A friend took his grandson squirrel hunting and asked me if I wanted the squirrels.  Come to find out he has never eaten them or cleaned them I guess.  During the 50's and 60's I think every hunter ate squirrels and other small game.  Now I'm wondering if it's a lost sport and if so I think a lot of people are missing out on some fine eating and fun.

Here in Wyo no one that I know eats or for that matter even hunts squirrels. I did live in Tennessee for one year and was introduced to the delicacy. Tough and chewy if you don't boil 'em before you bread & fry.

My friend had a recipe he got from a Marlin 22 advertisement, Arkansas Fried Squirrel, it was excellent. Onion, bacon all fried together.....good eat'n  

I have not eaten any in a good 15 years.  I have been meaning to change that lately, as I get into some great squirrel action in the areas I hunt.  My biggest impediment is that my wife doesn't like the idea of me eating 'tree rat' as she calls them and only recognizes the possibility of eating venison, pig or rabbit, so I'd be forced to cook em at the station.  Come to think of it that's what I did with the coon I killed and ate recently, so what am I waiting for?  Well gotta hit one of the buggers first hahaha, they sure have some moves!

About 30 years ago my brother shot one with his 12 ga. I remember it taking 3 shots. Lol. I ate some but don't remember it. Can't imagine it being awesome either.

I like squirrel as much as deer

I have a lot of them in my backyard.  I remember as a child in Texas eating them, although I don't remember what they tasted like. Once a few years ago, I decided to shoot one of the squirrels in my backyard and eat it.  I had a video from the Internet, which made skinning them seem about as easy as pulling off a sock.  I shot one with my bow, but I made such a mess of trying to skin it that I had to throw it away.  This depressed me, because my one prime ethic about hunting is that I eat what I kill.  If anyone could suggest a better way to skin one, I would like to eat it, but I don't want to waste the meat.

Red fox squirrel pot pie...ummmm...along with some great fly tying fur and hair!

Keep the wind in your face!

Shoot straight, Shinken

 

Grew up hunting and eating them. Lots of work for so little reward. Then I found out about bow hunting for deer! Never looked back. It's been along time since I've ate them. I've ate about all and I mean all the local and not so local critters but squirrel was never one of my favorites. Enjoyed hunting them though.

I'm slow as smoke when it comes to skinning them. I do love to eat em though....I put em in the crock pot and cook them down to where I can pull the meat off the bones, then I make squirrel meat and gravy. It's awesome over mashed potatoes served with some canned green beans from the garden.

My mouth is starting to water at the thought...I'm going squirrel hunting this weekend!

I posted a thread about smoked squirrel on the recipe forum.  Turned out pretty tasty!

Rodd

Been awhile.  We just do not have many trees here in Nevada, at least the ones they would like.  When I grew up in Ky, squirrel, rabbit and quail were all we had to hunt.  Ate a bunch, and my friend traded a few for beer from the local bootlegger. ( dry county )

I love squirrel...tastes kinda like frog legs.    

The best way to skin them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c8OyexZ10E

Thanks Sunstone, I think the problem I had was that I didn't break the tailbone before I tried to pull off the skin.

I've eaten a bunch of them over the years.  My wife's folks told me when they were kids they would boil the whole squirrel and then fight over who got the brains.  They would crack the skull open and scoop them out.  Said it tastes like scrambled eggs.  I haven't tried that yet but maybe someday.  Same as nines my wife won't eat them.

They're a favorite in our house.

I don't really have any place to deer hunt (folks don't share that) but I have a couple of places where I can load up on squirrels.

Grey squirrels are almost always tender so you can cook them any way you want. Fox squirrels can get tough, so some of them go into the slow cooker or whatever.

I can usually tell which ones are going to be tough when I'm skinning them so we bag them separate and label so we know which are the fryers.

We've only got the little red squirrel up here, about a bite and a half per. The one time I tried it, not so good, but was mostly the result of an uneducated cook (me) -  maybe.
The pics I've seen of those greys make me think it would be worth it - maybe. The hunting, I'm sure is a blast.

Don't care for them myself but alot of people around here do like their squirrel gravy.

I believe I read somewhere that just about every chicken recipe that dates prior to the 1930's was originally a squirrel dish....I make it a point to have a couple squirrel dinners every fall, the meat is mild and delicious as long as a couple simple steps are taken in the prep.