doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Sharptails!

I seldom get a chance to get close to one of these guys. In Minnesota I see them as they flush at a distance or when a gaggle of them buzz my truck flying from field to field. Compared to my frame of reference (ruffed grouse) they are kind-of big.









Love those furry feet.

Any tricks to preparing these birds for the table?

Just the usual. Do not overcook. Some Mediterranean spices are good with these, along with olive oil and salt and pepper before grilling.

Thanks Brent.

Are these birds like Woodcock in that the legs are white meat? This one sure looks like that.

Not to me. They are more like early season spruce grouse. They are pretty tasty, but nothing like a ruffed. I've only grilled a few woodcock, and I think they are much better.

Your observation is correct.
A big Ruffed Grouse is about 750 grams. A big sharptail is over 1000 gm.

You cannot go wrong treating a Sharptail breast like a piece of steak. Same seasonings, grill temp, and time on the grate.

Grouse Guy: Thank you for that.

I just fat-fingered my response here. God...that's infuriating (F^@%ing Hell!). Just got an ugly water bill here from the pseudo-commie nitwits that run our local water district. I've purchased our water from them for going on 34-years and now they're telling me (only suggesting mind you) that I need to rip out lawn and trees so they can build more condos to sell "their" newly high-priced water to. The California influence on society here is becoming almost unbearable. As these refugees from that miserably-failed State move-in they seem to worm their way into almost every facet of local government and they bring their love of a "controlled society" with them. Inevitably, that "control" brings with it a lessening of affordable freedoms and quality of life. After 40-years here Colorado is almost unrecognisable to me now.

Apologies for the rant.

Normally, dark-meat birds here have a habit of ending-up in a Kentucky Burgoo (from Hank Shaw's Duck, Duck, Goose cookbook) and that, by-the-way is not a condemnation. That particular game stew has become a favorite here and is served year-round now.

This Sharpie, however, might just end up on my grill as an experiment. I've aged it, I will brine it, and then I will grill it (wrapped in bacon). Looking forward to trying that one.

Lloyd, maybe skip the bacon and crank up the heat?

Lloyd,
I've stopped wrapping gamebird meat in bacon because, it winds up tasting like, well bacon! I tend to use various marinades that compliment the particular bird. Cumberland sauce is a favorite with dark meat birds like woodcock.
Karl

I prefer Sharpies wrapped in bacon myself, but in general I'm not a big fan of dark meat birds. I cube them and make kabobs with lots of veggies and basmati rice. Tasty enough but I still like roosters better on the table.