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View Full Version : When do I have to clean my geese?????



Thunderstix
01-04-2004, 08:50 AM
My friend has told me that they are ok hanging with guts in but I want a second opinion before they are ruined. They are in my workshop (which is plenty chilly) in my house. I plan on skinning them as opposed to plucking.

bone-collector
01-04-2004, 10:33 AM
probably should have been done asap when you got home Mike, I would think, not sure if bone sour can set in birds or not ,

Thunderstix
01-04-2004, 11:30 AM
Uh Oh! 8O Guess I know what I am doing after lunch today./

BCHunter
01-04-2004, 12:36 PM
I leave mine hanging for a day or two. One of the old timers says he's hung his birds for days before. I don't know about days but 24hrs is about it for me...

Marc
01-04-2004, 12:48 PM
I try and clean the guts out as soon as I get home or the next morning depending on how tired I am. If the bird is shot in the gut and the juices are allowed to mingle it's going to spoil the tast of your bird. If you're going to breast out the bird then do it the same night as it only takes 5 minutes and is easier to take the skin off when it's still warm.

I hope that helps.

Thunderstix
01-04-2004, 01:39 PM
Thanks for the info, all.

MADTRAPPER
01-04-2004, 02:45 PM
My friend has told me that they are ok hanging with guts in but I want a second opinion before they are ruined. They are in my workshop (which is plenty chilly) in my house. I plan on skinning them as opposed to plucking.

"Goose and Duck Hunters".

http://www.hunt101.com/img/085712.JPG


It's just like doing the domestic birds and animals that you raise. (chickens, ducks, pheasants, geese, rabbits, etc..) Cleaning, cooling and cleanliness of your birds or animals means everything. :wink:

Thunderstix
01-04-2004, 06:12 PM
Man, i sure hope they are tasty still 8O ....I'm getting a little worried.

Fred
01-07-2004, 01:43 PM
It's been a heck of a long time but I used to clean mine in the field by the vehicle. My dad and uncles used to bring the ducks home before cleaning. Fred

MRBucks
01-10-2004, 06:17 PM
When the shooting is good and we are getting a lot of birds, We usually just strip the breasts out of the Canadas. This is a simple way to avoid the mess of cleaning, and plucking, and you get the meat that counts anyways.

Just lay the bird down on a table, or counter, and tear through the skin covering the breasts. Sometimes a knife will help start the tearing process. You need to rip back the skin and feathers enough to expose both the breasts, almost from the throat, to the drumsticks. Then with a sharp knife, like you would use for filleting a fish, run the blade down the side of the centre breast bone, till you hit the ribs. Then cut down along the bottom of the breast, where it looks like a triangle. Peel the breast back as you cut the meat away from the ribs, pulling the breast up, till you meet the point almost where the wings join the body. Then cut through this last bit of meat, and pull the breast out. Do the same on the other side. A good size bird will yield about 3-5 lbs of nice lean dark meat.

I find that Canada goose meat is more like beef than fowl. You can cut up the breasts, into stew size pieces, and make a great stew, just as you would moose, or beef. You can also grind the meat up in a grinder, and make great mince for chili's or speghetti sauces. Try the mince for hamburgers too, but grind the meat with some bacon added, or it will be to lean to shape into patties that will stay togeather. You can also roast the breasts, but lay some bacon across the top, or a piece of beef fat, to prevent it from drying out. The beef fat also adds great flavour. :P

I hope your birds turned out ok!

coaster
01-11-2004, 11:09 AM
I find it is best to gut and clean right away,and if the weather is cool enough I cut an orange in half and put it in the cavity and let hang for another day or so.I have heard of useing an onion insted of a orange..

Schutzen
01-03-2005, 12:50 AM
T-stix
Years ago I found out about a little trick that makes it easy in the field. Make your self a hook type utensil about 10" - 12" a hvy welding rod with the coating cleaned off works, bend a small hook in the end. You cut the goose/duck belly open insert the hook thingy as far as you can and twist it around a little then pull the guts out. It will get most of it out till you can get it home to finish the job. Some knife manuf. still make small gamebird knives with a little hook setup on them for Quail and such.

Thunderstix
01-03-2005, 10:35 AM
Thanks Schutzen. I am embarassed to say that I have only gone for geese once this year....and only 9 days left...I think.

Schutzen
01-04-2005, 06:41 AM
T-Stix
Hey no problem, glad I could pass it on to you.
Kool thing about sites like these is being able to share or learn from others.
I'm always picking up stuff from the guys here and I toss in my limited knowhow here and there too.:roll:

leftcoast
01-17-2005, 08:22 AM
Couple years ago we tried the English thing and hung a goose for several days by his neck, guts in. We cooked it like a regular roast and it was still tough. Tasted okay.

Usually we slow cook them or can them. I like canned because it makes great sandwhich meat.

=keith=

Schutzen
01-17-2005, 06:52 PM
Keith

One of my friends likes to marinate his birds sliced up in different types of salad dressing then fries it up, he swears by it!

redlegdrake
11-01-2005, 07:43 PM
I have skined them out. Makes it easy and no plucking. Just pluck a few for fancy ocations. Even do it with the geese. Especialy if I have 20 snows. It takes all day to pluck them. But I gut my birds as soon as the dog puts them in hand most of the time.

Freshtracks
11-01-2005, 08:59 PM
Baah ... cleaning ducks. I cleaned ducks for 2 years before my dad took me out and got me a license at 14. Then a ol' friend of my dads showed me how to do ducks the old country way.

It required hanging ducks on a cedar shingle sided shed by the heads, allowing the birds to decompose (1-2 weeks) until the belly lining would ripen and split open, allowing the innards to fall out.

You then take the duck, throw it away and eat the shingle.:p :-D :p

No seriously ... cleaning your birds as soon as possible will take any gamey taste from them. Usually the innards are damaged by shot and start a decomposing reaction. It is true though that the old country English like to hang their upland birds and waterfowl for a few days to enhnace that gamey taste.

Me I usually draw my birds and rinse them well with cold water that night and then ziplock and freeze.

A word of advise for grass eating waterfowl like geese and widgeon. Intestines full of grass decomposed very quickly, hence some finicky hunters I've heard draw their birds warm. :-|

NEEHAMA
11-02-2005, 11:00 AM
i've left them over night and the smell is rank! don't do this.
gut them right away in the field. just bring a knife and a garbage bag. when you shoot one find a out of sight area. gut them and skin them out. leave a wing on for id. then when you roast them put them in a roast pot breast down as you have removed the skin they could dry out. put bacon stips across the back and you will have a super nice dinner!! man i'm hungry!!

ex bc guide
11-02-2005, 11:25 AM
I clean mine asap and they have been pretty good,I do not like the idea of leaving the guts in.
Mike

Postal
11-07-2005, 03:49 AM
I was just about to write the same thing before I read this post. I do the exact same thing...remove the breast in the field. The rest really isn't worth all the extra work in my opinion.

As for cooking I like to roast the breast with onions and BBQ sauce. I've also cut it into small strips and breaded it then toss it into some oil in the frying pan which turns out pretty nice too.



When the shooting is good and we are getting a lot of birds, We usually just strip the breasts out of the Canadas. This is a simple way to avoid the mess of cleaning, and plucking, and you get the meat that counts anyways.

Just lay the bird down on a table, or counter, and tear through the skin covering the breasts. Sometimes a knife will help start the tearing process. You need to rip back the skin and feathers enough to expose both the breasts, almost from the throat, to the drumsticks. Then with a sharp knife, like you would use for filleting a fish, run the blade down the side of the centre breast bone, till you hit the ribs. Then cut down along the bottom of the breast, where it looks like a triangle. Peel the breast back as you cut the meat away from the ribs, pulling the breast up, till you meet the point almost where the wings join the body. Then cut through this last bit of meat, and pull the breast out. Do the same on the other side. A good size bird will yield about 3-5 lbs of nice lean dark meat.

I find that Canada goose meat is more like beef than fowl. You can cut up the breasts, into stew size pieces, and make a great stew, just as you would moose, or beef. You can also grind the meat up in a grinder, and make great mince for chili's or speghetti sauces. Try the mince for hamburgers too, but grind the meat with some bacon added, or it will be to lean to shape into patties that will stay togeather. You can also roast the breasts, but lay some bacon across the top, or a piece of beef fat, to prevent it from drying out. The beef fat also adds great flavour. :P

I hope your birds turned out ok!