon or rabbit problem by a farmer etc and you had to much meat to hand, but to hunt something for sport and then to turn around and give it to a dog is not acceptable to me.

whatever people do is their won business but i cant stand that carry on. dont shoot the ducks if you aint going to eat them. boiling them for a dog is a lame excuse. its just killing for the sake of it.

if birdwatching and conservation groups where to see that this was a common trend amongst wildfowlers we may aswell kiss the sport goodbye and for good reason too.

mallards

Try skinning them Eddie, I find the fat on them is quite bitter.


Mallards

Half-cocked

All diving ducks can be a bit unsavoury to eat. Some species are getting a bit scarce too. Not from over hunting but the milder winters mean they don't migrate down here as much as they used to. I tend to leave them alone and stick to mallard with the odd widgeon or teal. Feeding a scarce species to a dog seems wrong to me, but thats only my personal opinion.

Eddie B

clivej wrote: »

And the dog meat comes from where exactly. Its not like the duck is going to waste is it.

Lads we`re not talkin, a duck or two here! Twenty or thirty birds can be bagged in a morning, especially when birds are fresh in! I cant understand how anyone could knowingly, go and shoot that many birds never having any intentions of eating any of them! The biggest fear i have is, if this is seen as being "acceptable," then where does it end!!!

EPointer=Birdss

stevoman wrote: »

personally id have to disagree. i wouldnt hunt anything unless I was going to eat it or it was at least going to human consumption.

okay some exceptions may apply, say, if you where asked to stop a pideon or rabbit problem by a farmer etc and you had to much meat to hand, but to hunt something for sport and then to turn around and give it to a dog is not acceptable to me.

whatever people do is their won business but i cant stand that carry on. dont shoot the ducks if you aint going to eat them. boiling them for a dog is a lame excuse. its just killing for the sake of it.

if birdwatching and conservation groups where to see that this was a common trend amongst wildfowlers we may aswell kiss the sport goodbye and for good reason too.

Have to agree. I'd recommend clay pigeon shooting for this chap instead. That's just killing for sport which is one of the main the reasons the antis like to use to ban shooting!

My dogs get the carcasses but not before I've had to best of it.
I always found diving ducks nicer table birds to mallards!

meathstevie

EPointer=Birdss wrote: »

Have to agree. I'd recommend clay pigeon shooting for this chap instead. That's just killing for sport which is one of the main the reasons the antis like to use to ban shooting!

My dogs get the carcasses but not before I've had to best of it.
I always found diving ducks nicer table birds to mallards!

I have to agree with you that depending on where they are mallards can taste a bit "muddy" sometimes.