Go squirrelin! as Chris put it....

Ed L.

Ed L.

Well-known member
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I was moping around the house last weekend with only 2 ducks in the freezer when the wife said to me....Why don't you shoot some of these dang squirrels eating up my bird feeders and I'll make us a pot of squirrel stew! If the DNR and DU keep posting these wonderful numbers of breeding ducks all for them to go the way of the Sasquatch I may have to find another hobby. When I was a kid my dad and I had a process for skinning squirrels. My wife won't have a thing to do with the squirrels if they are covered with hair. I haven't found a way to skin with out getting hair on the meat. How do you guys skin squirrels?
 
I put a stout nail in a 4x4 fence post for our privacy fence. Then tied a string with a loop in it to the nail. Loop the string around one hind leg.
Then skin "case" style: cut skin around legs, run knife between the two leg cuts, snip the tail and pull off the skin like a sweater.
Snip the neck.
Skin all comes off in one inside out piece.
this contains the hair.
Don't field dress them before skinning, that helps too.
 
I have found that skinning a squirrel when it is still warm to be the most evvicient way of removing its clothing. Putting the body in your gunning coat, as most of us ALWAYS did allows for things to tighten up.
This was a recent discovery, and it works slick as owl casts. Any small bits of hair, rinse in the sink.
Remove head, appendages, make a slit in skin and pull toward tail. When all is inverted, cut off tail and the rest of the skin goes with it. For those who like cheeks and brains, leave head on, then skin the head after doing the body.
This just involves making some adjustments where you cut around the neck.
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c8OyexZ10E
Exactly my method.

I'm glad someone else is shooting some bushy tails.

If it stays warm we will get tog moving in early for the April season, crabbing will be great, and the largemouth spawn will be early. The water here is too warm to get enough ice fast enough to save duck season so might as well be optimistic about a wicked early spring.

A woman that likes eating squirrels is a keeper in my books, good job!


I take the duck #'s with a grain of salt, I'm not one for trusting the guvment.
 
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Man, you guys got me fired up 'bout Squirrel hunting. If this weather holds, I just may have to break out my .22.


I harvested hundreds of the little bushy tails when I was a kid living at home. Some of my best memories of those times, were the mornings my father and I would pick up a school buddy at 0 dark:thirty on his way to work, we would drop off the canoe and cruise down about five miles of The Upper Cuyahoga River. We would take plenty of Wood Ducks, an occasional Mallard, and often limits of Squirrels. We would come home with all three major species- Blacks, Greys and the real trophy, Fox Squirrels. About half way was an old abandoned, apple orchard, and Leeks and chives grew along the shore. We would almost always stopped here, clean a Squirrel or Duck, stuff with apples and leeks, a little salt and pepper and whatever else we happened to remember to bring, and roast over a fresh-built fire. Sometimes we would bring our fishing poles along and add a couple Rock Bass fillets. Add a couple sodas, bag of chips and a slice or two of bread, and we were kings! It never got any better than that!


Oh the days!


Jon
 
Dunk them in a bucket of clean water to soak the fur before you start skinning. It really helps with keeping fur off the meat no matter how you skin them.
 
I put a stout nail in a 4x4 fence post for our privacy fence. Then tied a string with a loop in it to the nail. Loop the string around one hind leg.
Then skin "case" style: cut skin around legs, run knife between the two leg cuts, snip the tail and pull off the skin like a sweater.
Snip the neck.
Skin all comes off in one inside out piece.
this contains the hair.
Don't field dress them before skinning, that helps too.
Click to expand...

Carl,

That's similar to the two man process dad and I had. We never touched the squirrel until the hide was pulled to the head or the hind feet. The one I've used most is where you cut through the tail like in the video, stand on the tail and pull the hide by the hind legs to the head, cut around the hind legs and peel the hide around the legs. Problem I have most of the time is ripping the tail off before the skinning process gets to the head.
 
A woman that likes eating squirrels is a keeper in my books, good job!

Yep, She'll cook anything I'll clean. We had some of the best venison chili the other night. I haven't had squirrel stew in a long time. I may be back in the woods during the holidays.
Click to expand...
 
I started squirrel hunting again his year after a 25 year hiatus. My buddy down in wv showed me how to skin them. Holy heck was it easy.

Basically the same as anyone would tell you, just soak them wet before doing it, it keeps the hair down.
 
I started squirrel hunting again his year after a 25 year hiatus. My buddy down in wv showed me how to skin them. Holy heck was it easy.

Basically the same as anyone would tell you, just soak them wet before doing it, it keeps the hair down.
Click to expand...

Kevin,

The last squirrel I shot must have been around 1985. That was the last year my dad and I squirrel hunted together. He moved to SD and I moved to AR.

Thanks Al.

I'll try soaking in a bucket on the next one and see how that works. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
Soak it in a bucket with a hose. Cut off all of the feet, the tail, the head. Make a slit ACCROSS the back, get your fingers underneath and pull.

Rinse with a hose. Slit the belly and gut it. You are done.

I gave up on squirrels because I hated skinning them. Now I'm back in business!
 
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