Well after taking the advice of many pellet fans and doing quite a bit of research, I decided on three different recipes. I had five birds. I figured if I do three recipes I have a good chance of success on one of them.
I apologize in advance... I took no pics. I totally planned to, but as I so often do I get busy and caught up in the moment and forget.
I took a recipe that pmillen emailed me that he called pheasant in sour cream. He described it as a sort of stroganoff. I used two birds in this. It was really good and a big hit. So thanks pmillen.
Because I felt the need to use the pellet smoker, I made atomic buffalo turds with one of the birds. I just substituted the little smokies for pieces of pheasant.
And finally I smoked two of them at 250* for a couple of hours. I filled the cavity with chopped onion, then rubbed the bird with a chicken rub. Bacon was laid over the top to help keep it moist. I pulled them at an internal temp of 155. I was very pleased with how that turned out. Their was a nice smoke flavor and the meat was still moist. I would definitely do it again.
Thanks to everybody who shared their experience.
Oh ya... I brined them all for about nine hours