36 NEBRASKAland • NOVEMBER 2017
grasp the drumstick and steadily pull upwards. The tendons
should slide out of the drumstick, remaining attached to the
pheasant's foot. A rigid boot sole and somewhat roughened
concrete to provide friction helps prevent the pheasant's
foot from sliding out from under your foot. Lastly, cut
through the skin at the previously broken joint to remove the
remaining stub of the lower leg. If transporting or storing
birds, leave one stub with the spur attached to identify the
bird as male.
To skin the bird, first make a cut through the skin where
the base of the neck meets the crop. Grasping the bird by
the head and starting at the cut, pull the feathers from the
pheasant's breast, back and legs. Then pull out the crop
and cut the tail off at its fleshy base. To clean the wings,
first snap the upper wing joint and then cut through it,
removing the upper segment. Next, pull the feathers from
the lower wing and the foreside of the mid-wing. Lastly,
on the backside of the mid-wing, make a short incision
between the bone and the base of the long flight feathers.
This will aid in pulling off the strip of flight feathers (see
above photo).
With the bird de-feathered, now comes the dirty work:
gutting the bird. First, make a shallow horizontal cut through
the gut lining where it is exposed at the base of the breast
bone. Cutting too deep here can puncture the intestines.
Then pull back the breast bone to expose the guts. If saving
To pull pheasant leg tendons, first snap the lower leg bone
by placing the ball of your foot near the pheasant's spur and
applying pressure.
Next with your foot placed firmly on the pheasant's foot, grasp
the drumstick and pull upwards.
This method removes all but a few of the leg tendons.
Making an incision between the bone and the base of the long
flight feathers on a pheasant's mid-wing aids in their removal.
