# Tablefare of Sharptails



## bloodnguts

I understand the sharptail has dark breast meat, not unlike a duck. I was wondering how this bird tastes, and if it has the same liver like taste of other dark wild game meat and fowl, or if it is milder in flavor like a ruffed grouse, quail, or young pheasant.


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## Horsager

Bloodnguts, you nailed it, they are flying livers!! All we really need to make them edible is for Campbells to come out with some EXTRA-STRENGTH cream of mushroom!! I've tried various marinade's, bacon wrapping, deep frying, cream of you name it soup, crock pots, grills, cast iron pans, never found a way I can say I LIKE to eat them. It's too bad too, they are a fun bird to hunt, but you can only give so many to the reletives who like them.


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## KEN W

Same here....I shoot enough ducks and geese that I really don't want to eat sharps.Only used to hunt them to get the dog out and hunting.


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## drjongy

The mistake people make with the dark meat is overcooking. Try a mallard breast medium rare and you will be very surprised by the texture and flavor. Cook grouse more medium. The more you overcook these meats the more they tend to taste like liver. I had fresh grouse and dove yesterday and you would have had a hard time telling the difference. One other thing I've found with grouse is that once they have been frozen, the quality of the taste decreases substantially.


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## always_outdoors

You guys are off your rocker. Liver....yuck! Grouse are way better than liver. I would eat grouse over pheasant any day of the week.

Just pokin on you all. I know I am the minority here.

Ate grouse last night and will be again tonight. They typically dont' make the freezer because I love eatin them.

Couple of recipes for you.

1. Mix flour, lemon pepper seasoning, garlic salt, onion powder, pinch of red pepper. Cut grouse into strips. Roll into mixture. With a little oil in a pan, fry until crispy. dip into A1 steak sauce and it is unbelievable.

2. Cut into small chunks. brown in a WOK, add vegetables, packet of hot and spicy stirfry, water mixed with two tablespoons of sugar and 4 tablespoons of soy sauce. Mix together and until veggies are done. Pour over white rice or noodles. Excellent for grouse, partridge, and pheasant.

Hope this helps.


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## njsimonson

Hate to sound like Bubba from Forest Gump, but there are sooooo many good ways to make grouse, it is unbelievable. You can bake them in a casserole, fry them breaded or marinaded, stirfry is excellent, I like grouse and broccolli fried in a pan. We had grouse kabobs after the hunt on Saturday with bacon, onion and peppers and it was par exellence.

I'll compile the recipes I have and put them up later for the filet mignon of the skies...I've got three of them in the crockpot now for MNF tonight. Giddy up!


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## mburgess

If they are too gamey for you, buy a jar of Essie's marinade. I've never found anything a jar of Essie's can't cure. I use this on pork, chicken, and all upland game. I've fed it to people who didn't know what they were getting thinking they were getting chicken or steak or whatever and no one knew otherwise. If Essie's can't help you choke it down, nothing will and grill it for the dog. Sharptails are a learned delicasy and learning how long to cook them is the key. :beer:


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## scissorbill

Sharptails = Sporting fun to hunt Eating =ISH


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## Dick Monson

Not so, they are good on the grill and I'm a fussy eater. Like NJ said do 'em on kabobs. Cut the breast into chunks about the size of a .25 cent coin. Slice some thin-cut bacon in 1" squares. Slice some kosher dills in 1/4' slices. And some 1" squares of purple onion a couple layers thick. Have the grill on medium heat and slide bacon-onion on either side of the grouse chunks with pickle inbetween. Baste with your favorite BBQ sauce. When the bacon is done, it's ready to go. People who don't care for wild game will eat these and ask for more.


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## Waterspaniel

Make a slice in the breast, a pocket if you will. Put pepperjack cheese inside. Now sprinkle them with jerk seaoning. Wrap with bacon and grill. When the cheese ooozes, the are done. Sprinkle the top with with Brown sugar a little before the come off the grill. BOMB_DIGGITY!!!!!

I agree on the freezing thing, they go downhill fast.


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## Bigdog

Guess I am in also in the minority that likes them. I usually don't get very fancy, I use an oven bag, stuff them with a cut up apple and add some red wine.


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## Remmi_&amp;_I

drjongy said:


> One other thing I've found with grouse is that once they have been frozen, the quality of the taste decreases substantially.


I wonder if this isn't why I don't like them more??? I never eat grouse the day of the hunt..........always end up freezing them and then crockpotting them. I will try "fresh" grouse after my next hunt.

Thanks :beer:


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## drjongy

More than any other game bird, it really seems to make a difference...even with the vacuum sealer. Also when breasting them out, some bird's meat is real dark and some are noticeably lighter colored. I like to eat the lighter ones right away fairly plain, just pan-fried with some flour coating, and save the dark ones for the marinades/kabobs/fajitas/crockpot, ect.

The lighter ones must be younger, because sex doesn't seem to matter from my observations. It is kind of fun to get out the PLOTS book and use the guide on how to determine sex for grouse. Just plucking a few feathers off the top of the head and you can tell in a couple seconds. 7 males this year and 2 females.


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## holmsvc

Dick,

Why the pickles? How do they taste once you grill them?


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## njsimonson

I made that correlation this weekend, the juvies had much lighter meat, while the older birds were deep red.


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## scissorbill

Thank you guys for making my point,if you go to extremes to cover up the taste you can make anything palatable. As I previously stated sharpies are great fun to hunt for man and dog but are one of the poorest eating birds out there. :2cents:


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## Bagman

scissorbill said:


> Thank you guys for making my point,if you go to extremes to cover up the taste you can make anything palatable. As I previously stated sharpies are great fun to hunt for man and dog but are one of the poorest eating birds out there. :2cents:


That was my thought....marinade in this, stuff with that, wrap in bacon etc...whats the point?? Save yourself a ton of money and time and buy some chicken at the store. Its a sin to harvest game you dont want/like, unless youre giving it to those who do.

I always liked grouse but at this time I have a hard time justifying $75-100 worth of gas for a couple birds IF Im lucky enough to find some. Most likely Ill save up for pheasant season. You guys close to grouse country are fortunate.


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## njsimonson

> Thank you guys for making my point,if you go to extremes to cover up the taste you can make anything palatable


Well, aren't you just the coolest kid in school scissorbill? :roll: Bet you never bread your walleye, or marinate your deer steaks, or cook any wild game with veggies, or season jerky, etc.? :lol: Enjoy being "right" it doesn't last forever. 

STILL ENJOYING THE TASTE OF MY SHARPIES!!! MMM MMM!!! 

$75-100 for gas Bagman??? You're driving too far!!!


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## cranehunter

Brown the breasts in a frying pan the put in a baking dish and cover with cream and bake. This makes their flavor very mild.


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## Bagman

Im in Fargo Nick...and I drive a SUV (unfortunately). Last time I checked there arent alot of sharpies in SE ND.


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## Jiffy

YUCK!!!!!!!!!!! uke: uke:


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## Horsager

Jiffy, maybe we'll have to make a run to Valley City one day this weekend. We could shoot a limit of sharpies then catch a limit of smallies. Neither are much good to eat, both are fun to catch/shoot, and Nick says we don't have to drive any further for either of them. If the combination Grouse broil/Fish fry doesn't pan out as palatable we should have some T-bones as backup.

Good rescipe for T-bones is: "Just add fire".


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## Jiffy

:rollin: Sounds good to me!!!!


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## njsimonson

> Last time I checked there arent alot of sharpies in SE ND.


Yer dang right!


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## Turner

Liver taste? I have two little girls and a wife that eats it just fried in a pan with flour, salt/pepper, and garlic powder. And I know for a fact they would not touch liver with a 10 foot pole. They will not eat duck due to the liver taste. For those of you that smother your wild game in all the sauces to disguise the taste, just go to the store and get chicken or beef. I will be doing Grouse stir fry this weekend.


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## Goon

I think sharpies are the best upland game bird of all to eat, If no one likes to eat them just leave them to me and I will eat them, and there are bird in SE ND I am just not going to tell you where. Sharpies are also very easy to clean. Just step on the wings and pull the legs.

I recommend soaking them in BBQ sauce over night and cooking them on the grill the next night. You can even tenderize them if you want. I recommend Jack Daniels BBQ sauce or Famous Daves BBQ sauce. If you are really adventurous try A1 Marniade with Caribean Jerk.


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## Crazy Horse RVN

We killed a few Sharpies around Amidon and ate them the next day for breakfast after soaking in water overnight. In my humble (Pennsylvania) opinion I found them to be pretty fair eating. Certainly not like chicken but not bad either.

We simply coated them in flour and fried them in some bacon fat. Not bad at all.

Now as for Hungarian Partridge....well Huns are damn fine eating. Very tender and tastey meat.










I hope I can make it back to ND next year.


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## Dak

Sharpies are great. Cooked plain, marinated, whatever they are good eating. The key as someone said before is to not overcook. Granted they aren't as good as partridge or pheasant but they are still good eatin' :beer:


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## Crazy Horse RVN

It really disturbs me when people say ....Add so and so, or soak in buffalo pizz for 3 days. "Tastes just like chicken." If I wanted chicken I'd buy a dozen Rhode Island Reds and chase them around the barn yard with a 410. Why would anyone want a Sharptail to taste like anything other than a Sharptail? No one cooks or prepares a turkey to taste like chicken! So why the hell would you want a wild bird to taste differently than God intended it to taste?

If you don't like the taste of a Sharpie don't shoot them. There are pleanty of Pheasants to shoot if they're more to your taste requirements. I have a policy where as I don't shoot what I don't eat or don't like to eat.

Don't get me wrong, Sharptail weren't the best bird I've ever eaten, but I as a total newcomer to the bird did not detect any "Liver" flavor. I have tasted a "Liver" flavor in our eastern Woodcock, and also our Doves have a faint hint of "Live", but that wasn't the case with the several Sharptail I consumed. I can tell you that Mule Deer from Wyoming's Jim Bridger Wilderness area have a liver flavor. Everyone ate it and no one complained.

Hey, if you don't like eating them, don't shoot them. Save the Sharpies for me when I return next year.


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## Crazy Horse RVN

*Yo fellas, I just found this picture of this guy fron Pennsylvania they call "Liver Eatin Crazy Horse." *
(Ya gotta have a sense of humor.)


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