Catch, Butcher and Preserve 5 Wild Game Birds - foraging.straw.fivebirds PEP BB

I got birds this weekend! Two pheasants and three ducks. They were shot with a 12 gage shotgun. Y'all, I've never bird hunted before, so I asked Alfonso to mentors me. I was able to borrow his gun, ammo and know-how. He and his buddy, Scott, came out to Wendell, Idaho, near the Snake River. With their directions, I was able to bring home 5 birds for this BB. I'm glad it only took one day! I know its possible to get skunked, so I planned for a couple different days. Nope, just one! I'm SO physched!
I dressed the birds out, keeping the breasts and legs from all the birds, making stock with the pheasant carcasses. Ducks are harder to pluck/skin, so the rest of their bodies became cat food. All the edible guts were enjoyed by the kitties.

I learned that, like Turkeys, pheasants have pin bones throughout their leg muscles. They need to be cooked "low and slow." I baked them in a crock in the oven in some tallow, flavored with veg and herbs. I made a reduction sauce with pheasant broth and red wine vinegar and cream. So GOOD!

Their breasts were pan fried on a high temperature with my homeade bee balm seasoning salt rubbed in. Also the best game meat I've ever had!!

Alfonso recommend I make the game duck into jerky or smoke it. Its likely more games than my home-raised duck. So I sliced and turned it into jerky. I liked how tender it turned out, since duck is a bit more greasy.