- Location
- calgary, AB
Has anyone in alberta noticed that there are ALOT of coots? Are they any good to eat? They seem small....
Coots
- Thread starter savage17hmr
- Start date
They are not good to eat, we are swamped with them here in Sask. as well. Here, if you shoot one it has to be included in your 8 bird limit. If the Gubment/s were smart, they would declare an open season with no limit when certain game becomes way to populous. But who ever said gubments were smart?
rustysdream
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Just to satisfy my curiosity I looked around on the Internet and found several recipes for coot (baked, fried, roast, you name it) so the meat should be perfectly fine for eating.
How many have you eaten?
I ate a couple yesterday. Just breasted them and pan fired to med-rare with a little cajun spice. They are as good as most ducks and better than some. Just breast them out and make sure to pull all the fat off before cooking. Not a whole pile of meat but they are tasty. I would shoot them more if they flew more.
And you're wrong on this aspect too. Coots are NOT included as part of your duck limit. You can shoot 10 of them in Sask in addition to whatever ducks you get.
savage, try a few for yourself. They don't count against your duck limit here either. And yeah I've noticed a few more than usual this year.
M12shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- East St. Paul, mb
Check out their feet... that is if ya happen to have one in hand. Feet are not webbed as a duck... more like a chicken. Could this be where the "mud-hen" handle came from? Ate one as a kid, don't remember how it tasted. My old man had a rule about waterfowling... you shoot it, you eat it. They made mighty tempting targets for an eight year-old!
- Location
- calgary, AB
Hmmmm,maybe they are not coots...these ones have webbed feet,not as webbed as a duck maybe. Pure black with whitew belly,white around the eye. They look like a coot acording to the bird book I have. I will shoot a couple and try them out, since they are EVERYWHERE.
This is a coot
Sounds like you're talking about grebes.
Which are protected everywhere. Don't shoot them to "try them out" unless you like big fines.
Maybe perfect your bird ID before pulling the trigger.
There is nothing wrong with eating coot. They are milder tasting than some ducks and have a diet that is similar to most ducks. While these big Rails don't like to get air-born once up they fly rather well and have considerable endurance.
There isn't much left to eat, when they get hammered with a 7mmMag!!
Shooting waterfowl with a rifle eh ................
That would be a violation of federal law. A huge fine along with a jail sentence is common for that type of offence.
- Location
- calgary, AB
It doesn't look like a gerbe,similier but no. I haven't pulled the trigger on one yet because I am not sure what they are. Will try to get pics of them so someone can identify. They do look just like a coot, except for the white belly.
- Location
- calgary, AB
I was thinking buffleheads too,but they all looked the same,otherwise no males.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
Young coots are much lighter coloured than mature ones, that's what you're seeing.
This is true. A good friend of mine in LA shoots as many as he is legally permitted, and says most of his hunting buddies do the same. But then again, he eats just about anything... I never came up on one during the harvest season.
