Horrible Pheasant Forcast for SD, NW Iowa, Nebraska and SW MN

[CrappiesNCats]

Their is a possesion limit in MN also whichwould mean that they could have 16 birds for four guys. And 20 birds for five guys. Nice shooting Hans

why on earth wouldn't you clean your two birds from the previous day?

[hanso612]

CNC, Cleaning birds in the hotel is a mess. We switched from cleaning birds daily to keeping them whole years ago. We have found that turning the hotel fridge as cold as it goes keeps any bacteria from taking over. If we stay a week the birds, if cleaned, have to be frozen and usually thaw by the time the guys get back to Missouri- not good for the texture.Then when we get home they have to be washed and refrozen. I like to do it all at once. The biggest reason though is it's just easier if we are stopped to produce the hole bird to be counted. No legs to match with wings and feathered body parts all over the half skinned birds.

My kids love to see the whole birds when I get back too!

Most of the birds we shoot are going away shots and the breast plate does a good job of blocking most shot and little entrails infiltrate the wound chanals. If we get a really shot up bird we might eat it that night. A little butter a fried onion and a lightly spiced and flour dusted filet on the stove top and we are in heaven.

I have found that leaving a wing or head or leg is a rpia. The spur breaks throught the bag, so does the broken thigh bone. I also notice when we breast and fillet the birds the fillets lose a lot of water that sits in the bottom of the zipplock-bacteria waiting to happen especially in a cooler on a long ride. Then when cooked later the pheasant is tougher and dryer.

Many people hang and age pheasants, especially in the old world. Rigermortus comes out after a day or too and the breast is much more tender. If you haven't tried it give it a try. The extra gaminess it adds to the meat is an asset in my mind otherwise it's just like eating chicken.

Thanks for the good shooting comment. I had my share of missed opportunities last weekend. whereas on the deer opener I was on fire. In southwest MN, if you hunt hard you always get your shot at a limit-you just have to make it count. One weekend we did and the next we definately did not.