# First Pheasants



## BIGDADDYDB (Jul 1, 2006)

Went out to a local public area Wed afternoon looking for my first squirrels and was surprised to stumble on a pheasant. It ran into some gnarly brush so I switched shells and went in after it. It flushed and scared me half to death but I shot him all the way there. Spotted a couple more but couldn’t get them to fly and saw several more along the road on the drive home. Came back the next day and found some birds in a heavy band of cover...on the flush got one and whiffed on the second one. Followed it across the field and got him on the second try. These were my first 3 pheasants ever...I saw one running 2 years ago but didn’t want to shoot it on the ground. Almost got it done on a deer today with the xbow so having picked up hunting on my own about 5 years ago, 3 doves and 3 pheasants, I’m looking at my best year ever! Also looking for pheasant recipes!

















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## M R DUCKS (Feb 20, 2010)

awesome, congrats!


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Pull the breast off, toss the rest(usually un-chewable, tough as shoesoles!!) Then foil wrap in butter/chicken spice, grill or bake til done. Some wrap bacon around breast and fry in covered skillet on med. heat. You might skin and slow boil the whole bird for a couple hours, remove and pull off all the meat from bones. Great veg soup base meat. Roasting a whole dry bird, like a Butterball turkey, will leave you with "dog food"! Just my 2 cents! Hopefully others will offer something better?


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## joekacz (Sep 11, 2013)

Fillet the breast's then cut in half cross way's.Next pound them with a tenderizer hammer until they're between 3/8 to 1/2" thick,I prefer the thinner.Marinade in buttermilk for a couple of hours.Shake off the marinade and dredge in seasoned flour,your preference of seasoning, or breadcrumb's.Fry until golden in color and add some chicken gravy or make sandwich's with mayo and lettuce or whatever. I'm sure you'll enjoy 'em.Watch out for the buckshot !!! OUCH !!


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

c. j. stone said:


> Pull the breast off, toss the rest(usually un-chewable, tough as shoesoles!!) Then foil wrap in butter/chicken spice, grill or bake til done. Some wrap bacon around breast and fry in covered skillet on med. heat. You might skin and slow boil the whole bird for a couple hours, remove and pull off all the meat from bones. Great veg soup base meat. Roasting a whole dry bird, like a Butterball turkey, will leave you with "dog food"! Just my 2 cents! Hopefully others will offer something better?


Yep! Back in my youth I'd go through the trouble of plucking the bird (what a pain), and then trying to roast it whole with stuffing! The only edible part were the breasts. Pheasant are a lot like wild turkey, they'd rather walk and run than fly! Their legs are tough as hell. Unless you slow cook them in a crock pot with a lot of moisture, and then they're still not all that tasty. Take the breast and chuck the rest!

As far as shot in the meat, I got a great tip from a hunting buddy years ago. The bulkiest part of a pheasant is back toward the legs. That's what many hunters focus on when a bird goes up, and if you lead it where do you shoot the bird? In the breast! Instead, look for the white ring and the red wattle around the eye and lead that! You'll put far fewer pellets in the breast meat. And when I'm cleaning a bird and find a shot hole in the breast you better believe I'm following it down in to see if I can find the shot or any feathers it might have dragged in with it. I don't eat feathers, and having your teeth clang into a piece of shot is like getting hit with a cattle prod!


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## BaddFish (Jun 20, 2009)

Nice Synergy! I picked a used one up this spring with 30" barrel and love it...wounded a woodie on opening day and shot it again as it was falling! never done that before.. My synergy and I are close buddies! 
Nice job on those ditch chickens too! LOL, I'm going tomorrow for them with a German Short Hair- can't wait..


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## gohabs1985 (Mar 20, 2010)

IMO the people that only breast it out are out of their mind. Some of my favorite dishes use the legs and the wings. Just have to be willing to be more "chef" than "cook" and try some french, italian, etc. styles of cooking.

This guy is an absolute MASTER with wild game. Have tried 8-10 recipes off his videos and have never been disappointing. big fan of his "coq au vin" take with pheasant https://www.youtube.com/user/TheScottReaproject


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## BIGDADDYDB (Jul 1, 2006)

BaddFish said:


> Nice Synergy! I picked a used one up this spring with 30" barrel and love it...wounded a woodie on opening day and shot it again as it was falling! never done that before.. My synergy and I are close buddies!
> Nice job on those ditch chickens too! LOL, I'm going tomorrow for them with a German Short Hair- can't wait..


I bought that gun 2 years ago...guy at the gun show had it barely used and I had never seen one. Fell in love the second I touched it. After he still had it 2 shows later he agreed to an heck of a price. Been my go to gun...the finish is rugged and weather proof unlike my other O/U and it’s just “nicer” than my autos. 


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## joekacz (Sep 11, 2013)

BIGDADDYDB said:


> I bought that gun 2 years ago...guy at the gun show had it barely used and I had never seen one. Fell in love the second I touched it. After he still had it 2 shows later he agreed to an heck of a price. Been my go to gun...the finish is rugged and weather proof unlike my other O/U and it’s just “nicer” than my autos.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Did you ever eat those bird's yet?? What recipe??


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## luredaddy (May 25, 2004)

For pheasants, a crockpot is your friend ! John


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