Well as you may know, pheasant season for wild birds ended in January but the game farms can continue until the end of March so Ike and I attended the last of the Blackhawk Sportsman Club continental shoots and clean up afterwards. The weather has been unseasonably warm, and lately even warmer that it was Saturday so Ike and I are hanging up the hunting vest for about 6 months so this was our last hurrah!
Ike didn't let us down it was windy and warm and Ike hit the ground running on the clean up pointing a bird in the trees right off. They weren't holding very well and as as we got to the end of the first push, one of the guides said he thought he saw a bird land in a group of brush. Well Ike got birdy pretty quickly and I knew there was a bird in there but just couldn't find it. Ike wouldn't give up and after approaching it from 2 different directions the bird ran out. Well he was wounded and couldn't fly and Ike didn't let me down -he caught and got his rooster. That was the way it was all day, Ike really worked hard in the heavy brush, in fact I still am recovering from all the scratches on my hands and arms from following him in those brambles and multi-flora rose.
We all benefited from his nose, Chuck and Chuck's nephew John both made some good shots on birds that Ike pointed and even I got a couple so it was a GREAT way to finish the season.
I wanted to share a couple shots of probably the simplest recipe for grilled pheasant and I took my inspiration from reading "A Hunter's Road: A Journey with Gun and Dog Across the
American Uplands" by Jim Fergus. (I highly recommend this book by the way - not so much a hunting tome, but more of a story of discovery and a very good read.) While he shared many recipes from his 200+ day travel across the country hunting all species of upland birds many times he would pull his 2nd hand Winnebago off in a camping area, fire up his little charcoal grill and simply grill his game with olive oil, salt and pepper. So that is what I did. I filleted the breasts and coated with good Olive Oil, salt and fresh cracked pepper. I also wrapped them in some home cured peppered bacon to keep them moist. And as is the case with most wild birds I was careful not to over cook them.
American Uplands" by Jim Fergus. (I highly recommend this book by the way - not so much a hunting tome, but more of a story of discovery and a very good read.) While he shared many recipes from his 200+ day travel across the country hunting all species of upland birds many times he would pull his 2nd hand Winnebago off in a camping area, fire up his little charcoal grill and simply grill his game with olive oil, salt and pepper. So that is what I did. I filleted the breasts and coated with good Olive Oil, salt and fresh cracked pepper. I also wrapped them in some home cured peppered bacon to keep them moist. And as is the case with most wild birds I was careful not to over cook them.
Sometimes simple is better. I will tell you they tasted even better than they looked.
So A great way to finish the season but look for more pheasant recipes - I have a freezer full. One last thing.. "Thanks Ikey, you're my best hunting partner".
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