I have cleaned pheasants one of two ways- if they were being processed at the outfitters to be vacuum packaged, frozen and accompanied by the paperwork, we cut out the breasts within hours of the hunt.
When I hunt public land and have to keep them in a cooler with attached wing until I get home, I was taught to stand on the wings and pull the feet until the onliest thing between my feet were the feathered wings and the breastplate.
Here lately, I’ve had the wings tear off when I clean them the same day o shot them.
Does the dry aging process make it easier to pull the legs, entrails, neck and head off without the wings tearing off the breastplate?