# Tasty Killdear...



## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

OK, not really..  But, as I was dove hunting the other day I had probably 9 or 10 that kept flying around me and I started to wonder how they taste? I also started to wonder if it's legal to shoot them? Anyone have any thoughts?


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## M R DUCKS (Feb 20, 2010)

Thoughts....
Last year at a public dove field, at least one Killdeer got shot. As the guilty party was escorted ,with his tail between his legs ,to the parking lot by 2 wildlife Officers....I assumed he shot an illegal bird....as he returned I asked him what happened...he confirmed he shot a Killdeer and it was a "must appear ticket".....do not know the final outcome/cost?!


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

I know out on the east coast, way back when, they had shorebird decoys and hunted them pretty regularly.
Of course they also made giant shotguns that could take out fifty ducks roosting on the water too.

http://weirdweeklywiki.blogspot.com/2011/04/punt-gun.html


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## FAB (May 26, 2013)

ezbite said:


> OK, not really..  But, as I was dove hunting the other day I had probably 9 or 10 that kept flying around me and I started to wonder how they taste? I also started to wonder if it's legal to shoot them? Anyone have any thoughts?


Kind of like spotted owl but not so gamey.


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## Ant (Mar 27, 2013)

_ find the taste more of a cross between Spotted owl and Bald eagle myself.But everyones taste varies. _


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## 21938 (Feb 17, 2010)

I've eaten hundreds of Rails and Snipes - very tasty little breasts sautéed in butter and onions. I imagine Killdeers being in that shorebird type family taste much the same. However, shooting them would be very illegal. 
Tom, get yourself down to the Grand River Wildlife area and walk up some Sora's.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

well, i just got off the phone with a very nice lady who put me on hold for a while (1-800-WILDLIFE) and you are not allowed to shoot them. i asked her if they were protected and she said she didnt get that far into it, but you cant hunt or shoot them and thats good to know.

RR that was my thought too, them being like the snipe and woodcock i figured thet tasted similar. guess we'll never know now.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

I work with a hunter who mistakenly shot a Killdeer on a wildlife area during dove season---- $500.00 fine plus court cost. His wife said it was his last hunting trip. 
Good luck and Good Hunting


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## jonnythfisherteen2 (Mar 5, 2011)

Loud but very interesting bird. I have had a few encounters with one at a place I fished that had a nest. They tend to act injured and lead potential predators away from the nest to protect their young.
they look a little on the small side to get any breast worth eating out of them, that and also highly illegal to kill.


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## Seaturd (Apr 14, 2004)

Taste like chicken - go great with cottage cheese!


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

i looked this list up because of another thread and looks like the killdeer IS protected.

and Pigeon too

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/regulationspolicies/mbta/MBTANDX.HTML


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

I'm not sure what " protected" means, every duck species is on that list and I have harvested most of them. That looks more like a list of every bird species under the sun.


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## Skippy (Dec 2, 2009)

Damn, pigeon's are on that list. Guess I'm going to jail for sure.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

I'm pretty sure if they put a season on them, it's ok to shoot during that season only.


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## nicklesman (Jun 29, 2006)

I have shot pigeons at west branch and was checked by officer. Wasn't an issue. Actually eat well. This was probably ten years ago so rules may have changed.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Generally if it's not a "gamebird" it will be considered a "songbird". Even though the killdeer's "song" is not all that melodic. Back in the day, Southerners used to eat "Robin pie"! It seem that when the robins migrated south they would gorge themselves on the fruit of Chinaberry bushes. The fruit had hung so long that it had fermented on the bush, so the robins got drunk and would fall to the ground unable to fly or even walk. The Southerners would gather them up, breast them out, and bake them in something akin to chicken pot pie. 

In fact, about the only bird I've heard of that wasn't good to eat is the lowly Coot or "mud hen"! And I'd be willing to bet that there's someone in the OGF community that has a recipe for them!


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## Rabbeye (Oct 28, 2013)

I've eaten lots of coot over the years. Breast them out and soak in butter milk overnight. Fry thick sliced bacon in a cast iron skillet then fry the beast medium rare in the bacon grease. Season with salt and pepper. As good as any mallard. They also have huge gizzards that can be cut up and used in a gravy. I have actually eaten robins years back on a duck hunt to LA, they are better than doves.


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## MuskieDan (Nov 8, 2012)

Skippy said:


> Damn, pigeon's are on that list. Guess I'm going to jail for sure.


There are no federal regulations protecting only three birds species which are invasive. House sparrows, European starlings, and feral pigeons. You can shoot as many as you want my friend.


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## beaver (Sep 28, 2010)

I fried coot breast up with mallard one day and asked my hunting buddies to pick out which was which.... nobody could. I didn't do anything fancy to them either. Coot are fine eating, just not really much fun to shoot.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Well, sure enough! Ask and ye shall receive! 

Having never eaten Coot, I'm not really sure where the prejudice against them comes from. I am informed only by the reports of my hunting buddy from his youth. He lived near a large lake that drew waterfowl like crazy. After graduating from shooting groundhogs with a .22, he received his first shotgun and pronounced himself a waterfowl hunter! Well, his Dad had no idea about that, so they went out and whacked a bunch of "ducks". Only they were "funny" ducks. They had beaks instead of bills and feet like chickens instead of webbed feet. He took them home to his Mom, all proud. She said that it was real nice, but he needed to go grab a shovel, dig a big hole, and bury all those birds! He asked why and his Mom said, "Those are Coots! Mud Hens! They smell like worms and taste like dirt, and I will cook no Coot in my kitchen!"


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## beaver (Sep 28, 2010)

Haha the meat is very dark and doesn't look appealing, but then again the same can be said about doves, and people love those. 

I don't target them because they're not generally much of a challenge to shoot. However, if one gets shot from my blind, it doesn't get wasted.


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