How to feild dress a grouse, with pics!

[Shack]

I posted this in the top hunting forum, I figure it could do some good in this forum! Most of all of use know how, but I figure there are some out there who don't!

Good luck!

If any one would like to know how!

Stand with all your body weight on the cocks feet. Be careful not to step on the tail.

Gripping the birds shoulders, pull firmly and steadily upward. Don't yank it. Just slowly pull until you feel the tendons separating and releasing the organs from the breast.

Make sure the breast came up with you, and didn't get left down there in the dirt.

Remove the nerve cord and any remaining organs.

This is mostly out of interest. But you can open the gullet sack and see everything that the bird has been eating. Mostly leaves and berries. You should see the gullet sack right down the birds neck, from where you removed the head.

Grip just below the shoulder and give the wing a twist to feel the lower joint separate. Twist it again until the wing breaks free.

Pull any feathers or organs off of the breast, until it is generally clean. Wipe yer hands across yer jeans to remove any blood.

[Lund4ver]

Looks like another option, have you tried it the other way where you stand on the wings close to the body/breast and pull the legs? That works good to, and most of the time I can get all the organs and everything at once. Just another option, but I will have to try this one as well.

[brassman]

I don't bother unless I am on a trip, if I go straight home after hunting, I just breat them out. It is just easier that way. If I were to be hunting for a couple days away from home I would do that, it makes it the easiest for the hunter, not so much for the bird.

[2thepointsetters]

Looks like good way to clean a bird if your affraid to get your hands dirty. Dont really see a need to be stepping on the bird to clean it. I have seen people do that before and they ended up with a leg and wing in their hands and everything else still together. To each their own.

[mwal]

That is a good way get bird ready for cooking. I maybe wrong but I don't think breasting is legal for transportation. According to pamphlet they show legs attached to body. if anyone knows for sure please post

Mwal

[Shack]

I think leaving a wing on is a legal method of transport!

I found this at DNR website! Read the second line. I read it as they have to be undressed for transport??

Transportation Of Game BIRDS

Game birds possessed in the field or being transported must be

“undressed.”

An “undressed” game bird is defined as:

• Non-migratory upland game birds (turkey, pheasant, grouse,

Hungarian partridge,

prairie chicken) must have one leg and foot or

the fully feathered head or a fully feathered wing intact.

• Ducks and mergansers must have a fully feathered wing and the fully

feathered head attached.

• Geese must have a fully feathered wing attached.

• Other migratory game birds (doves, woodcock, rails, snipe, coots,

and moorhens [gallinules]) must have feet and a fully feathered

head

attached.

Here is link to DNR website!

DNR samll regs booklet PDF.

[USPENAMC]

i am no expert at bird hunting cleaning but i have hunted doves all my life and this is the way we did it with them

DONT GET YOUR HANDS WET because the feathers will get stuck on your hands a pain in the behind

the first thing you should do is pull out the feathers if leave the entrance and exit holes for last because the blood will once again make all the feathers stick on your hands.

to breast it out there are two ways to do it.

either cut both wings off / when you get home remove the head and just pull on the breast part and it should come off easily. you must cut off the wings right next to the body so its easier to pull up and also the head.

in texas back in the day we had to have at least one wing on the body because they have WHITEWING dove down there. but you could remove the head.

so when we got home we would just cut the extra wing and pull up on the breast

[jaydog]

Quote:

---

Looks like another option, have you tried it the other way where you stand on the wings close to the body/breast and pull the legs? That works good to, and most of the time I can get all the organs and everything at once. Just another option, but I will have to try this one as well.

---

this is the best and fastiest if done right also works on pheasant if done right u won't have to mess with guts easier to cut the breast out too

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

I've always done it the opposite way with good results. Stand on wings close to body and pull on legs. Basically you come out with breast with wings attached which is legal for transport. I clip wings at home then process. The one gray area is I often keep the legs/thighs which at that point are completely seperated from everything else. Same with pheasants. If a foot can be used as identifier by law I hope it can be seperate from body? I plan to keep doing it that way. I cant imagine going back to gutting and plucking to keep body (breast, wing, legs) all intact together.

[Shack]

You guys, it does not matter! Either way you are doing the same thing.

30 seconds later you have a breast pop out! Feet up or down!

I have done it both ways, but only have pics of this way!

The only differnce I have found is when you step on wings and pull feet, the breast has a tendancy to fall forward or backward onto ground. This only occurs when one is not paying attention. When you step on feet and pull wings, the breast pops out the same, but comes up with wings.

Stick with what feels best for ya. I really do not think about it out in field. What ever feels right at the time.

Good luck!

[Shack]

Has anyone noticed what I posted a couple of posts back.

In field or transport, bird must be undressed!

It sounds like right after you shoot bird, you have to feild dress it right away! I never knew this.

It sounds like one of those DNR loop holes????

[brassman]

I will not breast out a bird untill I get home. just to clarify that. if you are going to transport it anywhere, it must be I dentifiable, but once you get home and the only transportation it is going to do is from the pan to your stomach then you can breast it out.

[Hammer Handle]

No, not true. A dressed bird is one that is all cleaned and picked. An undressed bird is one with all the feathers on (intact). You must leave something on it to identify the bird.

That is what a DNR offical told me when he busted some hunters near my land and I stopped by to say "Hi".

Also caught them with 16 duck breasts. Big fine for those guys....

[Shack]

Ya, I see what you mean! I copied word for word from DNR site and if you read into it hard, it is like it says an "undressed bird" is only what they state as following. It does not say anything about a bird totally untouched. They give an explanation of a "undressed bird" and it says no were in their statement about it could also mean a untouched fully dressed bird freshly shot out of the field, but you are right. An undressed bird has to also mean a just shot bird with no field dressing to it.

[MOBY RICHARD*]

You are confusing Dressing and Undressing, as being similar to putting On or taking Off clothing, or Dressing a wound by cleaning and putting something On it.

This type of Dressing/Preparation, is the Removal of something. Basic field Dressing of Game, is usually just the removal of innards, which of course leaves it totally identifiable...though there are the other legal options to go a little further...not to be confused with Dressing at Thanksgiving either...

[Shack]

Moby,

I was not confused, just reading into the regs a little too close. Well, maybe at first I figure undress was like take your cloths off or something or as to undress a bird. LOL, just joking! But one could make that connection if they never hunted in their life before.

I figure this. A first time, out of the box hunter wants to go bird hunting. This person has no experience at all with hunting, terms of hunting and any thing at all to do with handling game or processing it. The first thing this person does to get them selves up to speed on hunting is get a reg. book with license. Opens book at home and starts reading. This person gets to the part about legal transport and reads this (first Line).

Quote:

---

Game birds possessed in the field or being transported must be

“undressed.”

An “undressed” game bird is defined as:

---

This person reads what follows after this opening statement and for all that person knows, is the term "undressed" only means the follow couple of scenarios the DNR has listed as a legal term of "undress". This person does not even know the full meaning of field dress or any other terms of hunting yet. To that person, they would think you can not posses a fully feathered, head intact, both feet dangling guts and all bird in field or in transport.

Like I said, I was reading a little too close! Which, is very easy to do in the hunting and fishing regs book these days!