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Post by nuthinfancy on Oct 23, 2024 15:47:35 GMT -5
I missed the early teal season being too busy chasing deer but with these cooler temps and windier mornings I’m starting to look forward to killing some ducks. Drew a Friday morning hunt at STA 1 west in December so that should be interesting, never hunted an STA. My buddy slammed the teal down there in September which prompted me to apply. We’ll see.
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Post by meateater on Oct 24, 2024 11:10:45 GMT -5
i duck hunt at any of the wmas i small game hunt, just first couple hours then im off looking for snipe or quail maybe a pig. i stay away from stas due to type of people who frequent them. i never just target ducks its always in combination with something else.
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Post by One Man Gang on Oct 24, 2024 12:22:02 GMT -5
I typed out a long and detailed reply and lost it. STAs = Skybuster Training Area!
Here's the short: Be prepared to see some of the most unsportsmanlike conduct you've ever been around. Don't start shooting at silhouettes because everyone else is. Don't just blast the first 6 teal screaming through your decoys that are running for their lives.
Get away from others as best you can. If you're patient you might be rewarded with something like a 18 widgeon morning.
I have not hunted the STAs in over ten years, but when I did, my best hunts (except 1) were the ones where I didn't start shooting until about 0900. Those were all full limits of either 12 or 18 widgeon mornings. Maybe a pintail or two thrown in once in awhile. By 0900, all of the asshole sky busters are paddling out with their limits of ringers, coots, ruddys, and teal, and the ducks get settled down and start decoying properly.
The STAs are nothing like they used to be from what I'm told. I HATED them from the first time I hunted them, and I still HATE them today. They "eliminated" some of the best deer hunting south FL ever had. They unnaturally displaced the waterfowl I used to enjoy hunting 24/7, and sequestered them on cesspools that require a permit to hunt, and that have very limited access. They have ruined duck hunting in South FL and have created a bunch of totally
selfish marsh googans in the process.
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Post by meateater on Oct 24, 2024 15:40:22 GMT -5
last time i hunted sta 3/4 with my friends ronnie milsap and ray charles they both got limits, i got 5.  |
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Post by 4ward on Oct 24, 2024 18:28:50 GMT -5
I will be… alone….. very very alone😎
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Post by pinman on Oct 24, 2024 18:41:03 GMT -5
STAs = Skybuster Training Area! Did you steal that from me or did I steal that from you? Or did WE steal if from someone else? IDK. Anyway to the OPs question, Ill duck hunt a time or two or three this year. Started Duck hunting Lake Okeechobee about 1978. Would be pissed if we didnt limit in an hour then. Started hunting those glorious Pintails at Merritt Island about 1993 and the STA when it was only STA 5 and call in permit. But there, you and a buddy could kill 12 Blue Wing Teal, picking out all Drakes, in 15 minutes at 11:00 AM if you wanted. In-F'in-sane the amount of ducks that were there. Ill slosh out this year and have some STA 1 permits to go on. Might ride in the "free marsh of Lake O" a time or two. But it aint what it used to be..... If your friend did good in 1 early Teal then pick his brain. We hunted the rice just across the dike..... |
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Post by TRTerror on Oct 24, 2024 19:02:32 GMT -5
I freakin HATE Duck Season...Hate.
I'm a deer and hog guy and once Duck season starts my Deer woods sound like Omaha Beach in 1945.
Deer panic and hide , Hogs go to private land and the Wood ducks are murdered in the ponds all around the house.
There should be a law..
BTW..I'm hearing wood ducks every morning calling and flying up here in the bend.
Stay away
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Post by pinman on Oct 24, 2024 20:06:55 GMT -5
I freakin HATE Duck Season...Hate. I'm a deer and hog guy and once Duck season starts my Deer woods sound like Omaha Beach in 1945. Deer panic and hide , Hogs go to private land and the Wood ducks are murdered in the ponds all around the house. There should be a law.. BTW..I'm hearing wood ducks every morning calling and flying up here in the bend. Stay away Geetcha sum! Filet that Wood Duck breast off the bone, skin it, then season and wrap a piece of bacon around it with a toothpick. Grill to rare.....tastes like Filet Migon.... |
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Post by meateater on Oct 25, 2024 8:53:22 GMT -5
most ducks = flying liver.  |
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Post by tankered on Oct 25, 2024 11:31:32 GMT -5
Lol beat me to it^^^
Ducks most certainly do NOT taste like filet mignon.
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Post by One Man Gang on Oct 25, 2024 11:40:37 GMT -5
The more rare you can stand it, the less liver flavor you will have to endure...
I'm not a big culinary fan of my favorite duck, the reverent ringer, but a blue wing teal or black belly can certainly be a treat.
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Post by nuthinfancy on Oct 25, 2024 12:26:03 GMT -5
Divers are the only ducks I can’t stand to eat. Puddle ducks are great to eat, very similar to dove or snipe. Black bellies are my personal favorite, good meat and lots of yield off one bird. And easy to kill.
Just paid my trusty teal hole a visit this morning and saw 3 or 4 dozen along with a couple mottleds. Gonna be a good year.
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Post by One Man Gang on Oct 25, 2024 12:43:52 GMT -5
Braised black belly legs simmered in brown gravy over white rice... hard to beat.
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Post by pinman on Oct 25, 2024 15:15:43 GMT -5
Lol beat me to it^^^ Ducks most certainly do NOT taste like filet mignon. You definitely have been eating ducks prepared by someone who does not have a clue about cooking them..... |
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Post by meateater on Oct 28, 2024 8:14:30 GMT -5
Lol beat me to it^^^ Ducks most certainly do NOT taste like filet mignon. You definitely have been eating ducks prepared by someone who does not have a clue about cooking them..... my dogs love the way i cook them, they told me i am the best. |
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Post by cracker4112 on Oct 28, 2024 11:34:19 GMT -5
I’ll go if there are any ducks around where I can get to them. But I drove from Tampa up to Eustis and back this weekend and I’ve never seen so much flooded pasture, and there were a ton of teal and bbw along the way. Until that all dries up which is gonna take a while, it’ll be a miracle to see many ducks on public after the shooting starts.
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Post by TRTerror on Oct 28, 2024 18:58:37 GMT -5
Might give it a try this season.
Got lot's of Woodies around my house. I don't want to eat them just burn up a box of shells and a can of skeeter repellent.
Is it legal to drink beer at 6 am with a shotgun ?
Would it be bad to just shoot them and leave them floating in the swamp for the gators and turtles.
Kinda like... Feeding the local wildlife ?
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Post by pinman on Oct 29, 2024 8:45:51 GMT -5
Might give it a try this season. Got lot's of Woodies around my house. I don't want to eat them just burn up a box of shells and a can of skeeter repellent. Is it legal to drink beer at 6 am with a shotgun ? Would it be bad to just shoot them and leave them floating in the swamp for the gators and turtles. Kinda like... Feeding the local wildlife ? Those Wood Ducks are one of the best eating. Just pluck the breast then skin the breast. Filet the breast meat off the bone. Season, fold in half, wrap a piece of bacon around it and secure with a toothpick. Grill it until the bacon is just barely done. |
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Post by One Man Gang on Oct 29, 2024 9:36:26 GMT -5
Wood duck perloo, anyone?
Look up SC low country chicken bog and substitute those wood duck breasts (or snipe or doves!) for the chicken.
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Post by meateater on Oct 29, 2024 9:47:55 GMT -5
most times i use a old cajun recipe, just salt,pepper,tea spoon garlic,2 tablespoons of lawrys,half a onion,2 fresh duck breasts and a 1 lb piece of cypress tree, oak works as well if no cypress around. boil for 2 hours then add all your favorite vegetables and simmer for 3 hours. when cooking time is up scoop out the duck breasts and throw them in the garbage and eat the piece of wood and veggies. delicious.
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Post by spearit on Oct 29, 2024 10:33:44 GMT -5
most ducks = flying liver. Yall serious? My family and I love eating duck. |
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Post by One Man Gang on Oct 29, 2024 11:42:30 GMT -5
most times i use a old cajun recipe, just salt,pepper,tea spoon garlic,2 tablespoons of lawrys,half a onion,2 fresh duck breasts and a 1 lb piece of cypress tree, oak works as well if no cypress around. boil for 2 hours then add all your favorite vegetables and simmer for 3 hours. when cooking time is up scoop out the duck breasts and throw them in the garbage and eat the piece of wood and veggies. delicious. That's very similar to my asparagus and wild turkey leg soup recipe. |
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Post by meateater on Oct 29, 2024 13:11:18 GMT -5
yea not a fan of eating ducks but i eat them because i kill them , 99% of the time i grill them with 16 snipe breasts, medium rare, chopped it all up in little pieces then add it to packet of sausage gravy, minus the sausage. biscuits smothered with duck and snipe gravy, same thing i do with any doves i get. now thats tasty.
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Post by nuthinfancy on Oct 30, 2024 7:14:45 GMT -5
I always just grill puddle duck breasts, little salt/pepper/garlic and medium rare. Last year around Christmas I killed 2 of our resident backyard black bellies, plucked them and roasted whole with skin on and they were delicious. Lot of work for a 2 person meal but will try it again sometime. With divers the only use I have found is to dehydrate them and keep them for dog treats. Those things just taste god awful
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Post by One Man Gang on Oct 30, 2024 8:45:03 GMT -5
You'll never forget your first taste of blue bill and ruddy gumbo...
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Post by richm on Oct 31, 2024 13:58:29 GMT -5
I may have found a spot to take dad since we cant draw minwr permits no more. Want to check it out this weekend, 5-6 mile boat ride…
Otherwise we might hunt xmas day and maybe can talk him into the vet day they have. We’re gonna do some spec fishing this fall i think.
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Post by bridgeman213 on Nov 15, 2024 19:02:43 GMT -5
Take the breasted woodies and wrap em with a slice of jalapeño and cream cheese wrapped in bacon. Grill em for a few minutes in each side and they're really tasty. Same goes for mallards and teal. Divers are just plain nasty, only thing I could do with them was brine them for a few days in the fridge and make perky out if em, same goes for canadian geese
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cortr
Junior Member
Posts: 26
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Post by cortr on Nov 16, 2024 3:28:04 GMT -5
Try marinating duck breasts in Italian dressing before stuffing with jalapeño and cream cheese and wrapping in bacon. This will eliminate any “gamey” taste that some people don’t like. Nothing better than duck poppers especially with wood duck or teal.
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Post by Crkr 23 on Nov 16, 2024 10:41:35 GMT -5
Venison cooked like that is pretty darn good too! Just about anything with bacon and peppers is delicious. Attachments:
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Post by bridgeman213 on Nov 16, 2024 10:44:48 GMT -5
Venison cooked like that is pretty darn good too! Just about anything with bacon and peppers is delicious. That looks absolutely delicious, finish that off with a couple fingers of good bourbon and a nice cigar. Heavenly |
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