By Allan “Wood Duck” Richards

The December-January issue featured a collection of recipes and tips for cooking wild ducks. One of the hunters featured in the story was Allan “Wood Duck” Richards, a fishing guide in Apalachicola, Florida, who told us his favorite way to eat ducks was “pot-fried.” Wood Duck was kind enough to share his recipe with us all. Enjoy. —The Editors

Pot Fried Duck

Ingredients:
-1 or 2 small ducks plucked and cleaned (skin on)
-Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning
-Garlic powder
-2 large onions chopped
-Water
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By Jonathan Miles

Ground coffee has been a "secret" barbecue rub ingredient for years. Mixed with ground coriander seed, it'll give your grilled turkey breast a smoky, exotic, and eye-opening kick.

Wild Turkey Breast with a Coffee-Coriander Rub

Ingredients
- 2 wild turkey breasts
- 2 tsp. finely ground coffee
- 2 tsp. ground coriander
- 1 Tbsp. freshly ground pepper
- 4 Tbsp. kosher salt [ Read Full Post ]

By M.D. Johnson

If you only turkey hunt in spring, you’re missing out. The fall season can be just as exciting. Getting a bird can be frustrating, however, because these all-day wanderers can be tough to locate. Fortunately for hunters of fall turkeys, the birds’ feeding habits and movement patterns can make them a bit more predictable, which can make them a bit more likely to wind up on the dinner table.

1. Follow the Arrows
As a turkey scratches for food—acorns, cut beans, or corn—the rearward raking of its feet creates a V-shaped pattern in the leaves or agricultural stubble, with the point of the V roughly indicating the direction of travel. Follow the arrows, and keep an eye out well ahead of you. [ Read Full Post ]

By David Draper

Sure, you could play the hipster card this Thanksgiving and roast your $75 heritage turkey in the oven, but because you’re a Wild Chef reader, you’ve gotten your free-range, organic holiday bird by more honest means—by hunting it. And, because you follow this blog, you also grasp that the purest way to cook that bird is over fire, on a charcoal, or if you must, gas grill.

I will admit those perfect, pricey store-bought turkeys and their Butterball brethren have a leg (and plump breast) up on the wild turkey in that they’ve been bred for both the taste and ease of cooking—a result of their fat-filled diet. The wild turkey is a lean bird, spending its days in the opposing efforts of feeding and fleeing predators. This leanness can present some challenges in cooking it on the back deck, but these obstacles can be easily overcome with these simple steps.
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By M.D. Johnson

Tough is the best way I can describe hunting in the Mississippi Flyway right now. The buzz from the north of the border talks of hard weather – and some hard water – in Saskatchewan and Alberta. There are still birds that haven’t worked their way down through the Dakotas and the Missouri River into southwest Iowa, Missouri, and points southward. Mallards and big Canadas in the fields are the norm right now for our Canadian brothers, though Angelo Casbarro with the Avery Team still talks of the migration being at its peak around Toronto, with both water and field hunts producing for those intrepid souls hardy enough to endure the now-cold temperatures, frosty mornings, and almost constant threat of snow.
 
In central Minnesota, Mark Brendemuehl sounded a bit – well – crestfallen when I spoke with him this morning. “I haven’t hunted in a week,” he said, “what with work and all. But, I have been driving around looking for pheasants, and I haven’t seen much at all in the way of ducks. A lot of geese, but I’m just not mad enough at the geese. We’re down to the last final days, maybe a week or so to go here, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s all but done. The only divers around are goldeneyes, and when they’re here, the season’s about a wrap.” [ Read Full Post ]

By Wade Bourne

Aerial surveys show that a strong frontal passage on November 12 pushed new ducks into the Illinois River Valley and along the upper Mississippi River.
 
Aaron Yetter, a research scientist for the Illinois Natural History Survey, conducts weekly waterfowl counts in fall and winter from the Great Bend of the Illinois River near Hennepin, Illinois to the river's confluence with the Mississippi River at Grafton. From that point he turns north and flies up the Mississippi River to the Wisconsin border.
 
On Nov. 13, Yetter counted significantly more ducks than are typical for this area at this time. "We are way ahead of the 10-year average for both the Illinois and Mississippi,” said Yetter. “Habitat conditions are very good along both rivers this year. I think this partially explains the increase.” [ Read Full Post ]