do that first).

There’s no best way to dress a grouse. One hunter
we know does it this way. He slips the blade of his
knife through the belly skin just behind the breast
and cuts around the margin of the breast. He then
bends the bird backwards opening the cut he has just
made. He puts his knife in the opening and pushes
it under the belly skin until the point comes out just
under the tail. Then he slices upward cutting through
the skin. The innards come out easily from the result-
ing hole.

Another hunter merely cuts from behind the breast
to one side of the vent: in go his fingers and out come
the innards. He claims the smaller cut is easier for
the cook to close after the bird is stuffed with dress-
ing. In very warm weather, however, the bird may
not cool fast enough with so small an opening.

Some hunters can remove the heart and liver most
easily by pushing them, with their thumb, through
the opening that results when they cut off the head
where it joins the body. Others remove these organs
from the rear. One hunter says the lungs are the
most difficult organ to remove from game birds but
he does it by sliding one finger into the cavity and
gently forcing the lung away from the body wall. Our
advice is this: use the method that works best for you.

Now that the bird is cleaned and cooled off, put it
in a paper or plastic bag and go on your way. Back
at the car you must be careful to spread your birds
out so that the air circulates around them. Don’t put
them into a pail or a box or a washtub. Spread them
out, ideally on a lathe or wire rack which keeps them
off the floor of the car and lets air get around them.

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