# Field dressing.



## target (Aug 10, 2006)

Been out pheasant hunting a lot this year and have been finding more hides and guts then I have ever before.

How many of you guys dress your birds in the field and leave the hides and everything lay there. Most of these were fairly hidden, however I hate when the dog finds these gut piles.

I personally take the birds back with me and clean them at the house. Just looking for some other points of view on this. Hate when i am walking into a field and find a pile of birds.


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## roostman (Jan 20, 2006)

I brought this up before, it's burns my hide too just the same reason as you it's the first thing the dog's head for. You won't see alot of guy's who agree with us though.


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## MossyMO (Feb 12, 2004)

It is just easier to do at home. Otherwise you bring a naked bird home with a wing and still have a wing ot throw in the garbage. Why not just bring the whole bird home? Only objection I can think of is if after the hunt you go to a local bar, get ripped up and you will not get to it till the next day..... :drunk:


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## Turner (Oct 7, 2005)

It bothers me also. I ran across a land owner on opening weekend that posts his land just because he is tired of all the garbage and gut piles he finds on his approaches. Bag it up and take it with you or wait to you get home.


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## Canuck (Nov 10, 2004)

We also saw quite a few examples of breasted out bird carcasses stashed in the cover on a recent trip. How do these birds/slabs of breast meat, meet legal requirements to be in your possesion let alone transport to your home? We also saw gut piles with rubber/latex gloves tossed in. Such a shame. It hurts all of us.


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## njsimonson (Sep 24, 2002)

I think people poach birds the same way. Easier to stash in a cooler under some beer and sandwiches after the field dressing. Irks me to no end. I found a whole dead rooster in amongst gutpiles a couple weeks ago. The breast skin was peeled back, but the meat was clearly intact and undamaged.

That ticks me off :******:


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## target (Aug 10, 2006)

njsimonson said:


> I think people poach birds the same way. Easier to stash in a cooler under some beer and sandwiches after the field dressing. Irks me to no end. I found a whole dead rooster in amongst gutpiles a couple weeks ago. The breast skin was peeled back, but the meat was clearly intact and undamaged.
> 
> That ticks me off :ticked:


Found 2 pheasants dead within 30 yds of each other a few weeks ago. Seemed kinda wierd to me, 2 just didnt seem like a coincidence.

What surprised me with this whole field dressing deal was some of the people that do it. Guys that are the most law abiding respectful people just don't see the wrong in it. Clean their birds take em home and throw the rest in the tree row or cattails.


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## Turner (Oct 7, 2005)

It's is not different than hiking or camping, leave the outdoors cleaner than you found it. Some might think, the *****, skunks, and cyotes need something to eat. They have been doing just fine before we got here.


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## Richard (Mar 18, 2006)

I clean my birds in the field. In my van I have my old metal Coleman cooler, a garbage bag and some newspapers. Use the top of the cooler as table, cover the top with the bag and newspapers, and all the "goodies" end up in the bag, and the few feathers that get loose blow away in the wind. I agree a carcass in the field is not appealing. Richard


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## g/o (Jul 13, 2004)

I'm really glad someone brought this up. Last night 2 guys walked out of a PLOTS across the road and cleaned there birds on my approach. I politely told them I did not appreciate it and that they were tresspasing according to ND law. I then got the usual tonque lashing you blankety blank outfitters. To avoid anymore conflict I left, sometimes I would like to pick up there crap after they left and dump it in there front yard. This has happened several times and have also watched them do it on the PLOTS next to me. Come on guys it looks like crap!!!


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## Cyrus (Nov 24, 2003)

What really ticks me off more than the carcass is the paper towels empty cans and other garbage that is left in the field. :******:. That and the occasional hen I find that someone practiced shooting on or thought was a rooster


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## Ron Gilmore (Jan 7, 2003)

Since I do not like to see gut piles next to a road, or field dressed carcasses in plain sight it brings up the issue of image that some leave and all of us get grouped in with.

I do not know if the practice is legal or not. We have done this in the past on some hunts especially when it was hot to get the meat in a cooler with ice. But we never leave the birds just anywhere. Many times we did a hole and bury the remains or .put them in a rock pile away from the road and view of passing cars and trucks. We also do this with the landowners permission.

But is a field dressed pheasant or duck any less offensive than a gut pile from a deer? How many of us take our deer home and dress them out? I ask this not to be a smart mouth, but to make a comparison. Is leaving the gut pile from a deer any different than a rooster or duck? You would need a big pile of ducks or pheasant to leave the same amount in the field!

G/O has a legitimate complaint, but I am not sure that remains left out of sight are any different than those gut piles we will see in a few days dotting the countryside!

I know that I do not bring the deer home and gut it, but I will not drag it to the road and gut it in the ditch or next to a section line.


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## g/o (Jul 13, 2004)

Ron, I agree to the fact that yes cleaning out of site would not bother me. Problem I have is these citidiots walked out there PLOTS over to my approach and cleaned these birds. To me this is no different than the people who walk there dog so they can take a dump in the neighbors yard. To me as a landowner it is offensive to have a gut pile cleaned birds whatever on my appraoch. The road is littered now with empty shells and beer bottles anyway so the slobs think anything goes in the country.


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

G/O,

Can't say that I have agreed with a lot of what you write but I agre with you 100% on this issue. Not to mention that a lot of folks probably don't leave the identification attached to the birds which then makes their transport illegal.


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## Rick Acker (Sep 26, 2002)

Get ready for lot's of DEER GUT piles in a week or so...Guys, I've talked to land owners...They hate the pheasant gut piles...DON'T DO IT ANYMORE. Bring along a big lawn bag, clean your birds(leave the wings or head attached for transporting...) and put your gut piles in the lawn bag and stick it somewhere appropriate! There are farmers who have posted land or will not allow access anymore because of this behavior.


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

You are right G/O.I wouldn't do that w/o permission and then would bag the guts up and haul to a dumpster.


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## mikemcc (Jul 30, 2004)

I am someone who likes to leave the skin on my birds and they are much easier to pick when they are warm. So I always pick and gut them when I get back to my car. However, I bag everything up and take it with me. The remnants from three birds will easily fit into a grocery store bag.

When I get home, I cook the hearts, livers, and gizzards for the dogs. They look forward to this, I think, as much as they look forward to going hunting when they see me put on my boots. And my Dad belongs to a fly-tiers club down in Arkansas and those guys will KILL for pheasant feathers -- especially the tiny red ones around the eyes. So I box them up and send them to him. His club members love him!


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## Dak (Feb 28, 2005)

mikemcc,

That is the way to to do it. You leave the area the same way you found it...if not better.


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