Winter Squirrel Hunting

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The vinegar takes out the "wild gamy" taste and makes the meat easier to wash off any hair and blood that wasn't removed before freezing.
I prefer game meat to be frozen or at least chilled for a while. I want the body heat to be out, just makes better eating. Same with venison.

That makes sense :lewis:

I seen @idahoron Sprinkle Rock salt over Boned out Deer meat to draw the Blood out, I had never seen that done before? I wish i had known his trick years ago I would like to have tried it on Blacktail Deer on the Wa coast, Those things were RANK Smelling critters when killed in the Rutt
 
That makes sense :lewis:

I seen @idahoron Sprinkle Rock salt over Boned out Deer meat to draw the Blood out, I had never seen that done before? I wish i had known his trick years ago I would like to have tried it on Blacktail Deer on the Wa coast, Those things were RANK Smelling critters when killed in the Rutt

This is a picture of the salt water and ice bath. After it soaks I rinse the meat and then put it in a pillow case and let it hang to drain.
 

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I also like to brine them. Salt, and sugar, mixed with water. I don’t know or have a recipe I just put “some” in there. Salt by itself will do if we’re out of sugar. It pulls blood out of the meat.

I brine everything like this, fish, venison, etc.

Most of the chicken you buy in the store has been brined some way. If you look for it on the package it says “treated with xxx percent solution” or what have you. Simply, it was brined.
 
Most people never realize that the are 2 tiny grey glands under the front arm pits, if you don’t remove those, they will taste gamey no matter what you do.
Correct! There are also some glands along the belly that I remove. We used to fight over the heads as kids when growing up. I cut them off now for the varmits outside, they always disappear in a day or so.
 
I wish I could see this done, I would love to Hunt Grey squirrels someday

This video shows the method I use pulling the hide off. I will have to try putting them in water first, always seem to get some hair on the meat. I cut off the legs/tail after taking down the hide which helps.
 
I’m convinced there are more than 2 little glands. I pick off any little piece of white/off white or fatty looking tissue
 
To tenderize anything soak in pineapple juice (fresh or frozen, not canned) for a couple of days.
 
The vinegar takes out the "wild gamy" taste and makes the meat easier to wash off any hair and blood that wasn't removed before freezing.
I prefer game meat to be frozen or at least chilled for a while. I want the body heat to be out, just makes better eating. Same with venison.
Salt water also seems to take gamey taste out.
 
What is this gamey taste. We eat a lot of squirrels. It’s one of our favorites. I guess that I will be looking for glands.
 

This video shows the method I use pulling the hide off. I will have to try putting them in water first, always seem to get some hair on the meat. I cut off the legs/tail after taking down the hide which helps.


That's the hard way to skin 'em.

Easier to cut through the bottom of the tail, but not through the hide and down each side of the back a bit, then step on the tail and hide and pull up on the hind legs. This leaves them with a pair of pants on them that you then pull up and off while still standing on the tail.
 
I bought one of these a few years back. Really works great. It has a strap so I can hang it on a tree and skin the squirrels before I head home.
 
We don't have squirrels here but with rabbits I always soak them in a 5-10% brine for 24 before cooking. Removes that strong "rabbity" taste, and they're beautiful. I remember when my now wife who is not from a shooting or hunting family came to my parents place for dinner for the first time when we started dating we had a stew. She loved it and assumed it was chicken until afterwards when we told her. She was a bit shocked but had to admit she enjoyed it, now she loves game!
 
Where do you live that shooting the fox squirrels is legal? I'm from md. & the Delmarva fox squirrels in that area have always been illegal to hunt. Same in Wva. Now I'm in north central Fl where we have big beautiful fox squirrels everywhere & they are illegal to hunt as well.
My fam has always cooked squirrel in flour S&P & fried in bacon grease then white country pan gravy with taters - mashed or fried with onions.
I've raised 5 grey squirrels from the size of mice as pets. I don't hunt them anymore, but I'll still belly up to the table in a flash if someone else kills & cooks them tho.
Fox squirrels are legal in SC in season except individual Wildlife Management Areas . We had lots of them when I was a kid ( long ago) I have not seen any in years .
 
I killed 20 chipmunks in the last month. Talk about tough shooting. Only about the size of your thumb. They are so well camouflaged you can hear them bark at you but cant locate them. Only after a study of the area can you see a stripe, eye, profile, or ear, that gives them away. They do not seem to run and if you miss the first shot they may disappear a moment but they come back to see. Curiosity gets them killed.

This last week I had one at about 15 yards. You could see it peeking over a log. I took my best shot and shot high. The pellet going through the leaves behind it made it think the danger was on that side of the log so it switched sides. Perfect.
 
Glad to see this thread come back. I've been slacking on small game since deer season has gotten so long around here. I have some "nice" .22's, but my favorite is an old H&R 750 single shot bolt action. There is really nothing nice about it. I paid 50 bucks for it. The finish is trashed. I put an old cheap scope I had laying in around on it. The only thing it has going for it, it will group .22 short CCI hollowpoints all day long out to 50 yards.

It sees regular groundhog duty around my garden. Seeing this post has me motivated to hit the woods for squirrel this September. I used to cook them in a crock pot with mushroom soup and eat them over noodles, or make a brunswick stew.
 
Glad to see this thread come back. I've been slacking on small game since deer season has gotten so long around here. I have some "nice" .22's, but my favorite is an old H&R 750 single shot bolt action. There is really nothing nice about it. I paid 50 bucks for it. The finish is trashed. I put an old cheap scope I had laying in around on it. The only thing it has going for it, it will group .22 short CCI hollowpoints all day long out to 50 yards.

It sees regular groundhog duty around my garden. Seeing this post has me motivated to hit the woods for squirrel this September. I used to cook them in a crock pot with mushroom soup and eat them over noodles, or make a brunswick stew.
Cool story about your gun. Ive been eating squirrel since I could eat solid food. Ive never had it either way you said. Both sound really good! I think they'd go fantastic in Brunswick stew. Great idea. I've raises 5 grey squirrels since I was a kid. I quit hunting them yrs ago, & have built friendships with numerous wild squirrels that I could hand feed & they'd climb on my & hang out, get nuts out of my shirt pocket & sit on my hat brim to eat them. Really cool stuff. I've only had them cooked over an open fire, or floured w/S&P then fried in bacon grease then made white pan gravy, served with mashed taters or over long grain rice, or in a stew with fresh garden veggies. When it gets cold in north Fl I might just have to shoot enough greys to make a big pot of that Brunswick stew with them.
 
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