Shootin ducks in backyard with 22

[Jamesconn]

They have bright orange bills. I'm gonna be usin my Henry lever 22 so far I've been usin using Winchester CB 29 grain lead round nose. I have a bunch of federal hollow points, but I heard LRN is better.

What should I put out for them to eat? Corn? Cracked corn?
recipies also would be appreciated is this kind good enough to eat? My mom days duck is oily is there something you can do cooking/prep wise to eliminate this?

[Blammer]

well first of all I'm not sure it's legal to shoot ducks with a rifle.

Is it duck season now?

You could be in for a big surprise if you get caught shooting them illegally.

but if it's not, they are good when you slow cook them like turkey's.

[BruceB]

Blammer is 100% correct. Duck hunting is strictly controlled under the Migratory Bird Act, and the seasons are not open at this time. Even if the season WERE open, shooting migratory birds (i.e.: ducks, geese etc.) with a rifled firearm is absolutely illegal.

I strongly suggest you drop this topic immediately, and for Heaven's sake don't talk about it on the Internet! You could easily receive a visit from Fish and Game officials, and they don't take these things lightly.

[bowfin]

If these are wild ducks, then you would be breaking at least a half dozen laws.

If these are domesticated ducks that went feral, then that is a different matter.

In my opinion, duck is one of the better wild game animals. Roasting them with a pan to catch the grease is my favorite way to prepare them.

[jimone]

Hang them on a nail until they fall off before cooking to be sure the meat is properly aged.

[Jamesconn]

Lol thanks guys for savin me from doin somethin stupid right now it's not worth researching that stuff now because I'm movin states soon; I'll drop it.

[darkroommike]

One more thing, putting out bait or feed for wild critters may be prohibited in your jurisdiction. Depends on where you live and what you are hunting.

[fatnhappy]

One more thing, putting out bait or feed for wild critters may be prohibited in your jurisdiction. Depends on where you live and what you are hunting.

Baiting ducks or geese is highly illegal, even if done unknowingly. Ask Bud Grant.

[BruceB]

Durn it all anyways. Man cain't have no fun nowadays, no way, no how.Dagnab gummint got their grabbers on every thin'!

[Jamesconn]

Yea I think I'm not gonna go hunting unless somebody takes me cause there's a bunch of stupid rules. I get the delicate balance of numbers thing and game limits, but why can't you shoot birds with rifle it takes more skill. Why can't you put out food for them to eat?

I'm already sick of laws that are unconstitutional gun laws. 30% of the research I do on guns is just about laws and legality.

THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!!!
People forget that we control the government if they did maybe America wouldn't have gotten this bad.

[x101airborne]

From what I have seen around here, the only ducks I know of that have orange bills are mostly black with white bands on the wings. We call them "Mexican Wood Ducks" but I dont know if that is their real name or not. They eat under my deer feeders, so I know they eat corn. I like to watch em, and they are pretty, so I dont mind tolerating a little theivery of corn if I get to watch em for a while. That and they take off when they see a hog, but not a deer, so they are a great alarm.
I hunt ducks and geese, so I will tell you that shooting them with a rifle is a FEDERAL crime. Shooting them with a Rimfire is a state AND Federal crime. Shooting more than one wood duck per day even in season is a state crime, although I may be mis remembering and it is one duck per season. Kinda fuzzy after 6 months or so.
And I have never heard of TxF&G coming after someone for asking something over the net. And I know 5 high eschelon game wardens that would say so when we are talking "cop shop" if they did something like that. Now posting you DID something like that will definately get you a visit and posting a pic with a camera date at the local Wal Mart hunting board will get you detained.

[richhodg66]

Game laws in Texas seem to me to be more relaxed than in most states, for example, it's one of the few states you can hunt turkeys with a rifle, you can't in Oklahoma or Kansas.

All the waterfowl regs are federal, one of the reasons I've never done it. You can get in some serious trouble doing the wrong thing, and it always seemed easy to make a mistake duck hunting.

In Texas, it seems like a lot of the laws were by county, rather than by state. Grab one of the pamphlets they have at the sporting goods counters at Wal Mart and brush up on them before you start the season, it'll save you grief. Does Texas not require hunter education? I thought every state did, try to get in a class, it'll teach you a lot about such things.

[Jamesconn]

Im moving to Louisiana soon anyway. Ill wait till then and try to get somebody to take me hunting so I dont have to learn the hard way.

[darkroommike]

Baiting is not legal because it's not sporting, a bit like clubbing baby seals. Where do you think the term "sitting duck" came from? Also not considered sporting to take a pheasant that's not on the fly.

Rifles are not allowed for a number of reasons including the danger to others when you are discharging a high power, longer range weapon within the friendly confines of the local duck pond or slough.

Not every hunting restriction is a constitutional issue, some are common sense. Things are a lot more crowded than they were in 1776!

[runfiverun]

every year i go down and get a set of regulations for the hunts i am going to participate in.
things change from year to year.
duck hunting rquires more knowledge than most other game as you need to be able to recognize one species [and sex] from another while it is a silhouette in the air, 50 yds away, and going 40 [or more] miles per hour.
you have limits on how many of a species [or sex] you can take per day or have in your posession at your residence.
but even deer regs change too, some areas go to point counts,some units have shortened seasons or opening/closing dates change.

[DLCTEX]

My brother and some friends got into trouble dove hunting due to changing sides of a road while hunting and getting into a different zone.

[Freightman]

Not a good feeling for someone to use a rifle as I know. When I was young (and that has been awhile) we went duck hunting (with permission) and had a nice blind with dirt in front to shoot off of, never got to use it except for cover. Seems some "dummies" were shooting at the ducks in the middle of the lake that was about 200 yds wide with a .22 and all the rounds were hitting our blind with us hugging the bottom We hollered yelled shot our 12 gauges to no avail, about 11 AM it stopped and we saw a pick up pull away but we couldn't catch it. Do Not use a rifle to hunt ducks you might bag something bigger that would get you a stay in the cross bar hotel for awhile.

[Moonie]

Please keep in mind that most hunting regulations were originally put in place at the request of hunters in order to ensure huntable populations for the future. Hunting responsibly is more than ensuring a quick kill, it is ensuring that populations are managed properly so our grandchildren will have the ability to hunt as well.

[Suo Gan]

Yea I think I'm not gonna go hunting unless somebody takes me cause there's a bunch of stupid rules. I get the delicate balance of numbers thing and game limits, but why can't you shoot birds with rifle it takes more skill. Why can't you put out food for them to eat?

I'm already sick of laws that are unconstitutional gun laws. 30% of the research I do on guns is just about laws and legality.

THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED!!!
People forget that we control the government if they did maybe America wouldn't have gotten this bad.

You can make a rifle bullet skip for long distances, if you are sniping ducks at long distance it would be unsportsman like, this is the time of year that mama's are raising their babies or at least tending their nests, there could be an endangered duck that you are shooting, etc. etc.

One time I took a real old timer dove hunting. He shot a sparrow hawk, a swallow, a curlew, his attitude for what he did was such that I did not ever take him back. He talked about the good ol' days when they would shoot a couple doe or fawns for camp meat, etc. There are too many of us around these days to do that kind of thing. We have a super market in most every town, and most have several. The game has changed from pioneer days because people are not surviving off the land in the old sense of the term. I did know a few families that needed game to make it through a winter, if that is your situation, you do what you have to to make it. And if you need to poach to survive, you do not want to be shooting a gun or even have a gun when doing it.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Went duck hunting with a friend on a private 200+ acre lake back in the early `70`s. A small flock of mallards sat down in mid lake and couldn`t be coaxed any closer. Some Yahoo`s on the opposite shore in a blind thought they`d spook the ducks into flight. They shot several, presumably, shotgun slugs toward the sitting flock! Nothing gets your pucker factor working full tilt than having shotgun slugs skipping across the lake in your direction while sitting in a burlap covered flat boat. They knew we were there, just didn`t give a rats patooie. Haven`t hunted ducks on private lakes since then.Robert

[WILCO]

Ill wait till then and try to get somebody to take me hunting so I dont have to learn the hard way.

Take a Hunter Safety Course.

[Maineboy]

I live on a lake where a handful of people feed the ducks. As a result, they have become quite a nuisance because they think everyone wants them sitting on their lawn, pooping and waiting for a handout. During duck season a few years ago I told a couple of the feeders that duck hunting on our lake was pretty easy because all you needed was a big stick and did they want any because my freezer was getting pretty full. They don't talk to me much anymore.

[TXGunNut]

I like seeing wild ducks, even buy a duck stamp now and then. Never had an urge to shoot one, though.