Small Game 2017-2018

[Johnsfolly]

18 hours ago, BilletHead said:

       Only if you cook it to death. I have never eaten young pigeon but have adult birds and I think they are stronger than dove. 

BilletHead

 

16 hours ago, Dutch said:

The only way I can eat dove it fillet the breasts, deep fry them, then dip them in KC Masterpiece.

See that BH has tried to hijack this small game thread☺! No more dove talk! And no teal talk next eeek either!

Now let's help Tho1mas with his problem.

13 minutes ago, tho1mas said:

What is the best (easy) way to skin a squirrel? I have tried the slit across the middle of the back - then pull it off like pants & a tee shirt. The other method is cut under the tail - stand on the tail - pull the hind legs until the skin is off to the head - then skin the back legs. Neither method seems very easy & almost always involves picking hair.

I have 40 + walnut trees on my place & a so-so garden = lots of tree rats. I hate to kill them if I don't eat them.

I have done both of those methods and found the same as you have that squirrels unlike rabbits just don't like to be skinned☺. So don't really have a faster way to get that done. I do wet them down before I skin them and that does minimize the hair on the meat IMO. I do wish that I lived closer to be able to help thin your population☺.

[snagged in outlet 3]

Lots of dove still around after the slaughter.  May have to wait  a couple weeks and see what up.

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

Around this section of the State,  most areas restrict single projectiles.   You can only hunt with a shotgun.   When it cools down a little more, I will take out my 10 year old and his new 410. I'm really looking forward to it.  

John, Young's Conservation Area has both opportunities.   That is where I shot my first squirrel.   Likely Lucas first also. 

[MOPanfisher]

Wetting a squirrel will help with the hair, but the hair isn't a big deal, it soaks off easily.  I use the cut the skin at the base of the tail method because that is how I learned.  

[Ketchup]

Good thread guys. I try to wait until mid Nov. before chasing small game, when its cooler out and those little rats are packing food away for winter. Love still hunting along a ridge, or walking along a creek bottom. Gosh i love hunting. 

[Johnsfolly]

9 minutes ago, Ketchup said:

Love still hunting along a ridge, or walking along a creek bottom. Gosh i love hunting. 

I actually enjoy small game more so than deer hunting. That's probably because I don't have a lot of private access to hunt deer and public land hunting for deer can be a problem. I don't get a lot of other folks ruining my squirrel hunts! That and I can usually find huntable numbers of small game on even the smallest piece of public land. My wife can get more excited when I pull in with a buck or doe in the back versus when I come home with a brace of squirrels. That is until she gets to eat whatever I make with them (check out the What's cooking thread for my latest Thai inspired squirrel dish).

[Ketchup]

On my way to the cooking section. That'll get me "fired" up more than i am. 

[MOPanfisher]

My biggest gripe with deer season is it really cuts down on time I can pack a .22 around the woods.  Of course the nice fall weather tends to keep me fishing any more. Give me a cool day with a little rain or a storm system coming in, my scoped Ruger 77/22 and I am happy.

[Johnsfolly]

Got a question. Would any of you go after rabbits this early in the season? Went out on the 30th to hunt bushytails and bumped at keast three rabbits. I have always went after rabbits after the first hard frost and often not until after deer season. If I were to drop one, what should I be looking for in terms of possible disease? Spotted liver?

[MOPanfisher]

I used to run a lot if them this time of year, but didn't shoot them tull it got colder.  Just letting the beagles work the rust off.  Some times I really miss those days.