# Merganser Hole paid off



## HuntDawg (Nov 19, 2016)

Our only local hole with water only produces Mergansers. 13 came in at shooting light. We watched them for 20 minutes. 4 drakes down and headed out.

Off to Mississippi  a week from Thursday. Blinds brushed in and field being flooded. Can't wait.


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## kevbo3333 (Nov 19, 2016)

Worst tasting duck there is. I quit shooting them because they aren't worth eating.


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## MudDucker (Nov 19, 2016)

kevbo3333 said:


> Worst tasting duck there is. I quit shooting them because they aren't worth eating.



Soak them in buttermilk overnight and then in Dale's sauce after draining buttermilk.  They won't taste like anything but Dale's sauce.


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## king killer delete (Nov 21, 2016)

kevbo3333 said:


> Worst tasting duck there is. I quit shooting them because they aren't worth eating.


They kill your wood duck chicks. Mergs will push woody eggs out of the nest and lay their eggs so the wood duck hen will raise the baby mergs. Kill them and make dog food out of them. Some folks make duck sausage out of them. killem and use them then you save a wood ducks life.


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## kevbo3333 (Nov 21, 2016)

king killer delete said:


> They kill your wood duck chicks. Mergs will push woody eggs out of the nest and lay their eggs so the wood duck hen will raise the baby mergs. Kill them and make dog food out of them. Some folks make duck sausage out of them. killem and use them then you save a wood ducks life.



Wow, I didn't realize that. I will start water swatting them from now on. I have about 20 that hang in my pond. They are so dumb I can scare them off by shooting at other ducks and the will swim back with in shooting range 15 min later.


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## Rulo (Nov 21, 2016)

king killer delete said:


> They kill your wood duck chicks. Mergs will push woody eggs out of the nest and lay their eggs so the wood duck hen will raise the baby mergs. Kill them and make dog food out of them. Some folks make duck sausage out of them. killem and use them then you save a wood ducks life.



Who told you that?


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## rip18 (Nov 21, 2016)

king killer delete said:


> They kill your wood duck chicks. Mergs will push woody eggs out of the nest and lay their eggs so the wood duck hen will raise the baby mergs. Kill them and make dog food out of them. Some folks make duck sausage out of them. killem and use them then you save a wood ducks life.



Close, real close, but not quite.

BOTH wood ducks and hooded mergansers will "brood parasitize" - that is, lay their eggs in other ducks' nests - whether it be a wood duck or a hooded merganser.  But, they don't "push out" the other's eggs, they just add eggs to the pile.  It generally happens at a VERY low rate, and based on available data, the survival rate appears to be similar.  That sort of brood parasitism (also known as dump nesting) happens at higher rates when "wood duck" boxes are placed in clumps out in the open.  When duck boxes are placed individually back up in the edge of the woods, the nest integrity rates are higher.


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## king killer delete (Nov 22, 2016)

Still a good reason to kill them. Wood ducks do taste better.


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## Rulo (Nov 23, 2016)

king killer delete said:


> Still a good reason to kill them. Wood ducks do taste better.




I guess.  Every one is out here for different reasons.......


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## king killer delete (Nov 23, 2016)

Rulo said:


> I guess.  Every one is out here for different reasons.......



What does that mean?


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## king killer delete (Nov 23, 2016)

https://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/resources/2010/06/8723_5680.pdf


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## Old Bart (Nov 23, 2016)

king killer delete said:


> What does that mean?



More ducks = better picsssssssss


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## king killer delete (Nov 23, 2016)

Dont think he meant that


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## DixieDawg2shot (Nov 23, 2016)

Depends on the day. Slow day, mergs get thumped but they get a pass if the ducks are working.


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## g0nef1sshn (Nov 23, 2016)

I take it as some are for the hunt and experience and eat what they shoot and some are for braggin rights about numbers and species.


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## jay sullivent (Nov 24, 2016)

Eat your merganser fillets rare, they don't taste bad at all. I learned that from the diver ducks only site. Tried it for the first time last year.


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