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.
