How many adults hunted and shot squirrels when they were young?

[eyepatrol]

Absolutely! When I got my first Daisy BB gun at the age of 9, I was out in the woods near our house almost every day whether it be after school, on the weekends, or all throughout the day during the summer. Many a night I got in trouble for coming home late.

But that's what developed me into the hunter I am today (and helped me win some bb gun shooting contests). My grandpa never hunted after WWII, so my dad only got into hunting a little bit with his friends. And when my parents gave me my bb gun, I took it a big step further and hunting became a passion. Some day, I hope to pass on the same passions I have to my son (and daughter if she's interested).

This much I think I can safely say....had my folks not built a house on the small roughfish lake near a woods like they had, I probably would not be here enjoying this site and the outdoors as I do today.

[Dotch]

I grew up a farm boy in and around the rivers and streams of SE MN in the 60's and early 70's. If we weren't working on the farm on weekends, we were allowed to go squirrel hunting. Used Dad's single shot bolt action Remington .22 until my brother got old enough to hunt. Then I had to use Dad's bolt action single shot Winchester .410 with 2 1/2" shells, usually 4's or 6's, whatever we had. Liked both but as time wore on, actually preferred hunting with the shotgun. Could make shots when the squirrels were running along those horizontal branches on some of those old majestic oaks that graced the woods and river bottoms we'd hunt. Primarily fox squirrels but there were a few grays mixed in. Clean 'em and Mom would fry up a feast. Now I marinate and grill them. Also tasty!

Still get out once in awhile but haven't made it this year. Live in SC MN now and competition for land is tougher. With the popularity of bowhunting, there are more hunters crowded onto fewer wooded acres. Our off-site pasture is near a small woods that my landlord lets me hunt when I ask. Have nicer toys now, a Marlin semi-auto .22 with a scope and an 870 .410. It's not about how many I shoot anymore, it's about how many phone calls I avoided while enjoying the freedom, the fresh air and the smell of dry, crisp leaves on a late autumn afternoon.

[DTro]

I gotta admit that I also plugged a whole lot of them when I was 12-17.

Started with BB, then single .22 then lever action .22, then .410

Also it wasn't just squrrels, lot of barn swallows, chickadees and "lumberjacks".

I'm not proud of it, but I'm also not a Dahmer.

It's amazing how the older you get the more you appreciate life.

[ole matty]

i kill them when they r about to do some damage on bird feede/houser.. dont like them but they taste good!

[Log Hopper]

I not only hunted them, but I also cleaned, cooked and ate them. I learned a lot during those early hunting years with a lot of good memories.

[Muthagoose]

ABSOLUTLY....................

The Win 67 is in the cabinet still. 41 years of putting meat on the table it.

I traded a private student a day at the bench for 2 days of unbelievable trophy Tree Rat hunting.Shot my possesion limit in both black phase and greys with a couple bonus corn fed fox squirrels ta boot...

I bought a 410 pump just for collecting mounters and cottontails..

Working at Marshlake just out of victoria it was evening R&R to go sit against a tree and sniper them off limbs.

Provided many a ordourves at duck camp...

Marinated and grilled cant be beat. I cant imagne growing up without memories of outsmarting the Ole tree rat,,

[almostthere!]

Quote:

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I was wondering how many of you adults, hunted and shot squirrels when you were teenagers? i need as many of you as i can get. My aunts think its wrong and that I am a jeffy Dahmer. they dont think anyone else did it. Help me men!

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Squirrels are not humans. Your aunt is slightly twisted, thinking that squirrels are human equivalents.

To answer your question, YES, I've killed my some of my share of squirrels. I will, also, continue to kill more of my share in the future.

[Muthagoose]

With all the bunny hugger tree rat sites on the web they are provideing for some of the finest squirrel photo referrence a taxidermist could ask for,.,,

I just laugh when reading how they give a names to what I have considerd DINNER.............LOL

[stmichael]

Speaking of squirrels and rabbits...etc. How does a person clean these. I have never had the opportunity. I had the opportunity to witness the cleaning of one squirrel. If I remember correctly the only thing of real meat value was the hind legs. Granted, this was, some time ago. I want to get my son involved with hunting squirrels and rabbits this fall, he will be 11. He has expressed interest to shoot some supper, of course, after fire arms safety. I brought him out deer hunting with me last year and now that is all he talks about.

So, if anyone has any insight on how to clean these critters or what to be aware of.

My internal instinct would be to cut the hide "hide only" around the area of the stomach and pull the skin off and remove hind legs..like a chicken.

Does this sound correct? or is there more meat that can be taken? If you need to get into gorry detail and do not want to post it on here please email me: [email protected]

[almostthere!]

To clean a squirrel:

1) Skin it, the same way you would a deer. (You don't have to hang it by the neck)

2) Boil some water and dip it in. Pluck the hair off and slit the stomach open. Remove the inners. Next, build a wood fire and flame the squirrel (this step is crucial for the removal of squirrel stench). Get the skin nice and brown, then scrape the skin under running water to clean it. This way, you will have more edible parts (skin is the best part of the squirrel). Finally, cook it as you like.

To clean a rabbit:

Just skin it. Rabbits have a loose skin, so you can just pull it off with ease.

[stmichael]

almostthere!,

Thanks for the instruction.

au shucks, Now I have to go kill a squirrel...darn it!

[Dotch]

Interesting almosthere, proving there is more than one way to skin a squirrel. Might have to try your method as I've never cooked one with the skin on.

Was taught a different method that starts by making a 1" - 2" slit with your knife in the skin in the middle of the back perpendicular to the backbone. Insert your fingers under the skin and pull until you've pulled the skin up to the neck, to the tail and to the feet. Take your knife and remove the head, tail and feet. You're left with the body intact. Slit the stomach being careful not to contact the intestines and clean the innards out. At this point it's nice to have a hose at your disposal but if you're field dressing, can place them in a plastic bag in your game sack until you can access one. Nice to use it to clean up the body cavity and helps rinse most of the hair off as well. You may still have a small amount of hair on the body but this can be removed with a small brush or be picked off with a thorough inspection. Usually I let them soak whole in salt water overnight in the fridge, especially if they're shot up. They can be cooked then or frozen in water for future reference so the wife can make disparaging remarks. When frying, I take the back legs and front legs off; that's where most of the meat is but there is some along the back too. Flour or batter and cook like fried chicken. When cooking on the grill, I usually leave them whole. Enjoy!

[bigbucks]

I've always skinned them this way too. Soaking them in salt water in the fridge for a day or a week, seriously, will do nothing but help them, really any game or fish. The last squirrel I ate, I just cut into pieces & cooked it on the George Foreman grill. I was surpised how good it really was. I will say squirrels are one of the tougher critters to skin though, they have tough hide.

[moccasinboy]

You bet. I just turned 60 and expect to hunt 'em yet this winter, now that bird hunting is done. Squirrel hunts were my first solo hunts. Wish I still had that single shot .22!

[slick814]

Deifintely! It was a way to be able to get out in the woods, first solo ttrips, first trips with friends. We all had bolt action .22's, and shot more than our fair share of squirrels, rabbits, and the occasional grouse when we'd kick one up.

It's a great way to get started, and it'll sharpen your shooting quite a bit. You've got a small target to aim at, so you learn to make sure to make every shot count. I highly encourage my kids to do it!

Also, I don't know if they still do, but Mepps spinner company used to buy squirrel tail for their spinners. We'd kill 'em, clean 'em, eat a few, and cut off & debone the tails, then when we had enough (say 50 or so), we'd send the tails off to Mepps. Actually made enough to either buy more .22 shells, or trade them to Mepps for a lure or two.

That, and Dad didn't mind us eliminating them from the farm... Oh... and I'm most definitely NOT Dahmer-like.

[imlieh]

Last year's Superbowl party featured a variety of squirrel recipes as the ONLY appetizer. Was a smash hit even with the timid eaters.

[tanman]

im 15yrs old... iv gotten about 20 this year.... got 2 yesterday

[bigbucks]

Can't remember if I've already responded to this or not & don't want to look through the whole thing again. Yes I hunted squirrels a lot from age 12 or 13 through probably 18. I still ocassionally hunt them, although not much. Shot one bowhunting this year & another with the shotgun when the kids were out with me.

[UdeLakeTom]

How about attaching the tails to car antennas....lots of us used to do that....don't see it too often anymore.

[bigbucks]

Yes, I confess there was one on the antennae of the Ford Fiesta hunting, boat pulling, fish house pulling machine for a while anyway.

[bellyup]

Ya, we had the tail on the antenna. Put a grouse feather in the hat too! Ha Ha! Guess we showed everyone we were great white hunters...lol!

[bigbucks]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the grouse feather in the hat, yep had that too...