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Another squirrel in the bag


Hunter
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So, popped out with the rifle after work to see what would show up

Ended up once again on all 4's in the forest creeping slowly towards a rabbit outside in the field. I just got close enough after some serious stealth work, and after not shooting bunnies for so long, my adrenaline was so high I couldnt hold the gun straight.. so I decided to creep a little closer, which worked, the bunny was now aware of something green slowly moving through the bushes at the edge of the forest. I was just brining the gun up.. and off he hopped.. damn.. theres me laying down, rifle resting on the wire fence, ready to shoot.. but I end up laying there for nothing ;) good practice though.

 

So walked along the forest a little more, plenty of squirrels, one good one in range.. pop.. miss.. doh!

Kept walking, and I saw him again, running through the trees. I was determined to get him.. so I stealthily crept through the trees, bushes, and mud to follow him. He disappeared up a tree, but while I was looking for him in the tree, I spotted a second on sitting on a branch slightly down a bank, nibbling something and not to bothered about me there. He was maybe 20 yards away, I got a steady aim from a nearby branch, and pop.. sent him down the branch to the ground with a couple of twitches. The pellet hit him just behind the ear.. perfect. Its not always they die instantly like that.. usually squirrels require an extra shot, even if hit squarely in the temple area. But since this one wasnt too scared or aware of me, it took him by surprise.

 

I have hunted squirrels for a while now, but never eaten them. So here was my first go a preparing a squirrel.. from the field to the plate.

Was tasty as well! a little chewy.. but thats part of meat eating in the end.. I like to chew a bit :D

 

Heres some pictures.

 

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I extracted the pellet from the head. Surprisingly very little damage to the pellet, but the skull was cracked in many places, and he had been bleeding a lot.

 

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My method of skinning:

a single cut all the way around the animal just bellow the shoulders, and peel both bits off the opposit way. But first get a big knife, and place it on the leg joints (one a time) and bang down with the palm of your hand, then slice. Same for the neck, this cleanly breaks it, and a quick slice will remove it.

Again the same for the tail.

 

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Next you need to make a slit down from the chest to the base of the animal, then remove the insides with your fingers, and push a finger into the top of the lung/heart cavity, and pull out the lungs and heart. (same as with rabbits)

After this, cut the pelvic bone with a large knife, then remove the rest of the insides that are trapped behind the bone. After this, wash the animal properly, to remove hair, blood etc.

 

 

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A nicley washed carcass

 

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Now.. lay the carcass in a tray, pour oil over it, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and spices.

 

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Then into the oven! (ours is an AGA) This takes about 35-40 mins.

 

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And the meal is ready.. Good appetite!

 

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Edited by Hunter
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Wowa thanks for pinning ;)

 

I will try to do a better guide with more pictures sometime.. but altleast this shows that its possible to eat squirrels (tree gobblers, not rats). I dont call them rats, as they are very clean, and dont smell, dont have fleas or diseases.. and are 100% eatable :D

Nice to prepare because they dont have the same game smell as rabbits, which put me off a little.. as im sure it does with most people. These have no smell, hardly any insides to remove, and make a nice tasty meal.

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Interestingly squirrel has its own flavour, I havent tasted this kind of meat before. Its not strong though..

 

I used to use Accupells in everything I had, but now I use Webly Lazadome pellets in most of my guns. I find these to be pretty accurate, and work a lot better in spring power/C02 guns. When I use pre-charged rifles, I use Accupells every time ;)

 

 

Im currently experimenting and testing the newish Logun Penetrator pellets.. il let you know how they go. But I did take a squirrel with a neck shot with one some time ago, and he went down without a twitch. So they look promising, but when I did a big accuracy test with Rabbitsopper rifle, out of 5 pellet brands, the Webly pellets out performed them all, so I kind of left the other boxes of ammo locked up in the gun safe, and stuck to Lazadomes for my current rifles. When summer comes, il have more time to play and test them out.

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HUNTER

Your treer rats must be different to the ones i shoot.

Yes they are nice to eat, but when skining/gutting i find they have a very stronge sweet sickly smell. What with this and skinning matching that of the oldest buck Rabbit i have left them for the foxs after culling.

 

With them in not such good condition this time of year, maybe i will give them another try in the fall when they are at there best.

 

The Pelt Man

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