As a hunter, I’ve learned that good meals start long before I pull the trigger. My gun and shotgun shells get packed in the truck, but I also make sure to be prepared if I am successful in getting a bird on the ground. This second part of the hunt shouldn’t be an afterthought, and equally important, knowing how to care for game meat after you get home could also make or break dinner. If enjoying game birds at the table is a priority for you, don’t make these common mistakes in the field and in the kitchen.
In the Field The following list of tools are suggestions. My husband and I rarely clean birds in the field, so knives, gloves and a cutting board are not usual necessities for us when packing for a bird hunt. Instead, we prefer to transport birds whole and age them when we get home . If you do clean birds in the field, be sure to stay informed of local game laws regarding the transportation of game meat. Generally, you have to keep a wing or leg attached for identification; this is how game wardens will be able to determine the species and/or sex of each bird.
Cooler (Clean out and sanitize the cooler after every hunt) Ice Trash bags and /or zip-top bags Food-grade gloves (Prevents cross contamination between your hands and meat) Clean, sharpened knives (Dull knives can cause you to cut yourself. Dirty knives can taint meat) Cutting board (Cleaner than your dirty tailgate) Kitchen shears (For cutting off heads, feet and wings) Temperature Your No. 1 goal is to keep game birds cool. I’ve found that warmer temperatures can be especially detrimental to the flavor of darker-meat game birds, such as prairie grouse and waterfowl. Under improper care, livery, “off” flavors can become more pronounced. We always keep a cooler with ice in the truck, whether it’s 90 or 40 degrees out. A cooler will keep sun and rain off the birds, and in extremely cold temperatures, could even provide some protection against freezing, especially if your trip home is a long one. Having to thaw out frozen birds only to butcher them to freeze again will degrade the meat -- the more times you have to thaw out meat, the worse off its flavor and texture. If you don’t have a cooler and the weather might be deemed “cool,” as in 50 degrees or below, make sure to allow some space between each bird. Their bodies will hold onto heat, and the space will allow heat to escape, which is especially important with waterfowl as they have thick, downy feathers designed to hold onto heat. If the weather is warm, best to keep birds inside the vehicle with the air on.
Transportation If you’re using a cooler and ice, keep birds as dry as possible. Never allow meat or birds to sit in water, which breeds bacteria. Loosely wrap un-plucked, un-gutted birds inside a clean trash bag or store cleaned meat inside zip-top bags. Set the bags on top of the ice in your cooler. I generally don’t recommend cleaning birds in the field, as game laws typically require hunters to leave a feathered limb naturally attached. Unfortunately, this requirement encourages cross contamination, as bacteria on the feathered limb can now transfer onto exposed meat. I prefer to transport game birds whole and then clean them at home.
When You Get Home When you get home, don’t butcher the birds right away. At the very least, allow them to sit or hang one to three days in a cold place such as in a refrigerator or a garage that’s between 36 and 45 degrees, to allow rigor mortis to fade. As long as the birds are kept cold, one to three days with feathers and guts intact won’t do any harm, even with heavily shot birds. Rigor mortis is gone when the leg joints become noticeably pliable and no longer stiff. This practice will yield slightly more tender meat and make for easier plucking, if you choose to do so. And personally, after a long day of hunting and/or traveling, I appreciate one less thing to do when I get home. In the coming days, I butcher birds that are heavily shot up, but birds that seem more pristine, especially in the breast area, I age these birds longer —a week is the sweet spot for my palate. And yes, I keep those guts inside during the aging process.
Long-Term Storage Don’t freeze meat in water. Just don’t. Not only does this method adversely affect the flavor and texture of game, it’s also unsanitary. It takes days for meat to completely thaw from essentially a giant block of ice, and all the while, your precious game birds are half exposed to air, half trapped in ice, while swimming in a bacteria-haven pool of melted ice water, blood and stray feathers. Also, if the water source is questionable, any weird flavors in that water will transfer to your meat. I feel very strongly that this old-school method of storing wild game needs to die.
Freezing wild game in butcher paper is a great way to preserve meat for several months, but I’ve often found that it’s not ideal for game birds. A whole pheasant, for example, isn’t as flat and uniform as, say, a piece of venison roast. Some cuts of wild game are difficult to tightly wrap, and because butcher paper does not offer an airtight environment, freezer burn is a risk, especially if you don’t plan on eating that meat relatively soon. For all these reasons, every hunter should invest in a vacuum sealer. It’s the only method that can preserve the quality of wild game for up to three years. One caveat: Go through your freezer and check on the packaging every few months, as the seal on bags may occasionally fail. If this goes unnoticed, air will get into the packaging and freezer burn will set in. If you find failed bags, either make an effort to eat that meat sooner or vacuum seal it in a new bag.
Cooking Mistakes Heavily Bruised Meat: Light bruising will go unnoticed, but large, deep purple areas on game meat will taste off. Save these cuts for stew, soup or even poppers, where you can easily mask the flavor. Use more pristine cuts (head-shot birds) for searing, frying or roasting, especially when presentation is a priority.
Choosing the Wrong Cut: The cut of meat should match the cooking method. Don’t throw wild turkey legs on the grill and expect a Thanksgiving-quality meal. Rule of thumb for cooking wild game: Tougher cuts should be slow cooked in a moist environment until tender; more tender cuts can generally be cooked anyway you like. Tenderness will also vary from bird to bird. For example, the legs and thighs on a lot of ducks, quail and grouse can be quite tender, whereas pheasant, goose and wild turkey legs usually benefit from stewing or braising.
Not Brining: Light-meat game birds, such as pheasant, quail, partridge, wild turkey and some species of grouse can benefit from brining, which not only adds flavor and moisture, but the salt solution can also help make the meat more tender. Similar to chicken, these birds are typically cooked to a higher internal temperature, which makes them more prone to drying out, as opposed to the darker meat of waterfowl, which can be eaten medium to medium-rare and juicy. Brining should be done on meat that you plan on cooking over relatively high heat for a shorter period of time. Don’t brine meat that you plan on sticking in a stew or slow cooker.
Overcooking Game Birds: This might seem obvious, but overcooking game might account for most bad experiences at the table. I generally take light-meat game birds out of the pan at 155° degrees Fahrenheit, which results in slightly rosy meat that is just cooked through but still juicy. With darker game birds, such as waterfowl and prairie grouse, I like a juicy medium—take meat off at 135°-140°. I then allow the meat to rest and finish cooking before serving, during which the internal temperature can increase up to 5°.
Not Resting Meat: Do not cut into roasted, grilled or pan seared meat immediately after cooking. Its juices need time to reabsorb into the muscle, and slicing into meat right away will result in those juices spilling out all over your cutting board or plate – that’s moisture you can’t afford to lose. After taking meat off the heat, loosely tent it with foil and allow it to sit on the counter for at least 5 minutes – longer for larger cuts or whole birds.
Undercooking Game Birds: This mistake might seem odd, but it is possible to undercook wild game. When you’re cooking tougher cuts in a soup, stew or braise, you need to allow enough time for those connective tissues and tough muscles to break down. Cooking time will vary. For example, pheasant legs might become fall-off-the-bone tender after two hours, while wild turkey legs might take four plus hours to become palatable.
