Plucking a pheasant, grouse, quail or other chicken-like bird is not hard, but it requires patience. The reason is because unlike a duck or goose, these birds have relatively thin and loose skin — skin that will tear easily if you try to rush the job.
There are two methods: Dry plucking and wet plucking. Dry plucking is what you think it is — you just start plucking feathers off the bird. I swear by it, and I will dry pluck in most cases. There are some tricks to it, which I’ll get to in a bit.
But if you have a pile of pheasants, wet-plucking works well and is a lot faster.
Wet plucking basically means scalding the bird before plucking. To do this, you need to get a large pot of water and get it to scalding temperature. What is scalding temperature? Steaming, but not boiling — not even simmering. If you need a number, shoot for 140°F to 150°F.
- Do one bird at a time. The scalding process only works when the feathers and skin are warm. Once they grow cold you will have a soggy mess. Work quickly and efficiently.
- Once you have the water hot enough, pluck the pheasant, grouse or quail’s tail feathers out, one by one. Then grab the bird by the head or feet (I do the feet) and plunge him into the water. Hold him under for 3 to 5 seconds. Lift him out and let him drain until the water stops coming off in a stream. Repeat this until a wing feather comes out easily, anywhere from three to seven dunks.
- Pluck the bird while it is still warm. Start with the wings. Next pluck the large feathers along the outer edges of the breast – carefully, as they can tear the skin easily. Then work on the flank feathers on the bird’s thigh, then go to the neck and finish with the back and the rest of the legs. Take your time. It is very important. Go feather by feather if need be, especially around the breast — you want it to look pretty and not torn.
- The feathers on the wings come off easier than those of a duck, which is the most persnickety part of duck-plucking. But the outer edges of a pheasant’s breast — especially around any place that has a shot hole — is the hardest part, to my mind. When you have shot holes, anchor the skin down with the fingers of one hand, and pluck one feather at a time with the other. It’s the only way to get them off without tearing the skin.
- When you are finished, gut the bird (save the liver, heart and gizzard to make Italian giblet Bolognese pasta sauce) and wash it well. Dry the bird with a paper towel thoroughly, stuff a clean paper towel in the cavity and then set him on another paper towel in a lidded container in the fridge for 2 to 7 days. Pheasants, grouse and quail age well this way.
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This method works for all upland game birds. All are related biologically, and all have the same thin skin as a pheasant. In my experience, Grouse, quail and partridges are better dry-plucked than wet-plucked, although it takes a lot longer to dry pluck than wet-pluck a bird. Doves, woodcock and pigeons, which are not related to the others, are easy to dry pluck.
A few words on dry plucking: I mostly do this with birds that have been hanging for several days; you can still wet-pluck a hung pheasant, but the longer the hang time, the more likely you will need to contend with weakened skin.
So to dry pluck:
- Start on the wings and back as you would a fresh or scalded pheasant. Remember to pluck, not pull. Use a quick snap of the wrist to yank a feather or three out very quickly, while anchoring the skin down with several fingers of your other hand. Under no circumstances should you try to grab more than a couple feathers at a time, except on the back. You will tear the skin.
- Plucking the leading edge of the wings requires you to snatch a few of the feathers — and not the skin — and pluck back toward the body. Do this a couple feathers at a time, making sure not to grab skin.
- Drumsticks pluck the easiest. Be sure to pluck the knee, as this is where you want to cut off the feet.
- The neck has a few areas that pluck easily, but the loose or limp areas are trickier. Use your thumb to anchor the skin on the back or the breast, depending on which side of the neck you’re working on.
- There are two kinds of feathers on a pheasant or other upland bird: quill-type feathers with a stiff core, and wispy under-feathers. The under-feathers pluck very easily, while the quill feathers are guaranteed to rip the skin if you pluck incorrectly. The wispy feathers are all on the flanks of the bird, in the hollows on the neck and in the center of the breast.
- To pluck quill feathers correctly, anchor the skin down and in one motion, yank each feather out the way it is attached. It is very important to do only one or two feathers at a time when you get to these feathers, which are on the neck, each side of the breast, and the flanks of the bird.
- The wings are pretty easy, but watch out for where the wings meet the body — this shoulder area tears easily.
- Save the breast for last: The feathers along each side of the breast are be nit-picky, but the little feathers in the center are a breeze.
Some notes on plucking upland birds:
- Don’t pluck birds the same day or even the day after. This is the single biggest problem people encounter with plucking pheasants. Pluck a bird right after you kill it, or hang it for at least 2 days before plucking. Skeeved out by hanging? Put your birds in a bag in the refrigerator. I do this all the time with grouse, and they’re fine for up to a week.
- Sharp-tailed grouse, quail and young ruffed grouse are the hardest to pluck cleanly. But you can do it, given practice.
- September birds are harder than birds later in the season. Why? Lots and lots of pinfeathers.
Hey there. Very useful piece as I inch my way into pheasant hunting. One question, is there a trick to know if I gut shot the bird before hanging? Just hung one for three days to find out it was gut shot when I went to make the entry. Not pleasant when I went to eviscerate.
Mike: yes, you feel around the tail end of the bird for blood and guts. You can determine it pretty well that way. It’s not 100% perfect, but it will save you most of the time.
Hello Hank,
I’ve found that when the pheasant is still warm after the kill that the feathers pluck out the easiest.
After it’s gutted, then wrapped in cloth. Later aged in the fridge covered as you suggest above to reduce over drying.
Hi Hank-
How long can we keep a head-shot turkey in the fridge with guts in and feathers on? It’s currently hanging outside overnight at 50 degrees, but it will be too warm to hang tomorrow. Thanks.
~Sarah
Sarah: Yes, gut it. I always gut turkeys immediately. They are too large to hang guts in.
Hey Hank,
What about waiting to pluck the Turkey? Would it be ok to gut then pluck later?
Thank you,
Michele
Michele: Yes, I do that a lot. I will gut, cool and pluck a day or two later.
can you field dress a pheasant after it has hung for a week will it still work
Denise: I keep them whole. No need to field dress. Just have a cooler with ice in the truck and keep the birds cool, but not wet. So put some barrier between the pheasants and the ice.
I was given frozen pheasant breasts with feathers on. What would be the best method for plucking them?
Alice: You’re pretty much hosed. It would be a massive pain to pluck just the breasts without the rest of the body.
Hank, after 40 years of skinning upland birds I’m finally trying to pluck a few and really love the juicy, skin-on results. My question to you is, how do you handle the super-fine, 1-2″, whisker-like feathers left on a pheasant after the downy and quilled feathers are removed? Do they just burn off while cooking or do you have to actually pluck them? Thanks for the advice and recipes!
Steve: I singe them with a lighter.
Hank, very glad I came across this site and your info. New to game hunting and meat prep being a fisherman all my life. For grouse when would you suggest gutting (usually I do this on the spot or within an hour) and I have been eating my harvested animals after a day or two in the fridge, you are saying you would age 2-7 days in the fridge before cooking? I am trying to utilize as much meat as possible and do not find the “step on the wings and pull” approach very good for this. Any suggestions thank you. Cheers.
Rich: I leave them whole and in the feathers for 2 to 3 days before plucking and gutting. Keep them cool in the field, and put in the fridge ASAP.
I’ve been throwing doves straight in a plastic bag in my cooler lately. Come home, pluck. Should I let the bird rest longer or is that OK?
Matthew: You’re good. Doves and pigeons are a special case. They’re typically young animals, and are always easy to pluck.
This is helpful. Two questions. 1) do you pluck woodcock the same way as the above. 2) Rarely do I have a bird that isn’t at least partially damaged from the shot. How and when do you remove the shot in the bird when you’re keeping the birds whole with the skin on?
Brad: Yes, I pluck woodcock this way. I never remove shot from birds. I shoot steel, and it almost always goes right through the bird. And when we do get shot in a bird, we eat carefully.
Hi Hank, when you put birds in the fidge for a week do you put them with their innards or without? Thanks Rocco
Rocco: Innards in.
So my cat brought us a robin. I want to prepare it for her. How do I pluck it’s feathers wet or dry?
Shrena: I have no idea. It is illegal to possess songbirds in the United States.
Do you leave the internals in until you pluck them ?
Doesn’t that run the risk of tainting the meat because of punctured internal organs ?
Mark: Yes I do, and not in my experience. Keep in mind I don’t do this with shot-up birds, only those that went down with a few pellets. Shot-up birds I deal with right away.
I got my first pheasant, and my dad (who has never gotten or prepared a pheasant), trying (and failing) to show me how to pluck it, ripped off a chunk of skin on the breast and the entirety of one wing. Can I sew the holes closed? Does this change how/if I can roast it? The internet tells you not to rip the skin, but not what to do if someone used to waterfowl makes a mistake.
Emily: Depends on how bad it is. I usually just leave the flap on there, and lay it over the breast meat when I roast the bird.
Man,those pheasants! I must have 30 in the freezer and only 4 plucked without tearing. I start on the breast around the wing because if it does tear, I just go straight to the ‘leg pull’ method and skin, fillet and bag the bird.
I think I’m plucking too early as I usually do same day or next day so I’ll hold off 2-3 days next season and see if plucking is any easier.
Can’t wait to do Chilindron now its eating time!
A small torch or even a lit piece of news paper will singe the “hairs” away cleanly
Patrick! Exactly! I use a kitchen lighter you use to light burners. Need to add that to the post. Thanks!
My experience has been that the hairs don’t ruin the dining experience
If I dry pluck a pheasant hen, will I end up with lots of hairs? I tried to dry pluck a wood duck and it was covered with fine hairs when I was done. Could not get rid of them no matter what I did. I tried to burn them, no luck. Far too many to pick out individually. I figured that the next time I shot a bird I would just use the wet pluck with wax. But I cannot imagine that you would have written an article about “how to dry pluck a pheasant” if it wasn’t something that would yield a smooth clean bird. So, will I end up with a million hairs before I try? Thanks!
Great article! Out of curiosity why don’t you wet pluck a pheasant that’s been aged for a few days? And will storing a pheasant in a lidded container for several days in a fridge after plucking as you suggested replicate the same results as hanging in a pantry?
Richie: The skin seems to rip really easily if you wet pluck after aging. And it might work that way in the fridge, but I am not sure.
Hank,
Just wanted to drop you a little ornithological info. Gallinule is almost correct phonetically, but not quite the right distinction for upland game birds. Gallinules are their own group of birds in the rail family, and look like a well-dressed, long-legged coot. Galliformes is the taxonomic order encompassing all upland birds (and chickens). Not a big deal, but I thought you might be interested.