Squirrel cleaning question

[Beekissed]

Tastes sort of like wild rabbit.

 

[homesteader wannabe]

Quote:
Careful where you get your squirrel from! There's actually a limit of 2 per adult, 1 per child in Ringwood, NJ because of the Ford company illegally dumping their paint sludge in the area years ago!

I wouldn't mind trying squirrel, (I've tried some pretty exotic meals), just not from around here.

 

[wyoDreamer]

Growing up, we would cook squirrel and cottontail rabbit together. Dad and I would go small game hunting and whatever we shot would go into the pot!

After skinning and gutting, they would soak in the frig in lightly salted water for a day to get the blood out. Then quarter, dust with flour, fry in hot oil till browned, cover with water and onions, simmer till tender (over an hour). Remove quarters, thicken the gravey, add the quarters back in and simmer 10 min. Side with boiled potatoes and sweet-n-sour green beans - best meal ever!

DH is spoiled, I pull all the meat from the bones while the gravy is thickening.

In my opinion, not all squirrel is created equal. In northern WI, here is my rating: The Grey Squirrel is the best tasting and most tender. The Fox Squirrel comes in second, but is a little gamier and tougher. Don't bother with the little Red Squirrels - almost no meat and tough as rubber.

 

[KyleD.]

Ah! I sure do miss me some squirrel lol. I use to cook it all the time before i enlisted. Fried, Grilled, with Dumplings. Can't really go wrong with it lol. Good stuff, those hairs sure are tricky though.

 

[Beekissed]

DH is spoiled, I pull all the meat from the bones while the gravy is thickening.

My grandma used to leave the bones on the meat also...so one would find theirselves taking a bite, then sucking the meat and gravy from the bone that was in your mouth. Slowed you down a little...maybe that is why she did it that way. She had a lot of kids....​

 

[ChicknThief]

Oh man. I think I have a new thing to "focus" on now!

How would one go about hunting a squirrel?

 

[Beekissed]

A stand of hard woods(oak and such), .22 rifle(no scope if you are a purist) and patience. That's all it really takes. Well...and it must be done in season.

 

[gryeyes]

There's a squirrel hunting season????

Oh my.

 

[itsy]

Now we're all on a kick!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I asked about it in my State thread. Here's a quote from there:

Quote:
Quote:
I do. Squirrel is very good, as others have mentioned. The season for squirrel in NY runs from September 1st - February 29th (except on Long Island) for grey squirrel. http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/29460.html
Red squirrel may be harvested at any time with no limit as long as you have a valid NYS small game hunting license. Red squirrels are smaller and sometimes have a slightly more gamey flavor because they often feed heavily on pine.


This page will get you started out:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/hunting.html

As of, I think, two? years ago, an air gun is now a legal weapon to harvest small game (technically it was illegal before). It is defined as:
Air gun—a firearm that uses spring or
compressed air (not gunpowder) to propel a
single projectile that is .17 caliber or larger and
produces a muzzle velocity of at least 600 feet
per second. You may use a smooth or rifled bore.

So, your 1200 fps airgun will be okay. They will do the job if you are pretty close and get a solid head or chest shot. Otherwise, a .22 rifle is an excellent squirrel gun (make sure to always shoot with a 'backstop' or something behind the squirrel... and not just in the treetops, as a .22 bullet can travel over a mile if you miss!). I also use a shotgun with field loads in one area that I hunt, as the landowner requested that we not use rifles.

To skin a squirrel, this is generally the best method unless you intend to save the hide for tanning/mounting: **WARNING, graphic content of skinning** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dekMT72WcE&feature=youtu.be

If you have any questions feel free to let me know and I'll help the best I can! I used to work with the NYS DEC.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I always liked to have someone with me when we hunted squirrel. Squirrel will try to keep the tree trunk between you and them, so the second person will tend to force the squirrel to expose themselves to the other one and a good clean killing shot will be offered.