Spoon City

Craig F

Craig F

Well-known member
Grinding it out down here in South Jersey logging some miles for few birds lately. Located some sorta rare for us shovelers on Friday and had a fun shoot with some real prime specimens mixed in. Going to keep the nicest one in the freezer for a future puddle duck slam dead mount.

I guess it's sorta taboo in other parts of the country to shoot spoonies but I always enjoy seeing the goofy things.

Drake shovelers in varying states of maturity:

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I love spoonies!!! We used to get a lot more than I?ve seen in recent years. I think they are beautiful birds and the ones here taste fine.

Great job and that?s nice one for the wall!!
 
Great birds, and sounds like a great day. They are beautiful indeed. I saw my first pair last year at a boat ramp of a local coastal marsh in CT.
 
We have always called them Tennessee mallards! Not sure how that came about but it stuck with me over the years.

I have had days where that's all we see. If you want to shoot the gun you just go for it! Good looking bird to mount.
 
Great shovelors! I love shovelors. I don't know why people hate on them so much. How could anyone not love a bird that has a spoon on its face? Anyway, all of the shovelors I have ever shot have been delicious. Except for this one bird that was shot at a phosphate mining pit. To be fair though, most all of the birds shot there were quite strong. Teal, mallards, ruddies, shovelors....all of them.
 
Grinding it out is an understatement. Not sure how it is in South NJ, but it seems like there are fewer and fewer birds with each passing week up here in the north. Even in the non-shootable spots that I keep an eye on as a general indicator of bird activity. Odd, because for the first split and at the start of the second I thought there were more than usual around.

Re. the spoonies, I tend to consistently pull a shoveler or two out of North Jersey every year... but I've definitely noticed more this year. Got these 2 that were part of a larger flock in North NJ a week or two back and I have to say they tasted pretty good. Although not as good as the ones I shoot in Mississippi (these had an ever so slight "low-tide" finish). While they do tend to look down on them in MS, if there is no other action they have no problem shooting them. I think it is a matter of abundance and ease, when we are down there and the action is hot if you shoot every shoveler you see your morning would be over pretty quick.

Glad to see your season is going well. You probably don't remember but we met at a ramp in North NJ (I think November of 2016) and had a nice post hunt chat (I think you had geese and some gadwalls). It was nice talking to you then and I enjoy seeing you posts.
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Blue-winged "Teal" are actually a species of shoveler, I don't see many guys turning their noses up at Blue-wings!
 
Those are some great looking birds, that last one looks like he's in the rut with that thick neck, haha! It's funny how birds are valued in different parts of the country, spoonies and goldeneys are common around here and usually avoided because they aren't the best eating ducks. The shovelers around here tend to hang out on the Great Salt Lake and eat brine shrimp, which gives them quite a strong flavor. They are chameleons, coming straight in they can look like any other puddle duck and they have been known to skim the water low and fast like divers also, I typically will shoot a few a year through mis-identification.

I like to save all my shovelers for the year and make what I call Spoonie Sliders-I will brine all the meat for a few days, then crock pot it for 2 days or so and add a bunch of barbeque sauce at the end and shred the meat, it ends up being really similar to pulled pork. Then I make sliders with small hamburger buns, a slice of cheese, and either horseradish or sriracha sauce-they make a tasty lunch!

I think shovelers are such a pretty duck that they got stuck with that big bill just to keep them humble!
 
Christoph said:
Grinding it out is an understatement. Not sure how it is in South NJ, but it seems like there are fewer and fewer birds with each passing week up here in the north. Even in the non-shootable spots that I keep an eye on as a general indicator of bird activity. Odd, because for the first split and at the start of the second I thought there were more than usual around.

Re. the spoonies, I tend to consistently pull a shoveler or two out of North Jersey every year... but I've definitely noticed more this year. Got these 2 that were part of a larger flock in North NJ a week or two back and I have to say they tasted pretty good. Although not as good as the ones I shoot in Mississippi (these had an ever so slight "low-tide" finish). While they do tend to look down on them in MS, if there is no other action they have no problem shooting them. I think it is a matter of abundance and ease, when we are down there and the action is hot if you shoot every shoveler you see your morning would be over pretty quick.

Glad to see your season is going well. You probably don't remember but we met at a ramp in North NJ (I think November of 2016) and had a nice post hunt chat (I think you had geese and some gadwalls). It was nice talking to you then and I enjoy seeing you posts.
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Of course I remember you, although I do get a lot of the "I know you from the internet" conversations at ramps and wawas early in the morning these days...

I'd also know that ramp in the pic just from the blocks that make it up [;)] I haven't hunted that side at all this season.
 
Hah, good eye. I haven't hunted the other side yet this season, but may this Friday based on the tide predictions. Although I'm not hopeful, I went out last friday and nothing was flying. I folded up shop and decided to scout all the nooks and crannies of the different sections of the marsh and only scared up 3 black ducks and 4 mallards (although there are tons of geese around and the more open water has mergs, some buffies and some big groups of ruddies).

Actually, it would seem you're not the only one who hasn't been at that ramp this year. I have yet to see another boat there, which is also kind of strange.

Maybe our paths will cross again. Good luck with the remainder of the season.
 
Christoph, not much happening in way south Jersey along Delaware Bay either. I would be happy to see some spoonies at this point. We had quite a few ducks just before the season re-opened, but nothing since it did. Last Saturday morning I was out for about 3-1/2 hours, fired one round. Heard almost no shooting although there were about 10 vehicles at the ramp I was using. Waiting for a push of birds, hope they come soon!
 
7 of us went out Saturday and killed a 7man limit of 35 Canadas in 35 minutes and then went to a duck spot and killed our 35 greenheads in 45 minutes.
 
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Doug,

That's crazy good. Where about you located? I heard of guys doing this in Oregon but its on private and rarely that good.
 
I?m amazed y?all still have birds this late. Is there not much snow cover in your area?
 
Dani said:
Great shovelors! I love shovelors. I don't know why people hate on them so much. How could anyone not love a bird that has a spoon on its face? Anyway, all of the shovelors I have ever shot have been delicious. Except for this one bird that was shot at a phosphate mining pit. To be fair though, most all of the birds shot there were quite strong. Teal, mallards, ruddies, shovelors....all of them.
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I AGREE I have plenty of sub par early season Teal, Woodies, and Mallards... ALL my spoonies have been very good. AND HOLLYWOOD DUCK when they are dressed to the 9's... WOW!!![whistle]
 
Its just getting good! We have birds through Jan as long as they can feed in the fields . Snow normally wont get to bad till Jan.
Was 2 below in the morning.
 
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