Meat Handling on the Road

Split quail down the back if you don't clean them that way. Spread out breast up between towels. Smash down pretty hard. Brush with oil. Sprinkle with paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. George Forman for about 9 minutes. If you don't have 110 volts, a skillet over a flame or grill will do it!! DO NOT OVER COOK. Pheasant breasts will work but need to be cut from the bone and sliced thinner..
 
birddude said:
Split quail down the back if you don't clean them that way. Spread out breast up between towels. Smash down pretty hard. Brush with oil. Sprinkle with paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. George Forman for about 9 minutes. If you don't have 110 volts, a skillet over a flame or grill will do it!! DO NOT OVER COOK. Pheasant breasts will work but need to be cut from the bone and sliced thinner..
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Stomach growling reading this...photo would lead to slobbering on my keyboard. Sounds fantastic!
 
I’ve cleaned with 1 wing, then kept them in an ice chest for 5 days. I wish the wing wasn’t on there. There has to be a lot of bacteria transfer. But they seemed fine when I got home. And I ate them without incident. As for best eating. The easiest to me is fajitas.
 
Here's a good write up on aging pheasants and game birds. I started doing it about 4 years ago and haven't looked back. My buddies use to give me a lot of grief about it until they tried some and are now doing it too. As far as storage and transport I started bringing a bigger dorm fridge and throwing all my birds in it until I get home from a week long hunt. Never had any issues with spoilage and often the heart, gizzard and liver are fine and eaten. They smell so much better when you clean them too after aging, which I found strange. Here's a picture of "Pheasant Ager 1.0" that I used the second year I was serious about aging them. The dorm fridge is way more convenient though.
honest-food.net

How to Hang Pheasants and Other Game Birds

The science behind hanging upland game birds.
honest-food.net honest-food.net
 

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HS Strut said:
What do you guys do with your birds when your on vacation for several days?

We've been cleaning them at days end, bagging them with a wing, and if available freezing them till we get home.
I'd rather not keep them in the freezer with a wing attached. Anybody ever just keep them on ice for several days till you get home, clean them up, and freeze them?
Just curious how long we can safely keep them on ice after cleaning them?
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Freeze individually in ziplock bags with wing attached (no water), then clip wing off with snips when you get home.

Theyll last unfrozen for several days on ice though. Just burry them completely in ice so they stay near freezing temps, again in ziplock bags. No water, dont let them touch the ice without being in a bag. Use salt on your ice to get it even colder, in a cooler just for birds.
 
birddude said:
You don't have to rub it in our face Qnerd! we saw it the 1st time!!:LOL: I have left birds in a cooler covered with ice and or water for 6 days with no problems. The Indians would have the kids climb up a tall tree and hang ducks with the guts in for a week. supposedly flies don't get very high off the ground.
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Yeah you clean them the day you shoot them.Throw the wing in the bag, put in baggie, cover with ice, done deal.
 
KEOutdoors said:
Not legal in any state i know of. Wing has to be attached, otherwise you could just carry 9 rooster wings with you and shoot 9 hens each trip
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In MN you can do a leg attached instead of a wing.

Transportation of game birds
Game birds must be transported with a fully-feathered wing attached except:
• Turkey, pheasant, and Hungarian partridge may have one leg or a fully-feathered
wing attached.
• Doves may be transported fully dressed
 
gimruis said:
In MN you can do a leg attached instead of a wing.

Transportation of game birds
Game birds must be transported with a fully-feathered wing attached except:
• Turkey, pheasant, and Hungarian partridge may have one leg or a fully-feathered
wing attached.
• Doves may be transported fully dressed
Click to expand...

I think a lot of states are leg, head, or wing attached
 
Kansas is identifying plumage or a leg. I wonder why other states are a full wing on pheasants. I’ve sent guys home to Colorado wingless with just a little tuft of skin and feathers at the top of the breast.
Just found out through google you can only freeze two birds per bag in SD
 
What states are requiring a wing to be attached to a pheasant for identification? Foot for us.

I never knew the 2 bird per bag if frozen that BrownDogsCan2 just mentioned, just looked it up, and dang, he is right.
 
gimruis said:
In MN you can do a leg attached instead of a wing.

Transportation of game birds
Game birds must be transported with a fully-feathered wing attached except:
• Turkey, pheasant, and Hungarian partridge may have one leg or a fully-feathered
wing attached.
• Doves may be transported fully dressed
Click to expand...
I’ve never actually did the attached leg thing. I’m assuming the whole leg must be fully feathered like the wing?
 
Bob Peters said:
I think they see the spur and then know it's a male. I've always taken all the skin and feathers off and just leave one foot on.
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Same.

Completely skin the bird, leaving the gray part of lower leg with spur. We leave both legs attached until after skinning. Then cut off the lower foot that is attached to the leg in the worst condition (cut one off before skinning, then come to find out the upper leg is shot to heck and the other lower leg falls off, then you’re no longer in compliance.).

You can then “hyperextend” the remaining leg/foot to kind of break that joint so it all folds up nice in the bag.
 
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