how long?

[lowlander]

last night i went out for my first ever evening duck shoot with my uncle and a couple of freinds who we run a small syndicate with, anyway i fired 5 shots and got a mallard and a teal i hung them up when we got back, but how long should i leave them hanging

 

p.s i always hang duck by there feet is that ok or should i hang them like a pheasant

[M ROBSON]

Hang all birds by their beak, if they have a shot through their gut you will only get contamination around the vent and not the whole breast. Hanging wildfowl has very little effect on the meat and is normally only done till a suitable time arises for them to be plucked.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[anser2]

You do not need to hang duck like game , indeed I question the need to hang game. I can remember reading one wildfowler hanging a goose for 2 months. There are other tales of geese being burried for a few weeks to make them more tender , before preparing them for the table. To my mind and bird burried for a week or more deserves to be left to rest in peace. I would recomend at this time of year do the birds as soon as possible and even in cold weather do not leave them longer than a week.

 

The strange thing about duck is to my taste is that they taste better after being frozen a while than they do cooked fresh.

[funky]

First season Wildfowling so it begs this question does the age of the duck affect the tenderness of the meat ?

[henry d]

First season Wildfowling so it begs this question does the age of the duck affect the tenderness of the meat ?

 

Yes very much so, however it is hard to tell for sure once the season gets well under way !

[Devon Fox]

I always hang ducks by the feet, mainly because i read an article in sporting gun that was scribbed by a game dealer/butcher.

 

They claimed ducks etc should be hung by the feet so it will drain body fluids from them?

[MC]

Is that because a ducks **** is watertight?

 

[funky]

ROFLMA

[ShropshireJohn]

I recently got my first duck,

 

I shot it on the Saturday, then plucked it 4-5 days later, in this time the back end of the duck had gone a strange blue colour.. and smelt abit,

 

Instead of Dressing it for roasting, I ended up removing the breast meat instead.

 

My nan (who was going to prep said duck..) told me that you shouldn't hang them! , this one had been hung from its neck aswell.

Edited October 15, 2008 by ShropshireJohn

[smiiithy]

Right then, lets get some life back into this thread. I was given a duck which was shot on Saturday, hung it until Friday and it's green and rotten smelling. I've salvaged the breast and the meat seems fine but is there any point in hanging a duck? In future I think I will be preparing duck within 3 days of it falling out of the sky. Opinions please?

[jimmyb79]

I shot a duck today at about 11:00. By 17:00 this evening I had the breasts out of it. The same also applies to the four pheasants I shot today too as I cannot stand the taste of hung game. I don't see any need for it, but its a matter of personal taste. Would never hang a duck regardless though - green meat just ain't my thing!

[davecooper1]

They get hung in the garage overnight, and plucked and dressed the next day.

 

Everybody has there own opinion, and tastes, this is just how I do them.

[anser2]

Something to remember is these days our climate is much warmer. Back in the 1970s and 80s any clear night between October and March was almost certain to have a frost and periods of below zero day temperatures would last for weeks sometimes. This is rare these days and in Norfolk we can have only a handful of frosts some winters. . Last winter was called a cold winter by the weathermen , but that would have been an average winter back in the 80s. These cooler temperatures meant that birds could be hung much longer. But today cold snaps are the exception rather than the rule so the birds go off a lot quicker. For the first 2 months of the season I would dress out my duck within 24 hours and within 12 hours for grass feeding geese. Form then onwards 2-3 days is plenty long enough to leave any bird hanging.

 

Indeed I rarely hang any birds in the first few months of the season. They go straight into the fridge to be delt with within 24 hours.

[Guest topshot_2k]

i see no need to hang waterfowl ofr longer than a day or 2 max, i hang them until they are cold then pluck them etc

Edited November 29, 2009 by topshot_2k

[2bangs]

I must admit I prefer not to hang birds, the longest mine get hung is overnight, usually because imediately after the shoot we clean the guns then have one or two (usually more) drinks and have a good old craic about the days shooting, next day I breast the birds, put them in salt water for a few hours then wash and freeze, as has been said previously it's a matter of personal taste, this is how we like ours.

[Guest topshot_2k]

Right then, lets get some life back into this thread. I was given a duck which was shot on Saturday, hung it until Friday and it's green and rotten smelling. I've salvaged the breast and the meat seems fine but is there any point in hanging a duck? In future I think I will be preparing duck within 3 days of it falling out of the sky. Opinions please?

 

thats far too long even if we have cold weather.

[smiiithy]

It was only left so long because I was in bed ill

 

thats far too long even if we have cold weather.

[badger.22cal]

always pluck my birds on same day shot... in the field if possible, then hang in cold garage overnight and dress first thing in the morning... heard alsorts of storys about hanging but its just comes down to your own preference

[Guest rimotu66]

My personel choice is Pheasents within 3 days max, ducks same day. I got 1 mallard and three teal this morning and there all done and bagged up for the freezer...