Squirrel hunting n eating

[bigted]

As a kid, I would take my western auto 22 semi auto and a box of 50 LR shells and hit the hills surrounding the dairy my Dad worked at. We lived in a house supplied as part of the wage for Dad.

Just wondering if anyone shares my youthful pleasant past?

I used to take wood match's and salt n pepper and wind up lighting a small fire to cook my take. That little .22 provided many meals in the sticks. Ate all kinds of game, squirrel's, rabbit, grouse, quail and robin's as well as a blue jay time to time.

I fondly recall these great times as a youth, and now as a 60+ years young, I am tempted to return to this simple pleasure. Always found something to eat and bettin this fun repast is still possible.

Any others do such with your rimfire? Care to share your fun and maybe a recipe or two?

[rking22]

Yes, those are cherished times. For me it was growing up on the family farm. There were quail, rabbits and my favorite squirrels. There were deer but you saw one every few years and never saw one hit on the road! I would get up on Saturday morning and take off for the woods. If hunting season was in, then anything in season was fair game. If not then there were rocks, nuts, pine cones all kinds of stuff to plunk on. For me it was always a one shot affair, that’s all I could expect to get on a game animal so that was the plinking game too! Never cooked the game in the field, Granny was just a short walk back to the house and she was a way better cook than me. Good times, will be watching this and posting more. There were fish in the ponds too!

[bigted]

Ahhh fish! Yep ate my share of .22 sinker trout. Even roasted a steel head a time or two. My first salmon was snagged on a .22 lure.

[rking22]

You know, I still run into rifles with a ring in the barrel about 6 inches down. Remember being told that if you stuck the muzzle under the surface.... well you know how that played out. I shot lots of bullfrogs and snakes with a Rem 41, man I love frog legs! Snapping turtles too, Granny would fry the trimmed meat from the smaller ones and make soup from the big ones. I liked to catch rock bass by jigging a grub under the rock ledges, some big fish came out of little holes!

[rking22]

As I am bearing down on retirement, I am looking forward to returning to those simple entertainments. I still live on that same farm, hopefully another generation will grow up here. We shall see.

[Traffer]

You know, I still run into rifles with a ring in the barrel about 6 inches down. Remember being told that if you stuck the muzzle under the surface.... well you know how that played out. I shot lots of bullfrogs and snakes with a Rem 41, man I love frog legs! Snapping turtles too, Granny would fry the trimmed meat from the smaller ones and make soup from the big ones. I liked to catch rock bass by jigging a grub under the rock ledges, some big fish came out of little holes!

My brother and I had a Winchester 1890 ...1906 short only gallery gun. One day I took it out and couldn't hit anything with it. After inspecting it well I found a crack in the barrel from the crown in about an inch. I was flabbergasted. When plying my brother about it, he sheepishly admitted to "putting the barrel in the water and pulling the trigger to see what would happen" Grrrrrrrr. To add insult to injury several years later my sister stole the gun and gave it to her boyfriend who sold it. I did have lot's of fun with that little gun though.

[Walks]

My little Brother with a couple of friends and I would ride our bicycles up Van Nuys Blvd with our .22 Rifles slung on our Backs.
To Hunt in the foothills east of the San Fernando Valley at 530am on weekdays before school, then leave the Rifles in the Boys Vice Principal's office before class. The squirrels we took went into the Cafeteria fridge.

This of course was in the Mid 1960's. Before L.A. City Schools and L.A. County School Systems combined.
From the top School System in the U. S. to the bottom. It's been a long slide to the bottom.

Squirrels had to cleaned, skinned and beheaded.

[bigted]

Thank you for your memories. These are cool and great stories.

I look forward to many woods walks just to see what can be scared up. Just the thought of simple pleasures has me chomping at the bit.

In my imagination, I see a small fire with a small cast pot with little taters, onions, short carrots and celery with the meat of the hunt simmering and bubbling on the coals. I can almost smell the aroma of the cracked pepper and salt seasoning as the small stew cooks.

Sheesh ... I may skip work and head out with my old 10-22.

[GhostHawk]

I was lucky, born in northern Minnesota I had a grandfather that was a southern gentlemen with a true appreciation for hunting and eating squirrels, and fishing.

At first my weapons were well dismal at best. A Mossberg .410 bolt action shotgun that liked to jam on the second shot.
But eventually I aquired a Ruger 10/22 and a Rem 870 wingmaster 20 ga. Nothing that flew, crawled, climbed or hopped was safe.

Momma knew how to take 4 cleaned and skinned squirrels and through kitchen magic transform them into meat falling off the bones tender with this rich Rue gravy over potatoes or rice. Was a meal fit for a king.

Dad did not like rabbits much, he grew up in the midst of a tuleramia outbreak, he was always afraid I'd catch it.

Eventually I learned from mom that kitchen magic, and took it a step further.

2 squirrels, a rabbit, a partridge or 2 or a grouse, couple of venison chops, all cooked together in that gravy long and slow.
The flavors were indescribable.

Yeah, I miss squirrel hunting, and eating.

[skeettx]

YES!! Really enjoyed still hunting by MYSELF for squirrels
Those were fun days
Mike

[richhodg66]

Did a lot of squirrel hunting as a kid. Didn't have the patience then to sit and wait, that's one of the few things that you actually get better with as you age.

Walking around the woods is fun, but if you're after squirrels, it's a whole lot more effective to find a good spot and sit still and quiet. Even though I'm probably not as good a shot now and use single shots instead of a semi-auto .22, I consistently kill a lot more when I go out nowadays because of this.

[FredBuddy]

While everyone else was inside cramming for exams,
I was out in the woods looking for squirrels.

Shoot one, find the nearest spring, clean it,
put it on a green stick and roast it over my little fire.

I passed all my courses 'cuz I took good notes.

[sureYnot]

While everyone else was inside cramming for exams,
I was out in the woods looking for squirrels.

Shoot one, find the nearest spring, clean it,
put it on a green stick and roast it over my little fire.

I passed all my courses 'cuz I took good notes.

Used to do that allot in high school and early twenties. The first time was the only time I didn't have a salt shaker in my gear.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

[arcticap]

I never ate wild game in the woods.
But I would wear a backpack with a soft foam cooler inside filled with frozen ice packs to keep the squirrels cold.
I prefer to undress them when they're cold and stiff, yet they still remain flexible enough.
And I thought that the cold packs also helped any insects to detach more quickly once back at home, and any fleas won't move quite as fast.

I'd parboil them, strain the liquid and use it to just make a simple barley vegetable soup.
Dice the meat into very small pieces, and basically add carrot, onion and barley.
Then sprinkle some black pepper once in the soup bowl and add some crackers.
I tried adding a beef broth but usually not.
The meat tastes like chicken and very tender.

[tim338]

After school and the chores were done I would grab a rifle and stay in the woods until heard the bell ring. I sure miss those days.

[koger]

I loved squirrel, fried or roasted in gravy with dumplings! My grandmother was the worlds best cook when it came to groundhog, man it was good. She would skin them, rake any fat off the inside hide or on the meat on a separate skillet. She would then batter them up, and fry the cut up whistle pig till brown, then put them in a big roaster, with potatoes, celery, carrots and her own special dry rub. It contained 5 different kinds of sage, white pepper, garlic salt, and black pepper. She then roasted them about 4-5 hours on 300-325, and the last hour was torture, the whole house smelled so good.

[Thundarstick]

I'm 57 arend love to squirrel hunt more today than as a teen. One of my favorite recipes, squirrel pot pie!

Skin the squirrel, being careful to remove the glands from under the fore legs.

Boil in lightly seasoned water until the meat separates from the bones, and remove the meat. Chop it into smaller pieces. Mix the meat with two cans cream of potato and one can mixed vegetables, season to taste, and pour into frozen pie crust topping with another. Brake at 350 to 400 until golden brown and serve. People who don't even like squirrel like this!

Squirrel hunting is a great excuse to bumble about the woods as well!

[tazman]

My mom would fry then pressure cook the squirrels I killed. They always came out so tender. Even the really old ones that you just knew were tough.

[TNsailorman]

My grandmother would pressure cook can squirrels, rabbits, sausage, duck and about every type of vegetable you could name. She would spend the whole summer and fall doing this and we ate well in the cold winter days. Hunting for me and Dad was as much putting food on the table as the raising of the vegetables. Of course we would have hunted for the fun of it anyway. james

[tazman]

In the years between the time I turned 12 and 20 years old I hunted squirrels every chance I got during the season. They were plentiful in the area and the family liked them a lot.
I took between 50 - 100 every year. The season ran from August until January so there was plenty of time to hunt them.