Roasted Bluebills with Sriracha Plum Sauce

A daring, tangy sauce makes a scrumptious glaze for whole-roasted diver geese

I obtained these bluebills on my very first guided hunt. A buddy of mine had a looking companion drop out of a deliberate guided diver duck hunt on the Ontario facet of the St. Lawrence River. He known as me up and requested if I wished to switch the man who’d bailed for a reduced price, and I assumed, “Hey, why not?”

I’d been duck looking a good quantity that season, although largely in little flooded areas, ponds, and puddles, the place a very good day of looking meant two or three geese. I didn’t have the entry, wherewithal, or decoys to do a great diver hunt. Since my freezer was slightly quick on duck, this appeared like a great alternative. That’s, till my 2:45 am wakeup—ugh… the bane of most critical duck hunters. Espresso served to perk me up, although the hole pit in my abdomen (one thing I really feel each time I get up too early) was rapidly promising to show into acid reflux disease (additionally one thing I really feel each time I get up too early). 

After an hour’s drive, I arrived on the information’s place, an previous farmhouse and barn festooned with waterfowl taxidermy, turkey followers, camo gear, and decoys. My buddy pulled in shortly after, however nobody gave the impression to be following him in. The information popped out of the home, nonetheless pulling on his overalls, his breath steaming in the dead of night and frigid air. 

“Suppose it’s gonna snow boys? I believe so! Different guys didn’t present up, so it’s simply me and also you fellas! You boys heat? You prepared? You boys have a lot of shells?” The fixed litany was misplaced to listening to as he disappeared behind the barn, although I might nonetheless hear his country-flecked accented muttering from the place I used to be standing. 

Apparently the opposite 4 strangers had additionally bailed, leaving simply my buddy and me for a personal hunt! 

“…get the boat pulled round and connected,” the younger information with curly hair tucked beneath a camo toque mentioned as he got here again from across the barn, evidently having by no means stopped speaking, “then we’ll be on our approach. Appears such as you two have a personal information right this moment, although much less lads within the boat means much less photographs fired means much less geese, and I wish to see useless geese within the backside of the boat,” he continued as he climbed right into a truck and expertly backed it as much as a ready trailer hitch. 

“You boys bounce into one in all your vehicles and comply with me to the launch,” he mentioned by means of the open truck window as he wheeled round and headed down the lengthy driveway. My buddy and I checked out one another after which scrambled to throw all of his gear into my truck. I peeled out, making an attempt to maintain monitor of the rapidly receding tail lights of the information’s truck and boat trailer. 

Struggling to maintain up on the icy roads, we sped to the launch the place he backed in with alacrity. We tried to assist with the boat, however largely received in the way in which of his practiced fingers as he pushed off from the partially-submerged trailer and tied as much as the pier. We threw the entire weapons, ammo, gear, and decoys into the boat and jumped in as he talked our ears off; his voice loud within the quiet stillness of the very early morning. 

He yanked on the pull wire to begin the engine, and all of a sudden his fixed discourse went silent. Then only one phrase, spoken quietly, however with feeling. We seemed again and noticed that he had yanked the pull wire proper out of the engine. He seemed on the ripped wire in his hand disconsolately and mentioned, “I all the time hold an additional. All the time. Aside from right this moment.” 

He seemed up into the sky, let loose an enormous breath, then mentioned, “We are able to nonetheless save this present day, boys. Let’s get again to the farm as quick as we presumably can.”

We packed the boat again up and loaded it onto the trailer (no simple feat within the icy water with no engine), then headed again in direction of the farm. I assumed he’d been driving quick the primary time; this time he was racing again, and I had my eyes on my speedometer as I adopted, hoping that it was nonetheless too early for site visitors police to be out on patrol. 

He ripped again down the farm driveway, spraying gravel as he spun the trailer round and backed it into the barn. “Fast, boys, fast! We are able to nonetheless save the day!” he known as, releasing the trailer from the hitch. 

We threw a small tin boat into the field of his truck and break up the decoys between our two automobiles, then we had been as soon as extra flying out of his driveway, heading to who-knows-where. I seen that we had been heading in the wrong way of the St. Lawrence and into the hillier lake nation north of the river. We turned down a slim backcountry highway and made our approach to slightly dock on the sting of a medium-sized lake, picturesque within the false daybreak. 

Flinging the boat into the water and affixing an historic two-stroke motor onto the transom, he motioned for us to huck all of our gear into the boat, then climb on prime of all the things. It felt sketchy, and I wasn’t too positive about looking this little lake after we had been speculated to be on the massive river, however my temper immediately picked up after I heard what appeared like a thousand geese whistle over the boat. 

He parked us on a probable piece of shoreline, then hurriedly whipped the decoys into the water in entrance of us, someway nonetheless arranging them in what seemed like strategic positioning. He hid the boat, then got here puffing up the shoreline because the solar broke over the horizon. We positively weren’t early, however we’d nonetheless made it simply earlier than dawn. 

He slumped down in opposition to a tree, wiping his brow, “Jeeze, boys, that was an in depth one! I instructed you I’d save the day, although, didn’t I?” 

We did have an amazing day on that lake, rapidly limiting out earlier than 9 am, all bluebills (scaups). I even shot three birds in a single cross—the primary time I’d ever carried out so. 

I made a decision to maintain a few the geese complete (and plucked, in fact!) and roast them, lacquered in a mix of three completely different flavors I really like with duck: plums, sriracha, and Chinese language five-spice. Scrumptious! 

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