# Cleaning Squirrel



## TomFoolery (Oct 13, 2014)

I took my gran gran's Remington 11-48 16 gauge out squirrel hunting today. Had sight on the first squirrel but all I got was a click when I pulled the trigger. Dang it. Spent 30 minutes taking the gun apart and fixing the pin haha. So moral of the story: test shoot your gun before you take it hunting.

I ending up bagging a couple of squirrels. I field dressed them and put them in a ziplock bag. When I got home I washed them down. I noticed there was still a lot of hair sticking to them that would not come off with a rinse. I know a little hair isn't gonna kill you and honestly I don't care. However, if I am feeding other people I would like them to look appealing (no hair). Is there a good way to get the hair off?

Also, I soaked them in ice water for a few hours and then threw them in a chili mix to slow cook overnight. Yum. Do yall normally soak them? In what? How long?


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## Scrapy (Oct 13, 2014)

I'm just glad you said slow cooker rather than a crock pot. I hate crock pot foods.


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## thomas gose (Oct 14, 2014)

make a cut under their tail through the tail bone but not through the hide and bring the cut slightly up the hind quarter. then you just put the tail under your heal and holding both feet pull the squirrel nice and steady up toward your belt. the hide will come off to the nose and no hair. youll only have a small amount left on the back legs to deal with but little to no hair on the meat.


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## chadf (Oct 14, 2014)

^ neat trick !
Ain't cleaned a tree rat in 20+ years to eat, might be time to grab the boys and the 22,20ga


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## Flaustin1 (Oct 14, 2014)

I once saw a guy clean them with a air hose and a nozzle.  He would make a small slit in the skin then put the nozzle in and blast away.  Blew up like a balloon.  Then he split them down the back and pulled the hide of easily.  He said it don't work If you shoot them with a shotgun though.  He used a 17mach2 and would only take head shots.


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## Offroadtek (Oct 14, 2014)

Flaustin1 said:


> I once saw a guy clean them with a air hose and a nozzle.  He would make a small slit in the skin then put the nozzle in and blast away.  Blew up like a balloon.  Then he split them down the back and pulled the hide of easily.  He said it don't work If you shoot them with a shotgun though.  He used a 17mach2 and would only take head shots.



That's how one of the guys on swamp people cleans gators so I believe it'd work for squirrels. Here's the method I use.


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## state159 (Oct 14, 2014)

Wet the squirrel before cleaning. Wet hair doesn't grab on the meat as bad and will remove from the meat much easier.


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## crackerdave (Oct 16, 2014)

I know a young lady name of Samantha who gives the fellers squirrel cleaning lessons!


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## agwood1 (Oct 18, 2014)

I make a horizontal cut across the squirrel's back.  Then I put my fingers in both sides of the cut and pull the opposite way with both hands.  I pull the legs through and cut the head off, tail off and gut.  Works pretty good although old squirrels require  a little more effort to get the skin to pull off.


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## Artfuldodger (Oct 18, 2014)

My wife has cats. Everything I eat or drink has hair in it. It's the shotgun shots that I hate to eat. I was never good enough to use a .22 rifle. 
The tail under the heal trick sounds like a good skinning procedure.


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## blocky (Oct 19, 2014)

Well by golly, I am going to try that. A lot better that what I have been doing.


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## Scrapy (Oct 25, 2014)

Artfuldodger said:


> My wife has cats. Everything I eat or drink has hair in it. It's the shotgun shots that I hate to eat. I was never good enough to use a .22 rifle.
> The tail under the heal trick sounds like a good skinning procedure.



My girlfriend has Cockers inside dogs . Everything I eat or drink did have dog hair in it. I tried to tolerate it until I could tolerate it no longer. When I told her , Yard dogs or else, she showed me where I stood, so I was gone.  Them Cockers now sleep where I used to sleep but so sowhat? Translation: Whatever" and  yal'll know what that means .


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## Ruger#3 (Oct 25, 2014)

thomas gose said:


> make a cut under their tail through the tail bone but not through the hide and bring the cut slightly up the hind quarter. then you just put the tail under your heal and holding both feet pull the squirrel nice and steady up toward your belt. the hide will come off to the nose and no hair. youll only have a small amount left on the back legs to deal with but little to no hair on the meat.



This is how my Dad taught me to skin them. I prefer to fry them and make gravy with the drippings. Squirrell gravy and biscuits is fit to eat.


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## ryanh487 (Oct 25, 2014)

I always just use a kitchen lighter to singe off the hairs that stick.


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## Scrapy (Oct 25, 2014)

Ruger#3 said:


> This is how my Dad taught me to skin them. I prefer to fry them and make gravy with the drippings. Squirrell gravy and biscuits is fit to eat.



All's good. But whenever somebody says I need six doves for a mess then I figure I need a dozen. Allways browned and back in the gravy for me a while , or it just ain't right, doves, squirrels  or whatever.


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## erog (Oct 27, 2014)

I would chop the head, feet, and tail off. Slit the back and pull the skin off in two pieces. Then gut and debone if you wish it.


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## Robert Warnock (Oct 29, 2014)

Just add more black pepper and the hair won't be as noticeable


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## TomFoolery (Dec 25, 2014)

ryanh487 said:


> I always just use a kitchen lighter to singe off the hairs that stick.



I will try this next time.

I skinned them the same way the video above shows. Boot under the tail, peels right off.

The 16 gauge works pretty well for squirrels. Even though it is a shotgun I usually don't have to pick out a lot of pellets. Maybe 3-4 per squirrel.


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## rockinwrangler (Dec 26, 2014)

I used the example in video.  Works great....


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