The Great Squirrel Hunting Thread

[Gordon Jabben]

Our wildlife dept. has a tv show called Outdoor Oklahoma and they filmed three of us squirrel hunting with bows last year.  The show should air at the end of this month or the first of next month.  It will be available on a podcast. I don't know how it will turn out but we had pretty good success and a lot of fun. Since it is for the general public, they don't show kill shots but there are plenty of misses they can show.  

[Izzy]

I'm gonna try to get out tomorrow. Damn its been hot and I've been working too hard. Almost hate to see deer season start up sometimes cause I feel like I can't shoot squirrel while I'm deer hunting.

[frank bullitt]

Doc, another great way to clean them is,
put in some water. A 5 gal. bucket or I throw em the creek, which is what I do!

Cut the feet, tail, and head off. Then make a complete cut around the middle of the body, and pull skin off one end, and then the other.
The remove the entrails.

Wetting the hide first, will allow any loose hair to be removed or wiped cleaner from the body!

Always helps to skin soon while the body is still warm and pliable, too.

[sweeney3]

I think I'll not be shooting squirrels this year.  I'm in the middle of raising one that was found orphaned.  It's like a sort of penance for the four or five hundred I have shot and eaten over the years.  If I can release this one or once it passes on I'll probably hunt them again.

[Doc Nock]

Never heard that one, Frank!

Thanks.  I used to chop off the head, feet, then circle the middle and pull both directions, but the arms do NOT care for that motion anymore...or I should say the shoulders...

those Vids of the step on tail and pull the legs sure made it look easy...but it werent for me!  :(

[Blaino]

This guy makes it look easy.

 

[Doc Nock]

Blaine,

You aint whistlin Dixie to say he makes it LOOK easy.

The T shirt sleeves might be a give away.

TWo I tried in PA were both dead of winter with their winter coats on!  I managed to do exactly what he did and stepped on the tail and pulled and ripped on rear ham right off the squirrel...the hide never budged.

Second one I tried that way, the tail kept slipping out from under my boot and the hide wouldn't budge... but again, both were dead of winter... and PA gets some cold at times!

They sure didn't look like the squirrels were fresh killed, but the weather appeared mild with a t-shirt w/ short sleeves!  Might be key!

[shoot4fun]

Originally posted by tomsm44:
Looks like a fun thread.  I'm planning on trying my hand at squirrel huntin with my longbow this year.  I've read how tough they are to kill, so I tried to come up with something for maximum squirrel destruction.  Hopefully I'll get to test them this year.  Here's the before and after of what I came up with.

   

     

Hey.. neat looking heads but IMHO.. you'll leave the woods minus a lot of arrows.. they'll all be stuck into the trees!

[shoot4fun]

Originally posted by tomsm44:
Looks like a fun thread.  I'm planning on trying my hand at squirrel huntin with my longbow this year.  I've read how tough they are to kill, so I tried to come up with something for maximum squirrel destruction.  Hopefully I'll get to test them this year.  Here's the before and after of what I came up with.

   

     

Hey.. neat looking heads but IMHO.. you'll leave the woods minus a lot of arrows.. they'll all be stuck into the trees!

[tomsm44]

I don't plan to squirrel hunt until the acorns and leaves are off and the squirrels are on the ground for that very reason.  If they didn't get stuck in the tree, I'd probably never see them again anyway.  Guess I need to build me some flu flus.

[tomsm44]

Also, the ferrules are aluminum, so a shot to a tree will probably pretty well do the head in.  If I get to try them and they work well, I may try to build a one piece steel head of a similar design.

[frank bullitt]

Doc, the squirrel he is cleaning is a grey! Thinner skin then a fox!

Skinning when warm is important!

Another reason why the Indians liked fox squirrels for their hide.

[frank bullitt]

Doc, the squirrel he is cleaning is a grey! Thinner skin then a fox!

Skinning when warm is important!

Another reason why the Indians liked fox squirrels for their hide.

[Doc Nock]

Yup, Frank, both my Squirrel-asters were greys!(as in disasters!) January though...

Fox Squirrel is not only tough to skin and a durable hide, so can the critter meat be tough... Older neighbor lady cooked one her hubby shot...said she cooked it for 2 hrs slow in a pot of water and it never got tender...told him to never bring home another Fox Squirrel.

[tomsm44]

My grandfather used to get on to my brother and myself when we brought him a fox squirrel.  He said you wouldn't be able to cut the gravy with a fork when you got him cooked.    :D

[frank bullitt]

Well, I love the fox! They have gave much fun, and good eating!

[two4hooking]

I agree!  I like the fox squirrels.  Much bigger than the grey (more meat) and I had not experienced a big difference in meat quality compared.  Squirrel is tough period, and deserves some special cooking techniques (slow and low).  I read somewhere fox squirrels can be 12 years old in the wild (females).  Perhaps a few individuals can get particularly tough and old?  Like an old goose.

[Blaino]

We have 99% greys around here with and odd fox (black head, grey body) mixed in...

Our squirrel season starts Oct. 1 and most of them have wolves on them now anyways... We always wait until after the 1st frost before we start hunting them.

Grandmamma always cooked them in a pressure cooker fist and then fried them or she'd make squirrel and biscuit dumplings.  Man, that woman could cook!

[frank bullitt]

Yep, Blaino, pressure cooker is great! I will put 'em in with a deer roast, little pork shoulder, carrots, onion and celery, and seasoning.
About 30 min. and good eating!

[achigan]

[/url] [/IMG] Deer season starts 10/1 so squirrel are all I have right now. This guy was about 10 feet up ad 10 feet out barking at me...