grouse meat

[Bistchen]

Went Chicken hunting this weekend with the 12 gauge and had a great time. Bagged four grouse. My question is, the smaller two had breasts that looked like and felt like chicken meat, while the larger two had breasts that were similiar to steak both in texture and look. All four were delicious, but I never have seen that before. I assume the larger grouse with meat like steak were the males and the typical grouse meat were the females. Can anyone shed some light on this? Is this common? Thanks
The Grouse species were Ruffed.

[r106]

I'm no expert but I would say young = more tnder lighter colour and old = darker and a little tougher?
I shot 2 yesterday they were smaller than usual but the meat was lighter and way more tender had them for dinner tonight yum yum
________
Vaporizer affiliate programs (http://vaporizeraffiliateprogram.com)

[heyblast]

My guess you shot two different species. Sex of bird dosn't make the meat different.

[groove]

Of the 5 spuce I took on Saturday, 2 of them had very dark breast meat. The others were very light... darker meat was from the bigger birds. Mmm good!

[Dannybuoy]

My guess you shot two different species. Sex of bird dosn't make the meat different.
I would agree

[JoshLedoux]

fools hens or franklins are dark meat and usually drier when cooked blues are largest and sort of in between colourwise and taste/texture and ruff grouse are the whitest (and tastiest)

[wolverine]

Are you sure they were the same species? Meat type doesn't change between sexes that I have ever found. Only on species.

[goatdancer]

fools hens or franklins are dark meat and usually drier when cooked blues are largest and sort of in between colourwise and taste/texture and ruff grouse are the whitest (and tastiest)

This man knows what he is talking about. Sometimes the younger Franklins look a lot like Ruffed grouse when they're standing on the road but the colour of the meat will be the proof.

[TPK]

No question about it, you got two species there. Ruffed are white meat like chicken, the others are dark.

[NorthShoreX]

Where is the best place to find Ruffed Grouse. Would MU 8-5, 8-4 be a good area to try?

[Peters Wildlife]

Where is the best place to find Ruffed Grouse. Would MU 8-5, 8-4 be a good area to try?

As good a place as any, Ive bagged quite a few in those MU's

[NorthShoreX]

Good to hear. I've seen quite a few Coyotes in 8-5, lots of Doe Mule Deer too but for some reason I never see Bucks. I see Spruce Grouse all the time in 8-5, just not the Ruffed so I hope to spot at least a couple next time I'm out there.

[Bistchen]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will take it all into consideration, and bring this knowledge into the field with me, and take a wiser look next time im in the field.

[4pointer91]

Could it be that the diet of the birds could effect the color of their meat?

[Tamahi]

Age plays a factor. Opening day I took 4 birds from a covey of 6. One had dark meat and the other 3 were significantly lighter. All four birds were the same species.