How do I keep grouse and other small game fresh in the field?

[ehtea]

I'm totally new to hunting so I apologize in advance if the answer to this is obvious..

I'm wondering how to keep upland game birds from spoiling overnight in the field. Last weekend I bagged a few grouse with my .22 on my way home Sunday afternoon after spending a couple of days in the alpine. I was able to get the birds to the freezer that evening. I'm thinking that this weekend it'd be great to stay out overnight, and hunt both days, but the last thing I'd want would be to have birds from Saturday spoil before I could get them into the fridge or freezer Sunday night. Are there any special techniques for keeping the meat fresh? I guess I'd have the same question for hares and other small game like that.

Thanks for any advice!

[digger dogger]

Breast them, Put them in a cooler with ice.
If u are new hunting, you tube, "how to clean a grouse".

[Big Lew]

If you want to keep the bird intact for roasting etc, then gut them right away. Allow them to cool down, especially giving the chest cavity air for this purpose. Don't put them in a tight container such as a plastic bag until they're cold. Even leaving the guts in for half a day during the warm weather can sometimes lead to tainted meat. I just returned from 3 1/2 days and all my ducks and grouse are fine even though it was quite warm during the day.

[boxhitch]

Breast them or eviscerate , leave the mandatory wing on , ziplock bag , put in a cooler with ice block

[itsy bitsy xj]

I was going to say cooler and ice but that's already been said

[BigfishCanada]

I always have zip lock bags in my pack, clean em, zip em and put them in the cooler

[finngun]

if ya not having a cooler.....old sea salting system works too..of coarse ..cleaning--and cooling first..and no plastic bag,,newspaper is waay better..sucks blood too:mrgreen:f-g

[ehtea]

Since I spend most of my time in the bush backpacking I'd rather go cooler-less. Would you agree that it's okay to skin and eviscerate them and keep them in a cloth bag for a day or two without them going bad?

[Backwoodninjajunky]

Clean and eat em hahah you cool all your meat soon as possible, and obviously not soak it in water

[heyblast]

Assuming your Hunting the alpine you wont have a cooler. Shoot Saturdays supper and on Sunday carry them out and put on ice as the others have said.

[Big Lew]

Since I spend most of my time in the bush backpacking I'd rather go cooler-less. Would you agree that it's okay to skin and eviscerate them and keep them in a cloth bag for a day or two without them going bad?

I leave the feathers and skin on after gutting and removing the crop. If you skin them the outer flesh will become dried out and hard. Cloth bag is good. Even a plastic bag is ok once the bird is cooled and still has it's feathers.

[ehtea]

Thanks for all the advice - I had a great weekend out with my old man and now have a few more birds in the freezer!

[adriaticum]

Newspapers are a very good insulator.
If you can clean the grouse and cool them in a creek or over night. You can wrap them in newspapers.
I haven't tried this with grouse but I use that method to keep water cold for longer periods.

[buck nash]

I've always hated the rule about leaving a wing attached. If it was up to me I'd separate the meat from the rest of the carcass and put in a zip lock bag to cool in a cooler of ice. But with filthy feathers attached it's hard to keep the meat clean and cool without being unhygienic.

[adriaticum]

I've always hated the rule about leaving a wing attached. If it was up to me I'd separate the meat from the rest of the carcass and put in a zip lock bag to cool in a cooler of ice. But with filthy feathers attached it's hard to keep the meat clean and cool without being unhygienic.

Don't worry, there is nothing dirty in the bush that can taint the meat.
City dirt is the one you want to worry about.

[Pangaea]

x2 to what adriaticum said. Animals keep themselves remarkably clean, and if you're breasting them, you're efficiently removing the convenient hygenic wrapper they come in. More to worry about from the germs on your hands...

[buck nash]

Don't worry, there is nothing dirty in the bush that can taint the meat.
City dirt is the one you want to worry about.


Nothing? I mean c'mon. They roll around on dusty rds where cows have been shitting! Or for that matter where they've been shitting.

Now don't get me wrong I'm not neurotic about hygiene, I'm no Howard Hues but there most definitely IS stuff on them that can contaminate the meat.

I'm still gonna eat it but I wish we didn't have to leave feathers attached. To get around this I just pluck the feathers up to the first joint and slip a bag over the meat and wrap an elastic around the plucked portion of the wing. This leaves enough feathers to satisfy the cos that I've had to show my grouse. As soon as I get back to camp the wings come off and the breast are prepped for cooking.

[Big Lew]

I personally can't see how a gutted and de-cropped bird with it's skin and feathers left on can become
contaminated. Both the skin and feathers probably keep the meat cleaner and safer than removing it
until back at camp or home.

[russm]

I generally eat grouse as I get them lol, there's usually only 1 or 2 that make it home.

[Sofa King]

I usually eat my grouse that day I kill them.
I wouldn't really want to be carrying them around for too long without a cooler or something similar to properly store them in.

[new trigger]

Back last night from 2 days in 3-13 with 9 birds between the two of us. I have been keeping a small/narrow roll of shrink wrap in my field bag, use this to wrap up the feathers on the wing then drop it in a zip bag when cooled off. Works well for us.
Wonder if any one hangs them for storage? In a field bag?

[Ubertuber]

You could just leave the bird ungutted and hang them for a few days or a week. Google it, a lot of hunters do this technique.
Here's a link to one site that mentions it. http://honest-food.net/2012/10/20/on-hanging-pheasants-2/

[Singleshotneeded]

Step on the wings and pull up on the legs, the breast will pop up into your hands with wings attached...one wing has to stay until you get home, you can lop off the other. Rinse quickly with the cold water in the 2L pop bottle you brought in the cooler, and toss into a plastic bag in your ice pack equipped cooler. If you're hiking and hunting, you can get a small soft cooler and fit one of those small ice packs into it until you get back to your truck.

[Sasquatch]

You could just leave the bird ungutted and hang them for a few days or a week. Google it, a lot of hunters do this technique.
Here's a link to one site that mentions it. http://honest-food.net/2012/10/20/on-hanging-pheasants-2/

This is what I do with my birds if I'm not going to eat them right away and it's not warm out. Been doing it for years.

If they are shot up I gut them and then hang them - but rarely do I get that many pellets in a bird

[270ruger]

Best way I found is to put small soft sided insulated cooler in my hunting pack with a couple of instant cold packs as soon as you get the first one pop the cold pack and put it in the cooler with the grouse breast,kept five cool all day saturday.

[shelg]

Back last night from 2 days in 3-13 with 9 birds between the two of us. I have been keeping a small/narrow roll of shrink wrap in my field bag, use this to wrap up the feathers on the wing then drop it in a zip bag when cooled off. Works well for us.
Wonder if any one hangs them for storage? In a field bag?
That's a great nugget. I'm going to use that one.

[Jedcote50]

Out in the field I have used the old fashioned potato burlap bag (washed before use and hung to dry) lined with dried grasses to carry my dead birds. Do not use leaves of any kind to line the bag. I try to clean the bird as soon as possible, the longer you leave them the tougher it is to pull them apart.Works well strung off my day pack or tied up(suspended) in the box of my truck. Once the meat is cool to the touch and stiffened up a bit then I'll put them in a plastic wrap and a cooler. Ask any chef and they'll confirm putting warm meat in a plastic wrap and then in a cooler is not a good idea.
When preparing to cook them it's pretty easy to see if there are any pellets penetrating the meat, that's where I slice down the thru the area and use a set of tweezers to remove the pellet, if there are lots of pellets you'll have to make grouse stew - just don't cook the meat too long or it'll get real chewy.

[slowjo]

I always hike with a 'camelback' type backpack. The packs have a large cold water reservoir. After i shoot a bird or hare, I clean it and wrap it in cheesecloth or newspaper and drop it in a ziplock. I then pack it against the cold water reservoir in my pack. This keeps it cool while I continue hunting. Also, I always have a small cooler with cold packs that i keep back at the truck.
I've got into the habit of keeping the legs of the grouse I shoot. There's a good amount of meat on them and it only takes an extra minute or so to remove them.

[Morleystw]

I have a buddy who will shoot them and hang them whole on a pole at camp for 3-5 days,one night he'll cut them up and make grouse-atori ,no ones died yet....of course it depends on temp ect....common sense stuff!

[HarryToolips]

Step on the wings and pull up on the legs, the breast will pop up into your hands with wings attached...one wing has to stay until you get home, you can lop off the other. Rinse quickly with the cold water in the 2L pop bottle you brought in the cooler, and toss into a plastic bag in your ice pack equipped cooler. If you're hiking and hunting, you can get a small soft cooler and fit one of those small ice packs into it until you get back to your truck.

This is the way to do it....Plus, for more meat cut off the top portion of the legs + half of the gizzard is edible and delicious..

[walks with deer]

Once the weather is cooler we treat them just like big game.clean them the minute you shoot them wipe them with paper towel dry if they are grimy use vintage water on towel to clean up put them in sack days limit at a time by species.years ago before the limit was reduced in 7 a I remember my mom and dad and myself coming home with full posse ion limit of ruffed and spruce on a 2 week trip.ate grouse all year.