# Best way to dress small bird, Quail,Dove?



## GTIMANiac

I have not been bird hunting since I was a kid (20 years ago). As a kid my dad and the other adults always took care of dressing the days kill. I would like to go hunting again this season, but do not want to bring home a limit that will go to waste, or that I will destroy trying to dress them.

Been busting lots of clays in prep. But this part has me a little intimidated.


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## MossyMO

To me, in a dove, partridge or grouse, the only thing worth keeping is the breasts.

On a dove I sart at the bottom of the bird and just pull the belly feathers upward and you should get all you need out of the way in 2 or pulls. Then using a small knife cut the breast out using the breast bone in the center that you can see as your guide.

Partridge and grouse the skin is a little thicker so starting again at the bottom of the bird I pinch through the feather grabbing a good pinch of skin and cut the skin cross way a little, enough to get my thumbs under the skin so I can tear open the skinall the way up the bird leaving the breast meat fully exposed. Then same as with the dove I use the breast bone again as a guide to remove the breast meat.

Pheasant I shoot north of Minot have muscular legs with very little meat. So I do the same as with grouse. But I know birds shot 150 miles south have legs worth keeping and assume they just skin the whole bird.

I would also like to hear other peoples methods, never to old to learn new tricks.....


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## Robert A. Langager

Here is a write-up by Chris, the Webmaster, on a quick easy way to breast a bird.

http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/birdcleaning.php


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## Burly1

For dove and quail, I use a pair of diagonal cutting pliers, for larger birds a heavy duty game shear. Cut off the wings at the junction of the wishbone (the shoulder), snip a hole in the body cavity at the base of the breast. Snip from the tip of the breast to the shoulder on both sides, this seperates the ribs from the breast bone. Stick your thumbs in the hole and pull the back from the breast. Do a little clean up to get rid of of the feathers, skin and icky bits, wash the breast, pat dry and use or freeze. This will work on virtually any game bird, including turkeys and waterfowl. If you want to save legs and thighs, it's a simple matter to snip them at the connecting joints. If you don't want to fool with bones, it's simple to fillet the meat from the breast. Just pull the skin off the breast first and use a sharp knife. Burl


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## howlplay

This works really good for me with pheasant, Lay the bird on its back with its wings spread out. Step on the wings as close to the breast as possible. And then just pull on the legs, only the breast will come out and it is easier to clean up. Sometimes a bird will rip a wing off, then I just cut a slit in the breast skin, and pull down, and pull the breast off the backbone.


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## apeterson

the wing thing works good but not if you are transporting... make sure to check the rules in our state... I use a filet knife of game shears to clean ever bird.... works great...


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## Goose Huntin' Machine

What I do for dove is, like mentioned, rough pluck a little strip up the breast. After that is done, spread the skin away with your two thumbs. Stick your thumb under the breast (near the keester) through the skin and pull the breast apart from the rest of the body.

With ducks, if I do not wax them, I cut the breast off the bone as mentioned. My pops likes to cut the entire breast bone out and cook the breast with the bone attached and just cut off the meat as he's eatting it. For BBQing the breast this works better than cutting the meat out as I do not think it dries the meat out as much.

Jeff Given


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