What is it? Spruce Grouse? Roughed Grouse? Partridge?

Try soaking them in a very light brine for a day or so. Putting the two breasts SxS (you saw what I did there) the difference in colouration is pronounced.

colonel3006 said:
Lol. Your quote definitely hit the nail right on the head. The first time I went moose hunting up at Geraldton all the guys passed up every spruce grouse they seen saying they were terrible eating. Eating ruffed grouse ever since I could remember and always being my favorite meal, I thought they can't be that bad so I shot a few throughout the week. Boy was I wrong about not being that bad. Ever since I passed them up as well.
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The darker colour of the breast meat is a function of biology and the development of strong flight muscles. It's why the breast meat of wild turkeys is dark and domestic turkeys are light. Ruffed grouse are a favourite, especially in soup. The sweetness of the meat really pairs well with my homegrown root vegetables.
 
I don't know why sprucies get such a bad rap on flavor- I always thought they tasted just fine. Different than ruffies; but still pretty good IMO.
 
X-man said:
The darker colour of the breast meat is a function of biology and the development of strong flight muscles. It's why the breast meat of wild turkeys is dark and domestic turkeys are light. Ruffed grouse are a favourite, especially in soup. The sweetness of the meat really pairs well with my homegrown root vegetables.
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This is what I always suspected, any grouse I've dressed out with darker meat have been larger in size due to age. So it makes sense that they would see more flight time and muscle developement and have more of a dark meat than the lighter meat of the younger birds.
 
jory said:
I don't know why sprucies get such a bad rap on flavor- I always thought they tasted just fine. Different than ruffies; but still pretty good IMO.
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Early in the season they taste fine. Once they turn to eating mainly conifer needles in the late fall they can take on a sharper flavour.
 
RRH.01 said:
More than a few on this thread that need it. How the ####in hell can you misidentify three distinct group species, a lot of fail in here.
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Well I'm in the "Failers" category but I am only 3 years hunting and as such I'm not going to mind chitting the bed on my bird identification particularly. Considering that the emphasis on the hunter exam was "It is illegal..." I am sure that I'll have my bird identification dialled in within 5 years.
 
Plenty of different grouse in BC.

Ruffed, both red and grey phases; Spruce and their subspecies Franklin's; Blues, both dusky and sooty; Columbian Sharptails; Willow, Rock and White-tailed Ptarmigan. Shooting the wrong one in the wrong place - say Sharptails in the South Chilcotin - could prove to be a costly mistake.
 
X-man said:
The darker colour of the breast meat is a function of biology and the development of strong flight muscles. It's why the breast meat of wild turkeys is dark and domestic turkeys are light. Ruffed grouse are a favourite, especially in soup. The sweetness of the meat really pairs well with my homegrown root vegetables.
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Not sure where you get that from..... wild turkey breast meat is pure white....
 
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Butcherbill said:
And 1 ruffed 3 less lucky spruce grouse lol. Now I'm sad grouse season is over, I do love hunting the wild chicken.

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Those are all spruce grouse... one is a hen.
 
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