doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com How long can you freeze a spruce grouse?

I totally agree with you about the vacuum sealing. On multi day trips, i pack mine with me an vacuum seal right at the tailgate. Depending on the situation, I may also flash freeze with dry ice on the spot.

Lloyd - If the birds are frozen in water (completely submerged), I would say they last several years in the deep freeze. Case in point: At Thanksgiving last year, I found a wild turkey breast at the bottom of the chest freezer which had been frozen in water. I believe the date on the bag was 4/2016. My wife is a huge fan of wild turkey meat so I thawed it out and it was perfectly fine and tasted great. In the past, I have had a few birds (mainly pheasants) that did not get completely submerged in water and ended up with some freezer burned areas. After removing the freezer burned areas, they ate just fine as well. If your grouse are not freezer burned, I would think you are good to go. Yes, I need to do a better job of freezer inventory management

Yeah, keeping them tidy can be a chore.

The next big deal here will either be duck gumbo or that burgoo I mentioned earlier. The gumbo will deal with the waterfowl, the burgoo will address those sprucies.

FWIW, a wide roll of masking tape and a sharpie marker goes a long way toward making game a regular part of the diet.

Well marked packages don’t seem to get forgotten.

We eat fish and game several times a week.
Not due to economics, but out of respect for the game.

CZ: can't argue that.

The stuff I bag gets sharpie markings as to date, type and prep (aged and/or type of cut). The stuff I used to get as "gifts" occasionally would be mostly devoid of all that, thus my present challenges.

The sleddog lady by me relies on the fact that people like to shoot deer, but wives don’t like to cook deer.

She feeds 50+ dogs on the venison and other game that people just never get around to eating before they give it to her.
(Discard it)

Can't say because I stopped putting dates on my stuff. Then nobody worries about how old it might be. I like a tight layer of saran wrap and then freezer paper. Then it goes in large zip lock bags.

I would question whether spruce grouse from around here are edible even in the week they are shot.
The last couple I ate tasted strongly like turpentine. So the last one I shot I had mounted for the man cave without the benefit of a meal.

I'm still searching for that turpentine spruce grouse. I've shot a lot of them over the last few years. And while they are not the most delectable, they certainly don't taste like turpentine. They are beautiful birds and would make an awesome mount. I shot a huge male, three years ago that I wish I had mounted.

Sprucies aren't bad, they just aren't as good as ruffed grouse for table fare. I studiously try to avoid them but occasionally a hen will launch and I think it's a ruff. The males are actually quite handsome but are easy to identify and I almost never mistake them.

This year I also have some sharptails to try out, so the jury is out on them for me. I've not heard many great reports but there are a few good stories about them. Time will tell.