Fall fishing is great but ,,,,,,

Huntindave McCann

Huntindave McCann

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Hey there everyone,
Yes, I've been spending most of my time fishing. Loaded the boat with duck decoys last night and hit the river pre-dawn this morning. Could not really tell when the sun rose because it was buried behind the clouds and the fog.
About mid-morning I hear a few Quacks and respond with a few Quacks. A Susie comes flying right in over my shoulder and lands just outside the decoys. A green head follows her in, but he doesn't make it to the water before I dust him.
That was all the action for today.

This is only the third time I've been out all season. Even my dog is having withdrawal symptoms.


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The good news is that both you and your pup have not forgotten how to hunt ducks. Way to go, Dave. How long does your season stay open?
Al
 
Al Hansen said:
The good news is that both you and your pup have not forgotten how to hunt ducks. Way to go, Dave. How long does your season stay open?
Al
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Al,
Duck season in my local zone ends Dec. 3rd Goose is closed on the same day and then reopens Dec. 14th thru Jan. 11th 2020

Unfortunately, that Mallard will not make my table. When I opened the skin I was greeted with rice breast throughout the breast and leg meat. Yes, I know when properly cooked, it is supposed to safe to eat. Sorry, not for this guy.
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I would have done the same thing, Dave. Too bad. How often do you see this? I think it has been a few years for me.
Al
 
Al Hansen said:
I would have done the same thing, Dave. Too bad. How often do you see this? I think it has been a few years for me.
Al
Click to expand...

Al,

I don't see it all that much. From what I can recall, maybe one bird in 70 to 80 birds.
 
That's a shame. I've never seen one in person have that condition thankfully.
 
Larry Eckart said:
Dave:
What exactly is "rice breast?"

Larry
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Rice breast common in ducks ? can be eaten by hunters. ... It's a disease (sarcocystis) that strikes ducks, which ingest the eggs of the mature parasite in food or water. After hatching, the baby parasites migrate to the skeletal muscles and form cysts.
 
Many years ago I shot a hen Pintail on Saginaw Bay. It hit the water hard and peeled the breast open. It had the same parasite condition. Could the parasite make the skin thinner, or are Pintails thin skinned? It's the only Pinntail I have ever shot.
 
We see a fair number of black ducks with rice breast, maybe 1 in 10-20 would be my guess. I think snails are one of the vectors and black ducks eat a lot of them in the winter when vegetation isn't as available. Good call not eating the bird Dave, no way I'm doing it either. It is possible to contract the parasite from undercooked meat, and well done game doesn't taste very good to me.
 
Some years in South Jersey I see quite a bit of it, and some years none. I have seen it in GW teal, pintails, and black ducks mostly. One year I shot 7 pintails and 5 of them had rice breast.
 
I rarely saw it in coastal Alabama but when I did, it was mainly in spoonies.
I think their diet of invertebrates makes it more prevalent in them.
 
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