Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Shooting and Hunting => Topic started by: ballista on September 27, 2008, 12:29:14 am
-
hey everyone, I killed a squerrel a few days ago, and it occoure to me, i never really had to cook one, my grampa always did it. I just roasted it over a campfire within 15 mintues of the kill, but id LOVE to hear some good recipies to cook the critters, maybe some stories as well. everyone has a unique way of skinning, mine didnt work well at all, i had to make a few different cuts. so, does anyone have a very reliable tecnique? thanks, -jimmy
-
For skining I just make a cut in the middle of the back and then stick two fingers on each side of the cut and pull his shirt and pants off at the same time. ;D..
I like to take them and flour and fry them and then make a batch of thin gravey put the fried pieces in there and let it simmer on a very low heat until the meat is tender. and serve it over rice.
-
awesome, thanks for the reply- how long would you say is too long after the kill? like from when you shoot it, to when you fry it up?
-
I clean them the same way. But I do it as soon as I shoot it. The skin comes off easier while it is still warm. I just go to the Colonel's chicken place and stock up on handi wipes. And carry two, two gal. Zip-Lock baggies with me.
I then save them till I have a bunch,(10 or 20) then put them in a pressure cooker till the meat falls off. Pick all the bones out and mix it up like you would Tuna fish salad. I then freeze it till I go hunting for the weekend and that is my sandwiches or it is great on Ritz crackers and a cold beer.
By the way, I shot one out of the top of an oak Saturday morning with my new James Parker bow. But he ran off into the palmettos.
-
thats awesome, i shot one a week in the suburbs, i got hell from my mom for it though- homemade blowgun did the trick there ;D do you freeze them unti you have a bunch, or do you go out there like f-in rambo and get 18 within a days hunt? ;D oh, i as watching bear grylls (one of my favourite shown next to weapon masters, both worth watxching) and he just roasted the entire rabbit, guts and all- he did an identical thing with a squerrel in russia, but it was also frozen solid from the trap, he didnt even take the guts out... wouldn't you want to just pinch out as many as you can? thanks for the replies guys, jimmy.
-
I save them up till I have enough. We have a small game season that runs from the end of Dec. to Feb 1. I usually hunt with a 22-410 O/U then. But we can shoot small game from Sept till then during any of the different seasons.
-
oh i ment the guts- haha ;D but that season's alot longer than illinois, its august to march, thats just off the top of my head though. so, i was worried from deer experiences, the crap hole. is it something to really worry about, do you cut around it, ect?
-
Push it out with your finger ???
-
Yeah, get the guts out as fast as you can, especially if it's warm weather. You want to get the meat cooling down as fast as you can. Bear Grylls is an idiot in my opinion-he does all that fear factor TV crap just for the shock factor. If he had a filet mignon in his pocket and was standing next to a clean, cold spring he would still eat a handful of slugs and night crawlers and wash them down with a bottle of warm pee. He does everything about exactly opposite of what you would actually want to do in a real survival situation. Then his crew airlifts him out every evening in a helicopter to a resort hotel to spend the night. If you want to see something more realistic, watch Survivorman. I usually skin and fix squirrels like KnightD said unless I want to save the hide, then I split them down the inside of the legs and down the belly to the chin. They're also good if you take the meat off the bones, run it through a meat grinder, and make squirrel tacos. Or like you said, just roast 'em over some hot coals. There is a world of difference between a youg squirrel and an old tough one, too. Fry or roast the young ones and parboil the old leathery ones.
-
i gotta agree with you, the canadian's alot better, bear grylls shows you alot of things, but you kinda have the suspition after he's done filming, he's got a turkey dinner waiting for him. would you put them in salt water and brine them? thats what i did with a couple carp this year, believe it or not they were Amazing. i was thinking about the tails as maybe string silencers, but it would be kinda hard to put in the string-but it would look cool on a selfbow. do you use blunt tips often? i've heard alot of good things, but i've never used them on anything smaller than a groundhog (which was a monster, could possibly be why) thanks again, BOW SEASON STARTS TOMARROW!!!
-
Yeah, Bear Grylls is a moron. I can't stand to watch him and Hillbilly, you hit the nail right square on the head. I agree with everything you just said 1,000%. The sooner they take that worthless show off the air the better TV will be. I hate to have to even flip through and happen to see 1 second of it. He misleads people. Some city kid that didn't know better and was just starting out to learn how to hunt and interact with nature might actually beleive you should drink snake pee in a survivial situation instead of breaking open a cactus.
~~Papa Matt
-
I hate all those survival shows, except Survivor ;D. You don't need to brine the meat unless you just like salt. If you strip the fur off the tail it is not stiff. Just cut a ring around the tail, split a small piece of oak limb and place it at the cut ring. Then squeeze it hard together and pull in opposite directions. You will have fur in one hand and a rat looking tail in the other.
-
Thanks for the replies- this is going to sound a bit odd, but if you wanted a garlic squirell... how'd you do it? my dad made some vennison last year that had some garlic in it, hes a beeter chef than a hunter though. i asked him, he said yo're better eating the vennison he made :P :P i went huntin yeaterday, i saw a red fox squirell 10 yards away, i was deer hunting though. if i was out just for squirell...... i'd had drilled him ;D im using a compound for now, i want to make sure my accuracy is completely pinpoint with a longbow before i go deer hunting trad. thanks for the posts, and do any of you guys snare? i might do a little of that, then just check the snares after i hunt. -jimmy
-
So glad to here that no one on the site likes Bear Grylls. Notice how he teaches "how to survive" by putting himself on the side of a cliff on every episode. He teaches the most foolish ways to get around. I love Les Stroud, informative, smart, and has some good advice. You wont see him with a live scorpion dangling out of his mouth just to put on a show. Grylls is definitely going for the shock factor, as you guys said.
And if I see Bear drinking his own urine one more time, then I will have to remove cable from my bedroom! ;D
-
haha yeah, alot of the crap he puts on is just for the show. I guess he got busted staying at a "pre arranged camp" but it was probibly a motel or something-if you're getting paid that much, you might as well stay outside. Yeah, the canadian has some great tips, but my reasoning for favorng him, no camera crew. he shows you exactily what he has, he'll tell you he has one match. wehreas bear, he has a flint-fire is something you need in most senarios, a flint isnt far from a lighter. popped a litle chitmunk today in my backyard with a blowgun, i was thinking about cooking him, but i just gave it to the neighbour's dog as usual ;D (i didnt kill it just to kill it, the litle bastards gnawed a hole clear through my shed...)
-
I`m a little suprise nobody mention Squirrel Potpie. ???With homemade dough,not the store bought stuff.I save about 6 squirrels for a batch of Potpie.Real good stuff.Last year i got 5 or 6 with the bow.Lost about10 arrows. :(They`re alot of fun to hunt. ;DThis year i missed 3 so far.Lost 2 arrows and nothing in the freezer yet. :(Some days i`ll go squirrel hunting as a priority before deer.Then if i see a deer,thats even better,but i know i`ll get shooting at the TREE RATS.
-
HAHA- squirrel prioritize hunting, I want to mount one someday with a mini selfbow in his hands and a quiver on his back ;D I hven't gotten many with the bow to be totally honest, I've gotten a dozen or so with a 17 hmr, and about half a dozen with the homemade blowgun ;D the darts fer a blowgun are real inexpencieve to make, plus they have razor broadheads on em, the one's that i've killed were put down real quick- but still want to kill one with a selfbow! squirrel pot pie, sounds amazing, with some cocacola and a good tv show :) how do you go prepairing the squirrel? you add anything else in there with it, like stuffing or anything? thanks again -jimmy
-
I boil the squirrels until the meat about falls off.Take all the meat off the bones and prepare it like you would ham potpie with potatoes and HOMEMADE dough.Store bought dough just dosen`t compare to homemade.Homemade gives it more thickness and not so watery.I finely got my squirrel mount back from the taxidermist.Two grey squirrels on one log with a hole in it.The one has just his head and one paw sticking out the hole and the other stretched out above him looking off to the side.He did a real nice job on the mount.This year i would like to get a fox squirrel mounted sitting up eating a nut.Thinking about using my hickory bow for him.
-
i cant even hit the little rascles. but i can hit an apple. what gives? anyway, crockpot cookes em up good to. never try to grill one though. like eating a tire.
-
I've got what I think is a better skinning method then cutting it across the back. I can usually clean at least two squirrels to someone else's one who is using the across the back method.
Lay the squirrel on his back and cut through the underside of the tail through the bone leaving the hide still attached on the back side. This cut is made right where the tail is attached to the body. The key is to leave as much of the hide still attached on the back side because it is going to be under some stress. Also extend the cut a little ways down each hind leg where the white belly hair and dark hair meet. Then with your thumb separate a little of the hide from the body a little at the back. Then I usually find a step or something solid to step on with an edge on it. Lay the tail on the solid surface with the body extending off the edge and you're holding the squirrel by the hind legs.
Now pull the squirrel by the hind legs while at the same time holding the tail down with your foot. If set up correctly, it will pull off like taking off a tee shirt. When you get to the front legs, pull each one out and continue removing the hide until you reach the head. It will leave a little hide on the belly out from the hind legs and also some on the hind legs themselves. While still standing on the tail, you can peal the skin off the hind legs as well. Then break the leg bones and cut off the head to separate all from the body. This leaves very little hair behind if done correctly. Cut down between the legs and out the butt area. Cut up through the chest and out the neck. Remove the entrails. Wash out and you're done!
Sounds involved, but I've hunted squirrels since I was a kid and have skinned them both ways. This way once mastered is far better then cutting across the back, take my word on this! ;D
-
I'll have to try that Greg. I like to clean mine as I shoot them. Gives me time to let everything calm down and search out the next one. I just cut the back, pull the skin like a lot of you do. But I cut all four feet off first and when I get to the shoulders pull them through. Then I slice both shoulders off, slice out both backstraps, cut the two hams, slice the belly and cut out the two little loins. Throw them in my two gallon zip lock, wipe my hands with the Colonel's finest handi-wipes and slip after the one or two I spotted while cleaning their cuzzin'. They skin real easy when they are still warm.
-
My son and I watched Survivorman once. He turned over a log and picked up two long worms, "worms and centipedes are 80% protein where beef is only 20." Then he proceded to slurp one down and put the other in his pocket "for later". A week later while having lunch with my wife we get a phone call from the school nurse. My son a picked up a worm, told the kids on the playground that worms are 80% protein and slurped it down. I asked him later what it tasted like. "Dirt."
possum
-
I clean mine like GregB does. It takes just a few seconds and you are done. I have fried them and made the gravy and even made a few casseroles with them. Pressure cook a few til they fall off the bone and pick the bones out. Put a layer of pepperidge farms stuffing in a 9 X 13 baking dish, add a layer of squirrel, pour on a can of cream of celery soup, then layer on more stuffing, another layer of squirrel, a can of cream of chicken soup and add a final layer of stuffing. Bake @ 350 til the top is brown and everything is bubbling. If I get a bunch of the little rascals, I can them to save the freezer space. Then they are already cooked, tenderized and the broth works really good in gravy.
I have also done beer butt squirrel, just with small juice cans instead of full sized beer cans. Works great with rabbit too.
-
Ballista;
When I was a kid, and my Parents, and Brother, and Grandfather and I would go down to the Big Cypress, for Hunting season. My brother and I would go squirrel hunting. That was when we could shoot fox squirrels down here. Anyway, my Mother would Fry some, and the others she would make like chicken and dumplings, or squirrel stew. As for the squirrel pot pie, a simple recipe is to boil the squirrel till tender, and then put it in a baking dish, and add some chopped sweet onions, and some chopped garlic, salt and pepper, a little canjun season, and put in a small bag of diced mixed vegetables, peas carrots, corn, beans, etc., then cover it with a can of cream of chicken, or cream of mushroom, and then make your own dough, or store bought, and roll it out, and put on top of the mixture, and put it in the oven, and when the dough is nice and brown, take it out, and enjoy! As for the stew, do just as you would a beef stew. Just add the squirrel, and seasonings, and bring to a boil, and then simmer for an hour, and then add, some sliced potatoes, diced inion, stewed tomato if you want, or if you want a mulligan or brunswick stew, add okra, and mixed diced vegetables, and the stewed tomatoes, and let it cook for another 45 minutes, to an hours. Basically just use the squirrel as replacement meat for your favorite recipes. you can make a nice sandwhich spread, by boiling the squirrel, and then simmering for a couple of hours, with some diced onions, and garlic, salt, pepper, cajun seasoning, maybe some celery, or put it in a pressure cooker, and add the seasonings, and onion, and garlic, and then let it cool, and strain it. Then remove the bones, and put the meat and onions, and garlic, mixture in a food processor, and process to the consistency you like, and there you have a nice sandwhich, or cracker spread, while hunting, or watching your favorite hunting show. I used to take left over chicken, pork, beef, etc. and do that minus the seasonings, and make cat food, my cat. Speaking of shows, The Canadian Guy rules! The Bear Gryllys guy is indeed an idiot wuss! The Canadian guy not only shows you factual stuff, but actually does it, by himself, without the motor homes, or flight back to the hotel. I will be glad when they take Bear Gryllys off the air. Anyway there are a " Plethora " of recipes out there. Like I said, just take your favorite recipe and replace the meat with squirrel meat. I sure miss my Mother's squirrel stew. She too would also fry them, and then cover them with a nice gravy and put it over rice, and sometimes noodles. Dang, now I'm hungry! Ah the lowly tree rat, sure is in the gourmet aisle! Lets hear about some musk rat recipes, also know as known as long island black duck or something like that, during the depression era. Supposed to be very delicious. I know they are a heck of a lot bigger than I thought they were. I saw some for the first time, when I was in Montana, a few years back. As for skinning them, I do like mullet. I just cut around the middle of the squirrel, all the way around, then I just hook two fingers of each hand under the skin, and pull in opposite directions. Like Eddie said it's easier, be for rigor mortis sets in.
Wayne
-
since the post says stories too, i will add one, my favorite. you may have heard this one before, but here we go.
I had finished my first prim bow a few weeks earliuer, and had been hunting with it hard. it was a boo hick combo, with a mahogany riser, pulling 65#. As i scraped the bow i kept all of the shavings and put the in a ziplock and shoved them into my quiver. My plan was to start a fire with the shavings to cook my first kill where it fell. i thought it a nice way to connect my effort and the animal with the natural way of things. After hunting a oak block for a few hours i was walking along a dry creek bed, and noticed movent out of the corner of my eye. the squerril was about 20 yards away, stopped on a fallen log and brush pile. i rmemeber thinking it was to far because i had a flu flu arrow on the string, as man y of my fast shots had been overhead. i did a swing draw and added a little extra hehgt to the arrow and released. it was a blur, and i remmeebr thinking it flew much faster than a normal flu flu. the squerril unlike all the others stayed there on the log, as if it gave me permission to take him because i had hunted hard with weapons of my own make. in a moment the arrow was there and the squerril and arrow dissapeazred behind the brush. I rushed around the brush and dispatched him quickly, luckily the arrow had entangled him in the brush. I couldn't believe i had finally taken game with my own bow. I raised up and let a mighty yote howl echo through the woods as i raised my bow up. My brother who was hunting the same block said he knew i had succeeded when he heard that. I lit a cigarrete and washed the squerril in smoke, telling him thank you, and i was sorry. Next i took the squerril into the breek bed, and gave thanks again while i promised him his gift woujld not be wasted. i cut off one hind leg, and put in to a sharpened stick. i lit the fire with my shaving from the bow and boy did it start quick! once it began to settle into a nice flame i roasted the leg over the fire and sat back to enjoy the fruit of my labor and the gift from the squerril. EDventually my brother smelled the smoke and saw the fire sos came over to see what i was doing. he just laughed at me when he saw that i was eating the squerril right there wihtout any flavoring. he also declined a bite. although most people think it stange the way i pay homage, celebrate, and morn my harvests, i believe it really matters in the way i feel about harvesting, and if the animals let me harvest them or not. I have seen deer bust me, but allow me to shoot them anyway. some people say it was because that one was "dumb". i beleive it was because they respected the way i hunted them, and knew i would feed my family with what i take. Anyway, lots of random thoughts thee but they are all connected. thanks for listening.
-
Got upset a few years a go the bushytails were cleaning out my new plastic tube bird feeder. Had one in the freezer waiting on another for a batch of cacciatore, when my wife said "Hey - ya got a furry guy on your feeder!'
she got to watch from the Kitchen window As I expertly snuck out the back, around the house with a .22 and gave him the "Moe green special" through the left eye. Unfortunately, he .22 short round made a 90 degree turn like the Kennedy bullet and shattered the feeder, sending seeds everywhwere.
I forget how long skinning / gutting took, but she was still laughing uncontrollably when I got inside. >:(
Caccaitore - Squirrel, rabbit, dove,deer roast, (uncle Ed's pigeons were good) ect.....
heat up Iron skillet
Brown cut up seasoned, flour-dredged pieces in some olive oil - (I use Cavender's greek seasoning instead of salt&pepper - great for all Greek/Ital. dishes - small yellow can similar to a parm. chhese can)
remove meat pieces,
Add onions, crank the heat, brown aggresively, probably need more oil
add garlic, barely brown. Slow things down with 1/2 cup - 1cup cheap red wine.( If the alcohol bothers you, it will evaporate out quicker since you add it before the tomatoes and let it cook a bit, but the tannins really make the tomato taste pop. )
reduce by 1/2, then
add peppers, any other hard veggies (carrots,celery ect)...and a can or 2 of of diced tomatoes, crank untill it almost boils, then
cook on super lo, barely simmered, for about 2 hours, add mushrooms, spinach or other soft veggies, some tomato paste to thicken, simmer another 1/2 hour or so.
cover/uncover based on liquid level.You can cook this longer, BTW, and makes a good crock pot dish.
Veggie consistancy varies - if you like them crisper, add them later and just cook meat in the onions, garlic, tomatoes, and wine.
Any veggies on hand are good, with onions, peppers and shrooms being the only ones i see as "must haves"
serve over pasta with lots of fresh grated parmesan, red pepper flakes, fresh basil, and anothe drizzle of oil.
una bella mangiata....... ( a beatiful meal)
-
I've dispatched 3 of them in the past few days in my garden. They were eating my green bean plants as fast as they were coming up. I was using a traditional one pump, velocity pellet rifle. >:D
-
Gee Eddie don't you believe in "spreading the wealth" ?
Wayne
-
army medic, thats a great tale man, the shavings is a great idea- and about honering the dead, it kills me when i hear about the richest doctors shooting a moose, cutting off the head, and walking off with just the rack, leaving the entire 1200 pound animal useless- i deefinetly aggre with ya on that one-(i went out squirrelingt this weekend, with a hick bow, its hard work my friend, the only shot i got on one was a far 25 yard miss) oh postman, thats one of the most helpful posts on this one, ill definetly try that one, we got alot of greek seasonings laying around, my greek grandma lives with us :) some good lamb come easter ;D thanks
-jimmy