Susan,
It is illegal to hunt ducks with a rifle.
It is considered by most to shoot ducks off the water as unsporting. This is mostly by family or local tradition. I won't do it,but won't condemn someone else if it is legal where they hunt.
Pellets in the meat is not as much of a problem as Hollywood and Ahnud & Co. would have you think. Most ducks I kill have 0-1 pellets in the breast, and I find 99% while cleaning. Can't remember the last pellet I bit into. Afterall, you should be pointing for the head. Most beginning duck hunters see this big ol bird and shoot for the body. More cripples that way.
X-raying dead ducks? He has too much time on his hands or doesn't hunt very much. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

BTW, I hunt a lot of ducks.

duckear