eating squirrel
 

i never really shot enough squirrels to worry about eating them most of the time i throw them to the side of a tree however i am wanting to get out more and give the 22 some work. how should i go about cleaning and cooking them?


oh and do they taste good??


thanks

RE: eating squirrel
 

Squirrel is easy to clean I usually just cut the head off and make a slice down the front and the skin peels off and there great to eat, Try the cooking forum down a little farther I think theres some squirrel recipies down there

RE: eating squirrel
 

Your thowing away the squirrels? Man, are you missing out on some great eating. The only squirrels I don't keep are Red Squirrels, (Pine Squirrels) But the Fox's and greys always go in my game bag. I've been hunting squirrel since I've been 12yrs. old. I'm 52 now and always look foreward to squirrel hunting. Go to Google and type in squirrel recipes. There's more than you'll ever use. and most of them are great.

RE: eating squirrel
 

thanks... where i hunt i have seen over 10 different black squirrels i will never shoot a black squirrel but as soon as i see a grey in the bunch he gets it. thanks for the help again... so i just need to cut the head off and slice the tommy and take the insides and the fur off and it is good to go?? cool :)

RE: eating squirrel
 

:(

RE: eating squirrel
 

Man, if your gonna shoot something you better use it and not just leave it.

RE: eating squirrel
 

;)

RE: eating squirrel
 

well i don't want to get hell from everyone cause i didn't eat the squirrels god to me they are little varmonts (sp) do you eat coyotes, fox, prairie dogs or groundhogs?

i didn't write this thread to hear people bit%#h about me leaveing 5 or so squirrels a year lay in the woods you know how many little prairie dogs lay in a feild after one day of shooting them??? a lot.

sorry but if you are going to post about me leaveing a few squirrels lay please don't POST
cause i don't want to hear about it.

however i would like more info on cooking them

RE: eating squirrel
 

Killer243 ; there are some good ways to cook them on the cooking form.
we take the young ones and pan fry them like chicken. (season,flour and fry) real simple.
the old ones we put in the pressure cooker till tender, then fry or make gravey (sorta like roast beef).great eating.

cleaning is easy ; I put mine into a bucket of water,(that makes the hair not stick to the meat.) I then chop off the head tail feet , cut a slit in the middle of the back. stick two fingers into the slit,the two fingers from the other hand into the slit the other way.then just pull till the skin comes off. gut wash , cut up. ready to cook.

as for as bashing you about leaving them by a tree. They are not coyotes,or ground hogs, fox, or even rats. they are game animals,not varmints.that is the main thing.

if you take a game animal you should take it to someone that can use it or eat yourslef.I think what everyone is saying is not to waste food animals.we try not to give the antis any more ammo than we can.all it takes is a little and they go crazy.they will take the smallest thing and blow it to the moon.please don't take it that we are trying to bash you,just inform you as what not to do,so the anti's want have anything to hit us with.
Hope this will help you understand how we all as hunter feel.
As for not wanting to hear it ; then maybe you should not post things that upset hunters.if something like that little statement hurts your feelings or makes you mad,then you may get a real big surprise if you post something big.I hope what I say here doesn't offend you any.just making myslef and some others known as to how we feel.after you have been around a while your skin will get thicker and things like this will roll off and you will go on with life.[&:][:o]

as the old saying goes "Waste not Want not";):D

go out and take a few and cook them up and you will see why you were told not to waste them.[8D];):D

RE: eating squirrel
 

climber thanks...it didn't bother me on what people were saying and i agree that is why i am going to try eating them however when i posted i didn't want info on leaveing them there. i never liked it that is the whole reason i started this thread is so i can find out what to do with them after i get them

RE: eating squirrel
 

In addition to using Squirrel recipes, you can use almost any rabbit recipe, just double the number of animals you are using.

I like Hassenpfeffer. It takes two days to make it well, but it is ever so yummy once you are done...

Chubber

RE: eating squirrel
 

When you are skinning your lil rat, dont get any fur on the meat.........its like it dont wanna come off! It sucks, thats the reason i dont hunt them to much time!;)

RE: eating squirrel
 

i grew up out west and we use to shoot the heck out of them all the time, they're not even considered a game animal and are open season all year long with no bag limits so we considered it target practice ...never heard about anyone eating them until i moved out east.

RE: eating squirrel
 

theres no way i will ever eat a squirrel, its a tree rat. Im not trying to start any thing i dont care if you eat it. its just my $0.02

RE: eating squirrel
 

Guys, please think about how the anti gun/ hunter crowd could get from your posts! Please, i dont want the Antis to have anything else in their liar arguments against us.

RE: eating squirrel
 

Ah your killing squirrels and just wasteing the meat, what a shame. Go to www.sqdog.com and click on recipes to learn how to cook them. I submited the ones by Ronnie atkeson but I just took them out of a cook book :D Just have someone fry them up like you would chicken and add potatoes,gravy,eggs, and biscuits and your in heaven.

RE: eating squirrel
 

they are very scrumptious (how ever you spell it). I cook them like a turkey back them for a bit but then through em on the grill

RE: eating squirrel
 

Throw em in a pot and boil em for awhile and throw em in a crock pot with some taters and onions, they come out yummy

RE: eating squirrel
 

There is no way in hell I would eat a squirrel when there is so much better out there.But to each his own.

RE: eating squirrel
 

mmmm.....squirrel......they are delish..i love eating squirrel, and i love hunting them

RE: eating squirrel
 

squirrels are just gophers with furry tail. or a rat witha fluffy tail. there is no way that those things can taste nearly as good as beef. get a cow.

RE: eating squirrel
 

Personaly I have never had squirrel befor. I know that hear in Tx most are considerd game anemels, but not all. I have taken my shere thow!

I consider them as pest, they have cost me so muc money in repars to my home, and that is why I started to despose of them.

Dont get me wrong, they do not go to waset, My dogs love them! and they have proven to be good bate for cyotes.

I do tink that I will try them!

RE: eating squirrel
 

I love to eat squirrel my dad showed me this way to clean a squirrel some 38 years ago
take a sharp knife with the squirrel on its back cut through its tail at the base but don’t cut through the skin on the other side .now slice the skin down the out side of the back legs only making about a 2 or 3 inch slice in the skin next grab both back legs
and step on the base of the tail keeping your foot on its tail pull up on the back legs and the skin will come right off leaving a triangular piece of skin attached to its belly and back legs grab the point of the triangular piece of skin and pull the remaining skin off . keeping your foot on the squirrels tail through the whole process. you will find that it takes only a couple of minutes to skin one and will have very little if any hair on the meat when your done

RE: eating squirrel
 

love squirrel. Love hunting them too. Started off hunting them with my Sheridan air rifle as a kid. surprised I didn't eradicate the whole danged species. At a bunch of em but left plenty for the buzzards too. These days I try to not kill em if I can't eat em. Although I have pinned one to a tree about 15 feet off the ground when deer hunting during bow season before because the damned thing wouldn't quit barking at me. As for eating groundhog I understand they make a hell of a pot roast if you clean it right.

David

RE: eating squirrel
 

Killer243

one thing you need to remember is that those little buggers will freeze in your freezer just like a steak or chicken. there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for shooting them and leaving them in the field,NONE. now, im not flaming you, what you do is your business, but us old time/longtime hunterslearned from our fathers,grandfathers and great grandfathers that to shoot something without using it is wrong.out here, the populations have fallen dramatically due to the viet namise in our area pouching them year round. recently, there were several arrests of the local VC due to this, with at least 3 bunchs of them possessing over 50-60 a pop ( law during season is 4 a day,4 in possession). dont get me wrong, im not a raceist period,but it seems that there the only ones who do this out here (california) . takem with ya,they are really good and very high in protein. there easy to clean, and will slip right in a ziplock bag in the field, and right into a small ice chest, or into the back of your hunting vest. if you only get 1 or two, stick those litle buggers in the freezer till you get more. i do think though that youll find out that it really doesnt take more than 2-3 to feed a family of 4, as there alitle bigger than they look, or than you think they would be. i shot one about 10 years ago that weighedright at 5 lbs (no exageration either)which i donated to the local college for further testing as it was HUGH! HE was so old, he had no teeth to speak of, and would have been like eating boot leather anyway. if you dont want them, go ahead and clean them and freeze them anyway, then ask around to your friends and see who likes to eat them. i think youll find that just about anyone will take them.

good luck to ya, and as someone else said
'waste not,want not!"

RE: eating squirrel
 

Hey 243,
I just consider squirrels "Tree Rabbits" lol...
They are great to eat and are actually healthier than chicken and have more protein than beef. Plus they keep in the freezer for a long time, up to one year but, taste best eaten within 3 months of kill.

The Arkansas Game Commission has some great info on cooking game including squirrel....

[link]http://www.agfc.com/education/recipes_details.html[/link]

[link]http://www.agfc.com/pdf/brochures/agfc_cooking_squirrel.pdf[/link]

Happy Hunting!!!!! and eatin' ;)

RE: eating squirrel
 

I love hunting squirrel and eating them! I killed four today, but one made me feel a little bad. I blew it out of the tree with a 12 gauge shotgun. When i found it on the ground, its back legs were paralyzed and it was trying to pull itself with its front legs. I had to stomp it with my boot several times, made me feel awful bad. Has this happend to any of you guys?

RE: eating squirrel
 

Hey 30-06lover,
It happened to me on my first squirrel of the season last year. I had the "fever" and didn't place my shot right. I use an old Marlin bolt 22 with CCI Stingers and made a gut shot, poor thing was flipping on the ground, kinda killed the mood since, I didn't want to make it suffer, just wanted a quick kill. After that bad shot, I made sure to aim right and it payed off. I go for shoulder shots, and placed the next two shots right on the money. After field dressing I could see that the bullet went through the lungs and heart and severed the spine at the base of the neck. Those squirrels were dead before they hit the ground.

Good Hunting,

RE: eating squirrel
 

Hey All:

I've been unemployed for two years, and find I need to stretch my food dollars as far as I can. I did a Google search for eating squirrel, and found this chat trail.

I've got lots of squirrels in my neighborhood and an air gun to shoot them with. I take them with clean head shots. I agree with the others here in that I hate to wound them or see them suffer. Head shots are quick and painless.

My real point in writing is to get more information about cleaning and eating them. I live in the Dallas, Texas area and all the squirrels here are red squirrels. One of you stated you don't like to eat red ones. Why? Do the rest of you agree, or have any of you eaten them and disagree?

As far as cleaning them, I read somewhere that you must be careful to wear gloves as their fur or skin poses a health risk. Once you are down to the meat it isn't a problem. Has anyone heard of this?

I've never eaten squirrel before, but I used to have a Cherokee girlfriend who said her father used to shoot them all the time and she ate them frequently as a kid. This is where I got the idea that there is free meat running around in my back yard that I could take advantage of. Obviously, many of you agree. Do any of you have any tips or cautions for a first-timer like me for cleaning them and disposing of the remains?

Thanks, all. I appreciate any advice you can give me. Free food is free food. I believe God supplies all our needs, and I'm in need now, so thank you Lord for helping me out.

RE: eating squirrel
 

Hey Fuzzjockey:

This sounds like a very simple and efficient method. I've never hunted before, so please allow me to ask a few uneducated questions.

When you say to cut the skin down the outside of the back legs, can you elaborate? Are you starting the cut from the initial cut you make on the tail? Do the second cuts go across the thigh, or around the base of the leg, or down the cneter of the leg, or something else? I'm assuming that the intent is to have the skin peel from the tail, around the legs to the lower belly and then completely off the animal like a sleeve or a sock.

Do you cut the head and feet off before you skin the animal or leave them on? I guess the skin would slip right off without it's feet or head, but I guess you could also peel the skin first and cut the head off and be left with a single piece of flesh to discard.

Have you tried soaking the squirrel in water first, as suggested by another member?

Thanks for your help.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey all:
After searching the web further, I was able to answer my own questions. If these help you, great, if I am mistaken, please correct me. The cuts should create a thin strip of skin leading up the back from the base of the tail, then around the base of the legs to the belly. The head and feet do not need to be removed first. After peeling the skin up and over the arms and head, keep hold of it. Then peel the "pants" or remaining skin off the hind quarters. After that you may cut the feet and heads off and be left with a single piece of flesh. Some like to keep the head as the brains are considered a delecacy by some. Recent medical advice cautions against eating squirrel brains as it may lead to degenerative brain disease in humans.

I found a few good web sites with greater information on skinning. One includes step by step instructions with diagrams: http://bayoubill.com/archives/2002/080502column.html

This site mentions a foul gland by the kidney of a red squirrel that ruins the taste of the meat.
http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts...191383,00.html

This site has an excellent description of skinning, preping and cooking squirrels with a few good recipes.
http://www.agfc.com/pdf/brochures/ag...g_squirrel.pdf

Hope this helps.

RE: eating squirrel
 

Hello Coyote Caller:

I'm interested in trying my hand at eating squirrel. I live near Dallas, Texas and the only squirrels I've ever seen around here are red ones.

Why don't you keep red squirrels? Do you advise I not eat them?

Thanks.