Jonnyboy
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Pheasant for ChristmasOur Christmas dinner fell out of the sky yesterday.
My question is this, If I hang them for 4-5 days and then pluck draw and refrigerate, will it be OK for Christmas day considering that it's 11 days away, or should I freeze them after plucking?
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Fee
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OMG, is it only 11 days till Christmas??
Sorry, as you were, haven't got a clue about pheasant 
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judith
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I'd freeze them.
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lettucewoman
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yeah me too 
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woodsprite
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Definately freeze them.
You probably have your own way of roasting them but might I humbly suggest my grans (and now my) method?
Put a lump of fatty stewing steak into the cavity and cover with streaky bacon. Your pheasant will be succulent. I use this method every week when I roast pheasant.
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mochyn
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We'll be having pheasant it I run one over before the big day...
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gil
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I'd freeze it too - just that bit too long till 25th.
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Jonnyboy
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Thanks folks, going to hang them a bit less and then freeze them. Timing is hard to come by when you are getting wild food!
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pookie
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on the subject of pheasants....is it poaching if you kill a pheasant on your own land? got asked the other day and I didn't know the answer....
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Marionb
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| pookie wrote: | | on the subject of pheasants....is it poaching if you kill a pheasant on your own land? got asked the other day and I didn't know the answer.... |
I wouldnt have thought so.... I'm no expert but I'd assume that if it was on my land I could shoot it for myself.
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Jonnyboy
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| pookie wrote: | | on the subject of pheasants....is it poaching if you kill a pheasant on your own land? got asked the other day and I didn't know the answer.... |
Nope, but there is a season and you need a game licence.
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bodger
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There was talk on here a long time ago about the game licence being dispensed with. I take it nothing happened.
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LynneA
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We had pheasant on Christmas Day last year. A college classmate had a friend who was a forest ranger out in darkest Essex and had a freezer load to give away. Was a novice dog's first retrieve so was a little extra "tenderised" in places. But it was enough for the two of us and made a good risotto for Boxing Day.
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Brownbear
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The Game Licence for England and Wales has been abolished. One may lawfully take any game one finds upon ones own land - even if it has wandered across into your garden from the shoot next door, it matters not. Anythong on ones own property may be lawfully taken.
Pheasant and other game may lawfully be taken out of season, if they are causing damage to crops or property and other methods short of killing have been tried and found wanting.
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Green Rosie
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| gil wrote: | | I'd freeze it too - just that bit too long till 25th. |
My Dad used to hang pheasants for AGES - until they were green. He said it made them taste better. It has put me off them for life.
Although I have to say, Woodsprite's method for cooking one sounds good enough for me to give pheasant another go sometime.
And on the subject of running them over, I was always told it was illegal to pick up any pheasant you ran over - but OK to pick up one run over by some-one else. Is this right or just a myth?
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Jamanda
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I think that's right about deer. Not so sure about pheasant.
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Green Rosie
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Luckily I have never run over a deer
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pricey
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| Green Rosie wrote: | | Luckily I have never run over a deer |
You need a Opel Ascona 1.9 sr, and a mini van 
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bodger
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Pheasants are fetching 5 pence less each than woodpigeons at the game dealers at presnt and woodys are going for 25 pence 
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mochyn
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Bodge: send me a few brace!
Where were you two on Saturday? Missed you! 
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Treacodactyl
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I think an easy to carve pheasant is selling for £5-£6 in Waitrose at the moment.
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bernie-woman
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I have never roasted a pheasant myself before, I always tend to casserole them - I have recently watched a re-run of one of Delias Christmas shows where she was roasting pheasant and explained that only young birds should be roasted and she said that you can tell the age of the bird by the length of the spur on the back of its feet - there lies the problem - I have two in the freezer without feet 
Does it make that much difference, or shall I casserole the two in the freezer and go and have a look at the feet on the ones hanging in the butcher 
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woodsprite
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BW I was just about to add a caveat to my previous post but you beat me to it!
The old country folk (my family included) roast pheasant up until midwinter and casserole after. If you get a really large bird before midwinter, casserole it, its probably one of the previous seasons birds and it'll be as tough as old boots.
By the by, tonights dinner is woodcock......I love having a son who's a keeper.
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KILLITnGRILLIT
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| woodsprite wrote: |
By the by, tonights dinner is woodcock......I love having a son who's a keeper. |
Jammy git, woodcocks my fave MMmmmmmm
.
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jocorless
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Hopefully we may be getting a couple of braces of pheasant this weekend - a friend of my Dads is beating this weekend - so that may be our Christmas dinner as well - be the first time I've ever plucked and drawn anything so I hope I do it right
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jocorless
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Well we ended up with 3 brace of Cock Pheasants which I've just finished plucking and drawing - I didn't think I'd ever manage it as I've never done it before but despite the fact they don't look quite as tidy as they should do - I've not done a bad job even if I say so myself
1 has been completely boned out as that one is going inside the boned out Turkey along with the chestnut stuffing - the rest have gone in the freezer for New Year
And they cost me the princely sum of a box of home-made Choccies
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Frewen
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I boned out a turkey once. It must have been about 10 years ago.
I don't remember it being much fun but the memory is fading enough now for me to give it another go.
I seem to remember doing it because I couldn't carve 
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