# Name that duck!



## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

Yesterday, even though I was sick, I went and threw out a few decoys and hunted the evening and I saw the wierdest duck I've ever seen. I saw it all the way across the lake flying really high. I gave it a couple hail calls and it came straight into my decoys. Not only is that an odd occurance, but it was the size of a small goose. It's body had to be at least a foot and a half long and it was all black. At first I was thinking maybe it was a really big coot, but I don't think a coot can get as big as this thing was. I don't think it was a good, though, just for the fact that after I started calling, it actually came in and investigated my decoys. I wanna know if I can shoot it if I see it again! That thing was a beast! So what duck is big, black, and looks kind of like a small goose?


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## huntingdude16 (Jul 17, 2007)

Hmm, I think what you saw was not a duck at all, but a brant.

http://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/ ... ey_med.jpg

Brant are not common in ND, and it is an oddity to see one. However, they do occasionally stray into this flyway.


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## hammertime (Oct 6, 2005)

I think before you go out duck hunting you should look at a picture of a CORMARANT first, I guess I hope hope you shoot them all to save our perch much but the local game warden might think different


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## averyghg (Oct 16, 2006)

im gonna say it was a loon, don't shoot it


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## deacon (Sep 12, 2003)

That was Daffy Duck, leave him alone it is "rabbit season" :jammin: :jammin: :jammin:


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/vie ... hp?t=44329


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## coolrider (Sep 28, 2007)

I agree with Bandman


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## uglyduckling (Oct 12, 2007)

You should get a duck book that has pics in it of all the different kinds of ducks and see if you could find a pic of it in there.


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## weasle414 (Dec 31, 2006)

I'm sooo glad I didn't shoot it. It turns out it was a cormarant.

And Avery, I know what a loon is, it wasn't a loon. I live in Minnesota, there's loons just about everywhere you look, lol. Nice try though.


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## dfisher (Oct 12, 2007)

*
I'd have to agree that it was a cormorant. Though, I suppose it could of been some sort of tree duck or perhaps and escapee looking for company.
Good luck,
Dan*


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## sflem849 (Mar 4, 2004)

I am going with a surf scoter. jk, but here in SE Wisco we are only about 20-30 miles off the big water...maybe someday I will shoot one. Nodak is probably a bit too far for a scoter.


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## muzzynat (Apr 20, 2006)

I will say that shooting a Brant is possible in MN, because I did it. It was my second year ever hunting, and a neighbor called, and told me to go walk along a drainage ditch between our field and his because he had seen some wood ducks around.

So middle of the day, I get my shotgun out, find a box of shells, and my orange vest (in case i kicked up any grouse on my walk), and head out. As I'm walking the ditch, I kick up a goose out of some reeds, which I thought was a small canada. As I shoot it made the single oddest call I've ever heard. I pulled it out of the ditch, only to find it was not a Canada at all. It scared the crap out of me to be honest, but I got home, and went online to ID it, and sure enough it was a Brant. I should have known better and positively identified the bird before i shot it, but I was pretty young, and had never seen anything other than a canada goose. I'll never make that mistake again. Additionally, I didn't realize how rare a shooting a brant is, I'd do anything to go back and mount that bird.

The brant I shot was dark, and had a small triangular beak (almost like a roman nose). The call could be described as between a quack and goose cluck... very odd sounding. It weighed about the same as a snow goose, maybe a little less. The shape of the wing on the bird was a bit more pointed than a Canada goose.

One things for sure, after that I always made sure I knew exactly what I was shooting.


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## Neck Collar (Sep 19, 2006)

Surf scoters are rare, although we took two last fall in Central MN


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