Dove hunting - What gun are you taking?

[Tom Flanigan]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

Tom... somebody prepared it wrong for you.

If I didn’t like eating them I wouldn’t shoot them.





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I cook all my wild game myself. I don’t let anyone else touch it….never. I don’t use spices, herbs, marinade, bacon or anything else that hides the true flavor of wild game. I carefully age my venison and birds, never eating them fresh. I have refrigerator in my garage that I keep at 38 degrees to properly age game. I’m a fanatic about my game making sure I gut each bird before I put it in my pouch. When grouse hunting, I always pick an apple and cut a piece to put in the body cavity to soak up the blood. I have a regular routine that I follow religiously with all my game. And I love to cook it. It is always a special dinner when game is on the menu.

My grandfather didn’t favor woodcock either, although my grandmother loved it. In his later years he stopped shooting them. Not because he didn’t like to eat them but because he came to the conclusion that hitting them was relatively easy and he saw no need of killing so small a bird.

I’ll continue shooting them because they are a nice bonus in the grouse woods and I’ll continue to eat them although I am not really crazy about the taste. I do admit, however, that the fat on each section of the breast is nice eating.

I believe that it was the late Tap Tapley, of Field and Stream Taps Tips fame and a noted grouse and woodcock hunter, that stated that he thought woodcock tasted awful. He listed a recipe to cook the woodcock in. Then he stated that it was best to eat the sauce and throw away the woodcock.