Pheasants in Wigan

[Loring2]

The town of Wigan in Lancashire, I was there long ago. Is known for its plump and edible birds called Wigan Pheasants. Tasty morsels these little beasties are too.

My question is; Do they also have a "Pheasant Plucking Contest" as they once did back in the '50s?

If so ... then have a pheasant pluck and god speed.

 

[TE999]

Is Phucking Pheasants considered bestiality? What? Really? Plucking, huh? I must have read that wrong. Oh, well. Ne-ver mind.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Looks like they did last year.

 

[Loring2]

Ah Yes...

Looks like they did last year.

...it makes me wonder what either phlucked phried or phricassed pheasant would taste like ... need your phreakin' input Ogg...

 

[estragon]

Or as Monty Python might have said, "Bloody pheasant!" "'E's repressin' me!"

 

[ishtat]

...it makes me wonder what either phlucked phried or phricassed pheasant would taste like ... need your phreakin' input Ogg...

Pheasant tastes wonderful, slightly gamey, They need to be hung, still in their feathers, by their necks, not feet, for 3 days minimum, at 40-50 degrees F.

It's easier to skin them than hang them, then just use the breast meat...the rest is hardly worth bothering with.

If you really must cook the whole bird, cook them upside down otherwise the breast meat can be too dry. Half a brace = 1 bird per plate.

Also my preference, if you insist on the whole bird, pluck 'em before they get cold, it's much easier.

Pheasants are big, noisy, and slow - we shot them on the farm as kids.

PS What did you do to get sent to Wigan? No-one would volunteer for that, would they?

 

[Loring2]

Pheasant tastes wonderful, slightly gamey, They need to be hung, still in their feathers, by their necks, not feet, for 3 days minimum, at 40-50 degrees F.

It's easier to skin them than hang them, then just use the breast meat...the rest is hardly worth bothering with.

If you really must cook the whole bird, cook them upside down otherwise the breast meat can be too dry. Half a brace = 1 bird per plate.

Also my preference, if you insist on the whole bird, pluck 'em before they get cold, it's much easier.

Pheasants are big, noisy, and slow - we shot them on the farm as kids.

PS What did you do to get sent to Wigan? No-one would volunteer for that, would they?

I'm familiar with the bird you're talking about, the ringneck.

Like you, I learned lead shooting on the farm and ringnecks were the first target I shot. Also grouse and quail.
I do recall now though that they tended to be a bit dry when cooked.
This bird at Wigan is a different bird, I'm pretty sure.

You're right about not volunteering. I was USAF and the RAF had a training base in that area. As I recall it had something to do with bailing out of a disabled jet fighter under combat conditions. I had had a bit of experience at the time.

 

[oggbashan]

I won't admit to plucking pheasants because most are shot on country estates where a gun position costs more than I could justify.

A well-hung pheasant is a pleasant dish if rather small.

However, my nieces and nephews paid for some of their university education and holidays by plucking chickens and turkeys for Bernard Matthews. All of them were on piece work rates. One said "A week of plucking pays for two weeks holiday abroad". That was only possible because they were very skilled at plucking the maximum number of birds in an eight-hour shift.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I won't admit to plucking pheasants because most are shot on country estates where a gun position costs more than I could justify.

A well-hung pheasant is a pleasant dish if rather small.

So I've heard. If I lived in the UK I'd probably be a rough shooter/pest exterminator. Fortunately, rabbits, grey squirrels and wood pigeons are all pests and absolutely delicious. I'd manage somehow . . .

 

[stephen55]

I won't admit to plucking pheasants because most are shot on country estates where a gun position costs more than I could justify.

A well-hung pheasant is a pleasant dish if rather small.

I am so glad I live in a country with vast open spaces and nearly all of it crown land (mine). No one owns the rivers or the riverbanks and within a few hours drive I have more hunting and fishing opportunities than the landed gentry over there could only dream of.

Pheasants aren't wild in my neck of the woods, but a few hours south and there they are. And if I want pheasant heaven, I go to southern Alberta. Years ago I booked a hunt with an outfitter out of Brooks Alberta for pronghorn antelope. My buddy and I both got one on the first day of a four day hunt. So the outfitter took us bird hunting for three days...geese, ducks, partridge (prairie chickens) and pheasants.

But then, we in the colonies have learned to rough it!!

 

[ishtat]

Loring and I shot these in our youth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Pheasant

Wheras Og might be more likely to find one of these in Kent, where ferals have become a pest.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose-ringed_parrakeet

and if VM was after wood-pigeons in UK, he might come across these instead.

http://enwikipwedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Collared_Dove

and the earliest colonists of Australia ate these.

http://enwikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Ringneck

 

[voluptuary_manque]

The collared dove in California seems to stay in the suburbs and rarely shows up in the game bag. In South America, some parrot species are serious agricultural pests as are the various native dove species. It's not uncommon for shooters going into Argentina, Columbia or Bolivia to shoot hundreds, even thousands in a day with no impact on their numbers. But at least they make inexpensive meals for the local villagers.

I wonder what parrot tastes like . . .

 

[Handley_Page]

Is Phucking Pheasants considered bestiality? What? Really? Plucking, huh? I must have read that wrong. Oh, well. Ne-ver mind.

shouldn't that be:-
Phucking Peasants ?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Or possibly Pleasant Phucking?