Metal Detector Duck
Let me tell you something that you probably are already aware of, but let me be redundant; biting down on steel shot SUCKS.
Corey Mulhair at SPLIT REED
When a bird is breasted or plucked, signs of pellet trauma are usually quite obvious. You can see the hole and bloodshot around the entry (or exit) wound. You may even see the tip of a feather poking out, signaling a pellet is likely still in the meat with the rest of the feather balled up around the small projectile. I have a habit of pushing a finger through the flesh to dislodge any shot or feathers and to flush out any marginal meat softened and decayed by the bloodshot. However, as effective as this often is, sometimes a pellet is missed or stays hidden in flesh not evident to the eye. Following a steel shot chomping ‘incident’, I figured it was time to move my shot removal technique into the 21st century. Check out the article below on metal detecting in ducks.
After a lights-out snowy morning cornfield duck hunt a couple of weeks back, I returned home with a limit of greenheads. Per my usual routine, I hung the ducks that showed no signs of being gut-shot and breasted the remainder. Three drakes had been hit hard with #2’s- center mass, but two of them took the deuces only to the head and neck. Those hit center mass were breasted that evening and the other two were hung outside in the cold for two days (we’ll talk more about hanging ducks in a later article).
Two days passed and the two hanging/cold-air-aged birds were plucked whole, and I cooked one of them that evening and enjoyed it with a side of frenched green beans. As I made my way to gnaw on the roasted legs/thighs- it happened.
Crunch. My eye twitched and my neck locked up like I took a shot from a law enforcement taser. I nearly fell off my chair. A moment passed and I realized it was a steel shot pellet being sandwiched between two molars. Lead has give. But steel, steel has resolve. Steel perseveres. Steel is a real mother f$%k@r. It’s happened to me many times over the years, and the fact is it happens to us all, and all too often it happens again.
Now, there weren’t any holes to be found on the breasted bird carcass when plucking or before going into the oven but that didn’t keep reality from being altered- there was a pellet in there and I had found it the hard way. My guess is that the pellet entered the head/neck area and traveled through the internal cavity finally embedding in the back of the thigh without exiting. This placed the pellet in the edible meat without leaving an obvious sign of its presence.
Either way, I’d had it. Enough was enough. Luckily, I was on the last few nibbles of the duck when it occurred because I had lost my appetite after that near dental-visit-inducing split second. It was time to curb this pain in the ass; or rather, tooth. It was time to make a small investment in pre-incidental insurance. After all, a $130 hand-held metal detector would be worth it if it kept me from even one unplanned and unwanted visit to the dentist.
I hopped on Amazon and purchased the Garrett Pro-Pointer AT Waterproof Metal Detector which has turned out to be a great addition to this waterfowlers tool kit. Post hunt, there’s really not much a hunter needs besides a knife. Or so I thought. This thing is small, runs on a 9V battery, and has multiple sensitivity and alert modes. It’s easy to maneuver, easy to clean, and works well in detecting shot before your teeth do!
There are a couple of things to note in order to properly scan a duck/goose for pellets with the Garrett Pro-Pointer. I use the highest sensitivity (on either the vibration or tone alert setting). When checking for steel pellets in a duck, the breast of a mallard seems to need to be checked on both sides. Take a single breast, removed off the breastplate for instance. Hold the breast away from any surfaces and metals and run the detector tip over all parts of the exposed breast face, and then turn over and repeat on the other side.
When working with a whole bird, plucked and to be roasted (or otherwise cooked), the metal detector can be inserted into the gutted and empty carcass and used to scan the unexposed side of the breasts next to the breastplate.
Now, of course, there are chances that the pellet is missed and it avoids detection. It should always be kept in mind when eating wild game shot with a firearm, whether using a metal detector or not. That being said, I still scan all meat and am careful when chewing. Never chomp down on wild birds killed with shotguns!
Whether it’s pheasant, duck, geese, quail, turkey, dove or grouse or otherwise- any bird shot with a shotgun sending lead or steel (or tungsten, or bismuth..) downrange should be thoroughly checked for shot before consumption! It is in the opinion of this writer, that a handheld metal detector is a wonderful tool to use in avoiding the terrible crunch. After all, $130 is cheaper than endured tooth pain and a crown or replacement!
For more Split Reed Waterfowl content, follow the link here!
Click on Corey to find him on Instagram