If you hang turkeys or geese you must eviscerate them, as they retain too much heat otherwise. A pheasant can typically be hung for up to a week during the open season. It doesn’t matter which way up you hang the birds, but make sure they are safe from vermin and rain, and get good air circulation but no direct sun. Green Rosie: Dad used to hang his pheasants until they were quite literally green (and even sometimes had maggots on them). A project like this tends to draw every critter in the country. This causes sweating and taints the meat. If you’re preparing for your first pheasant hunt or one of your first pheasant hunt and you want to impress the group with your skills these pointers should help. Prepare for an Accelerating Target The biggest difference between trap shooting and a live pheasant hunt is the acceleration of the bird in the wild. Hold the pheasant over an open gas flame to scorch off any remaining feathers. If any of you are Pheasants Forever members, you might have seen an article I wrote about aging pheasants in the most recent issue of their PF Journal. If you find that any of them have been shot in the gut or badly torn in the retrieve, then skin or butcher these straight away for cooking or freezing. Do inspect your birds before you hang them. He keeps the refrigerator temperature in the low 40s and hangs pheasants by the head, with the feathers on and entrails still intact. This shield helps cut down on the drafts on the floor. Please try again later. I hang mine overnight then either pluck, skin or breast then straight to the freezer. How to hang, pluck and draw a partridge or pheasant. (Once you have got rid of this the whole procedure seems less ghoulish). Depending on the air temperature, I’ll hang my birds between one to three days. It’s extra work to bury that wire–but if you don’t do it, you should just forget about the outside runway altogether. Your brooder house should be big enough to allow 3/4 of a square foot per baby pheasant. The longer you hang a bird, the more 'gamey' (strong) it will taste. I've come into a regular supply of Fresh Pheasants and although i have eaten them before, i've never had to do the hanging of a fresh bird before plucking and gutting. Depending on the air temperature, I’ll hang my birds between one to three days. Hoffmann has removed the racks from the refrigerator and fastened a grate to the top for attaching hanging hooks. This feature is not available right now. RE: How long should fresh Pheasants be left to hang before plucking and gutting? Cut off the head at the base of the neck with a decent pair of scissors. If you do not have a gas burner use a blowtorch, but don’t get so close to the pheasant as to scorch the skin. Plucking pheasants How to Pluck a Pheasant. Pheasants tend to be very cannibalistic, so don't overcrowd them. You hang phesants so that when it is cooked it is tenderer. Look them over before you leave them: if they have been gut-shot or badly torn then butcher and cook them immediately. How long is too long to hang a pheasant in these mild-ish temps, and how would I know ? Something to do with fibers in the meat opening up so that it can soak up more juices when cooked. He said it made for a better flavour. Over the years I’ve come to these conclusions on hang time: Pheasants, grouse, partridges, turkeys and geese I will hang 3 to 7 days, depending on how old they were.