A turn of events

[Cintax]

No, it's a hen Hooded Merganser.

I've eated Hoodies many times, and found them much more enjoyable than commons.

-Nick

My first thought was hooded hen but I hedged. Darn.

[johny]

Hooded merganser hen or juvenile.
Despicable for someone to shoot and not keep.

Not as tasty as a mallard or teal but...
They are perfectly good to eat especially in an Asian stir fry, casserole, sausage

[DDT]

yup it's a merganser. and it should be included in someones bag limit for the day. but because they have a bad rap about how they taste some people [notice I said people not hunters] like to shot them just for target practice.

[Sinker]

A lot of assumptions being made here. My bet is it was a lost cripple.

S.

[Badbuzz]

I have no issues with their taste. in fact some have tasted better than a few bufflehead I have tried. It all is about diet really.

W.

[johny]

A lot of assumptions being made here. My bet is it was a lost cripple.

S.

Maybe.
But the original post starts with a story about poaching and a CO investigating.
So the natural thing to do is to link the two parts of the story

[Goosechsr]

May have been a lost / crippled bird but it still has to be included in your bag for the day......

[duckduckgoose]

May have been a lost / crippled bird but it still has to be included in your bag for the day......

It does? I know that's the gentlemanly thing to do, but I don't think it has to be.

Also, I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt. Someone shot it, it dove , grabbed on to something under-water and held on until it died and eventually floated to shore. I've lost many a diver and puddle duck that never re-surfaced after diving (also didn't count them in my daily limit).