OK, another try tonight. Roast mallard high and fast after browning.

Think I nailed it this time. Taste and texture was between steak and roast. It retained the color of medium rare.

The key was to brown the outside more completely, and then into the oven at 450F until the core temp reached 160F. Then took it out and let it stand 10 min.

Most excellent!!!

Ironically there is essentially no odor in the kitchen when roasted this way.

It took but 2 tries to get this dialed in. I won't bother fixing mallards and puddle ducks any other way than this.

Btw...found the recipe on Delta Waterfowl.