Eating a merganser

[Al Bundy]

Thinking about it.. I dropped one on Sunday and breasted it out.  Never tried one before but feeling kind of brave.  Anyone????

[Salmon_Run]

Nail it to a cedar plank, cook it on the grill and throw out the bird and enjoy the plank...

They are just plain nasty tasting and I've tried them a few times...

[BizCT]

why are they known to be so bad tasting?

[turkeyfeathers]

1 minute ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

why are they known to be so bad tasting?

all they eat is fish    

[Al Bundy]

Apparently very fishy and strong.  I just keep hearing the mantra to not eat them.

[BizCT]

Just now, turkeyfeathers said:

all they eat is fish    

don't most ducks? serious question as i have no idea.

[BizCT]

Just now, Al Bundy said:

Apparently very fishy and strong.  I just keep hearing the mantra to not eat them.

maybe soak it in wine for a few days?

[Engraver99]

i used to eat megies all the time when I duck hunted the jersey shore (shrewsbury river, barnegate bay, mullica). Soak it in some italian dressing for a while and pan cook in the dressing. Not to bad - eat what ya can, give the rest to the dog! Also used to use them for meat baits when catfishing. Luv me a good megie!

[Team Hoyt]

Fishy taste

[ATbuckhunter]

Theres an advisory out against eating any diving ducks so that would be a no from me. I generally pass them because I wont eat them

[cdbing]

Does not taste good, but you need to try it to know. Tastes like fishy liver (to me anyway), which is not a great combination.


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[Al Bundy]

I am looking for an advisory but have not found one yet. Only thing I found was a Canadian study from 2014 saying eastern mergansers did not have harmful levels of mercury.

Any links?? If this is on a warning list, I think Ill pass.. 

Incidentally for anyone who saw my  duck thread, I missed an easy shot sat. Realized I had my full choke for snow geese in!! Put in a modified and dropped this merganser sunday morning. 

 

[Salmon_Run]

11 minutes ago, cdbing said:

Does not taste good, but you need to try it to know. Tastes like fishy liver (to me anyway), which is not a great combination.

 

They eat fish and definitely take on that fish taste, cbding said it best....

https://www.health.ny.gov/publications/2800.pdf

 

Edited October 21, 2019 by Salmon_Run
add info

[Otto]

32 minutes ago, Al Bundy said:

Thinking about it.. I dropped one on Sunday and breasted it out.  Never tried one before but feeling kind of brave.  Anyone????

I just saw an article on cooking mergansers Ducks Unlimited last month.....it did involve a brine soak.  I'll see if I can find it tonight and post it for you.  

[Fletch]

I always wondered if any migratory bird would be a risk to eat? I mean what if the last stop was in a leakage puddle next to a toxic dump. Or Onondaga Lake. Or a pesticide filled golf course pond...... Just always wondered if it is kind of like roulette!!

[chrisw]

I've tried merganser, won't do it again.

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[mowin]

Buddy of mine made jerky out of a bunch of ducks. Reaching in the bag was like playing Russian roulette with your taste buds. If you picked a merganser piece, you lost.   

[turkeyfeathers]

5 minutes ago, mowin said:

Buddy of mine made jerky out of a bunch of ducks. Reaching in the bag was like playing Russian roulette with your taste buds. If you picked a merganser piece, you lost.   

Love it !

[Pygmy]

My duck hunting buddy cooks his up for his beagles..They LOVE 'em  !!

I saved a couple for bait in my bobcat sets..I'll let you know how they work in a week or two...

[Pygmy]

2 hours ago, Al Bundy said:

I am looking for an advisory but have not found one yet. Only thing I found was a Canadian study from 2014 saying eastern mergansers did not have harmful levels of mercury.

Any links?? If this is on a warning list, I think Ill pass.. 

Incidentally for anyone who saw my  duck thread, I missed an easy shot sat. Realized I had my full choke for snow geese in!! Put in a modified and dropped this merganser sunday morning. 

 

Switch to IC and you'll kill more ducks AND geese....

[greensider]

Tried it once tasted like fish but not good fish 

[Otto]

For what its worth, if you want to give it a try.....


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[TACC]

Theres an advisory out against eating any diving ducks so that would be a no from me. I generally pass them because I wont eat them

I'm not doubting you just have not seen this, do you have a link available?

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[ATbuckhunter]

53 minutes ago, TACC said:

I'm not doubting you just have not seen this, do you have a link available?

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https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/wfregsbrochure17.pdf

second page down at the bottom left hand side

[TACC]

https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/wfregsbrochure17.pdf

second page down at the bottom left hand side

Thanks for the info, I was wondering also if wood ducks were in the same category, but see they are contaminated less.

 

I copy and pasted from the link in case someone could not bring it up

 

Health Advisory Mergansers are the most heavily contaminated waterfowl species and should not be eaten. Eat no more than two meals per month of other wild waterfowl; you should skin them and remove all fat before cooking and discard stuffing after cooking. Wood ducks and Canada geese are less contaminated than other wild waterfowl species, and diving ducks are more contaminated than dabbler ducks.

 

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