[Nambaster]

I've never purchased a duck stamp or hunted ducks. I dont have a boat but I think that I could access some chest waders. I also havent purchased some steel shot yet. I am just wondering if coots are worth the hunt. I am sure that most hunters here dont even bother with them but I am interested in having some target practice and I also wonder if they are any good to eat? Do you think it will be possible to shoot them close enough to shore that I can retrieve them? I'd be satisfied with getting some birds and a limit of coots is pretty generous. Any advice? I live in Logan and was wondering if there was any on here willing to point me out to a place that I can access to get some birds whether they be coots or not. Anyone willing to teach me the ropes?

 

[Mr Pappageorgeo]

I don't know where to point you for coots in logan but I do have a good recipe for them...
Take the coot meat and soak it in milk for 3 days,
Then smoke it with onions and apple chips,
Next wrap it in a piece of bacon,
Now comes the most important part....
Take the coot meat and bacon and rub it in dog poo and quaker oil (10w-40)...
This is about as good as coot can taste...haha enjoy

 

[huntducksordietrying]

You could head out to cutler marsh. There are lots of coots out there. Take your limit, go home eat em and go back the next day to get your next limit. As far as practice goes, they dont fly much. You might find your self water slewing them more than anything. There is a ton of walk in access out at cutler or on the little bear river marsh area. Coots will hang out in those slow flowing currents that dont freeze this time of year. They dont fly much, mostly dive and swim. As far as showing you the ropes, Im clear down in ogden and dont get up to Logan much. I will tell you this. Hit walmart grab a dozen mallard decoys line and weights. Head out to cutler find a place out of the way. Set the decoys up in the water and wait. You will get some good duck hunting in. Waders are going to be a must. Most of Cutler is only about 2-3 feet deep, although there are some deeper channels (over your head). If you find your self set up on a deep channel use a fishing rod with a big lure to get your bird. Thats what I used to do before I had a dog. Good luck and have fun with the coots.

 

[Riverrat77]

Utah Lake, down where Pappa P hunts, is full of coots. And yeah... they actually can taste pretty dang good if you know what you're doing. I started out hunting just coots with the occasional puddler on Utah Lake... mostly because I didn't know better and partly because it was so dang fun. :lol: To cook em, take the pieces right off the bird (breasts and legs) roll them in whatever flavor of shake and bake you prefer and then panfry them into "coot nuggets". They taste a little different but they're good eatin. My palate isn't sophisticated enough to turn up my nose at them still, and wasn't when I started out hunting so keep your mind open and you might find a resource you can really enjoy when others are passing them up.

Places to hunt would be ANY WMA on the Wasatch Front, any freshwater lake or pond, marshy channels, any leftover open water places when everything else freezes etc. There are even some warmwater springs that hold coots all year. Good luck... and welcome to duck hunting.

 

[duck jerky]

coot's taste good made into jerky. right now at least what i've seen there are not many coot's around. there was a ton of them over on saltcreek and public shooting grounds. as far as logan any swamp areas.