Some time after acquiring my latest tool (man toy), I decided to go and scare some ducks at a nearby farm. After asking the land owner permission I decided it would not be worth getting up at oh-dark-hundred just to see the ducks flying towards the paddock and then fly off as there was no maimai. Gentlemanly hours would be sufficient. Alarm set for 6:00 in the morning and out of bed I duly got at 6:45. When I arrived it was still dark so settled in for a wee cat nap in the drivers seat and awoke to find it now quite light and a large mob of parries and mallards chowing down on some grass. A quick load of the shotty, safely over a barbwire fence, pump one into the spout and away we go. Three  2 and 3/4, 12 gauge alarm calls is quite a way to announce you have arrived and started your morning shoot.

Things started well with some sleepy parries being quite slow on the uptake. With the first blast a rather well conditioned drake was secured for the pioneer kitchen. Unfortunately the day did not carry on in this vein. With the increasing light and awareness of the olive drab figure walking the fields, the ducks started being quite cagey and some overambitious long shots resulted in nothing further than a slightly bruised shoulder and a heavily bruised ego. A day license and a box of ammo results in a rather expensive duck. Luckily there was a consoling cup of tea and a biscuit to go along with the ribbing up at the farm stead. Plenty of practice required before a further escapade out to the Taieri.

Once back at the Pioneer House the cleaning needed to be done. The duck was tossed up onto the grassy bank while I cleared some space in the laundry to pluck and gut the bird. When I went out to get the duck I was confronted by a neighborhood cat sniffing around my prize bird. The cat was slightly smaller than the duck and looked as if he/she was frightened it would wake up and attack. How it thought it was going to run away with the duck I’ll never know. Hot water, much plucking, a sharp knife and some gut wrenching later we had a bucket full of blood guts, lots and lots of feathers and one duck ready for Number 2 to create something special from the results of Mystery DIY Man’s first offering.

One phone call to the Mothership later and Number 2 had a few recipes to try, she has settled on a slow braised Chinese spiced duck pie. We will have to see how this wee adventure goes.