first time squirrel eter

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  • Last Post 21 December 2020
delmarskid1 posted this 02 October 2012

This isn't an exotic recipe but my wife just loved these guys cooked this way. I cleaned and quartered my squirrels and placed them in my pressure cooker with two slices of bacon draped over them and a half inch of water in the bottom. I was intending to precook them before frying because we know how tough the old ones are.  Well I got on this forum and let them go for a half hour. When I got the cover off they were falling off of the bone tender and tasted a lot like roasted pork. My wife had had them fried as I was attempting to do but said these were delicious and the other was too tough.

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John F. posted this 21 December 2020

Jimmy Dee,

In my youth, I spent a long time wondering if groundhogs might be good to eat.  Some say yes, some say "heck no!"  On the face of it, I couldn't see why they wouldn't be... they're grass eaters, like cottontail rabbits.  I got my chance to find out when visiting family in West Virginia.  I told them of my quest, and they obligingly sent me out to a family field with instructions to "Be sure not to get an old one!" 

I took an early Shilen-built, sleeved Remington Light Varmint Benchrest rifle that was an *insane* tack driver, despite being a no-neck-turn .222 in a laminated wood stock.  Groups well under 1" with 4 touching at 200 yards were nothing special with that rifle in good conditions, using ancient Hornady 50 gr. SX SP's still sporting their original $3.00/box price tags..  (Estate sales can be your friend!)    I waited over the field, and all that precision turned out to be somewhat "overkill" when a plump, younger groundhog obligingly sat up at about 125 yards.  Crosshairs on center of chest, a careful touch on the 2-ounce trigger, and THWHACK!  Over he filpped.

As others mentioned above, what looked like a pretty good-size younger groundhog got smaller and smaller as I field dressed and skinned it.  He'd apparently been putting on weight for winter, and a bunch of fat came off with the skin.  What was left was still well worth a trip to the crock pot, however.  I slow-cooked him with 1/4 cup white wine, sour cream and cream of mushroom soup.  When done, the meat fell off the bone -- it was white, tasted much like chicken, and was very tender, but a bit more fatty.  So, while I wouldn't typically set out to shoot them specifically for food, I'd have no problem at all harvesting select specimens for the pot.  They do take a bit more effort to dress than cottontails, and are not as lean, but I found mine perfectly edible and enjoyed it.

John

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LarryW posted this 21 December 2020

Best Squirrel I ever had anytime, anywhere, was from the kitchen of my late sister in law Edna Hanning Wagner,

Between Boothsville & South Fairmont W,VA. Don't know what kind of mojo she had going with her very old, very

large cast iron skillet, but it was some powerful stuff.. Fried squirrel, squirrel gravy & homemade biscuits,

Man, truly heaven...

A day late & a dollar short, story of my life ???

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delmarskid posted this 19 December 2020

Gotta get those groundhogs when they are young. They get stringy and nasty when they grow up. I made "pulled pork" sandwiches and took them to work on groundhog day.

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max503 posted this 18 December 2020

I dressed one groundhog in my life.  It made me realized where the words for that old childhood song about "Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts" came from.  That thing was like skinning Santa Claus.

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JimmyDee posted this 18 December 2020

 ...harvest, dress, and cook squirrels, rabbits, and ground hogs...

Squirrel?  Yes.  Rabbit?  Yes.  Ground hogs?  It never occurred to me; am I missing something special?

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max503 posted this 17 December 2020

I'm going to have to learn to make squirrel gravy. Everyone says it's good. Even my wife who grew up in rural Missouri.

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Wayne Dobbs posted this 17 December 2020

My maternal grandmother's squirrel and gravy was so amazing that I tell folks she makes the gravy every morning in glory for the Lord's biscuits!  She and my grandfather were poor and subsisted on lots of cottontail, jackrabbit and squirrel in south Texas.  I learned much from them and my parents, other grandparents, aunts and uncles, all of whom came from the Great Depression and WWII.

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[email protected] posted this 17 December 2020

My wife makes incredibly delicious squirrel gravy and biscuits, along with other fine cuisine.

Reading this thread reminded me of an old saying. :"Take a boy hunting you wont have to go hunting for the boy".

The point is spend as much time with the younger generation as you can in any worthwhile activity. You will be glad you did!

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 01 March 2015

delmarskid1 wrote: If I ever shoot a squirrel as old as this thread you can BET! I'll use the pressure cooker.
Hmmm.  How long in in the p.c.?  

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delmarskid1 posted this 27 November 2014

If I ever shoot a squirrel as old as this thread you can BET! I'll use the pressure cooker.

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Riposte1 posted this 27 November 2014

Squirrels were the first game I hunted. I've had them fixed many ways but I never really acquired a taste for them until I started my son out hunting and we fixed one over an open camp fire - the difference between that and the stuff made at home was like night and day....then again, stuff sometimes just seems to taste better when you are camping.

That said, the pressure cooker and bacon thing is tempting, never tried that!!!!

Riposte

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Dale53 posted this 04 October 2012

gunarea; Coongratulations on the good job you are doing with your grandson.

That training you are giving him will do him in good stead (AND the community) for the rest of his life.

Dale53

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delmarskid1 posted this 03 October 2012

Nice work by Grandson and Grandfather. I still remember how my heart pounded when I pulled my first rabbit out of a brush pile. I love my deer hunting but I like putting those bushy tailed wise guys on the plate.

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gunarea posted this 03 October 2012

Hey Guys

   Gotta get in this thread. Now working on my next generation with regard to the respect of nature in general and thanks to God for our bounty. This is my ten year old grandson, “Bugger". He is already very respectful of the creatures we stalk and will pass on opportunities he deems marginal for clean kills.

   He took two limb rats that particular day. Both were clean head shots and he came home with eight rounds unfired of the ten alloted. Yeah, we cleaned, cooked and consumed them. We also, together, tacked up and salt cured the hides. Moving up a rung on the predator ladder, in his mind, was rabbit.

 

   The instruction taken was to make a heart/lung shot on the rabbit in preparation for his continuing path toward deer hunting. Again, this animal was not wasted including the hide. His Grandma was not impressed with our cooking efforts, but him and me ate it with great satisfaction.

   This boy is a “city boy” by any definition, but shooting has driven him to understand a little bit of how tough it might have been for his ancestors. That 10-22 Ruger was bought for him while he was in uterine and sex unknown. I am so proud of what a great sportsman he is becoming.

                                                                                                         Roy 

Shoot often, Shoot well

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Dale53 posted this 03 October 2012

As a child I spent several years on a farm. One of the things I learned is how to harvest, dress, and cook squirrels, rabbits, and ground hogs as well as chickens, turkeys, beef, and hogs.

I taught my children from the time they were small about the proper use of wild game. We had lots of it. Edible small game as well as deer and bear.

We owe it to our future to train our children where food comes from in it's entirety.

FWIW Dale53

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delmarskid1 posted this 03 October 2012

Now we're talkin' brother!

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CB posted this 02 October 2012

Jeff Bowles wrote: Nothing beats a big ol pot of squirrel & dumplings!

Squirrel n dumplins with pressure cooked meat....mmm!

Sqirrel and milk gravy over hot biscuits, mmm!

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CB posted this 02 October 2012

Nothing beats a big ol pot of squirrel & dumplings!

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mike morrison posted this 02 October 2012

wraped in bacon then wraped in tinfoil and baked in the oven will give you simular results. tasty.

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