transporting a pheasant

B

Bob Peters

Well-known member
When hunting out of town for a few days, and bringing a rooster or two home, what is the best way when it's above freezing? Talking to a guy owning a rental house and he told me he has buckets in the basement in case people want to "soak their birds?"
 
I typically breast them with a wing attached for identification, and freeze or refrigerate them until I can do a full scale clean up at home and vaccum seal and label them.

If I'm camping or don't have fridge/freezer access, I just eat them as I go. But I have no idea what they mean by soaking birds.
 
Munster927 said:
I typically breast them with a wing attached for identification, and freeze or refrigerate them until I can do a full scale clean up at home and vaccum seal and label them.

If I'm camping or don't have fridge/freezer access, I just eat them as I go. But I have no idea what they mean by soaking birds.
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You can soak them in salt water to get rid of blood.
 
I no longer clean birds when I am out of town on a hunting trip. There is need to if the weather is cool.

Let the birds cool down at night. After the hunt, I bring them home whole in a cooler.

I set them out on the work bench in my garage, breast up, for a few days and clean them when I am ready.

I see no reason to clean them on a hunt and leave a head, or a wing, or a leg attached.
 
I use John singers method also.
Depending on weather and storage space in cooler.
The first day (and second) I usually clean my birds and freeze them at the motel. The remainder of the hunt, they are stored in cooler, and cleaned when I get home.
 
I will add this, properly handled, pheasants do not need to be cleaned immediately.

Not having to clean pheasants while out of town on a hunt, has greatly increased the enjoyment of a hunt for me.
 
John Singer said:
I no longer clean birds when I am out of town on a hunting trip. There is need to if the weather is cool.

Let the birds cool down at night. After the hunt, I bring them home whole in a cooler.

I set them out on the work bench in my garage, breast up, for a few days and clean them when I am ready.

I see no reason to clean them on a hunt and leave a head, or a wing, or a leg attached.
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John, what do you consider "if the weather is cool"?
I usually don't clean birds immediately (or same day) either, if the temp where I hang them (garage or outdoors) is pretty consistently below 55.
I like to hang them 3 or 4 days. Completely intact. No field dressing.
If the temp is regularly above 55, or if I know I got into 1 pretty good, I clean them the day they're shot.
I honestly don't notice a difference in taste, but tenderness...yes.
After cleaning, I soak them in salt water in the fridge for 2-3 days.
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
John, what do you consider "if the weather is cool"?
I usually don't clean birds immediately (or same day) either, if the temp where I hang them (garage or outdoors) is pretty consistently below 55.
I like to hang them 3 or 4 days. Completely intact. No field dressing.
If the temp is regularly above 55, or if I know I got into 1 pretty good, I clean them the day they're shot.
I honestly don't notice a difference in taste, but tenderness...yes.
After cleaning, I soak them in salt water in the fridge for 2-3 days.
Click to expand...

I often age pheasants on the workbench in my garage for several days.

As long as the night time temperatures are in the 40s or lower, I do not feel compelled to clean recently killed pheasants.
 
I’ve started keeping a bunch of frozen water bottles in the door of my freezer. They stay frozen forever in cooler temps. Ice is one less things taking up space and I can pull a few out of the cooler and throw them in the front window of the car or the back of the pickup to thaw when I’m running short on drinking water
 
I get the whole hanging pheasants thing and that's what I've always done. My point is, looking at the WARM weather, I didn't really know what to think about leaving birds whole. I just typed in a popular pheasant town, and temps will be in the mid 60s for most of opening week. You still just leave birds laying out?
 
John Singer said:
I no longer clean birds when I am out of town on a hunting trip. There is need to if the weather is cool.

Let the birds cool down at night. After the hunt, I bring them home whole in a cooler.

I set them out on the work bench in my garage, breast up, for a few days and clean them when I am ready.

I see no reason to clean them on a hunt and leave a head, or a wing, or a leg attached.
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I am sure each state is different and I can look up regulations. But is there something in regards to keeping them whole and daily limits? I am assuming that most CO's are smart enough to realize a fresh bird shot that day vs. one shot prior day(s) of the trip, but you never know.
 
jackrabbit said:
I am sure each state is different and I can look up regulations. But is there something in regards to keeping them whole and daily limits?
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No.

Some state's game laws state that a wing, or head, or leg must remain attached. Not processing the birds meets that standard.
 
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Bob Peters said:
I get the whole hanging pheasants thing and that's what I've always done. My point is, looking at the WARM weather, I didn't really know what to think about leaving birds whole. I just typed in a popular pheasant town, and temps will be in the mid 60s for most of opening week. You still just leave birds laying out?
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That's what a cooler and ice is for.
 
John Singer said:
I no longer clean birds when I am out of town on a hunting trip. There is need to if the weather is cool.

Let the birds cool down at night. After the hunt, I bring them home whole in a cooler.

I set them out on the work bench in my garage, breast up, for a few days and clean them when I am ready.

I see no reason to clean them on a hunt and leave a head, or a wing, or a leg attached.
Click to expand...
As John and A5 mentioned, I don't clean my birds when I'm hunting with the exception of hitting one hard in the guts(then I'll gut them on the spot). I do keep a refrigerator in my garage that I will age my birds in for a week before cleaning. They are much easier to clean and definitely more tender too.
 
I am the odd man here. One of the first things I try to do, is clean the birds upon returning. For me, "returning" is to my home, I only hunt locally. Clean and into zip-lock bags with the air pushed out and into the freezer. I am the same with deer. Is the aging process required to be on the bone...couldn't the same break-down of enzymes occur in the refrigerator...in de-boned meat? I guess I let the break-down occur inside of me.
 
Long ago a friend told me that if you keep water away from the bird, primarily the body cavity, after gutting, the bird will last a lot longer than if you rinse the bird after gutting. If you rinse it, you best be prepared to either freeze it or eat it in a few days as it will spoil. Rinsing spreads bacteria, which are responsible for spoilage. I either skin and gut pheasants/grouse, or just gut them if time is limited then put them in a cooler (bagged in Ziploks if skinned) without ice for the remainder of my hunt/transport home. If nights are cool I'll crack the cooler at night and seal during the day. I've never used ice as inevitably some ziploks leak and water contaminates the bird, spreading bacteria and causing spoilage. Ice packs or frozen water bottles would prevent this, but if I'm traveling I often don't have access to a freezer of substance. I've held pheasants for 10 days or more using this technique, even flying them back to Alaska when we lived up there. When I get home I rinse all the birds well and freeze them. Bacteria is your friend for a while if you hang birds, but not if you need to gut them. Virtually every bird I clean has at least some pellet damage in the body cavity, precluding hanging the bird, so to avoid wasting good wild game, I gut everything at the end of each hunting day.
 
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Dry Aging Venison at Home: How & Why - Game & Fish

What to do when your can't hang a deer? Use these tips to dry age venison at home in the refrigerator to produce tender flavorful meat.
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remy3424 said:
I am the odd man here. One of the first things I try to do, is clean the birds upon returning. For me, "returning" is to my home, I only hunt locally. Clean and into zip-lock bags with the air pushed out and into the freezer. I am the same with deer. Is the aging process required to be on the bone...couldn't the same break-down of enzymes occur in the refrigerator...in de-boned meat? I guess I let the break-down occur inside of me.
Click to expand...
 
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