Successful squirrel hunt

melikou1 · Nov 21, 2017

Burgoo is a Kentucky staple. https://www.chowhound.com/post/caintucky-sams-squirrel-burgoo-619906

Basically a Mulligan stew with squirrel and really what ever meat you have available. A lot of people use pheasant.

Last time I made it used squirrel, a bit of ground venison, some pork and a bit of leftover chicken. Do it in the slow cooker on low for a long time and even the squirrel ends up pretty tender. Very tasty.

BigSteve57 · Nov 21, 2017

teratos said:
I love squirrel. It is actually one of the most nutritious and healthy meats on the plant. No fat to speak of. Because they eat a lot of nuts, they are very high in Omega 3'. If only they were easier to skin.....

I didn't know that!
We've eaten lots of squirrel over the years. I've loved 'em. The wife, not so much.

Once I learned to quickly skin them they're not even that much work to prepare.

CrazySanMan · Nov 21, 2017

BigSteve57 said:
Once I learned to quickly skin them they're not even that much work to prepare.

What's your secret? I take off the head, paws, and tail, then cut a line through the fur on the back and pull apart the skin, like skinning a rabbit.

BigSteve57 · Nov 21, 2017

I'll admit my first squirrels were skinned with pliers and a boning knife after I carried them around all day in my game pack.
Let's just get it right out: that was DUMB. REAL DUMB.

My father in law came to the rescue and showed me the way.
What I do now:
Skin them RIGHT AWAY then field dress & cool.
Skin them pretty much this way:

[YT]zjjpW-To3Ms[/YT]

I would suggest making a pocket with your finger, under the skin, at the legs and above the tail before pulling.

Once the skin is pulled I field dress and depending on the situation I flush with fresh water which carry with me.

Similar for rabbit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=zjjpW-To3Ms

CrazySanMan · Nov 21, 2017

BigSteve57 said:
I'll admit my first squirrels were skinned with pliers and a boning knife after I carried them around all day in my game pack.
Let's just get it right out: that was DUMB. REAL DUMB.

My father in law came to the rescue and showed me the way.
What I do now:
Skin them RIGHT AWAY then field dress & cool.
Skin them pretty much this way:

[YT]zjjpW-To3Ms[/YT]

I would suggest making a pocket with your finger, under the skin, at the legs and above the tail before pulling.

Once the skin is pulled I field dress and depending on the situation I flush with fresh water which carry with me.

Similar for rabbit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=zjjpW-To3Ms

Awesome, thanks!

Uncle Duke · Nov 21, 2017

Steve makes a great point with his mention of RIGHT AWAY in caps.

The sooner you get on skinning squirrels, the easier it'll be.

No real effort required to skin a cold rabbit. Skinning cold squirrels is about work.

Melnic · Nov 21, 2017

Uncle Duke said:
Steve makes a great point with his mention of RIGHT AWAY in caps.

The sooner you get on skinning squirrels, the easier it'll be.

No real effort required to skin a cold rabbit. Skinning cold squirrels is about work.

I think that was my problem. My son and I were taking out squirrels early on a deer hunt and did not get to them until after dusk. Man, bunch of hair all over my hands too.

Don H · Nov 21, 2017

I skin them like the video shows but also I carry a small pair of wire cutters to nip the feet off. Also I soak them in salt water overnight to draw the blood out.

Grandma use to make me squirrel and dumplings if I supplied the squirrels, which I was happy to do.

Artillarylover · Nov 21, 2017

Don H said:
I skin them like the video shows but also I carry a small pair of wire cutters to nip the feet off. Also I soak them in salt water overnight to draw the blood out.

Grandma use to make me squirrel and dumplings if I supplied the squirrels, which I was happy to do.

Ill have to try to skin them that way. I have watches videos before but just winged it from memory the other day,

Really want to get back up there soon

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Archeryrob · Nov 22, 2017

I read stories about these guys in Ohio. Traditional archery guys stomp through the woods with flu-flu blunts and fling arrows to knock the squirrels out of the trees. Once done two Jack Russels they have finish them off before they can hit a tree again.

They make various recipes, but their favorite day is the end of the season. The saved all the heads all year. They skun them out and make squirrel head soup. They talked about the virtues of cracking a squirrel head with a spoon and eating the brains. :puke:

After deer hunting is finished we are thinning the woods this year. These guys are everywhere.

Artillarylover · Nov 22, 2017

Archeryrob said:
I read stories about these guys in Ohio. Traditional archery guys stomp through the woods with flu-flu blunts and fling arrows to knock the squirrels out of the trees. Once done two Jack Russels they have finish them off before they can hit a tree again.

They make various recipes, but their favorite day is the end of the season. The saved all the heads all year. They skun them out and make squirrel head soup. They talked about the virtues of cracking a squirrel head with a spoon and eating the brains.

After deer hunting is finished we are thinning the woods this year. These guys are everywhere.

I could see it being tasty. I gotta figure out a way to cook them that my wife would like. She's kinda grossed out by them

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Archeryrob · Nov 23, 2017

Squirrel is very good, just not as good as rabbit. We always made potpie with them. I just got no love for cracking squirrel heads like walnuts. I boiled deer brains in the house, once, and I thought everyone was going to puke.

Don H · Nov 23, 2017

Artillarylover said:
I could see it being tasty. I gotta figure out a way to cook them that my wife would like. She's kinda grossed out by them

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Parboil them. Place the critters in a crockpot, cover with water, add seasonings as desired and cook overnight. When done the meat should fall off the bone. The meat can then be used in stews.

melikou1 · Nov 29, 2017

Now's a great time to take squirrel. Temperatures haven't turned too cold and there's still a good bit of food (acorns) left, so they are not burning on reserves. Getting nice and fat...at least the ones in my backyard are.

newmuzzleloader · Nov 29, 2017

Artillarylover said:
I could see it being tasty. I gotta figure out a way to cook them that my wife would like. She's kinda grossed out by them

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I simmered the 5 my boy shot for 3hrs. I cut them in quarters put them in a stock pot and covered them with water. The meat fell off the bone and I had almost a qt of stock which I used to make gravy for the squirrel pot pie.Yum

lawrencewendall · Nov 29, 2017

Get a bunch and put in a pressure cooker. Use the drippings for sauce. :thumbsup:

newmuzzleloader · Dec 7, 2017

Going through pictures on the game cam and I found some of my son during his squirrel hunt.

Doctor_M · Dec 8, 2017

Seems to be a bumper crop of tree rats this year... twice what I'm used to seeing... I think that the fox population is a bit down this year in Carroll County, so that may have something to do with it. I haven't gone squirrel hunting in years, but I miss it. My wife hasn't been too keen on cooking them, but you guys are making me feel all nostalgic.

Artillarylover · Dec 8, 2017

newmuzzleloader said:
Going through pictures on the game cam and I found some of my son during his squirrel hunt.

Very nice!

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engineerbrian · Dec 23, 2017

Its been years since i've been out squirrel hunting but i'm going to take my son out this week.

I'm going through my old stash of #6 shot and figure any of them should do the job, but is there one of these 3 boxes that I should use over the other? It seems odd to me that a dove load would have more powder that a squirrel load :confused:

Successful squirrel hunt

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