Use your clippers and your knife to remove the feet and the wings to give yourself a smaller area with which to pluck. If you need to save the wings or other parts of the duck for ID, later, do so.


Alternatively, if you're plucking, some hunters like to leave the feet on to hold onto during the plucking process. It's up to you. You can always remove them later, if you wish.
 There's not much of a secret to removing the outer layer of large feathers: just start plucking. They'll be tenacious, so you might just need to pull them one at a time, or a few at a time, pulling them straight out from the carcass.
 Smaller feathers are more quickly plucked several at a time, working from the bottom of the bird up toward the neck, against the grain. If you've got the right leverage and the right amount of elbow grease, you can get these feathers off a lot more quickly with some practice. Use your thumb and forefinger to start ripping them back and off.


You won't be able to remove all the feathers this way. You'll be left with a fine layer of super-soft downy feathers that are next-to impossible to remove by hand. Collect all the rest of the feathers in a bag for easy removal. They're also excellent for stuffing and other projects.
 In a large pot, boil enough water in which to submerge the duck, and melt in a block of paraffin wax, available at most grocery stores and other outlets. It should float in a layer right on top of the hot water. When you're ready, remove the water from the heat.


Use one package or block of paraffin wax per duck. It's likely you won't need to really boil the water to melt the wax, so keep a close eye on it. When the wax is melted, the water is fine and you're ready to dunk the birds.
 Quickly and gently dunk the bird through the layer of wax floating on top of the water, then immediately submerge the duck into a bucket of cold water to set the wax firmly. You don't need to soak the bird for longer than a couple of seconds, and in fact it's better to do it quickly. Before you've removed the entrails, it's important not to heat up the carcass too much, or you'll risk some spoilage.Immediately after pulling the duck from the hot wax bath, dunk it into a bucket of cold water to set the wax. You can let the duck sit in the cold water for a minute or two while the wax sets up, but it should happen very quickly.
 Now, there should be a hard crust of wax around the duck, which you can peel away to remove the downy under feathers. Squeeze the bird around the midsection to crack the wax and peel away the chunks in as large a portions as possible. The under skin should look very clean, like a chicken you bought at the store.
Remove the feet and wings as before.
Pull large flight feathers and tail feathers in the direction of growth.
Remove the smaller torso feathers against the grain.
Heat water and paraffin wax in which to dip the birds and remove the down.
Dunk the duck.
Peel the wax away from the skin.
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