Plucking pheasants

N

NYBowhunter71

New member
I have heard that a good method of plucking pheasants is to boil them. But my questions is how long do you boil them?
Doesn't this cook the meat as well?

Does anyone else know of any tricks to make it less messy?
 
The trick with picking birds is to dip them in boiling water for a few seconds, not to actually boil them. Depending on feathering (pin or full) it can take a little longer, or more than once.

Also, do it outside in your turkey fryer to reduce mess. That way you don't have to keep track of every feather. After that, get the kids to help, they think it is a game for a while.

Jason
 
I don't think I've plucked a pheasant in the 53 years I've been hunting them. My dad always skinned them and that's what I do also. In fact, if I'm cleaning them at home after being transported I just pull the skin back on the breast and filet the two breast pieces off and then cut out the legs & thighs. You have 99% of the meat and a lot less mess. You don't even have to get into the guts.
 
I have always skinned mine as well.

I was thinking about plucking a couple marinate them and smoke them in my smoker. I thought the skin may keep the meat from drying out too much. Has anyone tried this?
 
i'm with Dakotazeb, the thighs and legs are left with family members and it keeps the bones from sticking through the ziplock bag. i freshly shot bird takes minutes to skin!!
 
For those that pluck. How do you deal with the wound channels, feather balling and shot?

It still seems to take a fair amount of time to deal with that stuff even after skinning, breaking the birds down into peices and filleting the meat off the breast bone.
 
Downtown Bang! said:
For those that pluck. How do you deal with the wound channels, feather balling and shot?
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All my birds are head shot so I never have damage to the breast. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

When I clean other peoples birds I cut open the wound channel and clean out the blood and feathers
 
If I get a bird that isn't too shot up, I'll pluck it (most of the time I skin). No boiling needed. Pheasants pluck fairly easy and as compared to ducks, seem to have much larger feathers. Thus, less actual feathers to pull and a much quicker job. Problem is, for as tough of birds as they are, the skin is really quite fragile and prone to tearing. I tend to plant my thumb near the base of the feathers I'm pulling to prevent tearing but it' still happens. They really tend to tear around entrance wounds so I don't pluck often. Plucked game birds are so much more succulent with skin on and a real treat to eat. No recipe needed - only some salt and pepper and an oven.

I have had pheasant smoked. It's pretty good. I easily enjoy eating pheasant more than ducks, but smoked duck is even better than pheasant.
 
If the bird doesn't have the skin on it..whip it in the ditch. Don't take this wrong but IMO..people who skin their birds and take only the breast of ducks and upland birds are just lazy!

My dad taught me to use every part of the game I killed. If I had breasted my birds or skun them he would have drove his #12 Redwing up my hinder.

I put this question to others like this. If I shot a deer and cut the loins out of it and left the rest lay. I would be charged with want & waist...so should those who waste parts of our game birds IMO but wasting parts of our game birds is legal, so until that changes people will continue to do so.

Now if your going to sculled your birds to pick them. You don't want "Boiling" water. Boiling water is too hot. You will cook the skin in a matter of seconds and wreck the bird. About a 170 degree's will be hot enough. You want to dip the bird up and down in the water several times. than check and see if the feathers come loose easily. If your doing it right, the feathers will nearly wipe right off the bird. Plucking birds is something I take pride in. I can "Dry" pick about 10 ducks in a hour and they are as clean as a whistle..like a babies hinder..smooth. Sorry, you roast up a bird with the skin on or one with it off and there is no comparison. Moist & tender or dry and you nearly choke on it. You make the choice and those legs and thigh are tasty. if you don't want to roast them up, save them up for a great soup. I save the giblet too.

onpoint
 
onpoint said:
If the bird doesn't have the skin on it..whip it in the ditch. Don't take this wrong but IMO..people who skin their birds and take only the breast of ducks and upland birds are just lazy!

My dad taught me to use every part of the game I killed. If I had breasted my birds or skun them he would have drove his #12 Redwing up my hinder.

I put this question to others like this. If I shot a deer and cut the loins out of it and left the rest lay. I would be charged with want & waist...so should those who waste parts of our game birds IMO but wasting parts of our game birds is legal, so until that changes people will continue to do so.
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I do not think that anyone is suggesting that all you do is skin and take the breast off. You certainly can skin and take all the meat. I don't roast my birds, so why would I want to leave the skin? IMO that is the only reason you would leave the skin on for.
 
If the bird doesn't have the skin on it..whip it in the ditch.
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That's one of the dumbest statements I've seen on this site. I've hunted pheasants for 53 years and I have never seen a pheasant plucked. I would be willing to bet that 99.9% (maybe 100%) of the pheasants harvested in South Dakota are skinned for cleaning. Beside, I don't think I have a single pheasant recipe that calls for leaving the skin on. I'm not saying to waste any parts, just skin the bird whole. Skinning is not wasting!!!

If you want to pluck them go right ahead if that's your preference. But don't make us skinners sound like some kind of criminals.
 
Not going to turn this into a wizzing match. I just posted how strongly I feel about the matter. Most chicken a person buys in the store has it's skin on and most people who skin their game buy chicken with the skin on. Why? if somebody else is doing the plucking..the skin in good. If they themselves are doing the plucking, it becomes too big a chore for them and most choose to take the easy road. I don't..it's that simple.

Do as you like but if we ever hunt together. I'll be a bit longer when it comes to cleaning our game. Some get upset with me as I cut into their cocktail time after the hunt..if we are going somewhere to enjoy a beverage. I can't count all the times where someone has commented..just rip the skin off and lets go, I want a cocktail..your holding us up. I enjoy the game on the table as much as I enjoy the pursuit of that game.
 
If you breast em then cut the legs off your only wasting the skin, gizzard, and neck. If thats a hangin offense then I guess I and most everyone else needs to hanged. Comparing breasting a bird out and just taking the tenderloins from a deer is just plain stupid. The breast is more than 70% of the meat on a pheasant and pretty much all of it that is fit for more than soup and salad.
 
onpoint

Everyone can do as they like and you are entitled to your opinion. If you want to retain the skin, more power to you. But you realize you are in the minority.

I just took offense to your comment about "whipping any bird without skin in the ditch". If everyone did that here in SD the ditches would be littered with skinned pheasants. :)
 
It was just a Fraze that my dad always used..pertaining to what he believed to be wasteful and poor tasting meat IHO.

I once watched my bosses kid and a friend put 24 duck breast in a 1 gallon zip lock bag. They said they could eat all 24 at one sitting. Meanwhile me and my hunting partner could have a Doz meals out of 24 plucked whole ducks(or more). Sorry, made me sick as did it my partner. Game is not coming any easier each year with loss of habitat and declining populations in most areas. Sooner or later many of us will realize this fact and maybe cherish the fact that a person just don't buy this kind of meat in the store and using all of the game bird/animal you can show's the respect needed towards the bird/animal and our sport that will help continue support by many non-hunters.

Again, do as you like, I just see things different

Good hunting everyone
 
Dakotazeb said:
onpoint

Everyone can do as they like and you are entitled to your opinion. If you want to retain the skin, more power to you. But you realize you are in the minority.

I just took offense to your comment about "whipping any bird without skin in the ditch". If everyone did that here in SD the ditches would be littered with skinned pheasants. :)
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DZ, not saying all people who breast birds do this but I have seen more breasted carcasses laying at WPA, MWA's and other locations than I care to count. I bet you would be surprised just how many breasted carcasses litter the ditches of South Dakota or any state for that matter

Here are some pics from just a few weeks ago.

The first pic is of a wild rice lake that can be a very good waterfowling place.

The second is a pic of a D.U and Mn DNR sign showing it as a cooperative wetlands project(that is just above a unchecked beaver dam that raised the water level and killed off the wild rice..a whole another story in it's self)

The third is six breasted goose carcasses not 10ft from the D.U sign. Left for hunters & non-hunters to see.

I say require hunters to have the entire bird for transport. That would stop some of these poor decisions by people who call themselves hunters. This is not a isolated incident by a long shot. I have seen many, many times.

I bet I could go for a drive tomorrow and find more of this, in fact I'm quit sure I could.

Doesn't set well with me
 
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