A Few Questions from a Possible Newb Squirrel Hunter

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.308 Norma

.308 Norma

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While doing a search about what kind of squirrels we have here, I found out that Red Squirrels are native to Idaho, and as of 2018, they are listed as a “game species” by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. So, for all of you squirrel hunters out there, are Red Squirrels the kind you hunt?

Secondly, I know it’s probably hard to describe, but if you eat squirrel meat, what does it taste like? I mean, is it comparable to any other type of meat? I’ve eaten a lot of different types of wild game meat, as well as pheasant, duck, goose and different species of grouse and dove, but never squirrel meat. I’m guessing most of the meat on squirrels is on their hind legs, is that right?

Lastly, how do you prefer squirrels fixed? I’ve read about squirrel stew, as well as fried squirrel and using the drippings for gravy. That’s what sounds best to me, but like I said, I’ve never hunted squirrels, much less eaten any.

Thanks.:)
 
Reds are not that great to eat....blacks and grays are really good.... Braze them in pan...make a gravy and put over biscuits...

Head shots are best and skin asap as when they get cold they are a pain in the a$$...

Tree rats are fun to hunt and good to eat-
 
.308 Norma said:
While doing a search about what kind of squirrels we have here, I found out that Red Squirrels are native to Idaho, and as of 2018, they are listed as a “game species” by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. So, for all of you squirrel hunters out there, are Red Squirrels the kind you hunt?

Secondly, I know it’s probably hard to describe, but if you eat squirrel meat, what does it taste like? I mean, is it comparable to any other type of meat? I’ve eaten a lot of different types of wild game meat, as well as pheasant, duck, goose and different species of grouse and dove, but never squirrel meat. I’m guessing most of the meat on squirrels is on their hind legs, is that right?

Lastly, how do you prefer squirrels fixed? I’ve read about squirrel stew, as well as fried squirrel and using the drippings for gravy. That’s what sounds best to me, but like I said, I’ve never hunted squirrels, much less eaten any.

Thanks.:)
Click to expand...
Comparable to rabbit and as fryable.
 
.308 Norma said:
While doing a search about what kind of squirrels we have here, I found out that Red Squirrels are native to Idaho, and as of 2018, they are listed as a “game species” by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. So, for all of you squirrel hunters out there, are Red Squirrels the kind you hunt?

Secondly, I know it’s probably hard to describe, but if you eat squirrel meat, what does it taste like? I mean, is it comparable to any other type of meat? I’ve eaten a lot of different types of wild game meat, as well as pheasant, duck, goose and different species of grouse and dove, but never squirrel meat. I’m guessing most of the meat on squirrels is on their hind legs, is that right?

Lastly, how do you prefer squirrels fixed? I’ve read about squirrel stew, as well as fried squirrel and using the drippings for gravy. That’s what sounds best to me, but like I said, I’ve never hunted squirrels, much less eaten any.

Thanks.:)
Click to expand...

To me a squirrel is a squirrel. I usually fry it, taking any pice large enough to make a bite out of. I'll cut it into nuggets and fry it that way, and it's really good with mashed potatoes, gravy and biscuits.

Sounds cliche, but squirrel tastes a lot like chicken. Slightly earthy chicken as dumb as that sounds lol. It's got a pretty mild flavor. I squish the meat in a cutting board to tenderize before frying otherwise it can be chewy.
 
Red squirrels here in New England, are generally found in and around conifer trees. They eat pine and spruce seeds in the cones, and the one time I tried eating then they tasted like kerosene. I mostly hunt grey squirrels, and like it has been said, it is best to skin and dress the squirrels soon after downing them.

I par-boil the meat then fry in hot bacon grease. good eating.
 
horsey300 said:
Comparable to rabbit and as fryable.
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Good, we do like rabbit - especially the little pigmy rabbits (we call them "brush" rabbits) we have around here some years. I went to the Idaho Fish and Game Department's website and looked up Red Squirrel hunting season rules and regs, and it looks like the season opens Aug, 30, 2020, and runs clear through March, 2021, and the daily bag limit is 8. So I think I'll give squirrel hunting a try for the first time in my life.:)
It's kinda weird - I'm 72 years old, been hunting as far back as I can remember, but I never seriously thought about hunting squirrels until now, after reading so much about it on the internet. I do remember once when I was probably 14 or 15 years old, my family was on a fishing trip somewhere, and there were a lot of squirrels around. One day I asked my mom if she would cook a squirrel for me if I shot it. She absolutely refused. She said, "NO! Don't you bring me any damned RAT to cook!" So I put squirrel hunting out of my mind until the internet came along.;)
On the other hand, last summer I loaned my Sheridan "Blue Streak" pellet rifle to a buddy of mine (Gary) who lives in a small town south of here. He had a real squirrel problem at his house. I guess they can be very destructive, get into everything, chew wires, and leave squirrel crap everywhere.:uhoh:
 
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Sqyirrel hunting can be quite challenging, especially if you handicap yourself. Many use a shotgun for them, and I do too in the early season when the leaves are on the trees. Once the leaves start falling, or have fallen, I switch to my .32 caliber flint lock North Carolina rifle. I find stalking squirrels good practice for deer season, and at least while squirrel hunting I rarely go home skunked. Can't say that for deer season.
 
If you have eaten duck, you will love squirrel. I never could cook an edible duck, but any squirrel is great over a campfire, or in a skillet or a stewpot.
 
Around here it is mostly grey squirrels with a few fox squirrels and I've been hunting squirrel's as long as I can remember. I've cooked and ate them virtually anyway you can imagine. My favorite way is to cook them to make squirrel dumplings. The a basic version of recipe that my family has used since I was a kid was actually posted in the recipe thread here by someone else. It's basically squirrels, lard/shortening, flour, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder.
 
Cemetery21 said:
If you have eaten duck, you will love squirrel. I never could cook an edible duck, but any squirrel is great over a campfire, or in a skillet or a stewpot.
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Truth is, I’m not that fond of ducks or geese. Fillet out the breasts, roll the meat in flour with onion and garlic powder, and fry it in oil or shortening is pretty good - especially with biscuits, mashed potatoes, and gravy made from the drippings. So I figure on trying squirrel the same way the first time. If we like it, we might try some squirrel stew later on.:)
 
Not enough meat on a red squirrel and to be honest they are just too cute for me to shoot. I have a deer stand in an Osage orange tree looking at several apple trees and a bean field and nightly this red squirrel will climb up the tree and sit and stare at me while I hunt. He then grabs an apple chunk and comes back up the tree and eats it.
 

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I think it tastes similar to chicken (or you could say it tastes like whatever you cook it in) but has a texture closer to pork. The ribs are like dealing with fish bones and after getting dirty looks at the dinner table a couple times I generally just throw that section away now.

I like to boil them in chicken broth until the meat is falling off the bones, then I de-bone it and cook it a little bit longer in just a little bit of broth a good shot of BBQ sauce. Its kind of like pulled pork.

They also go well in tortilla soup in place of chicken.
 
Weflyfast said:
Reds are not that great to eat....blacks and grays are really good.... .
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It will depend as others have mentioned, on what the Red Squirrels are eating. So... you may need to harvest one from here, one from there, and one from over yonder, and cook them up to see if any of them are good. Best to harvest a couple or three grays and find a recipe for them you like, then apply that to the local reds and see what you get.

IF it's toughness rather than flavor..., a Pineapple Marinade is the way to go! (imho)
This works for all tough meat, store bought (aka cheaper cuts are tough) and for tough game meat.
Take a fresh pineapple. Remove the skin and fruit portion; discard the pulpy core.
Take the fruit AND the skin portion, and puree it into a pudding like material.
submerge you raw squirrels into this for 15-30 minutes, depending on how tough you think they are. Works for rabbit too.
On tough beef, or tough bison or beefalo, or tough venison, submerge for one full hour. NO LONGER
There is a natural enzyme in the pineapple and its skin that breaks down the proteins in the meat. Rinse then cook.
Thinner meats like squirrel or rabbit, take less time.
Often if you exceed the time limit, your meat falls apart.
Don't expect a "dark sear" after tenderizing with pineapple enzyme. It doesn't happen although you do get tender meat.

LD
 
Reds are the ones I shot to shut them up while I was deer hunting, when I was young and dumb. Greys are the best eating, IMO. Best tasting squirrel I ate was the one i killed with a 5.56 blank and a section of cleaning rod at Camp Roberts, and then rotisseried (on the same cleaning rod section) over a cow dung (and trioxane bar) fire in the foxhole. After a week of MREs, it was like a gourmet meal!
 
Reds are the smallest squirrel just a little bigger than a chipmunk that like to eat pine cone seeds and taste like pine-sol.
Greys/blacks are the same squirrel and can come from the same litter, about twice the size of reds.
Fox squirrels are the largest about 50% bigger than greys/blacks and in some locations are called reds and may be what you are referring to.
Foxs, greys and blacks are all good to eat. We cook them the same way we cook chicken, Fried, deep fried, pressure cooker, baked, boiled just about anyway you can think of cooking them works.
 
bearman49709 said:
Reds are the smallest squirrel just a little bigger than a chipmunk that like to eat pine cone seeds and taste like pine-sol.
Greys/blacks are the same squirrel and can come from the same litter, about twice the size of reds.
Fox squirrels are the largest about 50% bigger than greys/blacks and in some locations are called reds and may be what you are referring to.
Click to expand...

Yes here the Fox squirrels are often called Red Squirrels and the little reddish ones, which we don't have down here, but folks have seen them when going farther North, are called Pine Squirrels.

LD
 
Fyrstyk. beat me to it. Red Squirrels in the North East are chatty little things about 1/2 the size of greys. Reds in the rest of the world are most likely Fox Squirrels which we don’t have.

We generally ignore them when hunting as they have no food value.

My own technique for skinning grays was to make a slit completely around the torso half way between the head and tail. Working the fingers of each hand under this slit pulling toward the head and tail literally turned the skin inside out. The head, paws and tail was cut off leaving an intact body. The carcass was then gutted, washed and placed in a cooler. I preferred them braised as one would a chuck roast or stewed.
 
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