Steve Knight

Most Texas duck hunters would rather come home empty- handed than with a bag full of shovelers.

Known as spoonies because of their Daffy Duck-type bill, the Northern shoveler is looked down upon by Texas hunters because of both its gangly profile and questionable table quality.

On the other hand, the ducks are sought late in the season by others because they are magnificent in their late winter plumage of an iridescent head, white chest and brown belly.

However, not every Texas hunter drops their shotgun when a wad of shovelers dips into their spread. Especially in a slow season like this, they can result in a fun morning shoot.

Mixon's Bill Campbell is one of those who have gone to shovelers as a plan B.

"There is nothing else to shoot at," said Campbell, as what has become another near-miss season winds down. "By this time we are usually seeing a lot of mallards as it gets colder up north. This time of year hunters' fingers start getting itchy."

Like the others in group, Campbell shied from the lowly shoveler until the hunting party started to include youngsters who just want to shoot and don't understand the difference between a decoy wigeon, gadwall, mallard or shoveler.

"You can sit on Fork only so many days waiting on the big ducks before you want to shoot, and those shovelers will decoy. We carry kids, too, and how many times are you going to tell them not to shoot that duck," he explained.

Campbell isn't ready to become the region's shoveler expert, but he said there are enough of them on lakes Palestine and Fork, two of the lakes he hunts, to make them a viable alternative. The hunter says he seldom sees the ducks on the smaller private waters to which he has access.

Shovelers can't help the way they look. The long bill is most likely a product of evolution and comes in useful as the birds swim with it submerged in the water to collect food in shallow water.

"Shovelers are algae feeders and (invertebrate) feeders. That is why they have the big bill," said Athens' Carl Frentress, a former Texas Parks and Wildlife Department waterfowl biologist and avid duck hunter.

The biologist explained that early in the season the ducks will move around a lot to new water in search of food sources. And it is those food sources that often lead to their unsavory flavor.

"The blue-green algae contain heavy hydrocarbons that don't break down well. I have a hunch that contributes to the off-flavor," Frentress noted. He added that young-of-the-year birds and adults later in the winter usually have a better taste.

"In my experience once the shovelers move in and get to the winter period where they are not forced to feed on the algal mats where they get the inverts, they don't have that bad flavor."

Campbell, who labels all his ducks before putting them in the freezer and cooks them using the same recipe, said he doesn't notice any taste difference between the late season shovelers he has taken and the other ducks he has brought home this season.

Frentress, who admits to having been on good shoveler hunts when all else failed, said hunters need to know the habits of not only spoonies but all ducks to have a successful hunt at different times of the season. They normally begin to show up in Northeast Texas about the same time as gadwall and wigeon.

"They don't come here for vacation. This is part of their life cycle. They are doing something at the first of the season and something at end of season," he said. Right now that would be courting process, the reason the drakes are in full plumage.

"Now they are into courtship. They are going to be in smaller flights and you are going to see some drakes chasing hens and displaying to hens on the water," Frentress said. Later in the day the ducks can be found loafing in open water.

"Most we are seeing are paired up," added Campbell.

Campbell said the shovelers aren't apprehensive about hitting a normal spread, especially with the slightest encouragement from a call. Hunters should look for the puddle ducks to appear shortly after the teal and wood ducks have passed through and about the same time as gadwalls and wigeons.

"Shovelers will take wide turns almost like they are following a trail like wood ducks will do. They make you feel like great duck callers. Hit a call a couple times and in they will come.

Frentress agreed the ducks can provide a good hunt.

"I had a great time on a last day of the hunting season shooting only drakes. They were in beautiful plumage. They are thought to be dumb, but they decoy readily, they will work to a call and are often fairly abundant. Sometimes they are a fun duck to hunt," Frentress recalled.

Hunters in Northeast Texas can take up to five shovelers a day. Duck season in Texas remains open through Jan. 27.

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Contact Outdoor Editor Steve Knight at 903-596-6277 or by e-mail at outdoor@tylerpaper.com

Steve Knight
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