Vacuum sealed and frozen properly most birds will last 2 years (probably longer) and still be fine to eat. But cubing up fresh pheasant with a little onion and mushrooms and frying in butter ... yum. Similar to walleye shore lunch.
Unless you are on a limited budget and "survive" on wild game, do you ever think about sharing ?
Landowners, neighbors, relatives, friends (many times older people no longer hunt because of physical limitations - they especially enjoy), church or local sportsman club game feeds ?
I know for myself - I definitely need to learn to share more ... rather than donating old meat for local animal consumption.