Kusko,
Yeah...by the time those Hollywood Mallards make it down to our parts I think they've fed in every mud marsh and sewage treatment retention pond between here and Anchorage. They get a bit stinky or fishy to say the least. They're also one of the dumber birds too. When all the other birds are call shy, a rookie can give a flight of Spoonies a bad hail call from a half mile away, opposite direction, and those birds will come in to the decoys like they were in a trance! Great confidence builder though!
I don't necessarily avoid shooting them, especially if things are slow but if there are a lot of other options in the air, I'll pass on the spoony.
I have had reasonable success with a good marinade and make jerky strips or add them to the mix for sausage.