Any of y'all ever shoot a Gadwall with the white neck ring? I got one this past Tuesday and he's a stud for sure. Put him in the freezer...

It's the sign of a fully mature bird. Without a doubt it's mountworthy!

We shoot a ton of Gadwall in our area, some with white rings on occasion. Really cool birds. I usually just give them to my
taxidermist to have. I shot this one 2 yeas ago with a thick black band and had never seen anything like it before.

Can't really tell for sure, in the full body shot are the black tail feathers curled ?...if so then this is probably a Brewer's Duck, I think...a mallard gadwall hybrid...the amount of "crossover" coloring can vary greatly, I'm almost certain the pic from Avian Assassins is a Brewer's...go ahead GOOGLE that...stuff...I'll wait

It wasn't. tail feathers weren't curled at all. everything said gadwall except for that bold ring around the neck. my Taxidermist and I went over it thoroughly and compared to lots of pictures of brewers.

Mine also does not have any curls to speak of. I am certain it's just a very mature Gaddie!!! Pretty stoked to have harvested him. I've always been a fan of Gadwalls. This one is probably my best.

That black ring is freaking sweet!!!

no doubt about it, the white ring is a stud! mount worthy for sure. very mature, old bird.

I shot one years ago that at the time I didn't realize was an absolute stud "Purple Headed Gadwall"! Been kicking myself for a longtime for eating this guy!!! This is the only pic I have of him and it's not great. Doesn't really show his whole head or his back at all... Plus it's fuzzy. I like to look at it every now and again and kick myself some more.

Shot this pair last weekend, the drake on the right has the white ring. Never really thought about the rings till this post.

I remember when I first started duck hunting, me and a bud shot about 3 gaddies each. It was the best hunt we ever had up to that point. We thought we shot all cinnamon teal.

This was a private lease I had for about 7 years, it was a gadwall honey hole.. This is after I shot a quick limit, took his video just watching them drop in...

HAHAHA

I would mount that Gaddy he is a beauty.

I am. Put him in the freezer. Thank you!!!

How are gadwalls to eat?

My personal opinion, if they've been eating grain or rice they're wonderful. If they've been eating mud bugs and dirt weed, not so much...

To me, they taste about the same as other puddle ducks. The only exception is that wood ducks seem to be a fair bit better than all the others.

The only duck I've ever tried eating that I couldn't stomach was Scaup! Tasted like eating a fat turd out of the sewer!

Here's one that looks like it's double ringed

He tasted about like the rest of them haha

I have shot several w purple heads. Will mount one at some point.

Hey WildThings! I'm the guy that dropped off that Bufflehead to you last week! Cool to see you on here. I've been shooting some great birds the past few seasons!!! Can't wait to see the Buffie after you're done with it!

Yessir he's going to make an awesome mount!!

The purple head, black ring, and white ring are a recessive coloration trait commonly seen in gadwalls but has nothing to do with age/maturity. This is basically the same type trait as “storm” widgeon.

Here’s a few we’ve gotten over the years.