Often celebrating a successful grouse hunt on location with family/friends and the dogs that helped make it possible is the most memorable kind of meal!  You may not have all the tools and ingredients to use, but you can improvise and make do. 

Grouse is relatively easy to process, though you may not be able to keep the delicate skin intact.  Remove the breast meat, the legs, perhaps the tail for pinning, and the wings for training dogs.  You may also want to have a look in the crop to see what they are feeding on.  The feathers are also good for tying fishing flies.

Pan-seared Grouse deglazed with Vermouth (Camp-style)

Ingredients:

• 2 fresh grouse- breast and leg meat
• 2 Tbsp bacon grease (left over from camp breakfast) or butter or oil or some combination…whatever you have available
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp flapjack or pancake mix or flour…whatever you might have
• salt and pepper to taste, dash of poultry-type seasoning if available
• 1/2 cup of dry vermouth or white wine or chicken stock…again whatever you might have

Preparation:

Clean the breast meat and legs, removing any feathers and noticeable shot.  Sprinkle the meat with flapjack mix or flour and season with salt and pepper.  Rub this into the meat a bit.  Heat a large skillet over medium/medium high heat.  Add the bacon grease and/or butter,   Cook the grouse meat in the hot fat until golden brown, then flip it and cook the other side until golden brown.  About 4 minutes per side.  Remove meat and set aside on a plate.  Add the garlic clove to the pan and stir for about 30 seconds.  Add the vermouth and deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, stir.  Add the grouse meat back to the pan and cook until the sauce thickens a bit.  Turn the meat over so it is coated with sauce on both sides.  Sprinkle with some fresh parsley if you have it and serve immediately with some veggie side dishes.