Field dressing grouse - (New hunter question)

[whitey]

The dog that got that bird!
Got ahold of the bird.
Chomp!!!
Thats how I do them.(Without the Chomp..)
Works great.Im not a leg guy,,Or a wing guy..
It doesnt work real well on geese..

[ing]

On grouse I just pluck the feathers below the breast then make about a 3 to 4 inch cut below the breast. Then grab the bird by both wings and the head and swing it like a hammer.  If all works well all the guts come right out on the first swing or two. And I always have a cooler full of ice to throw them in to cool them down quickly.

[Ash]

Thanks for all the replies everybody. I wasn't trying to sound "holier-than-thou" by quoting the regs, I'm just a dumb newbie who is trying to stay out of trouble. leave head on, don't leave head on... I don't really understand why we can't leave a wing like the rest of the world.

Iceman, your method looks great and very meat efficient. I did a search of this forum before making my initial post but didn't see this come up. I wish I had. It kind of reminds me of butterflying trout... I can do this. I'll just have to experiment this year and figure it all out.

I hadn't thought of just blaming a headless bird on my "hard mouthed" Chessy. 

[RustneckNW]

I usually skin them. Cut 'em up into parts, & bake 'em in some wild rice!
Welcome to the site, Ash! Best of luck & let us know how it goes!

[rasbo]

hmmm I head shoot mine with a 22mag,wonder what the Gammies will say to that,for identification,me no likey bb holes

[Hangfire]

It only takes a couple of minutes to skin a grouse. You have no problem leaving the head attached and get them in a cooler with ice, better meat. I always save the legs,my wife cooks grouse often in a crock pot with dressing or rice. Seems like wastage to me to discard legs.

If I have to carry by hand or in a vest I often just open up slightly, pull out guts and cut out vent. I skin later.

[400out]

OK I have been hunting birds a long time and that is the first time I ever saw that! My dad mush have thought it was funny to make me breast them all out 

[runamuk]

The dog that got that bird!
Got ahold of the bird.
Chomp!!!
Thats how I do them.(Without the Chomp..)
Works great.Im not a leg guy,,Or a wing guy..
It doesnt work real well on geese..

I love this method.....hubby shot 2 grouse and brought them home so i could try this and show the kid who usually cleans all the birds worked slick on grouse....however son informed me it does not work on ducks real well 

[jeepster]

what about breasting it out/getting what you want off of the bird, and keeping the carcase? does that break any rules?

[Hangfire]

what about breasting it out/getting what you want off of the bird, and keeping the carcase? does that break any rules?

It would depend on where you breasted it out at and how much you did not keep. If you left intact with the head, until home, I would see no problem. Breast it out in the field with out head attached, problem. You would be subject to the discretion of law enforcement, if you took only the breast and left the legs, wings and back, wasteage.

[bucknasty]

I've grouse hunted a few times over the years and I've always gutted them out immediately after a kill. It just takes a min to pluck out the belly and using a sharp pocket knife cut a small slit and drag out the intestines. If you don't do this and the intestine were puntured from the kill it the meat will start to smell after an hours or so. Even it the intestines weren't punture it will start smelling after a few hours. Not that big of a deal if you were already heading back to camp or home but if you plan to stay out in the field...

a few plastic bags is always good. unless you want blood/crap all over my vest or backpack.