Trophy bird thread

[Rogue Bay]

Starting what I hope is a long running thread of guys killing their dream bird. Pics and story required. I’ll go first. I’m a widgeon guy through and through. I’ve killed a few euro widgeon but I’ve spent 25 years obsessed with wanting to kill a Storm. Last week the sun broke after a stormy morning and a solo drake came down from the heavens right onto the Avain spinner. Got out as quickly as he came in but I killed him on the way out. Didn’t realize what I had until the dog came back.

Not a perfect storm but best one i will ever see. And no one I know has seen one as nice.

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Beautiful bird! I’d give almost anything for a nice storm wigeon but I’ve never even seen one alive.

 

[Rogue Bay]

I don’t have any good field photos but here are a few of my trophy birds. Photo 1 is a big gander Tule white-fronted goose, the only one I’ve shot. This was a hunt specifically for this species, and one of my twin daughters was with me. One of my fondest memories. It was more big game style, as far as spotting and making a play on them. On the last day of the season it came together and I shot this bird out of a flock of a dozen that were flushed by another hunter and came right over me.

Photo 2 is my one and only Black Brant. A friend and I hunted on a Northern California bay and it had been sloooow. We got snubbed by a couple singles and watched a couple other small flocks work decoy spreads further up bay. About the time I came to terms with getting skunked, this flock came winging into our spread. The didn’t fully commit, but were within range. We should have limited but they balled up and we were afraid of accidentally killing more than our limit. When they finally started to separate they were actually past our spread and then I fell apart and shot horribly. My friend and I each killed one.

I’ve shot a lot of wood ducks, but this drake was an absolute giant by wood duck standards and had perfect plumage. My dad and I were hunting up on slough of a major southern Oregon river on a calm, blue bird day. It had been painfully slow so mid-day we pushed the canoe up against the bank, into the brush, to take a break and eat lunch. No decoys. Ever the optimist, I sat in the front of the canoe with my shotgun across my lap. Out of nowhere I hear a rush of wings and look up to see a huge flock of wood ducks almost on top of us. I tossed my tapioca, shouldered my gun, picked a drake and folded two with my first shot. I dumped another drake on my second shot then they were gone. When we picked up my birds I was astonished how impressive this one drake was. He dwarfed the other woodies and had flawless plumage. I’d never seen a crest on a wood duck like that.

Edit: added stories.

 

[Navaluk]

Drew a nonresident mountain goat in Nevada in 2010. To help get in shape I hunted Himalayan Snowcock in the same area first. Ruby Mountains 10,500 feet. Shot one of my few doubles on birds.

 

[LongWayAround]

This is my coolest bird. As far as I can tell, he is a Dusky Call Duck. A breed that was formerly used for live decoys.

A friend and I were hunting a huge mallard feed on the bank of the Missouri River in western Iowa. Wind was ripping, blowing snow. We were taking turns shooting single drakes when this little dude dropped out of a huge flock.

I wasn't sure what he was, but he was coming right to my boots. When I shot him, I thought it was a black duck. Neither of us knew what it was that day.

It's about 2/3 size of an average drake Mallard and has curly tail feathers.

 

[Tandin93]

Killed this bird in 2022
6 beards
1.5”- 2.5”- 3.5”- 2.5”-1.5”- 9.5”

 

[Tandin93]

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Killed this bird in 2022
6 beards
1.5”- 2.5”- 3.5”- 2.5”-1.5”- 9.5”

Then I killed this one in ‘24
7.5”- 9”- 9”

 

[Sierra Hunter]

I’ve got some wigeon. No story, they just came into the decoys.
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Aleutian Teal.
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Is that a euro wigeon, really cool bird

 

[KurtR]

This is my coolest bird. As far as I can tell, he is a Dusky Call Duck. A breed that was formerly used for live decoys.

A friend and I were hunting a huge mallard feed on the bank of the Missouri River in western Iowa. Wind was ripping, blowing snow. We were taking turns shooting single drakes when this little dude dropped out of a huge flock.

I wasn't sure what he was, but he was coming right to my boots. When I shot him, I thought it was a black duck. Neither of us knew what it was that day.

It's about 2/3 size of an average drake Mallard and has curly tail feathers.

That’s an amazing bird and good story to go with it

 

[Banded_spooney]

View attachment 825774View attachment 825775
Killed this bird in 2022
6 beards
1.5”- 2.5”- 3.5”- 2.5”-1.5”- 9.5”

Such a badass mount. Does that awesome bird justice.

 

[droptine818]

Not really a big snow goose hunter but I have always wanted to take a blue goose. This season I had a chance to go hunt snows in Southern California. This bird came in early morning in a large flight that had no interest in stopping for our spread. I saw him in the group and took what was likely the farthest shot on a bird I ever had. Actually hit him twice at about 70 yards and down he came.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Late season woodies are rare in Co, tripled on redheads with a buddy on a brutal cold river day, love a nice wig! The mallards are from the coolest 2 hours of waterfowling in my life. Full on migration flock came down that afternoon, thousands of birds! We picked off some drakes, we’re good with out a limit and watched them rain down on us till dark. Bull sprigs are hard to come by in Co I’ve knocked a few down this was my nicest to date

 

[Tandin93]

Such a badass mount. Does that awesome bird justice.

Thank you! He did a great job with it! He is doing my 2024 bird as well.

 

[buffybr]

I've always admired wood ducks, but where I grew up in Colorado there weren't any. It wasn't until many years after I had moved to Montana and was antelope hunting near Miles City that I found one. I shot my antelope buck first thing opening morning, and not wanting to drive back home that day, I asked a friend that I was hunting with if he knew of any good places to bird hunt near there.

He said that there were often wood ducks in some of the sloughs along the Yellowstone River near Miles City. He also said that he had a house there and I was welcome to stay there with him. So I went to town and bought a Duck Stamp and some steel shotshells, and headed to the sloughs.

Shure enough there were some wood ducks there, and when I shot this drake, I knew that I wanted to have him mounted, so I wouldn't let my dog retrieve him, but took off my boots and waded out to get him myself.

When I built the Trophy Room for my house in 1988, my wife at the time wanted me to also remodel the kitchen, including new and different kitchen cabinets. I saved some of the old base cabinets and used them to make a wet bar in my Trophy Room. The bar is "L" shaped and the back of the "L" corner was wasted, hard to reach space.

I've always thought that the male ringneck pheasant was one of the prettiest birds around, so I sectioned off the corner of the bar for a place for a pheasant mount.

Again, when I shot this rooster I didn't let my dog retrieve it so it wouldn't be damaged. I found an interesting piece of an old weathered cedar fence post for the pheasant to stand on, so now I have a pheasant under glass in the corner of my bar. It's protected and dust free, and I put a dimmable light in the top that brings out the iridescence of his feathers.

 

[dtrkyman]

First Cinnamon teal I’d ever seen while hunting!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ScottP76]

I’ve been able to check off 3 more ducks this year. A nice Fulvous in FL STAs and a Cinnamon Teal. Also got a stud gadwall in California. I don’t have any good pictures of him.

 

[LongWayAround]

@ScottP76

That is a sweet cinnamon!

 

[Loco4dux]

Trifecta shot all in one hunt (banded gw)