ODWC photo
Jeremiah Steinert has been duck hunting most of his life and has bagged several amazing memories along the way. But this past season, he also bagged what he has called his one-in-a-million bird.
Steinert was hunting public lands in Southwest Oklahoma in Nov. 2025 when he shot what he and biologists suspect is a mallard – wood duck hybrid.
Jeremiah Steinert and dog Atlas with their “one-in-a-million” bird, a suspected mallard – wood duck hybrid.
“It wasn’t an ideal day,” Steinert recalled. “It was sunny with warm weather.” Air temperatures reached a high of 74 degrees, well above the typical 30- to 50-degree weather many duck hunters favor.
After trying his first hunting spot with no luck, Steinert moved to another area that had been intentionally flooded by biologists after late-season rains.
“This is my third season hunting that particular WMA and I’ve never seen this area flooded before. I was super ecstatic to hunt it; it looked like a birdy area.”
Two birds flew straight into the new hunting spot, and Steinert took his shot and bagged the hybrid duck. He sent his dog Atlas to retrieve the downed bird.
“Once I saw the bill, I knew it wasn’t a normal duck. The bill color was a dead giveaway.”
Atlas dropped the bird like a good boy, and Steinert immediately called his friends to ask their opinion. “Is this what I think it is?” They all agreed it may be a mallard – wood duck hybrid based on the mix of physical characteristics the bird showed.
After taking a series of photos of the bird’s head, wing and breast feathers, as well as of the feet, Steinert reached out to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation to share the story of his incredible public lands hunt.
Read More HERE.
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