Coots are like ducks with bird bills they taste awful
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Coots are like ducks with bird bills they taste awful
You are totally wrong about the taste of coots. Like most game they must be cooked right and they are better than a lot of other wild game birds. A lot of the flavour of game meat hinges on what they eat. A merganser is almost inedible for obvious reasons. A coot is pretty much 100% vegetarian. In contrast the woodcock is entirely vermivorous (worm eating) and personally I find have quite a strong gamey flavour.
Was just my opinion, perhaps I had a bad one or not prepared properly.
Everyone has their own tastes, and that's why Jello makes 39 flavours
Put up two woodcock last Saturday and spotted 2 or 4 at last light the night before... I'm past N bay, close to the top end of the range I believe.
Why?Quote:
A merganser is almost inedible for obvious reasons.
I ate coots, nothing special, just another stinking waterfowl ;)
but then I ate mergansers too, I guess I didn't know they taste that bad LOL
I'm not sure how you can recognize seasonal migration anymore for the species, as there are so few remaining birds in the population. It hasn't been obvious in the area I live, since at least the late 1980's. You are very lucky if you still have huntable numbers coming through in your area. I'm 50 now, and was fortunate enough to experience the hunting that we had before the continental population plummeted. I never had a dog as a kid, but it truly would have been a blast. During the two week fall migration pulse, it was common to put 15-20 birds out of a 5 acre swale. Find a patch of grey alder/willow, with a bit of upland balsam poplar, and the ground was literally white with poop. Even without a dog, you'd flush a bird every ten yards. The bonus would be the grouse. The coyotes didn't really pound my area prior to the mid to late 1980s. Even without a dog, a walking hunter could flush at least 10-12 birds per hour in good habitat. What a change in 30 years!
Check out the latest Woodcock trends for the 2015 Central population. Better than the east, but we've still lost almost 60% of our birds since the late 60's, and we're still losing almost another 10% per decade.
http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/pd...atusReport.pdf
Often wonder why the daily limit hasn't gone down on these birds. We all know there has been a steady decline in numbers yet no moderation in limit. Sure some will say its not hunting that is the problem but lack of habitat. Even if that's the case less habitat less birds should translate into less take eh?
Woodcocks were plentiful near Shining Tree last week.
Any recommendations in the Cambridge area? I'm thinking next year of getting a permit with the Grand River Conservation Area and taking the year to train my puppy springer. I'd like to get into upland in general.
Woodcock are not something I have ever targeted nor have I shot one. Since getting the dog he has flushed a couple while out grouse hunting, but I'm not good at going out and targeting them. I would love to actually hunt for them and shoot a couple, I'm sure once the dog retrieves a couple he would become a woodcock machine and perhaps I'd find them in more places. My goal for this year is to bag a couple. Last year I was out of the country during the peak migration for 2 weeks so I didn't get into them. This year it's going to be a priority.