If you are lucky and skilled enough to have had a successful quail hunt, you may want to enjoy the fruits of your labor by cooking a bird or two for dinner and maybe freezing a large covey for later use when a fancy game dish is requested. Regardless of immediate eating or saving the bird for later, proper dressing in the field is necessary for keeping the meat as fresh and tender as possible for consumption.
Instructions
1. After each bird is killed and retrieved, immediately use one string of your rope to bind the bird's feet securely. Tie the other end of the rope to your belt, hunt pack or cooler, keeping the bird in an upside down position. Regular string, clothesline string or even shoelaces work well if you don't have any small rope. Always tie each bird individually with a separate piece of rope. This will help air circulate through the birds and lower the body temperature of each. Lower body temperatures of the quail will deter possible bacterial infections. Most hunters who eat their kill will advise hanging the birds instead of storing them in a pouch or pack for health and sanitary reasons.
2. Once you have reached your kill quota, or have had enough of the hunt, the second critical step before leaving the field is to pluck the birds. Plucking the bird is a gentle process--bruising of the meat can easily occur if the bird is man-handled. Hold the bird by the feet in one hand. Make sure you have a firm hold and begin to pluck the quail with your free hand. Start at the legs and pull a few feathers at a time in the direction of how the feather lays. You want to be careful not to pull up and out, rather, stay close the body and pull down. This will keep the quill from scratching or tearing through the skin and into the meat. Work your way up to the head of the bird, plucking a few feathers at a time. Once you get into a rhythm, you may be skilled enough to speed up and pluck more feathers at a time. Once you reach the head, leave the feathers on the bird. Depending on where you live, your hunting license may require this detail along with number of kill to comply with the law.
3. When all of the birds have been plucked, you will need to gut them and prepare the body cavity. Once again, hold the bird by the feet firmly with one hand. With a small bladed field knife in your free hand, place the point of the blade between the bird's leg and push into the skin about 1/8th inch. You want to be very careful and precise not to plunge the knife too far into the quail as you may at the very least create a mess and worse, ruin the bird for consumption. Slowly and with caution--it is a sharp knife-- slice your bird up the center, through the breast bone to the neck. Carefully pull back both sides of the breast bone and with your fingers, remove the innards and organs. Some hunters my carry latex gloves for this step as it's sticky and messy. If there are guts or organs that you aren't able to remove by hand, use your knife to cut them out. Again, a careful and steady hand will help preserve the quail meat and your fingers.
4. Once your bird has been gutted, use a clean paper towel or cotton cloth to remove any excess innards and wipe out the body cavity. This extra step will go a long way in keeping bacteria from spoiling the meal. After cleaning the cavity, take one or two toothpicks and prop them in between the two breasts of the bird to hold the cavity open. You need air to circulate to continue to lower the body temperature for transport home.
5. Place the birds in a cooler with reusable ice packs for final transport from the field to home. Hopefully, you have a good quail recipe and rice pilaf ready and waiting.
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