Atlantic Brant hunt

Anyone that comes to NJ to gun should try and hunt brant once for the experience. Brant are so different in many ways from other waterfowl, at least out this way. You can watch brant fly for hours and be entertained with the sights and sounds of them on a coastal bay, which is quite a bit different than inland habitat. The smell of the salt, birds flying in great flocks, purr of their call makes for one great time. I haven't hunted brant in several years but I used to quite a bit when I hunted around Barnegat and Great Bay. There were years when the limit was one and when it was four and everything in between. It doesn't really matter, you will be hunting other ducks also anyway. If you're going next weekend and the birds are fresh they are generally best eating then before they get on the lettuce. But they are still good if you cook them in a pan vs in the oven even after they are on the lettuce.
 
greg setter said:
Anyone that comes to NJ to gun should try and hunt brant once for the experience. Brant are so different in many ways from other waterfowl, at least out this way. You can watch brant fly for hours and be entertained with the sights and sounds of them on a coastal bay, which is quite a bit different than inland habitat. The smell of the salt, birds flying in great flocks, purr of their call makes for one great time. I haven't hunted brant in several years but I used to quite a bit when I hunted around Barnegat and Great Bay. There were years when the limit was one and when it was four and everything in between. It doesn't really matter, you will be hunting other ducks also anyway. If you're going next weekend and the birds are fresh they are generally best eating then before they get on the lettuce. But they are still good if you cook them in a pan vs in the oven even after they are on the lettuce.
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You are a brave man for eating Brant... I'd rather eat the pan! :LOL:
 
Kevin Layne said:
That's really interesting because Pacific Brant are great eating. Why would that be?
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It's diet related. According to Hank Shaw, "Brants are easy: Skin them on the East Coast, pluck on Pacific. It’s diet related. Pacific brant eat eelgrass, which gives them wonderful white fat that is not at all fishy. Atlantic brant eat sea lettuce, a seaweed, and their fat stinks of low tide."
(source: https://honest-food.net/cooking-my-goose/ )
 
On the Eastern Shore of Va. it depends on where they are feeding. Up around Chincoteague Island they are eating mostly lettuce but out behind Cobb Island and the lower shore the eel grass beds are making a huge comeback. The birds out in the Chesapeake Bay aren't as bad either. Our season doesn't open until Dec 24
 
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Years ago we use to shoot them when waterfowl hunting behind Assateague Island, Md. Tried cooking them a couple times after breasting and not a fan. Froze one for an upcoming taxidermy class I was taking late winter. Unbelievable the smell when I opened that birds up come class time. Stunk to High Heaven as they say. At the time we could easily shoot them over Canda Goose decoys as they readily decoyed and most flock survivors after first volley would come right back around for another round. Sea Lettuce was their diet back then. Our grass beds are slowly returning in Sinepuxent Bay so things may have changed .
 
Eel grass is why. Eel grass beds along the East Coast started to die as the intra-coastal waterway was built and the salinity of the water changed in the bays affected. That is why I said if you eat them the first week they are here they are often OK. Once they are on the lettuce, I skin and breast them then cut the breasts in 1/4' slices, dredge in seasoned flour, then cook in olive oil, about a minute, and they are very good that way. i have fed them to non-game eating folks that really liked it.

Brant in market gunning days were very desirable and fetched a high price, but the eelgrass was around then.
 
Paul Castelli said:
Something to whet the appetite for next Saturday’s opening day in New Jersey. A good friend suggested I share this December 2024 Facebook post about an Atlantic Brant hunt to Duckboats.net so here goes. Apologies to those without Facebook. I tried to reproduce the post directly, but could not get videos to attach.

Facebook

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My opinion is they should close it down. Too many locals and especially out of state hunters just shoot them to shit to get a band. I work on the same water I hunt and it’s just floating brant after floating brant. Some missing one or both legs… Their numbers are way down since I was a kid. They band them to get a better understanding why they’re declining I can tell you it’s because of over hunting in my opinion. Someone commented about the eel grass that is 100% true hardly any eel grass flats left on Long Island. And they’re definitely not the best eating like someone also commented. Truly a shame because they are such a beautiful and unique species that’s getting over harvested year after year because guys need a band.
 
I enjoy hunting brant, they're the most elegant, fun, entertaining waterfowl there is IMO. No doubt hunting pressure is a factor in their population, but I believe it's well established that poor breeding success is the major factor. With a one bird limit, my decoys haven't left the garage in several years.

Agreed that brant on eelgrass are a different table fare from when the same bird is gorging on sea lettuce. They absolutely ooze that foul smelling lettuce. As far as the loss of eelgrass along the North Atlantic coast of the US, the eelgrass blight originating in the 1930's decimated something like 90% of the beds. It hasn't come back despite some eelgrass strains being blight resistant. No doubt water quality issues factor as well.
 
Interesting thread on Brant. I had never heard of eel grass so I did some digging. The problem sounds similar to the problems facing Minnesota lakes. Too much nutrients in the water whatever the source. In our area, alot of it stems from over fertilizing yards, cattail removal for a nice sandy beach and wake boats used to tow wakeboarders.
RM

The State of Eelgrass in Great Bay: How is its health in 2024? | Piscataqua Regional Estuaries Partnership https://share.google/SvtM2a76lAFCWAqnN
 
In Virginia, we lost all the eel grass due to a blight in the 1930’s and several severe hurricanes. Conservation groups have been replanting 100’s of acres of eel grass to the point where bay scallops are now making a coming. The problem with brant is they tend to be very susceptible to over hunting and the breeding grounds are in the far northern tundra which can be very unforgiving. Having said that, they are amazing to watch when a couple hundred pitch right in, feet down in a rig of hand carved decoys IMG_1062.jpeg
 
greg setter said:
Anyone that comes to NJ to gun should try and hunt brant once for the experience. Brant are so different in many ways from other waterfowl, at least out this way. You can watch brant fly for hours and be entertained with the sights and sounds of them on a coastal bay, which is quite a bit different than inland habitat. The smell of the salt, birds flying in great flocks, purr of their call makes for one great time. I haven't hunted brant in several years but I used to quite a bit when I hunted around Barnegat and Great Bay. There were years when the limit was one and when it was four and everything in between. It doesn't really matter, you will be hunting other ducks also anyway. If you're going next weekend and the birds are fresh they are generally best eating then before they get on the lettuce. But they are still good if you cook them in a pan vs in the oven even after they are on the lettuce.
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All~

I second Greg's thoughts. Brant are a truly special bird and I am very thankful that I have had them throughout my personal and professional lives. I have hunted them on Long Island since I was 15 (72 now) and worked with them in my role as a DEC biologist - Fall surveys and Winter banding on the South Shore and Summer banding on Baffin Island. More recently, we paid tribute to them at the 2020 (?) Annual Show of the Long Island Decoy Collectors Association:

Sunrise Brant BANNER with TITLES.jpg

As our title implies, everything about the bird is worth seeing - and hearing. Nothing approaches a rig with the graceful choreography of a large flock of Brant. The "purring" adds another element of excitement.

Sadly, the comments expressed about their taste are all too true. Whereas Eelgrass (Zostera marina) had given them exceptional table qualities, Sea Lettuce - aka Cabbage - (Ulva lactuca) imparts an odor that is hard to stomach in close quarters. I bag them up if they need to ride home inside my Forester with me. On the other hand, soaking the breast fillets overnight in milk - or marinating them in Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette - converts them to a grill-worthy flavor.
I have also enjoyed painting and carving them. You can see some examples on my website:

https://stevenjaysanford.com/brant/

or

https://stevenjaysanford.com/brant-decoy-rehab-painting/


Among other things, I carved the masters - 3 head postures and 1 body - for Homer Decoys. A painting tutorial for Homers is on my site as well.

Brant - Three Heads.JPG

I have hunted Brant over many seasons. Daily limits have ranged from 6 down to zero (after the brutal winters of the late 1970s). My Dad made his last Brant double at age 85 - just months before he passed away.

TMS - Brant Triple TEXT sm.jpg

I do not need to shoot any more Brant - but I would truly savor seeing and hearing their approach. I hope to do so early in '26.

All the best,
SJS
 
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Steve, is that your artwork on the Long Island decoy Collector's piece? Very nice!

When my son was of the age that he wanted to do stuff with Dad, we hunted out of Pete McClain's marsh-bound camp on Barnegat. What a wonderful period of years! The tradition of hunting those little geese in that storied location resulted in a cascade of cherished memories that I regularly enjoy. Here are a few photos:
 

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