geten up early

[charlie cleveland]

in the morning to chase the mighty gray squirl...hope to have good storey of sucsess on the morrow to tell...will hunt with the p grade 10 ga using reloads of 1 ounce they pattern very well....wish me luck.... charlie

[Dean Romig]

Good luck on those "bushytails" Charlie. How do you cook them?

[Russ Jackson]

Hi Charlie ,They're fun to hunt with the old Hammer Gun also ! Best of luck on those Squirrels ! Russ

[calvin humburg]

I suppose he uses heat.:)

[charlie cleveland]

got up this morning was suprised there was a frost our first of the year...any way got to the woods a little after daylite it was cold to me and must have been cold to the squirls also...it was about 30 minutes before i seen the first limb shaking. i moved a little and saw the fuzzy tail twisting on the side of the tree suddenlly he came into view i raised the old parker ten up and slid the safety off and fired the left barrel and down came no 1 squirl... i waited to go pick up the squirl and in about 5 minutes i seen a young doe deer rise from her bed shes was not over 50 feet away she started blowimg and stomping her feet.. boy was she letting ever thing in thr woods knoy i was there... i finally just had to scare her off and move on farther looking for another branch to move...i finally picked up my 2 nd squirl and hunted a while longer but the critters just seemed to have dissappered... those 1 ounse loads did there job and ther literally was no recoil felt... not my best day for a record kill but it was would have been a fine hunt even with no kills..it was just to fine of a day to set in the house or to work... charlie

[charlie cleveland]

if they are young squirls after cleaning them ilet them set in the frige overnite in water with a little salt in it....when i get ready to cook them i pat them down with a dry cloth to remove excess water...then roll them in self rising flour with pepper and salt as desired...put them in prewarmed skillet using butter then drop in squirls and slowly bring to a golden brown or crispy state... sometimes i mix water and flour and make gravy with them.. serve with hot biscuits and youhave a fine meal... charlie

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Charlie,

That's my favorite way to fix them as well. Some guys go to a lot of trouble with squirrels but to me the simple way is the best. Good Work


Destry

[Richard Flanders]

I agree; a squirrel skillet stew with chopped onions and garlic and gravy is as good as it gets. Tender and tasty beyond description.

[Dean Romig]

Sounds delicious - I'm going to try them next time I get to hunt anything with some size. In Vermont where I spend 98% of my hunting time all we have is those little red squirrels and it would take a bunch of them to make a meal.

By the way, is there an easier way to get them out of their daggoned skins?:eek:?

[John Havard]

Skinning squirrels is a heck of a lot easier than skinning a moose. I'll find the full video (put out by the Virginia DF&G) and see if I can post a link to it.

This isn't the link I was thinking about but it shows the same technique. Cut through the tail bone hard against the back, extend the cut just a bit, grab onto the back legs, step on the tail, and stand up. You end up with a skinned squirrel in about 30 seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66AVwthXgMA

[Destry L. Hoffard]

Yeah that's how we always did it. I remember my Dad showing folks that had squirrel hunted all their lives that trick and them being amazed.


Destry

[Richard Flanders]

I do it slightly differently that this little video but the same idea. With this method I assume you have to grab what is left around the back legs with pliers and pull it off?

[Destry L. Hoffard]

It leaves a V shape piece of skin that runs up the center of the belly. You just work the tip of the V loose with your fingers and pull it off just like you're pulling off the squirrels britches. I always nip off the feet first with a pair of game shears, that makes it all even slicker.

DLH

[Richard Flanders]

Exactly as I figured Destry. Thanks. I'll have to try that one. I do the same with the feet. We skin our deer like that. Hang them head up to something stout, cut off the lower legs with a cordless sawzall, skin the neck out to the base, make a roll of neck hide on the chest side, poke a hole and tie a rope around it tightly, hitch it to the trailer hitch of the Expedition and zip, off comes the entire hide in 10 seconds or less. Just like the old buffalo hunters did with a horse. I've read that any skinner who took more than 3min to skin a buffalo was subject to being fired.

[charlie cleveland]

would take me longer than 3 minutes to get my knife out of my pocket ...guess i would been outa job.... charlie