# Trophy ducks



## Mark Teahan (Apr 1, 2012)

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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## straightsix (Feb 17, 2013)

im looking for a nice drake pintail. we don't get a ton in Ohio and they are a weary bird. Also would like nice drake GW teal in full plumage. we get a decent amount of them but they are tastey!


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## Daren Galloway (Jun 28, 2012)

Call me crazy, but a Drake Spoonie as colorful as they are in March, would definitely go on the wall if any where here in season, that pretty.


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## Tigershark (Jun 20, 2011)

a Drake Oldsquaw, I had a group back in the mid 90s come in but I was caught off guard so didn't shoot I don't hunt the Ohio river anymore but if one presents the opportunity I wouldn't mind having it on the wall


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## Mike W. (Apr 22, 2008)

I shot a ******* drake the last day of the season a few years ago and it was one of the prettiest birds I have ever seen. I mounted it, and it turned out beautiful.


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## BonMallari (Feb 7, 2008)

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


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## Mark Teahan (Apr 1, 2012)

Trap and I got a Northern shoveler last week. Very pretty bird.


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## Charles C. (Nov 5, 2004)

I want a nice bull sprig to mount.


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## TonyLattuca (Jan 10, 2013)

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.


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## Jacob Hawkes (Jun 24, 2008)

I'm sorry, but a damn Hollywood will *never* be accused of being "pretty", "beautiful", or "elegant".


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## Raymond Little (Aug 2, 2006)

Jacob Hawkes said:


> I'm sorry, but a damn Hollywood will *never* be accused of being "pretty", "beautiful", or "elegant".


Ditto, I don't shootem.


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## Charles C. (Nov 5, 2004)

Jacob Hawkes said:


> I'm sorry, but a damn Hollywood will *never* be accused of being "pretty", "beautiful", or "elegant".


They look pretty elegant when there are no other birds working. :lol:


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## justin300mag (May 28, 2010)

Apparently I am not as familiar with duck nicknames as I thought. What is a ******* drake? or a Hollywood?


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## Jacob Hawkes (Jun 24, 2008)

Raymond Little said:


> Ditto, I don't shootem.


Don't get me wrong, I will shoot them if I must. I prefer not to. 



Charles C. said:


> They look pretty elegant when there are no other birds working. :lol:


LOL. To quote one of my buddies, "You just put on Facebook, "Limited Out.". You don't post pictures of that day's kill."  :lol: :lol:


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## BonMallari (Feb 7, 2008)

justin300mag said:


> Apparently I am not as familiar with duck nicknames as I thought. What is a ******* drake? or a Hollywood?


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


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## Mark Teahan (Apr 1, 2012)

Id never seen one before, and when I saw all the color landing in my dekes, a load of number 2's dumped him.
Im not a meat hunter per say, but if something I shot turns out to be inedible, I can always use it for training in the off season.


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## Pete (Dec 24, 2005)

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.
Pete


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## Erik Nilsson (Jan 16, 2011)

Black Scoter to finish all my scoters
Eider


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## roseberry (Jun 22, 2010)

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!


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## huntinman (Jun 1, 2009)

They are all beautiful and trophies in their own right... IMHO


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## Brad B (Apr 29, 2004)

Duck snobs crack me up!


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## Mark Teahan (Apr 1, 2012)

You mean "quack" you up?


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## Brad B (Apr 29, 2004)

Mark Teahan said:


> You mean "quack" you up?


Ha Ha ! Yea I missed that opportunity didn't I.


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## Duckquilizer (Apr 4, 2011)

Like this:

Or this:


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## dr_dog_guy (May 25, 2003)

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.


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## huntinman (Jun 1, 2009)

Duckquilizer said:


> Like this:
> 
> Or this:


Nice! Really love the Woodies.


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## huntinman (Jun 1, 2009)

Brad B said:


> Duck snobs crack me up!


Ha!Ha! I would love a drake Spoony to have mounted... Just never got one that was plumed out nice.


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## Mark Teahan (Apr 1, 2012)

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?


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## krazybronco2 (Jan 31, 2013)

trophy duck will be the first bird Belle retieves this year but for me i would love to shoot a canvasback or GW teal and if i happen to have the lucky horse shoe a drake pintail would be awesome.


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## John Robinson (Apr 14, 2009)

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


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## dr_dog_guy (May 25, 2003)

Mark Teahan said:


> 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?


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!


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## Mark Teahan (Apr 1, 2012)

Had to look up what I was looking at.
Small duck, sit kinda low on the water, and tail feathers that stick up like an angled back antenna.


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## John Robinson (Apr 14, 2009)

Mark Teahan said:


> Had to look up what I was looking at.
> Small duck, sit kinda low on the water, and tail feathers that stick up like an angled back antenna.


They seem to have "attitude".


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## DucksDogsDownriggers (Feb 21, 2013)

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.  Only myself to blame.


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## kjrice (May 19, 2003)

Fully plumed Ruddy...cuz it won't happen during hunting season.


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## Brettttka (Feb 9, 2013)

You guys need to make a trip to Missouri to kill some pintails they are all over like the shovelers. Nothing better to watch work than a big fat greenhead drake!!! Some thing about those orange feet as the are getting ready to hit the water and the blue on their wings.


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## coachmo (Apr 23, 2009)

On a slightly different note, I had a good friend in high school kill a barrow's goldeneye drake on a pond on a deer lease in the piney woods of SE Louisiana while wood duck hunting. He got it mounted and if memory serves me correct a local game warden told him the duck was probably about 1200 miles away from it's typical wintering grounds. That was a long time ago and I have never seen another one killed in south LA.


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## John Robinson (Apr 14, 2009)

coachmo said:


> On a slightly different note, I had a good friend in high school kill a barrow's goldeneye drake on a pond on a deer lease in the piney woods of SE Louisiana while wood duck hunting. He got it mounted and if memory serves me correct a local game warden told him the duck was probably about 1200 miles away from it's typical wintering grounds. That was a long time ago and I have never seen another one killed in south LA.


Now that's a trophy. Rare bird with a great story attached.


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## huntinman (Jun 1, 2009)

coachmo said:


> On a slightly different note, I had a good friend in high school kill a barrow's goldeneye drake on a pond on a deer lease in the piney woods of SE Louisiana while wood duck hunting. He got it mounted and if memory serves me correct a local game warden told him the duck was probably about 1200 miles away from it's typical wintering grounds. That was a long time ago and I have never seen another one killed in south LA.


Neat... Shot mine in the earlier photo with the Bufflehead in Alaska. We had plenty of them there. Had a few in WA state as well when I was there.


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## Hogie (Oct 22, 2012)

I am pretty partial to Pintails myself.


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## Erik Nilsson (Jan 16, 2011)

This is a pintail I shot in Western NY





A couple of birds I had mounted from a layout hunt on the Bay in MD.


Here's a real trophy my buddy and I doubled up on the St Lawrence River


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## roseberry (Jun 22, 2010)

eric,
my favorite bands have pellet dents in them. love the pic!


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## Erik Nilsson (Jan 16, 2011)

roseberry said:


> eric,
> my favorite bands have pellet dents in them. love the pic!


I agree, when the dog was bringing back the bird I saw it had a band on it and told my buddy who invited me that he could keep the band what I didn't see was the other one when he took it from his dog, so we shared them. it was banded the same day and same location, really not sure why I guess just a mistake


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## BobOwens (Jul 30, 2011)

Old Squaw, Pintail, Harlequin - I'm getting two drake hooded mergansers mounted this winter. They came in together and went down together. The dog made two memorable retrieves and I figured why not! Great memories


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## blake_mhoona (Mar 19, 2012)

BonMallari said:


> 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


close bon...

hollywoods is a refernce to all the $$$ and big bills in hollywood

bootlips comes from a deregotary term towards african americans

i dont think i could be caught dead in arkansas with one mounted. id never get an invite to hunt again. 

i know we are spoiled with woodies here but prolly will never get one mounted either. although i did have a neat idea for a male and female. we usually dont waste a shot on them simply because you'll waste all your shells at all of them zipping through the timber at legal shooting light. they are fun to watch though. one morning we literally had 10,000 just zigging and zagging wave after wave headed to the refuge

im still on the lookout for a pintail thats suitable to be mounted. most are all messed up from the mud in the rice fields or 6 of your buddies all shooting at the same "trophy"

only mount i have is the first mallard i ever killed. it was flying away after emptying my gun at it threw one more shell in the chamber and shot a prayer at 70 yards. splat. ended up going swimming for it since waders got stuck in the mud in chest deep water. best part was that it was my dads first hunt at 40 years old. he drove the boat out after he saw i forfieted my waders 10 feet from the bird. luckily water temp was only in 50s


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## huntinman (Jun 1, 2009)

blake_mhoona said:


> close bon...
> 
> hollywoods is a refernce to all the $$$ and big bills in hollywood
> 
> ...


*
*

More Mhoon Mayhem... At an early age;-)


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## blake_mhoona (Mar 19, 2012)

huntinman said:


> [/B]
> 
> More Mhoon Mayhem... At an early age;-)


i could probably fill a book with my mishaps and mayhems. 

last year we were hunting the timber and for the first time in my 9 years of duck hunting nature called at 4:30 am. walked the boat over 150 yards out of the hole and sat over the side to do my business the chinese the night before was not nice. shooting light comes and after about 2 groups of 10-15 birds we realized we needed to relocate as the birds were funneling in out of camera range (we were filming for our duck call company) so we relocate to the west side of the hole. 

at about 7:30 we caught a whiff of some of the foulest stinch ever. we attributed it to the dead and decaying acorns, leaves, and branches in the water (still early in the season and we were in waist deep water). finally it was light enough to see everything by 8 and low and behold we see a white substance floating all around us. after careful inspection it was in fact TP. apparently we got a little turned around and set up in the same spot i had visited earlier that morning. 

we decide to relocate and in transit i trip over a log and land smack dab in the water. when i get up without being too graphic i realized that i needed more iron in my diet


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## Hunt'EmUp (Sep 30, 2010)

My first mount my dogs first goose which happened to be a Blue * I got conned in to putting it on the wall . Next goal is drake Canvasback (missed him and got the hen last year; so I guess they'll be a set). Here the trophy is a tri-fecta but I'm missing the blue-wing teal (heck if I got an ugly one it would be mounted; we never get them here), Then a red-head; had a real nice one that I accidentally ate . I have a mallard drake in the freezer with 5 curls; I shot it @ Wister, which is pretty rare there; but it's a mallard, which I consider common. Pin-tail and spoonies are a dime a dozen out here; so it would have to be pretty special to mount one. Now Pin-Spoon hybrid would be mounted they had picture of one on the salton sea last year, so it better watch out


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## Dave Burton (Mar 22, 2006)

Ducks I have mounted: Canvasback, Redhead, Pintail{banded}, Mallard, Back Duck, Gadwall, Wood Duck, Drake and Hen Eider, White Wing Scoter and Old Squaw. I have a Blue Goose that should be back this week and I have a Speck at taxi now. What I want is a BWT and Cinnamon Teal. A nice Widgeon and a GWT will be mounted one day.(I have killed several just didn't mount)


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## Mark Teahan (Apr 1, 2012)

A blue wing, I got this morning to go along with a green wing awaiting a trip to the taxidermist.








Now for a cinnamon.


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## huntinman (Jun 1, 2009)

I posted this Black Duck earlier in the thread. But I didn't tell what was unusual about it. If you will notice, even the taxidermist painted the bill as if it was a mallard hen. 

I shot this bird in Alaska in 2000 or 2001 on the Palmer Hay Flats. For you Alaskans, I used to go down Rabbit Slough and drag my canoe out into the lake at the green cabin. Anyway, it was a bluebird day on the marsh and not much was flying. All of a sudden, I heard a hen quack and instinctively I just looked up and shot as she flew overhead. My young dog Maggie (who recently died at 13 1/2) went into the reeds and hunted for quite a while before lifting he head up out of the tangle with the biggest surprise I ever got in 20+ years of Alaskan waterfowl hunting! 

Having grown up in SC, we had black ducks and occasionally shot a few. But no one had ever been on record as taking one in Alaska. As most of you know, Black Ducks are primarily an East Coast duck... Occasionally Midwest. 

I took the bird to friends who were biologist at Alaska Fish and Game. They looked it over for a while... Pulled out some waterfowl books... Scratched their beards a bit... And said "it might be a Black Duck!" 

Like I said earlier, I took it to a local taxidermist in Alaska... I was out of town when it was ready... I was surprised to see that the bill was painted like a mallards... Would think the taxidermist would have figured it out... But I think he thought he was mounting a mallard!


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## David McCracken (May 24, 2009)

junfan68 said:


> I shot a ******* drake the last day of the season a few years ago and it was one of the prettiest birds I have ever seen. I mounted it, and it turned out beautiful.


I did the same thing. One of the prettiest mounts I have.


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## David McCracken (May 24, 2009)

Where I live in South Carolina, we kill lots of Blue Winged teal, but never a drake in full plumage. I was 63 years old before I got to kill my first. Gumbo and I were invited to film a TV show in Florida for Ducks, Dogs, and Decoys TV (Capt. Jeff Coates wanted to do a show about American Water Spaniels). All we killed for the filming were Bluebills, but the next day, we went just hunting on the Stick Marsh and I killed a whole limit of mature drake Blue Wings. They are beautiful little birds.


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## scothuffman (Nov 14, 2012)

I hunt Sourthern California and Pintail are very common so I shoot them most everytime out. I had a Balck duck and A wood duck on my list. I just returned from a hunting trip in Virginia with a friend of mine. I had a chance at both birds the first day out. Unfortunatly I missed my Black but I did connect on my drake Woodie. I feel very fortunate to have at least had my oppurtunity.


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## Selous (Nov 8, 2013)

I have a couple of big, late season drake cans (Venice, LA), a big, nicely barred specklebelly (Lake Arthur, LA), a banded blue wing drake (Scarsdale, LA), and an Egyptian goose (SE Zimbabwe). I treasure them all and enjoy recalling all of the hunts every time I look at them.


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## Richard Finch (Jul 26, 2006)

Mounts include:

Sprig, Black Duck, Mallard, Can, Woodie, Widgeon, Redhead, Speck, Canada, ... Have several more I'd like just finding the wall space!!! LOL


Richard


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## LavenderLabs (Aug 28, 2005)

we shoot lots of Widgeons but I have always wanted to shoot a storm widgeon.


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## Chris Krause (Jun 29, 2011)

I mainly mount birds to remember the hunt. I can look at each one and remember when, where, and with who. Most have a humorous story to tag along with it. Mounts include from left to right on my wall...Widgeon, Black Duck, Pintail, Woodie's (drake&hen), Specklebelly, Mallard, & Gadwall. Mounted my nephews first duck green wing teal drake. Came out really nice and look forward to adding one to my wall soon. I would love a cinnamon teal, Canvasback, and the one I have been searching for the past few years is a picture perfect Blue Goose. Every time I shoot one it's just not the right plummage. When I goose hunt that's all I'm looking for. Hopefully this year is the year.


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## Mark Teahan (Apr 1, 2012)

Got my redhead and canvasback to add to my memories with Trap.


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## Steve Amrein (Jun 11, 2004)

I have shot some really cool ducks But I seem to go for the sentimental mounts. I had hunted with my Dad since I was very little. I am sure I screwed up his hunts by being bored or cold. 35 years later I am taking Dad in Cause he is cold or did not feel up to it . Anyway 1.5 years before he died the last day of the season we both shot a banded duck. His was a OK drake Mallard and Mine was a nice Black duck. The were in the freezer and I was going to Mount the BD but did not plan on the Mallard. Dad made it a bit past the next season which we shot a lot of ducks. I wish I would have saved the last duck my Gracie retrieved. Even if it was a gadwall.


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## Mark Teahan (Apr 1, 2012)

Boy these things git it!
Couldn't tell a drake out the flock, but got 2 ruddy duck hens this morning.


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## Dave Burton (Mar 22, 2006)

Biggest Gadwall I have seen to date. Shot opening day in Arkansas a week ago today. I have a real nice one mounted I shot in LA a few yrs ago but this one is huge. That's a 3.5 inch shell by it's head. I also shot a nice speck but already have one of those at the Taxi now.


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## Mark Teahan (Apr 1, 2012)

WOO HOO! !
Got my pintail! !
Actually 2 this evening.


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## Troy Tilleraas (Sep 24, 2010)

View attachment 16576

A friend of mine from Maryland who has a pup from us (pictured) Pirate X MHR Haley MH got this on the Potomac River Christmas Eve day.


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## ducklab (Jan 16, 2014)

Pintail and canvasback


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## ADB391 (Jan 9, 2014)

I know it's not a "duck"...but I do love a big ole black bellied speck with a big ole pie face white front!


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