Canvasbacks
 

A great day in a not-so-great season!

-Victor

Nice gun, Nice ducks. Nice going.:bowdown:

Where did you hunt? What ammo did you use?

Sandusky Bay (Lake Erie), Ohio. I was shooting 1.25 oz bismuth loads in short ten. (See my WSF recipe in the reloading forum.)

-Victor

Very nice

What a great picture! Sure beats the ol’ dead birds on a tailgate theme.

Maybe we’ll see this one as the new January PGCA website picture.





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Great picture! The Laminated barrels on this short ten is really nice.

I missed that the first time - Great barrels!

What is the year of production of the gun?

Also, is it a grade 2?





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It’s a Grade 2 with laminated Parker barrels. The Damascus pattern on each tube is different. A sweet gun! Love dropping ducks with this old thing.

-Victor

nice very good pictures....charlie

Great picture and good shooting.

Bull Cans like that are waterfowl trophies in my mind. Awesome picture and awesome hunt. Good for you.

Very nice ! I’ve not killed my first duck yet , but hope to soon . And ever since reading James Michners novel “Chesapeake” Cans have been high on my list of ducks I would like to take .

Cans, number 1 on my bucket list of ducks! We have very few to none here in N H . Great pic!
Scott

Victor
Congrats on your hunt! Trophies for sure!
Great pic! Would make a perfect cover photo for the website for January!
Just beautiful!
Mark

I’ve always wanted to take a can but never got a shot at one. I’ve taken most North American species but a can is the one I want the most. There was a reservoir in Maryland near my home and it usually had cans on it. I used to joke with my friend Jeff M. about making a suicide run on them just to take one. I used to park and just watch them. One shot in that area would have brought the police for sure and I would never hunt where I wasn’t supposed to. But those ducks sure did taunt me.

Great picture.

MR beauts!!

WoW!!

thanks for the picture,

never had a chance at cans - that is one species I would love to hunt, several of my old decoys are cans, they fascinate me for some reason

and nice gun- love my grade 2 short ten as well - way too much fun to shoot

Canvasbacks
 

Rick.…. There are hundreds and hundreds on the Niagara River right now and on Wednesday we will be banging them...….Not to far from you really...……. Naturally weather and ice dependent….Have to draw a blind to hunt the West River....Info is online for drawing but I assume you are familiar......Let me know if you have any questions..

Merry Christmas....Marty

Congratulations! A bull canvasback with a Parker is the "Turdy Point Buck" of shotgunning.
Steve Kleist Ely, MN

What beautiful birds to go with an equally beautiful gun. You had a day to remember. Thanks for sharing it with us. Your picture conjures long past days and the nostalgia I think we all have for them.

I've only harvested 3 big cans, two while hunting with Destry. This one I got with the Swamp Angel in 2007. Biggest duck I've ever shot!

that is a huge duck for sure and taken with the famous swamp angel gun....charlie

I've been along side the Swamp Angel at work. She is something special. Do you think Destry has anything to do with it?

Canvasbacks
 

As a follow-up....no Canvasbacks this morning...they all must be loafing on Lake Erie this morning...no wind to speak of but wind is coming this weekend.....We had a number of GoldenEye decoy and took a few.....

I think it's some kind of magic embedded in the gun myself. I made what was far and away my best ever shot on a duck with that big Can. Screaming crossing shot. I swung fast the entire length of the boat, causing the guide in the bow to drop like a stone to the deck as I swung over him and shot. I hit the bird dead center of pattern. You should see his other side; wasn't even salvageable it was so shot up. My other Can shot with Destry was a high bird straight up that everyone just watched go over, thinking it was too high. I swung my 32" hammer gun and down he came right beside the boat! I've had some great hunts over in Canada with Destry. Brought home some nice batches of fresh perch filets too. Doesn't get much better than that.

I’m curious what’s “The Swamp Angel” ?

Put swamp angel in the search and it will get you an evenings reading.

Only one of the most legendary Parker shotguns of our time.





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Some birds just require one more "shot!"

What a great classic picture Steve! I found a pic of my third big Can taken up here in 2011. Didn't realize it was THAT long ago. Damn. This was a big one also. Got a goose the same day. This is a great duck gun. 30" #2 frame VH12 with a stout wrist. Doesn't mind stout loads. I'd highly recommend this kayak also. It's a 14ft kevlar "Poke Boat" made in Kentucky(?) and only weighs 23# and is very stable for a kayak.

I have been a dedicated duck hunter here in NH for more years than I care to remember, but have never shot a Can. I really wish that I could as I would add it to the wall. I have always read that they are the best eating duck. Can any of you "Can" hunters comment on that?:corn:

Well Steve, back in the 60's or 70's down here in the Chesapeake there were the best eating bird. But as with any other bird it all depends on what they have been eating. Back then they would concentrate heavily in the upper Susquehanna River flats and would feed on bay grasses and they were delicious. Now, not so much as the grasses are gone and they feed on various invertebrates which gives them that fishy taste. They still are a handsome bird.

Steven and Daryl,
Everyone has a favorite table duck.
Back in the early 1900's the market hunters could sell a canvasback in the Chicago markets for $2.....consider that a new vehicle back then cost about $200. Someone must have thought they were pretty good!
Both cans and redheads are exceptional.
Best Fishes,
Steve Kleist Ely, MN

Thanks guys. Here in NH our best eating duck, according to me, is our early season wood ducks that have been feeding on acorns. Very nice.

Got into a woodie shoot several years ago, and when we cleaned them, I found 16 acorns in each one of them, from gullet to crop. All the tops of the acorns had been removed. I can't remove the tops with my fingers, They are very adept. Does anyone have a guess on how much food that represents? A day, week, month?

Canvasbacks are the best eating diver in my opinion and one of the best overall ducks to eat. A northern corn feed Mallard is still hard to beat in my book. When you read about the old market hunters targeting canvasbacks they always wanted the ones feeding on wild celery because they were the best eating. I have shot several overtime here in Minnesota and South Dakota but there numbers in our flyway are down compared to what they once were. I live about an hour from Heron Lake which around the turn of the century was one of the premier Canvasback hunting destinations in the country.

Natural ebbs and flows are very complicated. About 20 years ago Lake St Clair, between Detroit and Windsor Canada was invaded by a small mussel called a zebra mussel. They were very effective at clearing the water because they are filter feeders. As a result, water clarity improved substantially, and two things happened. Number one the Musky fishing in Lake St Claire has become spectacular. Secondly, Great Lakes Canvasback shooting has become substantially better, because natural plant life has improved substantially, and the cans are now feeding on the grass rather than mussels.

John, maybe some time you and I can drag Destry across to the lake and have a duck hunt of it. I've had some great shooting over there at times and always had a good time regardless of the take.

I don't know the exact answer to that because in a good acorn year the Woodies will be constantly feeding on them. I have been miles from a pond and have flushed wood ducks both off the forest floor and out of the branches of Oaks.