Squirrel Hunting???

Alright...I hope to start squirrel hunting soon, but I'm not sure about one thing...GUTTING and COOKING the critter!!! So can anybody give me some tips, and what exactly does squirrel meat taste like? Do you get much meat from a gray squirrel?Squirrel Hunting???
Squirrels are darned good eating. The fox squirrel has more meat but the gray can be eaten, too. If it is a young squirrel, they can be cut up and fried the same way you would fry a chicken. Older squirrels will require a slow moist method of cooking to tenderize them. They are great for such dishes as squirrel and dumplings, squirrel stew, squirrel gumbo, etc. There are a number of good cook books dedicated to cooking game recipes.





As for how to gut a squirrel, I simply skin it by cutting across from one hind leg to the other and then around the legs below the meaty part. As I cut through the hide across his butt, I carefully cut around his anus and carefullt cut through the tail bone without cutting through the skin. I want the tail firmly attached to the hide for the skinning step. Grab the hind legs and put your foot on the tail and pull up pulling the hide off sort of like taking off a sweater. When you get the hide pulled down to the neck, cut off the head (unless you want to cook the head..... I do) and the front feet. Then remove the hide and throw it away. If you are heavy into squirrel hunting and will be bringing home many of them and their tails are in good condition, you can sell them to Mepps Lure Company. It's not worth the trouble for just a few tails. Once you have the hide off, cut from the throat down to the pelvic bone and pull out the guts. Wash the squirrel thoroughly to remove any hair that is stuck to it, and you WILL have hair stuck to it. A vegetable brush and running water will help remove the hair. Cut him up into pieces like you might cut up a chicken and you now have a squirrel ready for the pot.





Here's wishing you good hunting and good eating.Squirrel Hunting???
I rarely skin and eat squirrels, not that I don't love them. Oh my god does squirrel ever taste good! But I am so busy that I don't have time to fuss with them. To clean them all you have to do is cut the skin around each ankle, slice it up the belly. Not going deeper than the skin. Peel it, and take your shoulders and hind quarters off. They are so small that there is really no need to gut them. Rinse them in water, cook to perfection. It ';tastes like chicken'; only with more flavor. It doesn't matter how you prepare squirrel, it's good.
OK. Have a real sharp skinning knife ready





1.Nail the squirrel upside-down to a tree or ';skinning post'; by its tail with it's back against the post.


2. Take the knife, and beginning at the base of the tail, cut a ring around it til you've cut through it's hide (skin) do not cut the tail off - yet.


3. At all 4 of it's feet, cut a ring through the hide and the tendons at the ';ankle -wrist?'; Do not cut rear legs off - yet. But go ahead and cut the ';feet'; off the 2 front feet.


4. Beginning back at the tail where you ringed it, cut from there down the ';edge of both its hind legs to the cuts you've made at it's ankles.





You should now have the hide split from ankle to ankle.





5. Now start pull/stretching the hide away from the squirrel carcass, using the knife as you go to separate the hide from the carcass. You'll have to use a little pulling-away pressure with the hide as you go . Do this all the way down the body til you get down as far as you can to the front legs. 6. You can now work your fingers around the front legs and pull them through like pulling a coat sleeve off your arm and turning it wrong-side out.


7. Once you get the ';arms'; out, skin it on down to the neck.


8. At this point, you can just cut off the head (from the inside of the skin, and throw the hide away.(seal it in a plastic bag so dogs and wild animals won't raid your trash can.)


9. While the squirrel is still hanging, you can now split its belly and chest cavity open and ';gut'; the squirrel and cut out its ';privates if they didn't cone off with the skin.(Dispose of the guts like you did the hide)


10. The squirrel should now be ';naked, and cut open ftom stem to stern. Wash the squirrel out very good and use hands and fingers to get all the ';yuk'; out. While doing this, examine the squirrel for bloodshot bruiseing and lead ';shot'; pellets that may be imbedded.


You can now ';quarter'; the squirrel, rinse it again, salt it, put it in a resealable plastic bag and into the refrigerator.(Or freezer if you aren't gonna eat it right now


The best way to eat squirrel is to make squirrel dumplins %26amp; gravy. Here's the recipe:





Squirrel Dumplings


~ 3 squirrels, cut up (All hair and shot removed.)


~ 1 egg


~ 2 cups plain flour


~ 3/4 cup broth


~ 1 teaspoon salt


~ salt and pepper


Boil squirrels in four quarts of water until tender. Remove squirrels from broth, let cool, then remove meat from bones. Set aside.





In large bowl, mix flour, egg and one teaspoon of salt with 3/4 cup of broth and roll into ball.





Strain the broth to remove any stray shot then resume boil. Return meat to boiling broth.





On a floured cutting board, use rolling pin to roll the dough ball to a thickness of 1/16 inch. Cut into 1-inch wide strips and drop strips one at a time into the boiling broth. Gently shake pot after last dumpling is added to prevent sticking.





Cook approximately 10-15 minutes until dumplings are tender. Salt and pepper to taste.


Serve and Enjoy!





This website will give you a large variety of Squirrel recipes:





www.backwoodsbound.com/zsquir.html
I like squirrel meat. It tastes, well, like squirrel!





You don't get alot of meat on a gray squirrel. Fox squirrels are a bit bigger. I cook them a couple of ways. If I am out camping, I roast them on a spit. Sometimes I fry them in butter. Sometimes I will boil them then pick the meat off the bones and put it in a vegetable stew.





I can't help you with the gutting part here in the answers forum, that's more of a hands on thing, but if you have ever dissected anything in your school biology class, I'm sure you can figure it out.
hmm Ive never tried squirrel (Ive shot them because they get into our roof) but apparently it tastes like chicken
It can taste very similar to chicken depending on how its cooked and the age of the squirrel. Clean and gut under running cold water. If you use a shotgun remember to chew lightly in case you hit a BB. Why are you just now going squirrel hunting. I live in Michigan and its been in season since September.
mmm squirrel, theys got tough skin... guttin aint really a problem, jus think of it the same as a rabbit only a lot smaller... to cook em i throw the meat still on the bones into the coals of a fire fer bout 20 mins till its black and hard on the outside but juicy inside, then eat as is... you'll need 2 squirrels per person yer feedin... if ya got a dog it can eat the heart, liver and kidneys with out cookin, and if ya use a friends dog, it'll love ya fer ever... oh and by the way, theys taste just like rabbit, jus smaller
When my wife's folks were growing up in the country, a delicacy was squirrel brains. My wife's grandma would boil the heads, then bust the skulls open with a wooden spoon. They'd serve the brains on a cracker or over scrambled eggs.
I heard it tastes like bacon, not 100% sure though
you are bizarre
Of all the ways to skin a squirrel, there are only 2 I use.


The easiest to do, and understand, is as CIH answered.


Check the video below and you'll see how quick and easy the way he mentioned is. ALWAYS gut them after you've skinned them.


http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseac鈥?/a>


You get more meat from a fox squirrel than a gray, but they're still good eating. My daughter has been a huge squirrel stew fanatic since she was just a couple of years old.
old timers way to clean a squirrel- cut a slit across the backbone thru the skin. dont cut into the backbone! now insert two fingers of each hand into the slit and pull in oppoisite directions. this will remove the skin from the squirrels body down to the feet,head and tail. now cut off the feet at the ankles, tail at the rump, and head at the neck. you will also notice that the entrails will be easily removed after this little trick. grandpa knows best.
squirrels are not worth eating. there is next to no meat in them and skinning them would be to much of a hastle. I also heard that the meat is very dry
squirrels smell :(