Swifty Morgan
member
Today I went out back to see if I could shoot some squirrels. I failed, but I realized that was a good thing, because I was not really prepared to deal with the meat. I haven't hunted since I was a kid. I used to shoot rabbits, and whenever I got one, I gave it to my grandmother, and that made it her problem. Now I have to do everything myself, so I need some advice.
Come to think of it, this is the whole reason I never became a hunter. I'm all about the shooting and eating, but spending several hours dragging a pig or a deer out of the woods and then cutting it up and putting it in little bags sounds like a lot of work. I used to fish for dolphin and tuna, and when we filled the cooler, cleaning and packing the fish was a nightmare. I would expect big mammals to be worse.
Anyway:
1. What do you bring a dead squirrel home in? I grabbed a small trash bag from the kitchen, figuring it would work.
2. How long do you get to clean the squirrel? What if I'm having a good day and I want to stay until I shoot 3 squirrels? Do I have to stop to gut every one before I continue?
3. What do most people use for cutting up squirrels? I hate getting blood and gunk all over my nice pocket knife and then folding it up and putting it in my pocket, but I suspect that's what people do. My grandfather used to do it that way. Gross.
4. How do you get the blood out? My grandfather used to cut up rabbits without doing anything special to make sure they were drained. Is that how it works?
5. How do you get your hands clean after hacking up a squirrel? I don't want to handle a gun with squirrel juice all over my fingers. I don't have any creeks here. I feel like I should take a backpack with disposable gloves with me, but when I write that, it looks pretty sissified.
I knew squirrels were evil before I went out today, but my experience reinforced my opinion. Yesterday I went out without a gun, and I heard barking all over the place. Squirrels were everywhere. Today I took a .22, and I heard 1 bark in 90 minutes. Don't tell me the little dirtbags can't tell when you're hunting.
I had a good opportunity to nail one, but he was 20 feet off the ground. I knew the odds of missing him and the tree trunk he was on were about a million to one against, but I decided to play it safe anyway. I love rifles, and I really don't want to use a shotgun, but I guess I'm going to have to until I can get an air rifle that won't take out truck windows on neighboring farms. The squirrels refuse to sit on the ground for me.
I would love to shoot these things with a scoped rifle, but the only one I have which is even close to the right caliber is a .1 HMR, and I think it would spread squirrel over half an acre.
Come to think of it, this is the whole reason I never became a hunter. I'm all about the shooting and eating, but spending several hours dragging a pig or a deer out of the woods and then cutting it up and putting it in little bags sounds like a lot of work. I used to fish for dolphin and tuna, and when we filled the cooler, cleaning and packing the fish was a nightmare. I would expect big mammals to be worse.
Anyway:
1. What do you bring a dead squirrel home in? I grabbed a small trash bag from the kitchen, figuring it would work.
2. How long do you get to clean the squirrel? What if I'm having a good day and I want to stay until I shoot 3 squirrels? Do I have to stop to gut every one before I continue?
3. What do most people use for cutting up squirrels? I hate getting blood and gunk all over my nice pocket knife and then folding it up and putting it in my pocket, but I suspect that's what people do. My grandfather used to do it that way. Gross.
4. How do you get the blood out? My grandfather used to cut up rabbits without doing anything special to make sure they were drained. Is that how it works?
5. How do you get your hands clean after hacking up a squirrel? I don't want to handle a gun with squirrel juice all over my fingers. I don't have any creeks here. I feel like I should take a backpack with disposable gloves with me, but when I write that, it looks pretty sissified.
I knew squirrels were evil before I went out today, but my experience reinforced my opinion. Yesterday I went out without a gun, and I heard barking all over the place. Squirrels were everywhere. Today I took a .22, and I heard 1 bark in 90 minutes. Don't tell me the little dirtbags can't tell when you're hunting.
I had a good opportunity to nail one, but he was 20 feet off the ground. I knew the odds of missing him and the tree trunk he was on were about a million to one against, but I decided to play it safe anyway. I love rifles, and I really don't want to use a shotgun, but I guess I'm going to have to until I can get an air rifle that won't take out truck windows on neighboring farms. The squirrels refuse to sit on the ground for me.
I would love to shoot these things with a scoped rifle, but the only one I have which is even close to the right caliber is a .1 HMR, and I think it would spread squirrel over half an acre.