Well, it's 0730, I got 5 hours of sleep, put on my huntin' clothes and am about to wake up Jake, my German Shorthair. Got Dad's M97 Winchester all ready to go. Haven't seen a pheasant for a few years, but I'm feelin' lucky today.
Wish me luck, and maybe I'll post a picture.
Jim

You get one, I wanna know the recipe, too! I hear they are tasty, but to date I never had one...

Good luck! Pheasants are making a slow comeback here in SE Iowa, but we are a long way from populations like they were 25 years ago. My only bet for pheasant hunting is to go to one of the local outfitters that offer controlled pheasant hunts. I've been thinking this would be a great present for my Dad. He grew up in Western Iowa when pheasant were bountiful. He would really enjoy an opportunity to get back out in the field, especially an opportunity to hunt along side his grandchildren. Safe Hunting!

Good luck and remember to keep the thumb on the trigger hand down. I always enjoyed hunting pheasants. Larry

Half hour, what are you going to do, shoot them when they let them out of the cage.

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Don

Ha, I too wasn't sure if he only had a half hour to hunt OR he was leaving in a half hour!!!

It's not healthy, but for us... we cut it up, roll it in Bisquick and slow fry it in a skillet. Then we make gravy out of the drippings and put that on mashed potatoes. Throw in a vegetable for good measure and I'm in hunting/eating heaven.

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M&PC FS BG Shield+ 642 686+

I hope your luck with birds is better than mine was on Thursday. I got up at 3 am to drive to Idaho with my setter to hunt Sharptail grouse, huns and pheasant. I hiked all day and covered miles and managed to only move one sharpie. Got home at 11:30 pm. It was a fantastic day!

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Bill Bates

Well, as they say, the best laid plans.
Went out for almost two hours. Did not see a single bird. Didn't even hear anybody else shooting either. I remember years ago opening morning sounded like a combat zone.
Well, at least Jake got some exercise.
Jim

Ia suffered for Pheasants what IL did for Quail, the farmers all cut out the roadside hedge rows, and rough area's. No cover left for game. Unfortunately it will take more restrictive hunting laws, and changes in farm utilization to bring them back. Probably won't happen.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

i"m in NW IA, the state's road count here was supposed to be the highest increase in like 50 years but I'm not seeing it here. Will be hearing more about the success rate next week when I'm at the shop. Beautiful weather, makes me wish I could still give it a try but sprained ankle & no bird dog makes it a no go.

Best way to kill a pheasant around here is just drive down the highway. I've had 2 of em commit suicide recently. Luckily, they went under the truck, instead of thru the grill. Uncle Tim wasn't as fortunate with his jeep...

I replaced the grill for him, but made him clean up the bird.



I won't post the pic of the bird...

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-Roger

yuummm pheasant...i haven't had any in years since i quit small game hunting. since the PA game commission stocks them, they are plentiful.

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SDMF

Is pheasant meat light or dark? Or is distributed like on a chicken?

A British correspondent on another board says they hang game birds over there until they're what I'd probably call half rotten. She thinks that's normal.

Do you guys with access to pheasants age them at all?

Back a few years ago when the wife and I had more income to play with, we made two trips to S.D. to pheasant hunt. It was incredibly fun.

Using a commercial outfitter, we kept getting paired up with groups of Northern people from places like Mich., Ill., NY, etc. They all seemed to favor toting great big goose cannons, and most were quite poor shots. (It WAS amusing that one small group was from Florida. It was about 45* and they had on enough clothes to brave the Arctic)

I used a 28 ga SxS, wife used a Browning Lightning 20 ga Citori. We had no problem limiting out, and even got to shoot some extra because the rest of the group could barely hit anything. Honestly, I didn't think hitting them was difficult. Kind of like shooting at a motivated flying chicken.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

I love pheasant hunting, just not much of it to be had here in NM.

Had some good areas when we lived in Idaho, though. My little guy at 12 with his first bird. He shot it and said, let's go home and leave some for everybody else.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

The dog sure looks mighty smug.

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Oh well, what the hell.

I haven't been pheasant hunting since I lost my Brittany a couple years ago. We still have them in pretty good numbers here but still not like the old days. Farming practices have changed and that has hurt them the most.
I used to go with friends to game ranches that had good flying birds and we had some great times. I tried western Iowa with friends a few years ago but we didn't do so well there. The one local friend said that was the start of their decline there.

Pheasant hunting here in Utah has really declined over the last 20 years. Farming practices, urban sprawl and predators have made pheasant hunting here a thing of the past.

These days we mostly hunt pheasant on put and take reserves. It really isn't the same as hunting wild birds. The birds don't fly as strong or run like crazy like wild birds but it is better than nothin.

At least I still have decent ruffed grouse hunting nearby.

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Bill Bates

Yotes, skunks and critters have robbed the nest in the Reno area and the nearest birds are 120 miles away now.

Good cover and food in LARGE amounts are needed for upland birds to survive and it is disappearing each day............

Good hunting to all.

A youngster in the 50's & 60's Ringneck's were abundant as squirrels & rabbits. Seen along all the country roads.

Two a day limit, no dog, I'd be done in an hour or two.

DDT & other insecticides destroyed the population.

Re-introduced, the population is low, too many predators. I recently gave up hunting, just like to see game and watch it now.

Hunted the local state game land yesterday morning. Took one cock bird, and missed another (hard to hit when you are standing on one foot, twisted around, trying to hit one that takes off behind you).

Talked to a game warden, and he agreed that even on the well managed and stocked game lands, the predators and hawks take a big toll on the stocked birds. Few survive any length of time.

Larry

Other predators are wild pigs and wild turkey. Feral cats are one of the worst. When you get a good year in South Dakota, it is an unbelievable experience. Wild birds there flush from two hundred yards if they hear a car door closed too hard. You really can't compare wild SD pheasants to any preserve birds that I have seen.

Dark meat on a bird is muscle that is used, Chicken farmed commercially don't fly so their breast is white, as are turkeys. Pheasant is all dark as are all game birds I have shot. We have eaten pheasant the same day and at most three days later but all left in a refrigerator. I understand the British hang birds by the neck until they are ready to fall but that is not a practice I have heard of being done in the US. I do believe beef and big game is better aged for a minimum of 3 weeks but that is in a controlled temperature and after being dressed out.

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Front sight and squeeze

I've never hung a pheasant but know of some that have and swear by it. Having worked in commercial refrigeration and a wife in the medical field it goes against all safe food handling practices I've had drilled into me. I field dress birds after shooting them usually all always in warmer weather. I've stored them a couple days in the refrigerator before eating them but could tell no difference either than fresh.
I never missed our Oct 20th opener either except for the past couple years I haven't had a bird dog. Might be time for another and maybe a rescue as I don't know how long I'd be able to work and hunt a pup should I go that route. I have enough property and birds for training here but have never hunted my limited population.
We always hunted the preserves and while not the same as wild birds is still fun and a good place to train dogs. I was part of a now defunct bird dog board and members used to get together for hunts at preserves around Michigan with many being members and guests only. We had times when there'd be a dozen or more hunters and 20 or more dogs. These were mainly professional breeders and trainers. We'd split off into groups and rotate fresh dogs into the hunt over the day. I got the chance to hunt over many breeds and some well trained dogs. I'm sorry the group disbanded and no longer do those hunts together.

My grandmother used to put out rum soaked bread in the garden. Pheasants would eat it, fall over drunk, grandma chose the plumpest, dinner served soon after.

I think hanging them serves the same purpose as leaving them in a brine over night. Hanging game for a week is common in Europe. No one ever gets sick from it so it must be safe. I think we have been brainwashed to refrigerate everything here or it's sudden death. They also like their game birds for the holidays. I knew a woman from Belgium who insisted on a pheasant for Thanksgiving instead of turkey. I've had plenty of wild pheasant, I'll stick with domestic birds.

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That's just somebody talkin.

They can get drunk. My dad and I were deer hunting in NV once and a grouse crashed into our camp. My dad walked over and picked it up. A few minutes later it flew off. He said the birds eat berries that ferment on hot days and they don't fly real well. Not sure if that's true but I didn't have a better answer.

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That's just somebody talkin.

Hope to get out on our annual pheasant/chukar hunt after the first snow. Seems to help getting them to flush, as opposed to just running all over the place. I have a date with a black pheasant that has been laughing at me the past two seasons.

Places to trespass hunt are pretty limited in the state, as are the birds. Local hunt club in Calhan, CO is the place to go. You pay for the privilege but they provide you with a guide and at least two, sometimes three dogs.

I can run mine, but he has a bad habit of swallowing quail and tries to do the same with pheasant/chukar.

Cooking is typically on the grill. Tried the marinate in milk option, but can't tell any difference with those that we didn't marinate. Last batch definitely needed something to cut the after taste.

Definitely taking a liking more to chukar. They aren't the brightest birds but definitely are good eating.

I haven't pheasant hunted in Southern PA or MD in decades since they all vanished but I used to hunt them hard. My two favorite guns were a Remington Wingmaster 20 ga Lightweight and an L.C. Smith 20 ga Featherweight.

Our pheasants, as opposed to an above poster's pheasants, had white breast meat and dark leg and thigh meat. The legs were stringy from being runners and the breast meat I found a little dry. A pheasant has a little "tang" to it and doesn't taste anything like chicken. My wife used to do the cooked and deboned pheasant meat in a mushroom soup and wild rice casserole. Man oh man was that good.

If a wild pheasant is a young one I just cut up and pan fry like chicken. I have also purchased farm raised birds. They are good but not as good as the wild Iowa corn fed ones. Hope one of my hunter friends will drop one off for me. This thread is making me hungry.

Ever see squirrels eating fermented fallen persimmons? They get hammered. Stagger around picking fights with coyotes, getting little tattoos that say "Mother"--pretty much traditional stuff. Saw one propose to a skunk once.

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Oh well, what the hell.

You should see a bird after it has met an F-16.

Two more Saturdays and the club will release birds for 4 weekends. I take a kid in the city, Joey has hunted with me 3 yrs now. When he turns 18, the club won't let him hunt without joining. Three of our 4 kids hunted with me there also. Been a while since they went with me. Time flies, can't wait till Nov. 8th. Bill Bates, what model SXS are you using? Larry

When I was a kid when My Dad and I would get some pheasants Mom would cook them in mushroom soup. It was OK, but not great.
My Dad's best friend took me hunting a lot when I was a teenager. He gave me a delicious recipe. Put 'em in Shake and Bake, both flavors, and then cook at about 300 degrees with bacon wrapped around it.
Dang, that was good.
I gotta get some birds this year.
Jim

My lovely wife stumbled on the pheasant recipe last year. Oh my gosh it is good.

Pot Roast of Pheasant with Shallots and Caramelised Apples - Pot roast - Recipes - from Delia Online

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Bill Bates