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Squirrels

Fullbore

Senior Member
6,449
138
South Eastern Ohio
Hey Mike, all I do is sort out the gray's and reds separately. Then start par boiling them in a big pot. About an hour for the grays and 1.5 for big fox squirrels. When the meat starts to fall off the bone, roll in flour and fry in butter or your favorite oil. After removing your squacks leave the scrappings and make your gravy with milk and flour. Candied sweet potatoes are great when smothered in the gravy.
 

Jamie

Senior Member
6,017
177
Ohio
I used to hunt squirrels a lot when I was in high school. then I became a deer hunter and my attempts to squirrel hunt invariably degenerated into deer scouting expeditions. Now that I'm bored and frustrated with hunting deer in Ohio with a bow and arrow, I've found my way back to squirrel hunting on the heels of my Mountain Cur, Lefty. got him when he was just 10 weeks old, and by the time the leaves were down last season, I had my fill of bow and arrow hunting and enough deer in the freezer, Lefty was 8 months old. for two knuckleheads trying to find our way together, we sure had a bunch of fun. classic case of the blind leading the blind, but we put up some squirrels in spite of ourselves. I'm very eager to get started this year. squirrel hunting with a dog doesn't get hopping until the leaves are gone, so in the meantime, I'll busy myself trying to skewer some venison for as long as I can stand it. after Thanksgiving, it's game on. rifles are tuned up, dog is hungry and fit as a fiddle. Young Lefty and I are going to put in some time this season assaulting the local squirrel populations. I sure hope I can keep up with the little bastard.

On a whim, my wife says lets have some squirrel gravy and biscuits for supper. I says lets make some hash browns instead. fry a couple eggs over easy to ride on top of the whole affair. to my horror, I discovered that after tonights dinner, I only have four pints of canned squirrel left. enough for two more batches of squirrel gravy. might have given a few too many pints away. I gotta kill more squirrels. fellas, I made the best squirrel gravy I've ever eaten today. after several tries, I think I have this down. I don't know if I've only independently rediscovered quintessential hillbilly cuisine or came up with something on my own. no matter, really, but despite my efforts to resist sharing, I simply must. is too good to keep to myself.

start with two pints of canned squirrel (about 4-5 squirrels, depending on size), or at least pressure cook fresh squirrels until they are falling apart tender. I warm the pint jars in hot tap water to loosen up the liquid in the jars, drain and reserve all the liquid. pick out all of the bones so you are left with nothing but meat. in a one gallon zip-lock bag mix 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt and one teaspoon Cavendars Greek Seasoning. put squirrel meat in bag and shake it up real good to coat all the pieces evenly. all of the flour will wind up on the meat. set the bag of floured meat aside and heat on medium high 4TB bacon grease (or butter or veg. oil, but bacon grease is best) in a heavy 12" cast iron skillet. dump the bag of floured squirrel into skillet and stir/turn until browned all over(about 5-6 min.). add the reserved liquid from jars and reduce by about 1/4. lower heat to medium low and add 2 cups of cold milk about 1/2 cup at a time. stir in some milk until it begins to simmer, stir in more and repeat until you have added all the milk. cook until thickened (5-10 minutes or until it is as thick as you like), stirring frequently. thassit. is good over some fresh from the oven drop biscuits, but is awesome on top of some piping hot hash browns and crowned with a couple of eggs over easy. kings and presidents should eat this good. best part is, there is just enough left over for breakfast. :pickle:
 

Fullbore

Senior Member
6,449
138
South Eastern Ohio
I used to hunt squirrels a lot when I was in high school. then I became a deer hunter and my attempts to squirrel hunt invariably degenerated into deer scouting expeditions. Now that I'm bored and frustrated with hunting deer in Ohio with a bow and arrow, I've found my way back to squirrel hunting on the heels of my Mountain Cur, Lefty. got him when he was just 10 weeks old, and by the time the leaves were down last season, I had my fill of bow and arrow hunting and enough deer in the freezer, Lefty was 8 months old. for two knuckleheads trying to find our way together, we sure had a bunch of fun. classic case of the blind leading the blind, but we put up some squirrels in spite of ourselves. I'm very eager to get started this year. squirrel hunting with a dog doesn't get hopping until the leaves are gone, so in the meantime, I'll busy myself trying to skewer some venison for as long as I can stand it. after Thanksgiving, it's game on. rifles are tuned up, dog is hungry and fit as a fiddle. Young Lefty and I are going to put in some time this season assaulting the local squirrel populations. I sure hope I can keep up with the little bastard.

On a whim, my wife says lets have some squirrel gravy and biscuits for supper. I says lets make some hash browns instead. fry a couple eggs over easy to ride on top of the whole affair. to my horror, I discovered that after tonights dinner, I only have four pints of canned squirrel left. enough for two more batches of squirrel gravy. might have given a few too many pints away. I gotta kill more squirrels. fellas, I made the best squirrel gravy I've ever eaten today. after several tries, I think I have this down. I don't know if I've only independently rediscovered quintessential hillbilly cuisine or came up with something on my own. no matter, really, but despite my efforts to resist sharing, I simply must. is too good to keep to myself.

start with two pints of canned squirrel (about 4-5 squirrels, depending on size), or at least pressure cook fresh squirrels until they are falling apart tender. I warm the pint jars in hot tap water to loosen up the liquid in the jars, drain and reserve all the liquid. pick out all of the bones so you are left with nothing but meat. in a one gallon zip-lock bag mix 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt and one teaspoon Cavendars Greek Seasoning. put squirrel meat in bag and shake it up real good to coat all the pieces evenly. all of the flour will wind up on the meat. set the bag of floured meat aside and heat on medium high 4TB bacon grease (or butter or veg. oil, but bacon grease is best) in a heavy 12" cast iron skillet. dump the bag of floured squirrel into skillet and stir/turn until browned all over(about 5-6 min.). add the reserved liquid from jars and reduce by about 1/4. lower heat to medium low and add 2 cups of cold milk about 1/2 cup at a time. stir in some milk until it begins to simmer, stir in more and repeat until you have added all the milk. cook until thickened (5-10 minutes or until it is as thick as you like), stirring frequently. thassit. is good over some fresh from the oven drop biscuits, but is awesome on top of some piping hot hash browns and crowned with a couple of eggs over easy. kings and presidents should eat this good. best part is, there is just enough left over for breakfast. :pickle:
Wow that sounds great! Thanks for sharing.
 

Curran

Senior Member
Supporting Member
8,044
186
Central Ohio
I'm planning on taking my son out to the woods this fall to use my Grandpa's single shot 410 on some squirrels. Looking forward to that day.

Came across this video that I thought was pretty cool...

[video=vimeo;39490953]https://vimeo.com/39490953[/video]
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
I'm planning on taking my son out to the woods this fall to use my Grandpa's single shot 410 on some squirrels. Looking forward to that day.

Came across this video that I thought was pretty cool...

[video=vimeo;39490953]https://vimeo.com/39490953[/video]

Awesome video! The squirrels falling out of the tree shot was neat.

(Maybe we can make one for J in about 5 years when he gets up there, only rabbit huntin)
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
32,746
274
SW Ohio
I used to hunt squirrels a lot when I was in high school. then I became a deer hunter and my attempts to squirrel hunt invariably degenerated into deer scouting expeditions. Now that I'm bored and frustrated with hunting deer in Ohio with a bow and arrow, I've found my way back to squirrel hunting on the heels of my Mountain Cur, Lefty. got him when he was just 10 weeks old, and by the time the leaves were down last season, I had my fill of bow and arrow hunting and enough deer in the freezer, Lefty was 8 months old. for two knuckleheads trying to find our way together, we sure had a bunch of fun. classic case of the blind leading the blind, but we put up some squirrels in spite of ourselves. I'm very eager to get started this year. squirrel hunting with a dog doesn't get hopping until the leaves are gone, so in the meantime, I'll busy myself trying to skewer some venison for as long as I can stand it. after Thanksgiving, it's game on. rifles are tuned up, dog is hungry and fit as a fiddle. Young Lefty and I are going to put in some time this season assaulting the local squirrel populations. I sure hope I can keep up with the little bastard.

On a whim, my wife says lets have some squirrel gravy and biscuits for supper. I says lets make some hash browns instead. fry a couple eggs over easy to ride on top of the whole affair. to my horror, I discovered that after tonights dinner, I only have four pints of canned squirrel left. enough for two more batches of squirrel gravy. might have given a few too many pints away. I gotta kill more squirrels. fellas, I made the best squirrel gravy I've ever eaten today. after several tries, I think I have this down. I don't know if I've only independently rediscovered quintessential hillbilly cuisine or came up with something on my own. no matter, really, but despite my efforts to resist sharing, I simply must. is too good to keep to myself.

start with two pints of canned squirrel (about 4-5 squirrels, depending on size), or at least pressure cook fresh squirrels until they are falling apart tender. I warm the pint jars in hot tap water to loosen up the liquid in the jars, drain and reserve all the liquid. pick out all of the bones so you are left with nothing but meat. in a one gallon zip-lock bag mix 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 tsp salt and one teaspoon Cavendars Greek Seasoning. put squirrel meat in bag and shake it up real good to coat all the pieces evenly. all of the flour will wind up on the meat. set the bag of floured meat aside and heat on medium high 4TB bacon grease (or butter or veg. oil, but bacon grease is best) in a heavy 12" cast iron skillet. dump the bag of floured squirrel into skillet and stir/turn until browned all over(about 5-6 min.). add the reserved liquid from jars and reduce by about 1/4. lower heat to medium low and add 2 cups of cold milk about 1/2 cup at a time. stir in some milk until it begins to simmer, stir in more and repeat until you have added all the milk. cook until thickened (5-10 minutes or until it is as thick as you like), stirring frequently. thassit. is good over some fresh from the oven drop biscuits, but is awesome on top of some piping hot hash browns and crowned with a couple of eggs over easy. kings and presidents should eat this good. best part is, there is just enough left over for breakfast. :pickle:

Great read and post! Made my mouth water hearing how you make your gravy!
 

Jamie

Senior Member
6,017
177
Ohio
good news. while rearranging some remnants of our canned foodstuffs from last year I discovered another 12 pints of canned squirrel that my wife had relocated unbeknownst to me. wooohooo! who was I kidding? I don't have enough friends to give too much canned squirrel away.
 

Curran

Senior Member
Supporting Member
8,044
186
Central Ohio
(Maybe we can make one for J in about 5 years when he gets up there, only rabbit huntin)

Great idea!! rotflmao

good news. while rearranging some remnants of our canned foodstuffs from last year I discovered another 12 pints of canned squirrel that my wife had relocated unbeknownst to me. wooohooo! who was I kidding? I don't have enough friends to give too much canned squirrel away.

That IS good news!! That recipe you posted sounds awesome squirrely. My son & I are definitely planning on chasing them a bit more this season. We had a good talk about it this morning, and he's starting to get the hunting bug.
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
I enjoy squirrel hunting with the .22, but like these guys i prefer to go after the leaves have come off the trees. My best outing was last year during youth gun weekend. i got 4 big fox squirrels in less than an hour
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
I enjoy squirrel hunting with the .22, but like these guys i prefer to go after the leaves have come off the trees. My best outing was last year during youth gun weekend. i got 4 big fox squirrels in less than an hour.

 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
40,355
288
Ohio
I prefer my 17hmr. My wife has no issues cooking with deer but for some reason draws the line at squirrels. No worries here. My foreman eats every single squirrel I bring him. He and I did have some great squirrel hunts together last year. Nice to see each other outside of work. Helps build the team spirit. Lol
 

Hedgelj

Senior Member
Supporting Member
8,364
189
Mohicanish
Until I realized the bonus mz weekend was strouds I was planning on just squirrel hunting that weekend because I don't bowhunt.
 
I have two shag bark hickory trees in my backyard that are heavy with fruit. I usually see a dozen or more squirrels at a time either running too or in the trees. Well this morning my lab Lou-Lou was watching something very intently in one of the trees. It was a white squirrel sitting next too a solid red one. Now in SC we have grey squirrels and white/black or black fox squirrels, so anything other than that is pretty new to me. Really looking forward to the season now! My taxidermist buddy will hopefully be getting a call.