Duck experts: what kind of ducks are these?

[eradicator]

Since the consensus is gadwall’s I believe I’ll shoot a few off the back porch this week to try out on the smoker haha

Thanks guys!

They'll eat fine fresh. Grill for brunch rare/med rare

[Mexico]

Fun to shoot! But I'm not eating them

[.243 WSSM]

Yes they are gaddies. Looks like they are there because you have that floating duck weed aka ducksmeat. As regular food sources get low they start focusing on ponds that have that floating on the surface. Even the tiniest of pools with that weed on it can hold big flocks of gaddies late in the year. Looks like a nice drake shoveler in the pic as well

[BTLowry]

Mostly gadwalls

In second pic, far left upper corner appears to be a Northern Shoveler, aka Hollywood/Smilin Mallard/Bootlip etc
Beware that they are known to feed in stagnant water and are commonly found to have "rice breast". Pretty nasty stuff when you clean one, parasite that looks similar to a grain of white rice

[WildThings]

Second picture the one circled is a very nice drake with a neck ring!!

[Tommyh]

Shoot id be happy as heck to finally shoot any kind of duck!

[diamond10x]

Shoot id be happy as heck to finally shoot any kind of duck!

Same here. I just moved to the lake and ducks have been feeding near the house and it’s giving me the itch to start dabbling in duck hunting a bit

[Briar Friar]

Saw some Gaddies on the creek two weeks ago. I was ignorant of type, wondered the type too and felt the same itch. Thanks for asking Diamond.

Being what TT said...Id likely blanch and brine before cooking.
Get some.

[js4242]

Since the consensus is gadwall’s I believe I’ll shoot a few off the back porch this week to try out on the smoker haha

Thanks guys!

Do not eat them right away. Age them and they will be so much better. Trust me on this. It's night and day. You can age them whole or you can just also age the breasts. Skin on or off. 3-5 days. Google is your friend on learning how to do it and the reasoning behind it. Most folks state to age the whole duck. You don't have to. If you age the breasts - in tupperware with a lid slightly off. Flip every 24hrs. Drain excess juice if needed. Hot cast iron with a bit of oil and salt and pepper. It was life changing for me after not aging them for years.

[skelsey]

Dog food!

[diamond10x]

Do not eat them right away. Age them and they will be so much better. Trust me on this. It's night and day. You can age them whole or you can just also age the breasts. Skin on or off. 3-5 days. Google is your friend on learning how to do it and the reasoning behind it. Most folks state to age the whole duck. You don't have to. If you age the breasts - in tupperware with a lid slightly off. Flip every 24hrs. Drain excess juice if needed. Hot cast iron with a bit of oil and salt and pepper. It was life changing for me after not aging them for years.

I’ll definitely be taking care of them properly. I haven’t come across an animal or bird I don’t like or couldn’t figure out how to prepare so far one of my favorite is Canada goose but for some reason a lot of people think they aren’t very good

[Quackerbox]

Im glad to see the ducks in question aint dead. Thats been known to happen around here

[Charrison]

Poor gaddies- they get a bad rap but they've saved many a Texas duck hunt the past few years. I've been darn glad to hear that dumb quack of theirs and have them coming into the spread during slow hunts.

[Bort]

Those are Gadwalls, but I’ll take the contrarian view and say that I think Gadwall taste great and are a blast to hunt. Y’all must hunt some super awesome, secret places where you shoot only the pretty ducks.

[Big Lee]

Either Darkwing Duck or Donald.