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Hunting & Fishing Dressing out a squirrel.

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Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jul 19, 2008
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SCRANTON AREA PENNSYLVANIA
To do it methodically and to retrieve the most I can for the pot, I usually skin and dress out my squirrels as such:

1. After harvesting, I'll remove the head and feet. This can be done several ways, from continous cutting witha small bladed knife, to one chop with a larger "Rambo" knife (my preference, quick and easy), to using a set of pruning shears.

2. Once that's done, I start back up, belly down, usually on a log, from the point of the neck area. For ease of removing the skin, I leave the entrails "in" at this time.

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL1.jpg


3. I move down the backbone toward the tail, seperating the skin away from the cut:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL2.jpg

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL3.jpg


4. I then start working the skin away from the body, usually behind the front legs / shoulder blades and at the point of my first cut at the neck:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL4.jpg


5. I work it down the body, using my fingers to loosen and turn "inside out" the skin around the front legs:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL5.jpg


6. Using the front legs for leverage, I hold it up and start pulling down:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL6.jpg


7. I work the rear legs much like the front legs, getting the skin worked away with my fingers (like a finger in a glove) between the skin and legs, then pull and turn inside out:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL7.jpg


8. Once clear of the legs, I'll pull past the base of the tail about 3/4", then remove tail the same method of removing the head / feet.

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL8.jpg


9. At this point I'll remove the entrails, finding the point on the ribcage that comes to a point:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL9.jpg


10. I'll make an inscision there and work my way to the anus area. On males, i'll go to one side of the genitals, then using the front legs for leverage, pick the squirrel up, work my index and thumb into the chest cavity breaking the membrane there, and remove the heart, lungs, and gastro tract all at once:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL10.jpg



(picture heavy, continued below)
 
Re: Dressing out a squirrel.

(continued from above)


11. Once the entrails and anything deemed undedible is removed, I'll trim out the belly flaps:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL11.jpg


12. I'll split the legs / hip to remove any other unwanted "inerds", and to set myself up to remove the legs:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL12.jpg


13. I'll hold the squirrel upside down by the rear leg, and start a fillet near the backstrap to get the most meat off. I'll then trim around the leg socket, then a simple twist and pull to remove:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL13.jpg


14. Moving back up the body once the legs are removed, I'll trim up both the sides of the rib cage, making an arrowhead look. A simple breaking, twist and pull of the vertabrae seperates the two:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL14.jpg


15. I'll remove the front legs just as the back, starting a fillet from the meatiest part where attached to the rib cage, under the shoulder blade, them trim around the socket. I'll also make the breast meat a part of that fillet.

16. You are now left with 5 pieces:

DRESSINGOUTASQUIRREL15.jpg


17. This is a total of 6 squirrels on 2 platters. Platters are slightly larger than a standard dinner plate. Unfortunately a few of the quarters had to be discarded due to too much damage from an off shot.

SQUIRRELONAPLATE.jpg
 
Re: Dressing out a squirrel.

Nice looking batch of squirrel, where's the flour? Ever try the tail skinning method where you make a slit under the tail, stand on the tail, and peel everything over their head in one pull except the back legs? Once I learned that method, I never went back to my old slit across the back and pull method. The trick is to make a "V" incision between the anus and tail bone with a slit up each rear leg about 1"-2" forward. You stand on the base of the tail bone with the rear legs in your hands and just pull upward away from the ground. It leaves the skin around the front wrist joints and head. Hang the loops made by the skin and the front legs on a nail or a limb and peel the skin off the back legs. Hide on the back legs will look like a pair of chaps. While it is hanging, snip off the back feet and do your belly incision to remove the guts. When you're happy with the cleaning job, snip off the front feet and head and you're done. We always kept a nail in a tree about shoulder high in camp for squirrel cleaning. Trick is to get the initial incision right and not break the tail. Once you get the hang of it, it goes quick and clean.

Good post, a lot of people don't know how to clean a squirrel.
 
Re: Dressing out a squirrel.

no flour on these, they are getting sweet and sour sauce with rice for the daytona 500.

i've tried a just about as many ways to skin a squirrel as there are to skin a cat
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. i get anywhere from 30 to 50 squirrels a year, the way i do it in the original post helps with "off shots" that may cause some unintended damage. the other ways i've tried tend to rip things in different pieces before the skin is off when there is and off shot, and tend to recover more meat for the pot.
 
Re: Dressing out a squirrel.

as for recipes - hunting season would not be complete for my little guys without a "skwerl pot pie"...as soon as I bring them home my oldest starts asking when we are gonnna make it. My wife does in home jewelry parties and we have game dinner on nights she is working. Getting her to eat rats is about as likely as NoBama owning a gun shop.
 
Re: Dressing out a squirrel.

Buddy of mine swears by tree rat BBQ. He pressure cooks the squirrels until the meat falls off the bones then tosses the pulled meat in a crock pot with his favorite barbeque sauce and serves like pulled pork. It makes sense, already a little stringy and dark meat. I'm hoping to try it this year after we take his kids out for our annual squirrel camp weekend.
 
Re: Dressing out a squirrel.

Chicken
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. All jokes aside, kind of reminds me of dark meat on chicken when fried. Those little squirrel legs are like eating wing dings or frog legs. Great for an appetizer, or if you get a bunch, a meal. The backs are my favorite
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Re: Dressing out a squirrel.

Tastes like rancid chicken. No offense intended, but I just can't get past the smell of them things. They have the same flavor as they smell, kind of a rich mineral earthy musk flavor. I love venison, bear, moose, snowshoe hare, duck, ptarmigan, etc but I can't do squirrel. Those things are fleabags too, I was never allowed to clean any in the house cause the fleas were jumping off them while you skinned em. You want to get my mouth watering, let's talk pan fried marinated hare backstraps!
 
Re: Dressing out a squirrel.

Never had hare before. Ive heard the meat is considered a type of venison, or similar to. What are your thoughts on this?

I would imagine a squirrel would taste like it smells. Same goes for bunnies. Sometimes, i struggle with them especially if i have had a big hunting session and have over 20 of the suckers skinned and ready to go.