Lets talk cleaning/processing after the hunt

B

ben ji

Member
I normally hunt about 5 hours away from where I live and throw all the birds in the "garage/workshop" fridge from 1975 until the day before or day that I leave.

Then I do a rough clean outside, breast them out and take the legs then do a little more cleaning inside (rinsing off feathers etc but just really trying to get on the road).

Throw the meat in the the cooler for the ride back then a 12-24 hr salt water brine when they get "home".

After that I get down to the nitty gritty and do a little more cleaning/processing (not sure of the correct term but I cut out the inside breast sliver and some tendons on the legs). Any breast or leg that is shot up I cut out some good chunks to ground into sausage or make into the pheasant nuggets. After another quick look over/cleaning at home I put the nuggets/breasts/legs in the freezer on a cookie sheet for about 1 hour before throwing them in a ziplock bag until I need them.

I found out that if you throw them all in the ziplock bag around room temp they will just stick together so I like to give them a quick freeze before throwing them in.

Tell me what you do or where I could improve.
 
The best thing to do, is clean them, and put them in the fridge, in cellophane, and cook them within 3 days 3 or 4 days. Don't freeze, they are better eating.
 
Cleaning for me depends on how lazy I'm feeling at the time. At the end of every day (or midday if it's hot and again in the evening if I get more) I just quickly breast the birds leaving both wings on, place into a zip lock then in a cooler/hotel fridge until I head home.

When I get home, I either do one of 2 things. It I'm not too lazy I cut the wings off with a tin snip and fillet the 2 breasts off the bone, rinse all the blood and feathers off, pat dry with a paper towel then vacuum seal and into the freezer. If I'm feeling real lazy or I get home real late, I just vacuum seal the breast "whole" with the wings and all attached. Then do a big clean of the breast once I've thawed them to cook. Either method, I don't notice a difference in taste with the vacuum sealer.
 
Same. Clean, rinse well to remove blood spots, shot etc., dry with paper towels, then vacuum seal and freeze.
 
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Remember that you need to follow transport rules depending on where you're hunting. That may vary by state.

I shoot mine and then clean them at home, but my house is only an hour away. I vacuum seal mine with the date on them and then put them in the freezer.
 
If I'm going home at the end of the day I'll clean them in my garage. I filet out the breast meat and take the thighs if the femurs are intact. Drumsticks go in the trash. Thighs get frozen separately for one big batch of carnitas at the end of the season. Breast meat gets frozen in water in a quart bag after a couple days in salt water in the fridge. One of the better, but more subtle, things about my home is that Monday is trash day.

If I'm headed to a hotel, birds are field dressed--wings and one foot removed, skinned, gutted--and put on/in ice in a cooler.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
I most commonly lay them or hang them someplace 35-55 degrees for 3-5 days with feathers on & guts in. Then clean them, rinse well, vacuum seal, & freeze.
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This is the only correct answer. if you are not aging your birds, you don't really know what good pheasant tastes like. It would be like butchering cattle, taking the prime rib and throwing it right on the grill. You wouldn't like that!

As for the butchering, after 3-6 days of aging i will either filet out breast meat, then remove legs/thighs whole or take out the whole breast with bones. A quick clean up with a wipe down and portion birds one to a bag. I just bought a vacuum sealer so going to use that. I was angry with myself for finding two bags that made their way to the bottom of the freezer and got burned.
 
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