Living Off The Land In Style

Simple And Quick Wild Duck Recipes
By Jeff Matura

It’s a hard to beat a plateful of freshly cooked duck after a good duck hunt. The key to maximum enjoyment is keeping it simple and quick. After all getting to bed early is a priority so that you can wake up early and bag a few more ducks.

My favorite and quickest recipe for cooking duck is to simply breast the ducks, cut the meat into bite size pieces, rinse in water, and start frying in pan of melted butter. Next I add a table spoon of water, onion slices, and green pepper slices. The key to tender delicious duck cooked this way is to not cook it to fast or over cook it. After the duck has is done and slightly browned your ready to eat. I enjoy this recipe most on weekday when I go hunting after work.

Another variation of this recipe is to mix up a bag of fajita mix seasoning in a bowl and add the duck cubes. If time allows let it sit to marinade or just spill it into the frying pan. Once the duck is about done drain off the liquid, add the onion and pepper, and allow the duck to brown just a bit while the vegetables are cooking. Remember not to over cook the duck while browning. With the meat just done place an appropriate portion of the meat, onion, and pepper in a fajita wrap along with some Spanish rice on a plate and supper is served.

Another simple recipe for duck on the grill is to once again breast the ducks, rinse the meat, and cut the breast down the middle and across so that four pieces are created. Next wrap each piece with a slice of bacon, secure with a tooth pick and place on the grill. Since cooking bacon will drip a lot fat care must be taken when cooking. Most gas grills will quickly flare up with less flare up problems happening when cooking over charcoals. Once again don’t over cook the meat as it will quickly turn into shoe leather. Of course several simple things can be done to make this recipe even better. First soak the duck meat cubes in your favorite marinade overnight. This step alone will greatly improve the flavor of the finished product. Next try cutting a slit into a piece of meat and add either add a piece of jalapeno pepper, cream cheese, or both. Now once again wrap with bacon, secure with a tooth pick, and cook on the grill. Adding the pepper and cream cheese will certainly put an explosion of flavor on your tongue.

Jeff Matura has been hunting ducks for over twenty years in the Midwest including the states of Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

Vistit his latest website for the best deals on vintage duck decoys [http://www.vintageduckdecoysforsale.com/] along with Mason duck decoys [http://vintageduckdecoysforsale.com/duck-decoys.php?decoys=Mason+Duck+Decoy].

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Exotic Meats – Three Wild Game Meat Cooking Secrets You Need to Know
By Jim Hofman

Wild game meats are becoming more and more popular not only for their great taste, but also how well they compare health wise to traditional meats like beef, pork, and chicken. To best enjoy wild game meats, proper cooking technique is essential. Here are three secrets you’ll want to know…

Types of Wild Game Meats

Also known as exotic meats, wild game meats aren’t even wild for the most part. Most are farm raised and fed with a diet that produces the choicest, most tender cuts. Since the diet is regulated, it diminishes the perception of these meats having a strong “gamey” taste. Try some for yourself and you’ll understand what we mean. These meats are exceptionally mild, tender, and delicious.

More varieties are progressively being introduced. The most commonly available is bison. Specialty retailers also stock and ship various interesting cuts in burgers, roasts, medallions, steaks, and chops. A few types you will see are alligator, elk, rattlesnake, ostrich, kangaroo, antelope, wild boar, and yak, a Himalayan beef.

Three Cooking Secrets

Typically you will find these meats available in the same cuts as traditional meats. Burgers are most common, followed by roasts. Some varieties like bison, ostrich, kangaroo, antelope, and wild boar will come in steaks and chops as well.

Our first recommendation (secret) is you try burgers first. There are two reasons. First, before spending money on more expensive cuts, be sure you like the taste, although we are quite confident you will. Most exotic meat burgers are much leaner than hamburgers or even turkey burgers. They have significantly less fat and cholesterol per serving.

Another reason to try burgers first is because they are easy to cook. Just don’t overcook them! Medium rare is best. Otherwise, the meat tends to dry out. That is exactly the reason why many people shy away from exotic meats after an introductory try. If the meat is overcooked, it won’t appeal to anyone.

Our second secret is to sear the meat if you’ve purchase medallions or tenderloins. Searing is a process of high intense heat which will brown the outside and heat through the inside. In fact, a good principle to remember with wild game meats is to either cook them high and fast or low and slow. Searing equates to high and fast.

Conversely, low and slow equates to long simmering, and that is our third secret. Use a crock pot the first time you cook a wild game roast. Six hours on the low setting is just about perfect. You’ll be able to slice the meat easily without having it fall apart or be too dry. We like to use a simple marinade in the crock pot. Water, a little pepper, and maybe a little soy marinade is all. Don’t over marinade because it will distract from the taste of the meat.

Summary

The first step in enjoying wild game meats is understanding how to cook them properly. Overcooking is the biggest mistake people make. Because these meats are so lean, medium rare is best. We recommend searing, the process of using high heat for a short period of time, or slow simmering in a crock pot. Either way, you will find wild game meats to be a delicious and healthy addition to your dinner menu.

To find out what varieties of exotic meats are available for you to try, be sure to visit our resource site devoted to exotic and wild game meats. You’ll also find recipes, serving suggestions, and nutritional information. Stop by and see us today at: http://www.squidoo.com/wildgamemeats

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Fall Means Football, Pumpkins, & Fresh Trout!

As much fun as deep sea fishing, spearfishing, and battling fish larger than yourself can be, there is nothing as much fun as working the marshes and bays for speckled trout, and as table fare it ranks among the best of the fishes. When fall rolls around in my part of the world, the trout begin their migrations into the brackish streams, marshes, and upper reaches of the bay, enabling days split between hunting and inshore fishing. Could life get any better? Depending on the area you live in, specks can be caught wade fishing, pier fishing, or from a boat. My favorite fishing platform is a Hobie Pro Angler kayak. Although I sacrifice speed and access to some areas due to distance, with proper planning it’s not a huge challenge to limit out (and fuel costs are excellent!).
Earlier in the Fall, before temps got below 60, we decided to fish one of the local reef projects in the bay. After an hour of fishing, we had only two trout to show for our trouble, caught on a white GRUB and a Fire Tail from H&H (www.hhlure.com). We were debating on heading in when the sure-fire sign of Fall fish appeared on the horizon a quarter mile away. A huge flock of birds were diving on migrating shrimp, and that meant action under the surface. Thirty minutes later, we had six specks, twenty-seven white trout, and were releasing blues and skipjacks by the dozen. About this time, the bite turned off, and we decided we already had enough work to do back at the dock. Another trip a few weeks back was at night. I kayaked along the shores of the bay fishing the lights on piers and boathouses. The kayak makes it easy to sneak quietly within casting range, and when you find lights holding fish the action can be insane! I returned two hours later literally because I was tired of catching fish! When fishing the lights, I like to use a ⅛ oz jighead with white or sparkle/redtail soft plastics. Cast under the lights or just on the periphery of the lights near pilings, LET YOUR LURE SIT & SINK FOR TEN SECONDS, then retrieve with a slow jerking retrieve. You’ll find methods that work better in certain circumstances, but at the right times, you’ll almost always limit out on specks and white trout. Make sure you have a plan to quickly de-hook and store the fish so you don’t miss out on a frenzied bite while fooling around with your already caught fish! Live, dead, and plastic shrimp under a popping cork also work great, but I prefer soft plastics for the action and better casting ability when shooting under piers and around pilings at night. Also, live bait can be a real pain in the rear end to catch, find at certain times, and keep alive. Plus, it is getting really expensive, with a few dozen shrimp going for $15. During the times of year you have shrimp migrating, such as Fall, keep an eye out for diving birds. These are your best fish finders. Carefully and quietly approach the area and slowly drift across or troll and fish the perimeter. You’ll catch fish until you think your arms going to fall off! If you’re in an area with many sandy bottom cuts interspersed with marsh and affected by tides, wade fishing is another productive method and one that’s more adventurous. Carry a long stringer and watch out for toothy competition in he water! (http://saltfishing.about.com/b/2009/01/02/surf-fishing-and-sharks.htm) Much information can be found regarding trout fishing online at sites such as www.louisianasportsman.com ,  http://www.wadefishing.com/, and www.ateamfishing.com.

There are many excellent alternatives for cooking trout. With white trout, I prefer frying, but I seldom fry specks because other excellent alternatives make frying specks a food sin!
If frying, make sure to remove the skins from your fillets, and lightly rinse before starting. Using a metal bowl or even plastic bag, make a mixture of 4 parts milk, a little salt, some lemon juice, and 1 part egg. Whisk until it’s creamy without much separation. In a separate container, mix your own fish fry, or use one of the excellent commercially available mixtures such as from www.louisianafishfry.com.  Put your fillets in the milk mixture, and thoroughly coat the fillets in the fry mixture until all are coated and ready to fry. Depending on the quantity of fillets, use a deep-fryer, deep skillet, or turkey fryer with vegetable or canola oil and heat to about 375 degrees Fahrenheit, making sure to confirm your temp with a deep-fry thermometer (careful about overheating and starting a grease fire)! Fry the fillets without crowding as they’ll cook better if you don’t crowd them together. Usually the fish will sufficiently cook in seven to ten minutes, sometimes a little less sometimes a little more, watch carefully to see when they’ve browned evenly. Remove the fillets and let them drain back into the fryer, then place on a platter on top of paper towels to soak any remaining oil from the fillets. Also, cover the top with a single layer of paper towels and pat down, this will also keep them warm while not causing too much additional cooking to take place. This is a great method to ue when cooking a large volume of fish for parties or get-togethers where large numbers of people need to be fed at once.

For specks, where do we begin? My favorite method follows. Use this and you’ll want to slap yo’momma it’s so good! You will need….

1-  Vegetable oil

    2-  3 Sticks of butter
    3-  A little Worcestershire sauce
    4-  Two lemons
    5-  Flour
    6-  Boil down carcasses of fish sans intestines and heads to make about 1 cup of stock
    7-  A handful of fresh chopped parsley
    8-  Two eggs
    9-  Chachere’s or Old Bay Seasoning
    10-Salt
    11-Milk
    12-Three pounds of speckled trout fillets
    13-1 Cup of pecans, shelled.
    14-Honey
    15-1/8 cup fresh cilantro finely ground
    16-1 tablespoon of red pepper

Bake your pecans at 400 degrees for about five minutes in your iron skillet, then remove and place ¾ of them in blender. Crush the remainder with a mallet or by placing under the skillet on your cutting board and applying pressure. Add one stick of butter, one lemon’s juice, and a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce, then blend into a semi-thick liquid. Place in bowl for later. Heat a ¼ cup of vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet, then add about a ⅛ cup of flower. Stir until you’ve made a brown roux, then add your fish stock and bring to a boil and never stop stirring! When the mixture starts boiling, turn the heat to low and stir for about a half hour. Add in two sticks of butter, two tablespoons of honey, and three splashes of Worcestershire, and keep stirring for another 15 minutes. (Is your arm tired yet?) Combine the roux and the ingredients of the blender in a sauce pan and keep on low heat, stirring frequently. Mix 2 eggs and about a cup of milk, place in a large enough bowl to dip your fillets. Dip fillets in the bowl of milk/egg, then place them in your flour and Chachere’s mixture and coat thoroughly as if you were frying. Place the fillets in a skillet with ⅛” of olive oil and brown both sides, being careful not to overcook. Place the fillets on a plate,  then pour the ingredients from the blender over the fillets, then the crushed pecans and cilantro on top. Squeeze one lemon over he top. I’ve tried several twists on this recipe, and it always is a hit! The important thing is to try and time the completion of the fillets and and the other ingredients as closely as possible. Good luck, you’ll love it!

http://www.fieldandstream.com/photos/gallery/hunting/2011/08/best-best-hunting-gear-2011-2012

I am looking forward to the Great American Seafood Cookoff and Expo and hope some of you can make it. There will be some great chefs and awesome food in an area that was Locavore before Locavore was cool!

See www.greatamericanseafoodcookoff.com for more information.

Coastal Living Provides Many Locavore Options!

 The weather is warming, most hunting seasons have been shut down for awhile, and the meat freezer inventory needs replenishment. After checking the local weather reports me and a few friends decide it is a good week to strap an air tank on our backs and see what is on the menu in the Gulf of Mexico.

 Many people have expressed doubt about the health risks or lack thereof after the BP oil spill, but I am not concerned. One, it’s a BIG GoM! Two, oil has naturally leaked into the Gulf for centuries with minimal consequences. Three, there is no way that farmed fish, fish from the commercial fleets packaged in preservatives and food coloring, or especially fish from the foreign fish farms could be any better for you. The fish in the Gulf of Mexico is safe, there are the tastiest varieties of fish in world swimming around waiting to be caught, and there is a method of take for every budget! 

 If you have decided to adhere or at least strive towards becoming a Locavore, and you are fortunate enough to live near one of the coasts, make sure you take advantage of the bounty of the oceans. There are many species of game and non-game fish of course, but also depending on your area you may be able to harvest shellfish such as shrimp and oyster, some types of plant life such as seaweed, lobster (no they are not just in Maine, LOL!), and even stingrays are very tasty! You will eventually see many posts regarding many different methods of take and many different species from the sea, as the oceans provide many extremely bountiful and enjoyable gourmet meal options!

 As mentioned earlier, hunting season has been over for awhile and it’s time to refill the meat freezer. Also, the family is complaining about cooking deer meat and ducks, and threatening to buy something at the grocery store, so I must do my duty and keep them healthy by providing local meat and fish! We meet up at a boat slip near a local estuary, load our gear, and begin the trip across the Bay and into the Gulf. About 12 miles out, my dive partner and I are rigged up and ready to roll off into the water. With spearguns and polespears in hand, we make our way to our marker line and sink down to a World War II era Liberty Ship resting on the bottom. In the first 10 seconds I come within a few dozen legal sized red snapper, a couple of legal grouper, both of which are off limits to taking until June 1^st and it’s not June 1^st. I also see some amberjack that are questionable in size so I don’t bother them. I already hear the “snap” of my buddies speargun but cannot see him or what he shot due to low visibility. I drift a bit lower to near bottom at around 100’, and a trigger fish comes in front of me offering a good shot. I raise my speargun and “thwap!” put the spear through him. As I’m pulling the spear and the line back towards me, I notice a flounder on bottom. I take my pole spear and gig the flounder just as it begins to escape. Being the first dive of the year, it takes a few minutes for me to get both fish on my stringer and get my gun re-rigged. I swim back around to the buoy line and begin making my way back to the boat. After ten minutes of ascent and safety stops I’m on the boat throwing my fish on the ice and scoping the horizon for my dive partner. All of a sudden I see him and we motor the boat closer to him and grab his speargun and fish. He hands me a stringer with three triggers, an amberjack, and the really big trigger earns a picture before moving on to the next spot! Spearfishing is one of several legal methods of take for open water fish, and my preferred method because of the selectiveness and lack of by-catch fish fatalities. All of these species of fish can also be taken by hook and line with a sportfishing license.

 Later in the day as we make our way in, I take stock of the filets we’ll have available later. At least five large meals for a family of four, and this was a light take compared to most of our trips. Between three of us we spend about $90 total in ice, fuel, and miscellaneous costs, so not too bad on the wallet for the amount of fresh fish we get either! Back at the dock our wives have already called and made plans for us to cook fish that night! You have to realize, cooking fish at my place is serious business! Fresh vegetables and fruit from the garden compliment every meal. So there is still a lot of work to do picking vegetables, washing and preparing them later for the meal. Luckily I have an awesome wife who does all of this for me before I’m even back on dry land! After filleting fish and vacuum sealing the fillets headed for the freezer, we got to work cooking over a few glasses of wine and several beers. The meal was awesome and as is typical the fresh local fish was so good it makes it truly disappointing when you eat at even the finest restaurant! Cooking light fleshed flaky fish like trigger is very easy, as long as you do not over cook it! The recipe below is super easy and inexpensive (or in a Locavore’s case almost free) to prepare, and will make you eagerly anticipate adding more inventory to the freezer so you can have fresh fish every night. One thing before going further, you must get a vacuum sealer (such as a FoodSaver) to keep fresh fish. The fillets need to be on ice immediately and frozen within two days of taking the fish from the water in order to keep them optimally fresh. I don’t freeze anything without vacuum sealing it to retain freshness, and in the case of fish vacuum sealing will extend the freezer life to a minimum of 12 months. Partially freeze the fillets (only 1 hour or so in freezer) before sealing for best results. Many ingredients in this recipe can be collected in the wild along the Gulf Coast, and are often used in my recipes. These include rosemary, wild rice, and wild onion. Next month we’ll have a write up on all of these including harvest, identification, preparation, and cooking information.

 Now for the cooking and eating part…

 This is one of the simplest recipes I have. The number one thing to remember is to use the wild varieties of plants if possible, and always use wild or fresh picked herbs, that makes all the difference in the world! 

Start your charcoal or gas grill and get it to about 350 degrees. On a big enough piece of aluminum foil to encapsulate everything,  pour a few tablespoons of olive oil, then a pinch of ground rosemary, thyme, basil, and parsley, and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Season both sides of 1 pound of fillets (white flaky varieties, in this case trigger fish and flounder) then place the fish fillets (no more than 1” thick) onto the foil on top of the other items. Finely chop fresh hot or sweet banana peppers and sprinkle on top. Sprinkle additional rosemary, thyme, basil, and parsley on top of the fillets. Place on grill, shut the lid, and cook for approximately 5 to 10 minutes, being careful not to overcook the fish. Remove from grill and serve on a bed of wild rice.

 This is an easy and fast recipe using ingredients mostly obtainable in the wild. The vegetables and herbs I prefer to grow myself but no matter what make sure they are fresh or this will not taste the same!

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/paleo-diet-smart-eating-or-latest-fad-2514781/

I enjoyed this site and this articles “Did You Know” bullet points are great information. Thank you LM at www.theyarden.com for allowing me to repost here!

Gardening Legacy

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/ingredients-seafood/want-to-help-the-louisiana-seafood-industry-eat-louisiana-seafood-150087

http://blog.al.com/living-times/2011/06/local_farms_offer_pick-your-ow.html#incart_hbx

http://www.seafoodfitness.com/index.php/2011/06/friday-yum-blackened-louisiana-shrimp-wrap/

Ok, this hunting story is coming soon! Fun and tasty!

 Sometime in March this year I was strolling through the vegetable aisle at the local grocery store looking for some bell peppers and thinking about how poor the vegetable and fruit selections appear after travelling from all across the world. When I finally found what I was after the price floored me, almost $4 a pound and looked, well, artificial. At that point I made a commitment to myself to again grow my own food for health reasons and maybe save some money along the way.

 Fast forward to June, and I have fruits and vegetables planted willy-nilly all over the yard at my home. Tomatoes, blue berries, bell peppers, banana peppers, squash, and egg plant are growing in strategically planted spots with the right combination of sunlight and sprinkler system coverage. Basil, thyme, parsley, oregano, rosemary, and fennel grow all over and in pots. I have a dozen fruit trees planted, including mandarins, satsumas, lemons, lymes, and oranges. I am very glad I went ahead and started growing my own food for several reasons, and there are a few things that will be done differently next time around. First, the positives…

• The fresh fruits and vegetables taste a thousand times better than store bought. I can’t explain it, except to say that store bought produce is poisoned heavily in the beginning, treated like a stuffed animal, shipped all over the world in hot and cold conditions, and handled by over a hundred hands before making it into yours. Go figure.




• Having such an abundance of fresh veggies and fruit is forcing me to eat very healthy. I actually enjoy meals sometimes without any meat. (no I’m not getting soft on you but some of the vegetarian recipes are darn good with fresh ingredients!)
• My 3 and 4 year old boys love to get up in the morning and run out to see what is ready to pick

Now here is what has been troubling and what I’ll do differently…

• Around September I’ll put raised beds in a dedicated gardening area of my 3/4 acre compound. It is difficult to care for your plants when they are spread out all over the place, hard to make sure they all have the right amount of water and fertilizer, and harder to mow and weedeat around stuff planted in multiple spots.
• I’ll protect everything with netting, it is amazing how much damage a few birds and rabbits can inflict. In season, the rabbits might need to become part of the menu, we’ll see.
• I will make a compost bin or pile. Why waste all the rinds, skins, etc., plus fish and game carcasses? Turn it to fertilizer that works better than commercial brands and is far cheaper or free.

 I’ll be putting a spaghetti sauce recipe on our forum that I made the other night, without even making meatballs, veggies only, that will knock your socks off! Please comment directly to this article with any of your home gardening tips, suggestions, or input, I could use it!

You do not have to live on the Mississippi “Flyway Highway” to experience great waterfowl hunting and some of the best table fare possibilities that any wild game species has to offer! In the area where I live, we have migratory ducks to hunt but in frustratingly small numbers and they tend to be very spread out across open water. It is for this reason that 90% of my waterfowl hunting is for the resident wood duck. Wood ducks are primarily residents of the areas they inhabit year round, although a small percentage of “snow birds” will migrate south during the winter. Throughout the Eastern half of the U.S., the West Coast of the U.S. and Mexico, and several areas of the Midwestern U.S. there are healthy and huntable populations of wood ducks. By the early part of the 20^th century, wood duck populations in the U.S. had been decimated and they had been virtually extirpated from most of their former range due to unregulated commercial hunting for their meat and for feathers used in ladies hats, as well as widespread habitat loss. After passage of the Migratory Bird Act, strict bag limits for sport hunters and habitat protections enabled the species to make a huge recovery. There are times I’ve been sitting in a deer stand and counted over 300 wood ducks swimming past or going to roost! One way I’ve decided to contribute to the conservation of the species I love hunting so much is to build and set nesting boxes on private land and with permission on the WMA’s and public lands. The nesting boxes are easy and inexpensive to build and set, provide protection from the elements and predators and make a very significant difference in wood duck populations, which means more hunting opportunities for all of us!

 To hunt wood ducks, it will pay off to do a little scouting before season. Decide what areas you want to hunt, and plan on mixing areas up periodically to avoid “wearing them out”. Look up the area on Google Earth to get an idea of water and terrain, and get out and physically scout for flooded timber, beaver ponds, small streams and creeks, and anywhere with standing water and lots of acorns and berries. Try to avoid areas that will be likely to flood for long periods because the wood ducks will be hard to locate if water is everywhere for miles around. If you’re out at sunrise or sunset, and there are ducks in the area you’re scouting, you’ll more than likely see plenty of them, and hear a distinctive whistle noise when they are getting near (they don’t “quack”). You’ll be well advised to invest in a pirogue or kayak for accessing flooded timber, creeks, and ponds, and for retrieving ducks if you do not have a dog to retrieve them. Neoprene waders are a must in my opinion, and your first 20 degree morning spent standing in freezing waist-deep water will make you appreciate them!

 Opinions on shotguns are borderline religious with many people, not so with me. Any gun you are good with should work. I prefer a pump action 12 gauge, in my case a Remington 870 with matte finish. It’s been my experience that the gun will be submerged in water, caked in mud, dropped, used for a paddle, and other forms of abuse. For this reason I prefer functional and utilitarian over pretty and trendy. The 3 ½ “ shell capability is nice if you can have it but expect to pay out of the rear end for your ammo if you use them. I shoot 3” shells and have no problems limiting out. If I ever become a legendary wingshot I’ll probably start using an over/under. Remember to have any repeater plugged to hold no more than two in the magazine and one in the chamber.

 One of this year’s hunts started out on a COLD morning leaving from my place about 4am for the trip to the swamp. The temperature readout in my truck was 21 degrees, and my waders were so stiff I thought they’d crack when I stuffed them behind the seat. My hunting partner was breaking out the heat packs an hour before we got to the WMA! The only one that was not bothered by the cold that morning was my dog, and he was the one guaranteed to get wet! We parked on the dirt road deep in the WMA we were hunting about 5:00am, marked the parking spot on our GPS, and began a ¾ mile hike to a large beaver pond near a clearcut I had located on the IPhone GPS map. We made it to the spot while still dark and each set up a blind about 200’ apart. Luckily, the water was flowing fast enough that it was not completely frozen over, which would not have been an ideal spot for a duck to land! The later it got, I wondered if I had picked a dud spot. At sunrise I had not seen or heard a duck. Then, about a half hour later I heard the distinctive whistle of wood ducks and six flew twenty feet over my head! I fired three shots and downed two, and heard my partner fire two shots. My two had fallen about 100’ behind me in tall thick underbrush and my partner had downed one in the water. Beauregard (my dog) retrieved the duck in the water and acted as though jumping in freezing water was fun and games. I pointed in the direction where my two had fallen and he took off sniffing the ground, when I heard more ducks coming our way. My partners’ gun went off three times and two ducks went down, then two separate ducks flew over me so fast I did not get a shot. Shortly afterwards a solo male flew over me and two shots later I put him down almost on top of Beau. Having limited out, we collected our ducks and began making our way back.

 Wood ducks are excellent table fare and can be prepared in many different ways. In attempting to use all wild or homegrown ingredients to the extent possible, there are still many great recipes. To clean the duck, simply pull the feathers from around the leg area and the breast, then run a sharp knife along the breast plate and cut off the breast meat on either side of it. I always cut the leg meat off as well. Some people cut the meat from the bone on the legs, but I always leave it because cooking with the bone is more flavorful. You’ll notice the meat is dark and generally lean and healthy. To illustrate how much healthier wild game is than, say, chicken from the grocery store, read the ingredients on a package of chicken breasts at the grocery store, then compare to what is in the duck meat you just harvested. Also, look at the amount of fat compared to your wild duck. This is one of the primary advantages to cooking with wild game, it does not poison your body!

 In regards to cooking duck, there are many recipes. One good way to cook wood duck involves more store-bought items than I like to use but it is simple and fast. Simply take two breast halves, season well with pepper and salt or Cajun seasoning, place a lump of cream cheese between them then wrap with bacon secured by a toothpick. Put on low heat on a gas or charcoal grill until done but DO NOT OVERCOOK! My favorite recipe for wood duck is duck gumbo, and it can use mostly wild and homegrown ingredients. Trust me, it is good and it will use all of the meat you are able to get off of the duck! I will put the recipe in the recipe forum next week so go check it out on June 22^nd!