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IDcut
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 5:31 am  Reply with quote
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Location: North ID.

The thread on eating huns got me to thinking about the various game birds I've eaten over the years and which ones are some of my favorite table fare.

I've been lucky to have eaten a good share of the various upland birds found throughout the USA. With the exception of sage grouse, the prairie chickens and the Himalayan Snow cock, I think I've eaten about all the rest of the birds to be found; all 3 species of forest grouse, sharptails, ptarmigan, pheasants, CA and bobwhite quail, chukar, etc.

My taste buds prefer the chukar, but I have to rate the ruffed, the pheasant and the quail a toss up for my second favorite. Although I've eaten a bunch of the ptarmigan I'd have to rate it as my least favorite along with sharptail

Have some fun and add your two cents as to which upland is your favorite table fare and perhaps why.
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Riflemeister
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:14 am  Reply with quote
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I prefer bobwhite with Huns next and then chukar and pheasant tied for third. Sage grouse can be nearly inedible with the older bird (liver colored breast meat), but young birds with the pink breast meat eat as good as any grouse.

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UncleDanFan
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 8:57 am  Reply with quote
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Chukar, quail, grouse, all about equal to me, then pheasant second. I've never eaten ptarmigan, but I'm bummed to hear they aren't good eating? I was considering a bucket list trip up to Alaska to hunt them in the next couple years. I had assumed they would be similar to a hun or chukar. Dang it. Confused

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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:54 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
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Uncle Dan Fan,

At the top of my game bird eating list is always Ruffed Grouse followed closely by Quail of most different types, then Huns & wild Chukar, Pheasant when it's made right is very good also. Not over whelmed with Ptarmigan although I have had some that is more than just passible. The big woods Grouse in Germany is not real tasty and can be tough. Not over whelmed with our western big Blue Grouse, they taste to much like pine, we did have a guide and his wife one time that made them decent eating, as the lady said it's a learned cooking experience for sure. Never have liked Woodcock, Capt Denny Boyce and his wife eat every one I can shoot each season. Wilson Snipe is passible if made correctly. Never liked the taste of Dove no matter what great game cook fixed them. Yes Wood Ducks taste like Grouse they live very similarly, best eating Duck for sure.

Wild Turkey is great eating if you get a young one that has lived around the farms.

Pine Creek/Dave
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Last edited by Pine Creek/Dave on Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:50 am; edited 4 times in total

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MSM2019
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 9:55 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 04 Mar 2019
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Location: Central ND

I have eaten pheasant, ruffed grouse, bobwhite quail, woodcock, prairie chicken, dove, sharptail and now huns.

At the very top of the list are ruffed grouse and huns, with the huns holding a slight edge. Pheasant, quail, dove and woodcock are right up there on my favorites list.

I think my least favorite is prairie chicken, but then again I tried to roast the chickens and that recipe dried it out. Hopefully I get to try again. I need to a bit more time with Sharpies too but I think I have them figured out.

I really like these birds on the grill hot and fast without a lot of spices. The hot sears the meat and seals in the juices. The fast keeps the meat nice and juicy.

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4setters
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:41 am  Reply with quote
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IDc,

In descending order, my choices:

Bobwhite quail (fried with biscuits and gravy) > Blue grouse (the ID version is all I have ever eaten, Snake River area, excellent) > Ruffed grouse (the ID blue grouse were better than the ID ruffed grouse in a direct comparison, but I'm not sure whether better than WI/MI ruffies) > pheasant, huns, chukar, Mearns quail (all about the same to me) > teal ducks > sharptail, dove, snipe > mallards >woodcock, rail and most other large ducks > prairie chicken.

If I ever stand before a firing squad, I hope my last meal request of cast iron skillet fried bobwhite quail with flour gravy made in the same skillet afterward is granted.

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IDcut
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:49 am  Reply with quote
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UncleDanfan,

I wouldn't halt the plan to go to AK due to the taste. From Pine Creek Dave's quote from the German guide's wife "cooking them is a learned experience!" I got to where I learned how to cook them and they were decent!

Ptarmigan were the only upland bird to be had in the area of AK I lived and they were thick. If I wanted to hunt them, I figured I'd better learn to cook them they wat I liked them.
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Chicago
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:50 am  Reply with quote
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In order of preference - Ruffed grouse, pheasant and quail, woodcock, chukar and last sharptail. I had prairie chicken in the 80’s and it was so long ago I can’t really recall, but I think it ranked in there with sharptail.

Good Hunting,
Mike


Last edited by Chicago on Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:42 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:57 am  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
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4Setters,


Got to admit Quail with Biscuits and Southern Style gravy are very high on my game bird eating list, oh ya! My Oklahoma buddies wife Jeannie was the very best at making them, and with a little Zin wine and red potatoes it was heavenly eating!

Bob White Quail and Biscuits and Gravy some serious eating!

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man

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tramroad28
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 12:45 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 20 Jul 2011
Posts: 625
Location: Ohio..where ruffed grouse were

Woodcock...as much for the how and when of preparation and eating as for the wonderful taste itself.
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Researcher
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:18 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 13 Jun 2009
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Location: WA/AK

When I lived in Colorado in 1970, there was an article on Sage Grouse in Outdoor Life, which stated the best Sage Grouse hunting in the country was around Craig, Colorado. I had relatives visiting opening weekend, but the next Friday as soon as I was out of class I was on the road to Craig. The first one I got was a big old Boomer. Did a lot of walking and right at the end of the day got two younger ones. They weren't bad eating, but one had to really be into wild game to like that big old Boomer!


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MaximumSmoke
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:46 pm  Reply with quote
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I have to say I have never really learned all the ways to fix the variety of birds I've shot, let alone those I haven't. Therefore, I believe my preferences are influenced somewhat by the methods I use to cook them. Of all the birds I bring home, I like a fairly quickly sauteed boned-but-skin-on breast of Canvasback Duck -- my #1 favorite. Just about any duck is good that way, but cans are the best -- no wonder market hunting decimated them! Cook them just a few minutes in a very hot pan. Medium rare is the thing, and then do a sauce with some fruit and pan juices, etc. Bon Maman Wild Blueberry Preserves are my favorite flavoring for that sauce. Divers? -- Cut the breast meat in strips and put them in an Asian stir fry. There is a strong argument that teal are the best-eating duck -- my father's favorite.

I bring home more sharptails these days than anything else, and thanks to fellow 16 gauge shooter, RobP on this site, I have learned to enjoy them, so my 3rd favorite gamebird to eat is Sharptail Grouse. RobP, by the way, is a super cook, has extensive cooking experience and seems to have an intrinsic gourmet sense. For sharptails a slow, moist cooking method (braising) works for me - coq-au-vin style. That works for pheasants, too. However, the method for shaptails I find most enjoyable I learned from RobP, and that is to treat the boneless skinless breasts like beefsteak in a Steak Diane recipe, a fast, high heat method probably originating in immediate hunting-field circumstances. Steak Diane was named for Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt; very appropriate to the sharptail dish. Medium rare suits the dark flavorful meat, and the resulting sauce is a super accompaniment.

So what happened to second?! As usual, I'm out of order.

Ruffed grouse are hard to beat, but I've never taken enough to really get into them, gastronomically speaking. The only chukars I've ever had were game farm animals, and they were certainly a lot like pheasant - not a bad thing at all. Butmy 2nd favorite is the Hungarian Partridge. I like them better than pheasant -- much more flavorful. To me pheasant is just about indistinguishable from a lean old rooster chicken. I have been unsuccessful in roasting upland birds. I really like partridge skinned, cut into serving parts, bone-in, dredged in flour, salt and pepper, browned and then baked in a casserole along with sliced onions, garlic and mushrooms, covered completely with heavy cream and cooked on medium heat till falling-off-the-bone tender. Resulting sauce is super also. That was my mom's way to cook pheasant, and it is my favorite of the two ways I do pheasant, too. I've tried to do sharptails that way too, but it doesn't work as well for me flavor-wise.

I almost forgot about woodcock. Those birds are very special in many ways, including at the table. Those I have cooked have been OK - a nice bite on toast points, but I suspect I could do better. I just haven't had a chance in a while.

Hmm . . . lemme see here . . . I've still got some skin-on mallard breasts in the freezer. Better get them thawed out; I'm getting hungry.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!
Tony
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Pine Creek/Dave
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 3:48 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 17 Mar 2017
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MaxSmoke,

Good post Tony! I enjoyed it big time!

Pine Creek/Dave
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hayseed
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 7:09 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 14 Feb 2017
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Pine Creek/Dave wrote:
4Setters,


Got to admit Quail with Biscuits and Southern Style gravy are very high on my game bird eating list, oh ya! My Oklahoma buddies wife Jeannie was the very best at making them, and with a little Zin wine and red potatoes it was heavenly eating!

Bob White Quail and Biscuits and Gravy some serious eating!

Pine Creek/Dave
L.C. Smith Man


I have heard that this traditional southern dish is delicious. Hope to try it sometime soon.
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Emtymag
PostPosted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 7:11 pm  Reply with quote



Joined: 05 Oct 2017
Posts: 284
Location: Central MN

Doves, teal and wood ducks. In no particular order.

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