Just breasting out birds

[schr0563]

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So, shoot 'em up and bury them in the field, nothing I can do about it.

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I thought the intent of your original question was to see how people clean and use the game they harvest. Why suggest that people shoot and discard them? The intent of a forum like this is to promote ethical and legal sportsmanship. So far, all of the discussions have been that.

I myself, will just breast out my birds. And of course I do this at home, where I eat them, so transportation isn't an issue. On the rare occasion I cook a whole bird, it's purely for presentation, where only the breast gets eaten.

[Rost]

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Last year, I found 8 ducks on the shore of a lake. All breasted out and the rest left to rot. How can someone do this legally?

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I am not sure if this is legal or not. In all honesty, I don't see anything wrong with dumping them in a field. All you are doing is returning the carcus back to nature. That animal would have died naturally at some point anyways. I dispose all of my dead ducks and geese out on my buddies alfalfa field. Sorry, didn't mean to switch the subject.

[Wild Thing]

I don't normally post here but this discussion caught my eye.

I fillet all my ducks and geese and have for years -- simply because I don't care for roast duck. We're talking dozens a year.

If you pluck a duck you have one option for cooking: roast it.

I fillet all my ducks and geese and i can make my favorites like black bean goose chili, duck stroganoff, duck stir-fry, brazed goose... bacon wrapped duck... duck kabobs... grilled duck... duck fajitas... the list goes on and on...

Most people say they don't like the taste of duck because all they have had is dried out, tough, gamey roast duck like my mom made. Filleting allows you to remove all of the bad meat, blood, damaged meat, skin, fat and tissue that makes duck often taste gamey. (It also allows you to get rid of almost all the shot, which is a big deal with steel and dental work.)

Now, my 9 year old daughter loves goose chili and stir fry, and my camp guests don't know they are eating wild game half the time it's so good.

I guarantee you that the breast meat -- if done well -- is MORE than 90 percent of the GOOD meat on a waterfowl. Maybe keep the goose legs if you like them as a friend of mine and gourmet cook does.

Transport the birds whole, fillet them up and dispose of the cracrases in the garbage or burry them.

But in no conceivable term could filleting ducks and diposing of the carcass be illegal or unethical. It's a totally different thing than leaving a dead deer in the woods -- that's wanton waste and a crime!

I just filleted up my ducks and geese from the Ontario duck opener and can't wait to try some new recipes...

Sorry to break into a post where I don't belong, but ducks might have a better table reputation if more people knew how to prepare them... then again, there would be too many more hunters out there... never mind!!

[ChuckN]

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If you pluck a duck you have one option for cooking: roast it.

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I'll add another option....Deep fry. I really like deep fried duck injected with marinades. Teal are wonderful in a fry daddy, and easy. Any larger duck might require the big cooker.

[Swill]

Wild thing...your post made me hungry!

I think we can all agree that we enjoy duck hunting and none of us just "leave" any birds anywhere.

And I think we all use the most meat that we feel looks, smells, and will taste good.

As far as the deer for the rack story, I almost find that hard to believe; but there are rotten apples in every aspect of life, so what can you do. I would just tell him how wrong that is and to not bother coming out into the woods.

[Bushwacker]

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Basically, people are wasteful and lazy. They tell things like "everyone is doing it" or "the breast is 80% of the meat" to make themselves feel better. These same people then get mad at me when I spear and keep a 10 pound northern and tell me I am not a true sportsman for I eat bigger fish.

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WOW!!!!! Since I am the guy that posted the 80% estimate, I take your comment about me not being a true sportsman and being lazy and wasteful very personally. Alright, next time you shoot a duck, de-bone the entire thing and weigh it. How much actual meat are you getting from the back, wings, and legs? I actually do take the heart and gizzards out too. Excellent on the grill wrapped in bacon along with the breast as a side note. I mean come on, start a thread and then attact those answer your posts. Why not just start out by saying if you don't pluck a duck you are a lazy, wasteful human? How does taking a duck breast out of a duck or taking a breast and legs out of a goose compare with just cutting off the antlers on a deer? When I harvest a duck I am taking out everything my family and I enjoy eating which I consider the vast majority of the useful meat. I plucked every duck that I shot from the when I started hunting at 10 years old. I did this for 15 years and never liked eating baked duck. Then I had duck breasts on a grill at a hunting lodge in ND and found out I really like it. Then I started taking the breasts out and taking the wings and legs too, but after doing that for a year or so and really looking at how much meat we were getting I went to only breast. That is how I got to where I am with taking just the breast. Your definition of wastefulness and laziness.

Note to self: look at thread originator before posting from here on out.

[farvak123]

i usually just breast out doves, gesse, grouse, pheasant, and duck unless they were hit in the head i will save the whole bird.i guess im kind of confused as to why hunters are nagging on other ethical hunters...there isnt enough of us the way it is why do we get down on each other...

[nolte]

I pluck a few each year but mainly breast them out. I don't fillet them though unless I am at my residence.

The way I breast them is easy and the bird can still be ID to be legal to transprot. All you do is cut down the breast and peel the skin back off it. Next take a game shears and make a cut on the back along both sides of the spine. Flip it over, step on the head and feet. Dig your fingers behind the breast and pull up. You should pull off the breast with both wings attached. Clip off one wing and clean off any hanging entrails and you're good to go. Takes all of a couple minutes.

Clean picking a limit of birds takes a lot longer, if you are going to do it right. I like to wax them, but have torched them too.

[BLACKJACK]

Interesting thread, interesting to hear peoples opinions on whats 'waste' and whats not.

On ducks, I breast them out. One reason, Pin Feathers! Early season ducks have lots of pin feathers. I hate taking the time to pluck them and then when you're done it looks like crap and you breast it out anyway. On mallards and geese I also save the legs. Lots of meat on those geese legs! Done up in a roaster they are excellent.

On pheasants I breast them out AND save the legs. The lower part of the leg is not much and has lots of tendons, but the thigh meat is some of the best meat on a pheasant! I personally think its a waste when people talk about 'just breasting out pheasants'. What I've started doing is packageing up the pheasant breasts and legs seperately, the breasts can be cooked many ways and do the legs/thighs in a roaster with lots of moisture.

Advantages of breasting out the birds is that you can do a better job of picking out shot and you don't have to get into those crappy guts.

Transport is another story, if we're coming from SoDak then we do the legal leave a leg on and gut them, but when I get home I fillet them out anyway.

[slimngrizzly]

I would be more than happy to bag and ship the leftovers of my breasted ducks to anyone in need of ALL that meat!

Just want to do my part any not be wasteful!

[AugieAngler]

Interesting thoughts from everyone...I think it all comes down to what you have gotten used to. I can pluck a duck in no time, but that doesn't mean it's for everyone. I take the breasts and thighs off of a pheasant - that seems the quickest way there isn't much meat being wasted. Everyone has their own opinions on this - let's all just keep in mind that we are all part of a larger fraternity of hunters and there are people out there who want to take our rights to hunt away - regardless of how we clean a bird.