Im in the process of mounting my first salt water duck. Its a surf scoter. For some reason he smells like the smelly tidal water smell we have here where he was shot. Its not horrable, just theres a smell to it. Kinda like spoiling seaweed. Is there a way to get rid of the odor? I washed him 4x during the fleshing process using dawn, then used acetone to finish off b4 drying. I havnt had any issues with other ducks ive done that were the fresh water kinds.
is this common or do you do something different to these ducks. I also have a goldeneye to do, so any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
:)
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Wait till ya get a nasty merganser or long-tail.
The smell will eventually go away, but unfortunatley, I've found very little to overcome the initial smell of a fresh skinned sea duck.
Jon
i have found that the new scented types of dawn seem to at least cover the smell a little bit. apple is my favorite. after washing, i really dont notice any odor. maybe by that point i have just gotten used to it.
Hi Amanda, To get all the smell out you need to get all the fat off the skin. The meat has an odor too. Scoters aren't too bad eating though. Than wash it well in Dawn. I'm Old school on this, but I use mineral spirits to get the water out and dry faster. After you borax the skin it shouldn't smell.
Tony
I dont think the Dawn will help them taste any better.... Duck = yuck to eat. I use lemon scented dawn, so maybe i'll try another flavor on the scoter.
I was thinking of spraying it with febreeze. What do ya'all think of that?
Amanda I've used baby powder with some success. Add it to your borax and dust the bird inside and out. You will need to be careful about cleaning all of it off after the bird is dry though. Black feathers and white powder are a nightmare in a competition.
Like Jon said, the smell will go away eventually.
Another thing to keep in mind when doing dea ducks and other divers: They have a substantial amount of marrow in the HUMEROUS bone that needs to be removed. You can get away with leaving the marrow in the radius and ulna but get that grease out of the humerous or your bird will not only be stinky he'll be greasy too!
Good luck!
Airing the bird can get rid of some of the odor, but never will all the odor disappear. Sea birds 110 years old, with fat that has leaked from the bones in our collection still stink like they were prepared yesterday. When you are doing "dea ducks" (sorry Paul just having some fun), you really have to try and remove every trace of fat with the wire wheel/scissors/wire brush followed by a very thorough washing. The bones carry a large amount of fat inside them - even the foot bones, and getting it all is impossible unless the bones are removed. I would try to get all the fat from the radius and ulna though. In many birds there isn't much fat in the humerus because they use a system of air pockets throughout the bird for oxygen exchange, and the humerus is one of those pockets in the pneumatic system, so fat isn't deposited there. Swans and sandhill cranes even have hollow sternums for air exchange.
It was 8:33 when I wrote that! Unless I'm hunting or fishing I don't begin to fully function until at least 9:30 or 1 Diet Pepsi.
You're absolutely right Stephen! Good advise too.
C ya in 10 days!
I MEANT to say "advice". No excuse for that one--its mid-afternoon!
Maybe I've been using too much acetone and my brain is finally getting fried--My God.....George was right! Sorry George, couldn't resist!
wash good with dawn, then:
get some hydrogen peroxide (the 1% or whatever at the walmart), baking soda, and dawn soap. make a paste/wash and cover all the skin. wash off and good to go...
if it works on skunk stank (like when a dog gets sprayed), a little scoter juice is no big deal.