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another successful hunt

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
Well, since I am pretty much tagged out till gun season, I decided to break out the .22 and try to get a few squirrels. badger and his wife schooled me on how to cook them, so maybe i will make more of an effort.



I can typically get 1 or 2 on any given outing. I got these 4 within 20 minutes, and could have got a limit in another 10 if I wanted to. I didnt think I should clean out the newly discovered "honey hole" until I was sure I could prepare them right.

gotta tell ya, I hate skinning these little fuggers. anybody got any suggestions on how to make this chore a little less aggrivating?
 

epe

Senior Member
6,113
93
Lancaster
Yep...Put a slit across the back, just above the tail, left to right, over towards the legs... Put the tail on the ground, like it is standing on its back legs.And step on it HARD. Grab under the skin where you made the cut, and pull up for all you're worth! There is a video on you tube...
 

aholdren

Senior Member
Supporting Member
5,178
151
South East Ohio
[video=youtube;66AVwthXgMA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66AVwthXgMA[/video]

This is what epe was talking about(I think). Ive been doing it this way for 30 years, my MOM showed me this when I was 10. The warmer they are the easier they are to clean.
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
saw that video last night. I tried it on the second one, the tail popped off, had to skin it the old fashioned way. Checked you tube again and found another one where the guy tells you "step on the skin, not the tail itself because the tail will break off" Huh, Why didn't the other guy tell me that? Tried that on the last 2, worked much better. Next time I go squirrel hunting I'm gonna take a couple large plastic storage bags, and skin them on the spot. drop em in the bag, ready to go, hunt some more.
 

RedCloud

Super Moderator
Super Mod
17,381
193
North Central Ohio
Like I told Dannman awhile back. Take a plastic back to the field with you. As soon as you shoot them skin it leaving the head and tail attached until you get home just incase a WO stops and checks you. A warm body makes them much easier to skin out.
 

badger

*Supporting Member*
Like I told Dannman awhile back. Take a plastic back to the field with you. As soon as you shoot them skin it leaving the head and tail attached until you get home just incase a WO stops and checks you. A warm body makes them much easier to skin out.

Gut them in the field and skin at home. They aren't that hard to skin. If you leave the head or the tail on a partially skinned squirrel, you will have a lot of hair on the meat.
 

RedCloud

Super Moderator
Super Mod
17,381
193
North Central Ohio
Gut them in the field and skin at home. They aren't that hard to skin. If you leave the head or the tail on a partially skinned squirrel, you will have a lot of hair on the meat.

Very true but a little water run over them from the sink works for me. I always run them under water to rinse them off when I get home so a little hair to wash off isn't that big a deal to me. I guess the only reason I rinse them is from back when I first started hunting them you would always have a couple shot that was laying in there and you would have to wash them and get all that out. That was back in my younger days when using the shotgun but with the .22 you wouldn't have to worry about that much but old habits die hard lol. I still run them under water lol. I much rather gut and skin them in the field still warm then to gut them and try and skin a cold stiff squirrel. You could go ahead and cut the tails off I guess as long as you leave the head on there so they can be identified if need be in the field. That would cut down on some of the hair issue.