Best Eating Upland Bird Poll

[GSPHUNTER]

Missing is Mt. quail. By far the best there is. I have had about half of what is on the list, including woodcock, aka bogsucker, which in my opinion is not worth feeding to my dog.

 

[KurtR]

Pluck the breast and cut them out with the fat on. Score the fat and salt and pepper heavy. Then in a cast iron over medium heat cook fat side down for 7 minutes and 3 minutes on the other side. If you like sauce a black berry reduction goes great with it. I use a couple table spoons of balsamic vinegar and some sugar and about 6 blackberrys. Slice the breast and drizzle the reduction on it. My kid prefers just the meat no sauce.

I forgot that you use butter in the cast iron a good amount

 

[Danny Hoey]

Here in WA the regs only say "forest grouse". Blues, ruffed, sharps are all inclusive.

Spruce, not sharps

 

[medvedyt]

grouse or ptarmingan on a river trip and roasted on the fire nothing can beat that.

 

[UpTop]

Of all the guys saying grouse, how many have actually eaten chukar?

 

[Jason Snyder]

Of all the guys saying grouse, how many have actually eaten chukar?

I have, but still prefer blue grouse.

 

[mtnbound]

Pheasant for me.

 

[Fishn4eyes]

I'm in the Blue grouse camp myself but in my opinion, and as others have said, you have to break out the different forest grouse. I am not a fan of Spruce grouse so that clouds the picture.

I eat a TON of upland birds every year and I think Blues are the best by a smidgen over pheasant, ruffed grouse, sharptails, and huns.

Just my opinion! Good poll though, interesting responses.

 

[Blockcaver]

Missing is Mt. quail. By far the best there is. I have had about half of what is on the list, including woodcock, aka bogsucker, which in my opinion is not worth feeding to my dog.

Woodcock taste like angle worms to me, although I don’t eat angle (earth) worms either.

 

[Blockcaver]

Excellent: Chukar, Quail, Ruffed, Blue (Dusky/Sooty), Pheasant, Huns, Turkey

OK cooked with the right recipes: Sharptail, Spruce, Prairie Chicken, Ptarmigan

Terrible (in my experience): Sage Grouse, Woodcock

 

[TaperPin]

Blue grouse baked in cream of mushroom soup has always been a favorite. There might be other ways to cook it, but nobody in our family has ever felt a need to try. Lol

Grouse live in all sorts of places, but we focus on old roads lined with berries and that might have something to do with their outstanding taste.

Wyoming has blue grouse everywhere and ruffed grouse overlap in the north west. To be honest we’re not serious bird people and have probably eaten a lot of ruffed just thinking they were smallish/young blues. I’m a picky eater and usually notice even slight off tastes, but I’ve never thought sage grouse were bad either, at least the ones taken in the foothills that eat a lot of grasshoppers. Maybe I like the taste of bugs? IDK

 

[Danny Hoey]

Blue grouse baked in cream of mushroom soup has always been a favorite. There might be other ways to cook it, but nobody in our family has ever felt a need to try. Lol

Grouse live in all sorts of places, but we focus on old roads lined with berries and that might have something to do with their outstanding taste.

Wyoming has blue grouse everywhere and ruffed grouse overlap in the north west. To be honest we’re not serious bird people and have probably eaten a lot of ruffed just thinking they were smallish/young blues. I’m a picky eater and usually notice even slight off tastes, but I’ve never thought sage grouse were bad either, at least the ones taken in the foothills that eat a lot of grasshoppers. Maybe I like the taste of bugs? IDK

Blue grouse has darker meat than a Ruffed. Think chicken breast color for ruffs and chicken thigh color for blues

 

[jmez]

Quail

 

[Petergon]

Not exactly upland but a Dove breast wrapped in bacon and a jalapeno, placed
on a skewer and grilled is pretty dang good.
Turkey aint bad neither.
Never had a chance at those on the list.

Love dove cooked this way, I have also made dove fajita's and this was awesome.

 

[TaperPin]

Blue grouse has darker meat than a Ruffed. Think chicken breast color for ruffs and chicken thigh color for blues

Thanks, that’s interesting. You learn something new every day.