doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Dressing pheasants

I could never escape the taint of bowel in a ruffed grouse left to hang undrawn.
Now it’s eviscerate, rinse cavity, and get them on ice.

Recognize a member here called me coprophagic because I prepare and eat woodcock in the manner of Escoffier.
(Roasted undrawn)

To each their own (snipe lose all texture when aged), as long as they are not wasted.

4 birds aged for ~100 hours after being skinned (but not drawn yet). No bad sights or smells.



Skinned, drawn, final rinse and prepped for freezing. I'll cover them with water next and freeze them.

They will store perfectly this way for several years if necessary.

I highly recommend you get a vacuum sealer, Lloyd. Unreal how long things last when sealed up in this manner. Plus, you can do individual birds, then thaw however many you need rather than a whole container of several.
JR

I have to agree with the Preacher on the idea of aging game birds, especially because of the contamination due to pellets carrying feathers and intestinal contents into the meat.

If you do a search for which meat is responsible for the most food poisoning, poultry is always high on the list. When I shot my first pheasant, my Dad took me to my Grandmother's house to allow her to teach me how to properly pluck and clean a bird. She was fastidious about cleaning the body cavity and any debris from every pellet hole. She used a nut-pick to probe for any pellets remaining in the meat. Then it was to go into the freezer unless it would be cooked right away.

I like to age my deer when I can. And of course, gut shots are avoided at all costs. But it is rare that temperature conditions cooperate to allow safely hanging my deer for more than two or three days before processing. My longest stretch of not too warm and not too cold was eight days.

Keith is correct
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740002021000332

Apparently Salmonella is widespread now in wild bird feces
https://www.pa.gov/agencies/pgc/wildlife/wildlife-health/wildlife-diseases/salmonellosis
I didn't know about Campylobacter, which is nasty
https://ucanr.edu/blog/food-blog/ar...bird-species-pose-food-safety-risk-crops
Waterfowl are higher risk

And wild pheasants (even in the middle of nowhere S. Dakota) can be exposed to pen raised pheasants (a bigger issue in Great Britain and in commercial processing facilities)

I couldn't find an article specific to grouse in the upper Midwest.

We’re probably OK if we don’t use game birds to make sushi.

Best,
Ted

Cooking to 145 - 165 kills salmonella present in meat. Unfortunately that doesn't coincide with the degree of rareness some of us prefer.

Thanks for the heads up on salmonella in wild birds. A trade-off may be in order here. To my great dismay mourning doves are carriers as well.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7110632/

And any bird near a feed lot is exposed to E. Coli and Listeria (a very baddie from rodent droppings and urine)

In big country drive and block hunting (not my preference) the drivers get mostly going away shots, but the blockers often are shooting at the lower 1/2 of the bird (chest and abdomen).

Ted is correct, but hand washing and being careful regarding contamination of the surface the meat is placed on after cooking is important.

I was also not aware that wild pheasants can carry Giardia. I've had it a few times after mission trips and it is no fun.

I’d add that there is no evidence that any life form that evolved here on earth can survive a smoker, regardless of temperature.

Do with that what you will.


Best,
Ted

God...what a bunch of old women. Do you live in fear of absolutely everything?

Whenever I pull a bird from the freezer I give it the sniff test. 99 times out of 100 it's just fine. I then marinate it in a suger/salt brine for several hours (even overnight) before I begin it's final cleaning (the brine will take care of most everything else that's problematic). I remove anything that's un-appetizing (pellets, feathers, etc.) And perform a final rinse, then... I use it like chicken (except it's far-tastier than chicken). More satisfying too.

Live a little, try something new every once in a while. Have an inquiring mind and the ability to do research.

Eat, drink, live and love. It's much more-fun that way. Otherwise you're just circling the drain.