Small Game, Predator and TrappingFrom shooting squirrels in your backyard to calling coyotes in Arizona. This forum now contains trapping information..
I need some help. I have recently started hunting squirrels. Living in a shotgun only state, I use my 12 ga with#6 shot. No problem finding them or shooting them, it's skinning them. About half the time when I am skinning the squirrel I have to hold it so tight to skin that I end up squeezing some of it's guts through the pellet holes. Unless it's head shot or shot in the shoulder area, they don't make it through skinning and I literally tear them apart. Sorry for being graphic but I was wondering if this is just normal. I had to toss out 3 of em this week b.c I couldn't get them skinned without their guts falling out all over them. I am skinning this way:
Using poultry scissors
cut across the mid back just through the skin
begin to roll the skin off the back and front until at the head and rear legs
cut off head, front and rear legs and tail
gut from anus to breastbone
Any help from you experienced guys would be appreciated. I hate to take an animal and waste it.
Here's a couple of sights with tip's, sounds like your going about it in the right way. I've read that there easier to skin when there still warm, as in freshly killed.
Make a round cut around the back feet, then a cut from these, back to right underneath the tail.
Now you should have one single cut running from foot to foot (the two cuts meet right between the anus and the tail).
Now, bend over and step on the tail, and pull up on the hind feet. The skin should come off like a T-shirt all the way down to the ears. Then you can cut off the feet and head, and then gut the skinned squirrel.
This is easy and you avoid all the hair that can cling to the meat.
ok, once again, hold the squirrel with his head down, by the tail, back towards you. Use your knife blade and thumb and pull the hair from the bottom side of the tail from just above the base to just above the anus.
Make a cut through the tail bone just below the base of the tail, angle the cut so you leave approx. 9/16" to 5/8" strip of hide at the topside of the base of the tail. stand on the squirrels back feet and tug gently as you skin just a bit up over the back making the strip of hide on the top of the tail wider as you go.you should have the hide skinned in an inverted "V" with the top of the V about 1 3/4" wide just short of the flank. Insert knife under skin towards the flank and cut down toward the inner thigh, do this on both sides. if you've got it right to this point when you pull the hide will strip to the ears, with the skin from the back legs tearing in a "v" about the brisket. Use your thunb and knife blade to start the V on the brisket pulling the other way and the back legs should strip clean. If the skin doesn't tear in a V at the brisket, the cuts toward the inner thigh is not far enough around the flanks. remove head, 4 feet, and dress and your good to go, soak in saltwater overnight, pressure cook for 1/2 hour then brown in a skillet. the whole process takes about 7 minutes.
RR
Not sure this will work for you, but the method I've used recently is:
> pull the skin away from the belly and cut a hole large enough to get a few fingers through (not breaking the under skin/guts sack of the belly).
> once I get one finger from each hand in the hole I pull on each side of the hole until it is large enough to get about three fingers of one hand in.
> than I work my fingers along the inner portion of the skin (separating the skin from the meat) until you reach the spine. Do this on both sides.
> once both fingers meet, cut the skin in two sections within the hole (skin/meant gap) you just created.
> now pull the top(head) section and bottom(tail) sections in opposite directions. The bottom portion should be the easier of the two to pull and should skin past the back leg joint. The top portion needs some detail, but once you work the skin off the front legs you should be good to go.
> cut the head and feet off and you should have a skinned squirrel
> now poke your knife into the bottom of the ribs and split the chest cavity up to the neck. Than work down using your fingers to pull the meat/skin up as you cut to the pelvis.
> once your neck to pelvis cut is complete, grab the wind pipe and pull it down to the pelvis. The majority of your squirrel should be gutted.
> than I cut the front legs off and split the squirrel in two just behind the rib cage. Rib section is discarded and the front legs/rear area are soaked in salt water for 24hrs before frozen (supposed to pull the blood out).
Words never seem to capture your intent, but I hope this helps at least some what.
Squirrels
