Cooking roadkill

One of the more notorious poachers in the village lived opposite us. He used to hide his booty and gun at the bottom of our garden and then double back through the village to see if the coast was clear. He'd then nip across and retrieve his stuff. Mum often found a brace, still warm, hanging on the kitchen door handle. One year, there was such a glut that we were eating pheasant 2-3 times per week - all from that source! Mum took to skinning rather than plucking them, just because of the numbers. We didn't have a freezer then. When I was at uni, she sent me a roast one, BY POST! I fed about a dozen townies off that one. None had ever eaten it before. The Alberta Govt. used to breed pheasants and supply them to clubs for gun-dog trials, gratis! I managed to get a dozen from a colleague who went to these events and we skinned and froze them. We gave 3 or 4 dinner parties on those - usually cooked with white wine, tart fruit, and cream. If I want one now, they cost about 10 quid apiece from hobby farmers:-( Graham P.S. Shooting has never appealed to me either, for sport or the pot.