I’m going to be honest.  My hunting background consists of going rabbit hunting with my husband about 10 years ago.  It didn’t go well since I didn’t have a license.  My husband Tim handed me his gun to hold while he did something with our beagle and wouldn’t you know it, a Ranger showed up  just at that time.  We were lucky  he didn’t take Tim’s shotgun ,which he was in his right to do and he didn’t give either of us a ticket, just a warning.
 
Since working at Fowl Foolers, a lot in my life has changed and I now find myself with time to pursue the hunting aspect of our business.
 
So, I took the Hunter Safety Class.
 
First, you have to sign up on line.  In Ohio, they give you a variety of times and places that you can go to.  It just depends on how far you want to travel.  I chose to stay close to Erie County which is where I live, so I had to wait approximately two months for classes to be lined up.  Each county has different venues to use and people to teach the classes.
 
To be prepared, I downloaded the book and had the questions already answered after each chapter.  I am glad I did that.  I arrived at class not quite knowing what to expect.  They give you a Hunting Education Manual, an Ohio Hunting & Trapping Regulations book and an Ohio Wildlife Identification Pocket Guide.
 
The class consisted of quite a few minors with their parents.  Looking around you could see the excitement in them about going hunting.  I was also happy to see a handful of girls present.  The class was conducted by two very personable Department of Natural Resources Rangers.  They started at Chapter 1, gave everyone time after each chapter to answer the questions and then discussed the questions.  The class started at 8:00 am on a Saturday morning and was to go until 5:00 pm.  There are 9 chapters in the book so the quicker we did a chapter the more time we had for questions.
 
A lot of information is packed into that 8 hour day.  The day was split with lunch in the middle.  They served us hot dogs and chips which was provided by the Huron Conservation Club.  The hospitality was top notch. 
 
I learned a lot about guns, rules and where and when you can hunt.  I did not know that you couldn’t cross private land when chasing deer for instance.  If you shoot one and don’t kill it immediately and it wanders off and dies on someone else’s property, it belongs to them.  Waterfowling is a bit different.  There are marshes, fields and open water to hunt over.  Lots of choices. 
 
The culmination of the class was a 100 question test.  I passed 90 out of 100.  Maybe because I rushed.  I also found out that the card the Rangers give you when you pass the test also has to be with you at all times if you are a new hunter and your hunting license gives you away.  Always carry that card with you.  If they ask you for it and you don’t have it, you have a certain amount of time to produce it or the Department of Natural Resources fines you.
 
The one thing the class does not go over is the equipment that you will need to pursue waterfowl.  For that, I relied on our Sales & Marketing Manager David Fletcher to give me a list of equipment.  I already have a 20 ga shotgun and for that matter a 12 ga shotgun.   The rest of the list is as follows.

• A good working duck or goose call
• Camo, Black, Brown PFD (Life jacket)
• Decoys, depending on what and when you’re hunting
• Decoy bag to carry them
• Smart phone
• Emergency radio
• Flashlight or headlamp
• Bird and wing identification book
• A valid hunting license with appropriate stamps
• Hunter Safety Card 
• Correct kind of ammo that fits your gun and the game you plan to harvest
• Waterproof waders or boots
• Waterproof decoy gloves
• Waterproof gun case
• Stool/Chair
• Blind Bag
• Gun oil, Not WD-40
• A good folding knife

 
I already have a few hunting trips planned for this season.  One is with Port Clinton's very own Kyle Weber in November.  I am going to rely on his expertise to show me how and what to do.  I am also planning to go to Maryland with David Fletcher and his boys to show me how to hunt the sea ducks.  I am also starting to plan a few other ones.  I will be sure to let everyone know how I did during my first year of hunting.

Roz Ahner

    As the father of 5 boys, all of which are avid hunters with the exception of my youngest (who is only 5 years old at this time), we harvest a lot of ducks and geese throughout the season. I’ve always been adamant about teaching them that "we eat what we kill". If we aren’t going to eat it, you need to have a really good reason for killing it besides it’s “fun to do”. Your opinion may vary but thats how it works here in my home.

As waterfowl hunters, we enjoy the lean meat of the ducks and geese we harvest. However, the key to successfully cooking the meat is to understand that duck and waterfowl are not the same as cooking poultry! It might taste like chicken but it certainly doesn’t cook up like chicken.
​
Wild duck is best eaten rare to medium. Similar to red meat, duck juices run red, not clear, like poultry. The meat itself is a deep garnet red. As with any wild game, make a point not to overcook it and to eliminate as much of the natural fat as possible and replace it with domestic oil or fat products, such as butter or olive oil. Fat, as you might know, is an insulator for waterfowl, and a lubricant. If there is too much fat, it will prevent the skin from crisping.

Keep in mind that diving ducks, such as bluebill, ringnecks, red-heads, buffleheads, goldeneyes, ruddy ducks, oldsquaw or eiders may need to be brined in order to soften any possible fishy taste. Here are 8 mouthwatering waterfowl recipes to use the next time you have a plethora of duck meat.
​
Duck a l’Orange

• 1 whole duck
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 large granny smith apple
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 sage leaves
• 1 teaspoon light olive oil

For Orange Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons peach preserves
• 1-1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 3 tablespoons of duck drippings, from pan
• 1/4 cup red wine

1. Sprinkle chili powder, garlic powder, and salt over duck.
2. Cut 1-inch slice in skin of ducks on both sides of breasts.
3. In a blender, puree garlic, sage and olive oil and add to the skin slices of duck breast.
4. Chop apple into 1-inch pieces and stuff inside the cavity of duck.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour 30 minutes for a slightly rare duck, or 2 hours for a well done duck.
6. Put the ingredients for the L’Orange sauce in saucepan and heat until alcohol simmers off, about 6 minutes.
7. Serve L’Orange sauce over sliced duck breasts or other parts.

Recipe adapted from www.Food.com
 
Grilled Duck Poppers

• 2 skinless duck breasts
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 2 slices thinly sliced bacon, cut into thirds
• 4-6 jalapenos slices lengthwise
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons cayenne
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt and pepper

1. Preheat a grill pan or grill over medium heat.
2. In a small bowl, add cream cheese and spices together and set aside.
3. On a cutting board, slice each duck breast, horizontally, into 3 slices. Cover breast slices with plastic wrap and lightly pound until thin.
4. Put 1 jalapeno pepper slice and 1 tablespoon Cajun cream cheese on 1 end of each slice. Roll up and wrap in a piece of the bacon. Secure the roll with a toothpick to hold the bacon in place. Repeat until all jalapenos have been used.
5. Add the duck poppers to grill pan and cook just until bacon is done.
6. Remove them from the grill, transfer to a serving platter and serve warm.

 Duck Stew
This recipe can be added to a crock pot and heated on low for 5 hours or prepared in a Dutch oven.

• 1 pound boneless duck breast halves, skinned and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 7 cups duck stock or beef stock
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons duck fat, lard or butter
• 1 large onion, sliced, about 3 cups
• 4 carrots, sliced
• 2 teaspoons marjoram
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 celery root, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• 4 new potatoes, quartered
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 cup barley, optional

1. In a small bowl, combine minced garlic and tomato paste and set aside.
2. In a Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-high heat until just starting to smoke. Add half of cubed duck breast and cook until well browned on all sides, reducing heat if oil begins to smoke or fond begins to burn. Transfer browned meat to large plate. Repeat with remaining duck meat and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, leaving second batch of meat in pot after browning.
3. Reduce heat to medium and return first batch of beef to pot. Add onion and carrots to Dutch oven and stir to combine. Cook, scraping bottom of pan to loosen any browned bits, until onion is softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic/tomato mixture and broth, and cook, stirring gently until combined.
 4. Slowly add wine, scraping bottom of pan to loosen any additional browned bits. Increase heat to high and allow wine to simmer until thickened and slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Stir in celery root, potatoes, onions, herbs and mushrooms. Bring to simmer and reduce heat to low. Cover, and cook for 1 1/2 hours.
Whole Roasted Duck

• 1 whole duck (5-6 lbs)
• olive oil
• 8 slices bacon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 can lager beer
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons garlic pepper

1. In a small bowl, mix the honey and olive oil together.
2. Dress a whole duck with either skin on or off and rub with olive oil and honey.
3. Generously season duck with seasonings and herbs and drape bacon slices on top.
4. Bake duck in a 9×13 baking dish at 400 degree for 2 hours.

Smothered Duck
This recipe cannot be simpler!

• 4-5 duck breasts
• 1 can cream of mushrooms soup
• 1 cup beef broth

1. In a small bowl, mix the broth and soup together.
2. Add breasts to a crock pot and pour broth/soup mix over breasts and cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Duck Sammies

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups milk or buttermilk
• 1 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 cups vegetable oil
• Sandwich buns
• spicy mayonnaise

1. Tenderize duck breasts with a meat mallet until thin.
2. Add duck breasts to a bowl of milk or buttermilk for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the duck breasts from the milk and pat dry.
4. Mix together the flour and spices in a shallow dish. Pour the milk or buttermilk into a bowl.
5. Dredge the duck breasts in the flour mixture; dip in milk. Repeat procedure with remaining duck breasts, flour mixture and milk.
6. Dredge the breast in the seasoned flour a final time to ensure a nice coating.
7. Heat oil in a heavy skillet to approximately 350 degrees. Carefully add duck to oil; cook 1½ minutes on each side. Remove duck from oil and place on a paper towel to drain. Season with a sprinkle of salt.
8. With a knife, slather spicy mayonnaise on sandwich buns and place duck breasts in sandwich. Serve warm.

 Duck Cracklins
This is a delicious addition to add on top of soups, salads or warm dishes

• Duck skin
• salt

1. Slice duck skin into 1-inch thin strips and sprinkle with salt. Add to frying pan.
2. Over medium heat, fry until they skins become crisp.
3. Place cracklins on paper towel to drain.
4. Sprinkle on desired dish.

Duck Confit
This dish comes from an old method of preserving meat by seasoning it and slowly cooking it in its own fat. The cooked meat was then packed into a crock and covered with its cooking fat which acted as a seal and preservative. This method produces a particularly tender meat.

• 3 tablespoons salt
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 shallot, peeled and sliced
• 6 sprigs thyme
• Coarsely ground black pepper
• 4 duck legs with thighs
• 4 duck wings, trimmed
• 4 cups duck fat

1. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of salt in the bottom of a dish or plastic container large enough to hold the duck pieces in a single layer. Evenly scatter half the garlic, shallots, and thyme in the container. Arrange the duck, skin-side up, over the salt mixture, then sprinkle with the remaining salt, garlic, shallots, and thyme and a little pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 days.
2. Preheat the oven to 225°F. Melt the duck fat in a small saucepan. Brush the salt and seasonings off the duck. Arrange the duck pieces in a single snug layer in a high-sided baking dish or ovenproof saucepan. Pour the melted fat over the duck (the duck pieces should be covered by fat) and place the confit in the oven. Cook the confit slowly at a very slow simmer — just an occasional bubble — until the duck is tender and can be easily pulled from the bone, 2-3 hours. Remove the confit from the oven. Cool and store the duck in the fat. (The confit will keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.)
Recipe Source

Wild Duck Burgundy

• 2 ducks, whole
• 1 onion, coarsely chopped, fresh or dehydrated
• 2 apples, coarsely chopped, fresh for dehydrated
• 1 rib of celery, fresh or dehydrated and chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 cups red burgundy wine
• Paprika
• Sliced Bacon or bacon bits

1. In a large baking dish, stuff cavity of ducks with onion, celery, apples, salt and pepper to taste.
2. Add ½ bottle of wine. Cover stuffed ducks and marinate overnight.
3. Take ducks out of juice. Add bacon bits or sliced bacon to the top of duck. Pour some marinade in bag.
4. Cover baking dish and bake for 4 hours at 300 degrees or until tender.
5. Cool and serve sliced meat with sauce. Garnish with paprika. Can be served with fresh rice.

Stuffed Goose

• 6, peeled garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium to large goose breast fillets
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/2 cup fresh herbs (blend of parsley, oregano, rosemary, etc.)
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest, minced
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• Butcher string

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Toss the garlic cloves with olive oil in a shallow oven-safe pan or skillet. Place the pan in the oven for 10 minutes; flip the cloves over and cook for another 10 minutes. When done, garlic will be lightly browned and softened.
3. While the garlic is roasting, place the goose breast fillets on a flat surface and butterfly them one at a time. With the knife parallel to the cutting surface and midway through the thickness of the meat, slice each fillet from the thinnest side to the thickest. Do not slice all of the way through the fillet. The object is to butterfly the fillet so that it opens up like a book with the “hinge” at the thicker part of the meat. Next, lightly pound the meat with a mallet or heavy skillet so that it is of equal thickness throughout. Season both sides liberally with salt and pepper.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and the roasted garlic cloves from the pan, leaving the oil in the pan. Increase the oven heat to 400 degrees. Place the cloves in a bowl with Parmesan, pine nuts, herbs, lemon zest, and breadcrumbs. Stir to blend the mixture. Place fillets, cut side up, on a flat surface and spread the garlic mixture evenly over the meat. Roll up the meat, keeping the stuffing in place with your fingers while rolling. Secure each rolled fillet with butcher string.
5. Place the stuffed fillets in the pan, and put the pan in the preheated oven. Roast for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Flip the fillets over and roast for 8 additional minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees for medium-rare.
6. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the fillets to a cutting surface. Let them rest at room temperature for 5 minutes before removing the string and slicing the meat into 1-inch-thick medallions.

*Quick Pan Sauce While the cooked meat is resting, add 1/2 cup of dry red wine to the roasting pan. Place over a medium-hot burner and bring to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1/2 cup diced tomato (canned is okay), and a pinch each of Italian seasoning and sugar. Season to taste with salt and pepper and drizzle sauce over stuffed goose medallions.
Recipe adapted from Ducks.org
 
For more delicious ways to prepare wild game and water-fowl, click here.
 
Dinner is Served!!! (Ring that dinner-bell!)
Enjoy!
David

5 Reasons Why We are Addicted to Waterfowl Hunting
 
 
We wake up hours before the sun even thinks about coming up. We see a coldfront coming through, or an overcast day with cold winds from the north making the water choppy enough most people would not want to go out during the summer months. BUT WE DO! We have an addiction that most people don't understand. We go out in "dangerous" and miserable weather conditions, we spend thousands of dollars per year on equipment, leases, and travel. As one of my deer hunting friends once said, "You do all that for so little meat on the table." It's more than just meat on the table! It's about the 5 things listed below and honestly, I could have written about 5 more in addition to the 5 below. I'm sure you all have a few of your own that's not listed here so feel free to share some of the reasons you're addicted.

1. Sudden excitement and flow of emotions 
Many of us waterfowlers are also big game hunters and we have all had the experience of sitting in a tree stand from dusk to dawn and not seeing the quality of game we want to harvest. It gets frustrating and often a little boring. As waterfowlers, we almost always see a potential harvest taking wing to the sky. They may not always light up into our spread but we get to see them in the distance. However, the excitement of watching them lock up, wings whistling and coast into the hole we so carefully engineered for them to land, is an absolute pure adrenaline rush!
 
2. The Diverse Opportunity 
When you go deer hunting, you’re deer hunting. You either look for a shooter buck to tag or a nice healthy doe to put meat in the freezer. As waterfowlers, we get to see more than just a duck. We get to see and potentially harvest all types of ducks. I love setting up a diver spread and watching bluebills, redheads, canvasbacks, buffleheads, and ruddy ducks all coming to the same spread during one hunt. It’s exciting to see the different species coming over to check out your long lines. Waterfowl hunting is the only hunting I can think of that gives you such a diverse opportunity to see and harvest so many different species while on one hunt.
 
3. Time with Family and Friends 
We all love going to hunting camp with our friends and family and if its big game you’re after, well, outside of eating, resting, or enjoying an adult beverage back at your camp or lodge, you’re flying solo. You sit in your stand or ground blind by yourself. Not when you’re waterfowl hunting! You get to sit in a pit or blind with your family and friends. You get to joke around, tease, make fun of, and talk about anything you can imagine while sitting in the pit or blind.
 
4. All the cool Gear (Like Fowl Foolers decoys!) 
Look, there’s no doubt, we as waterfowl hunters are what my wife tends to call me while prepping my gear, “OCD and anal retentive”. In writing this blog, it forced me to look up anal-retentive to see if I could argue against her point. According to Wikipedia, “anal retentive is used to describe a person who pays so much attention to detail that the obsession becomes an annoyance to others…” Yup! That sounds about right! We are crazy about the gear we use to harvest our fowl…from our calls, to our decoys, to our guns…it all matters! But prepping for the season is just as fun and exciting as the hunting! I love coming home from work and seeing a package on the porch with my most recent on-line purchase!
 
5. The Dogs 
As a new dog owner, waterfowling has taken on a whole new meaning for me personally.  I have always loved watching a well trained dog work their way through decoys on the water to make a retrieve. And now as a dog owner, that unspoken bond that we have developed in our short 8 months that we have been together is hard to understand unless you have a working a dog. I am looking forward to our hunts together this season as we will have lots of “firsts” for him as a retriever.  However, I will leave you with this last thought on retrievers. If your dog isn’t quite ready or not properly trained, leave that dog home! Nobody likes to hunt with a dog that doesn’t listen, misbehaves, or tends to get in the way, making hard hunts even harder.

Let's hear what keeps you addicted to Waterfowl Hunting!
Thanks for reading!
​David

We get asked all the time about cleaning our decoys so we put together this short video sharing with you how we clean our decoys. For more information about cleaning your decoys, the soap used in the video, or the Texas Rig on the decoy, please contact david@fowlfoolers.com for more information.

We are proud to announce the release of our newly redesigned website. It has been crafted to reflect what our customers and website visitors told us they needed today, but also builds upon technology capable of addressing the future needs of our customers.

Immediately you will notice streamlined menus, simple navigation and access to the information you need, any time of day. By providing an improved destination for waterfowlers, decoy carvers, and do it yourself foamers, we have designed the new Fowl Foolers website as a resource hub as well as a gathering place for the waterfowling community, with expanded capabilities for learning, sharing and interaction.

Enjoy the new site and share your experience with others. As always, we are open to constructive criticism that makes our company better for you as a waterfowler with a passion for high quality decoys.

Posted By:
David Fletcher