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Old January 27, 2021, 08:01 PM   #126
Pahoo
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Easy to clean and easier to eat !!!

I feel that the biggest hang-up, on folks wanting to hunt squirrels, is lack of experience in cleaning them. Across this country, there are a variety of squirrels and not sure how they all taste. In the Midwest we mostly have Fox and Greys. The Greys are my favorite to hunt and eat. I walk out of the woods with dressed squirrels. Take them home, cut them into five pieces, wash and either freeze them or cook them. I use the tried and proven Campbell's cream of mushroom soup recipe. Two hours in the oven and I'm ready to eat. ......

I usually eat alone. ......

Be Safe !!!!
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Old January 28, 2021, 04:48 AM   #127
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Hey guys, thanks for the feedback, but this thread is over four years old. I've long since decided not to hunt since I have no actual use for the meat and know no one else who does. I agree shooting them and leaving them is unethical and never seriously saw it as an option, but was curious what the prevailing thought on the matter was.
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Old February 4, 2021, 06:52 PM   #128
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Information for other people who may be wondering.

I guarantee that with a little looking around you can find someone who will want the meat and the skins. You can look on the internet for tutorials on skinning, it's very easy with a little practice. Squirrel is some of the best small wild game there is when they've been eating acorns or apples.
Mepps the spinner manufacturer will actually pay you for squirrel tails, that's what they use for bucktail spinners. There may be fly shops in your area that want them as well.
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Old February 5, 2021, 01:42 PM   #129
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Squirrels are considered a "chef's delicacy."

Of all my years huntin' squirrels...I never knew --- until bout two days ago --- that squirrels and birds love to dine on the dried seeds (which happens by mid-fall) of the sweet gum tree cluster balls.
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Old February 5, 2021, 01:43 PM   #130
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This how I do it except I use a pair of game shears/scissors, it's cold here in december and january and manipulating a sharp knife can be dangerous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c8OyexZ10E
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Old February 5, 2021, 02:07 PM   #131
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Aside from obeying game laws (good idea) check in with that guy you look at in the mirror.
You want to be able to look him in the eyes without shame.
You want to be able to like being that guy.
Folks who are ashamed of who they are,don't know how to be ashamed of what they do.
Make choices that do not bring you shame.

With that,you ought to be able to decide what to do with a squirrel.

I would have no shame killing squirrels who are tearing up my house.
I'm good with the idea of lawfully hunting them to eat.

Shooting them just to watch then fall out of the tree? Leaving them? No....I'd feel ashamed of that.

That would give me my answer.
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Old February 8, 2021, 12:52 AM   #132
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Back when I was a kid, we were taught to use as much of an animal as possible.
Mepps Lures used to buy squirrel tails. They advertised in magazines like Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, Boys Life, anything with an outdoors theme. Supposedly paid pretty well if you had the right kind of squirrels (fox squirrels). We tried sending ground squirrel tails and got a nice "thanks but no thanks" letter back from them. I'm not even sure if Mepps is still in business. But there are outlets for a lot of natural products like skins, although a lot of this type of trade has been quashed.
Just checked. They still have the program. Fox squirrel and grey squirrel tails. Pay .16 to .24/tail, depending on quantities.
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Old February 8, 2021, 01:25 AM   #133
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We have a season for Silver Gray squirrels here in Oregon. I've only seen one in all my time in the woods so I've never gotten excited about hunting them. The one i saw was about the size of a house cat...

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Old March 16, 2022, 06:15 PM   #134
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Ethics of Squirrel Hunting

I shoot them all year round, when they get into my bird houses. Leave them lay, by morning they are gone.....set up a trail cam....a bobcat would carry them off. Nick named him,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, THE UNDERTAKER
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Old March 16, 2022, 07:46 PM   #135
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Old March 18, 2022, 11:07 AM   #136
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If you aren't going to eat it,,,
Or otherwise "use" the animal,,,
Killing it for sport is just wanton slaughter.

JMHO

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Old March 18, 2022, 12:34 PM   #137
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- You shoot it, you eat it and make reasonable use of the whole animal. Reasonable is up for debate. You breast out a dove and that's proper. A pheasant you breast out and make use of the legs and thighs as well. I make soup from the carcasses.. and that goes for Turkey, too. I admit I don't eat the testicles, heart and liver of deer, and don't make leather from the hide. Others do. "reasonable use" is a grey area.

- A landowner has an ethical duty to allow a small party of hunters to follow their blood trail, on foot, on his property without first getting permission. The hunters must only be in pursuit of their wounded animal and not do any damages other than tracks in the mud or snow. If they want to bring vehicles or horses, they must ask the landowner. That's how it used to be, legally in my state. Then Scott Walker had the rules changed. Now if your blood trail goes into another property, you have to go ask permission, or legally you can just forget it ever happened. That's wrong.

- Pest control isn't hunting. When the Department of Natural Resources says "cull this animal on sight" then follow that request. Hogs in Wisconsin? Shoot on sight. Call the DNR and report it. At one point in the neighboring county where I hunt, white tail deer were to be shot on sight during deer season. Carcasses were to be hauled to the DNR station for testing. I think I got about 17 that season. Agricultural tags? I've shot deer for the land owner at his request. As it's a CWD hotspot, what he does with them is not my concern. The neighbor's deer just tested positive for CWD. We won't eat it or even feed the meat to the dogs. It will be disposed of properly.

Sometimes a land owner can follow the 3 S's... shoot, shovel and shut up about it. Illegal but sometimes ethical. Sometimes not.

City pests- if I trap an animal, it will not be released into the wild. The overpopulated pest animals in the city often carry disease and that should not be spread into the wild. Cronic Wasting Disease has run wild among deer where I live. Don't transport wild animals or fish unless you're working under the direction of the DNR. Like rabbits in Australia... don't do that.

Poaching for Food... my dad was a boy in the time of WWII, his dad was a veteran of WWI and too old to serve. They poached deer for needy hungry families who's men were off at war. The game warden told them it was okay to take a couple extra and he'd look the other way. Illegal but ethical. I bet there are other cases of this.

Shooting or Trapping for fur... so long as the activity is for the good of the species, keeping the species healthy and numbers in check as determined by wildlife biologists, I am okay with that and it's legal.

Trapping animals and relocating them to be shot so tourists can pay you to shoot at them on paid "guided hunts" or from helicopters, legal but unethical. That's my opinion.

Shooting stocked birds that have just been placed in the field 20 minutes earlier? That's like shooting fish in a barrel, but I have done it and felt bad about it. I saw the chicken wagon and did not go home. If the birds have been afield for who knows how long? No problem, the dog had to work hard to find them.

Shooting penned birds straight from the pen to train dogs? That's only if the trainer knows what they are doing and they are REALLY training dogs. Mine didn't need this, he knew what to do from field bird hunting.

Injuring pigeons to train dogs? That one turns my stomach a bit, but if the trainer really knows what they are doing.... ehhh.. I don't like that one but would rely on the trainer to know the difference between training and animal cruelty for no purpose. My dog didn't need it.

- "Some folks just need to be shot but cannibalism is wrong." - my dad.
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Old March 18, 2022, 12:52 PM   #138
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Quote:
I shoot them all year round, when they get into my bird houses. Leave them lay, by morning they are gone.....set up a trail cam....a bobcat would carry them off. Nick named him,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, THE UNDERTAKER
I used to do the same; turns out the scavenger were crows; they would take the dead squirrel and fly away with it (I assume to their nest)
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Old March 19, 2022, 02:50 PM   #139
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"This question is probably close to the coyote debate. I've heard of people that shoot coyotes and leave them in the field. Most people skin them out but I don't think I ever heard of anyone eating them. But someone must."

Maybe in dire straights. I once was friends with an old timer who prospected for gold in the summer and trapped coyotes and bobcats for the fur come winter. he made a pretty good living at it. We were talking one day while out on a deer hunt and he said that he was always happy to catch a bobcat. Said they and mountain lion were good eating. But he also said coyotes were tough and nasty and would only eat one if nothing else was available. Had the chance to try it a few times but when the thought of what he said came to mind, I passed. Coyotes love carrion and that sure would not improve the flavor.
That old timer pssed back arounf 1977/78. Don't remember which.
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Old March 19, 2022, 10:11 PM   #140
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aarondhgraham View Post
If you aren't going to eat it,,,
Or otherwise "use" the animal,,,
Killing it for sport is just wanton slaughter.

JMHO

Aarond

.
In general, I agree. Squirrels have become more aggravating to me than Coyotes. They haul off half my pecans. A few years ago, one got into my service entrance at my shop and cost me a couple thousand dollars. I put them in same category as a rat when they are around my shop and house. In the woods, I leave them alone.
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Old March 20, 2022, 08:39 AM   #141
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Sadly...it's way too easy to shoot-out a hunter's squirrel woods. On some public huntin' lands, even the chipmunks are shot-out --- Even though both are pesky little critters.
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Old March 20, 2022, 10:00 AM   #142
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If an animal is considered a nuisance, is it common to just leave the carcass? What about lead poisoning to the local wildlife that consumes a carcass that's been shot?
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Old March 22, 2022, 12:21 AM   #143
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generally shots on squirrels are pass-throughs. I'm not sure that the clean up crew is going to get that much lead exposure.

At our house when I was a kid, we didn't eat the squirrels we shot (which I've since found out was a mistake; nut-fed squirrels are something else). But we only shot the squirrels at the feeder or ones trying to climb the house. We had one make a nest in the attic once and that was a small disaster.

Likewise, chipmunks got a pass until they started burrowing under the porch and sidewalks, then it was target time.
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Old March 22, 2022, 12:17 PM   #144
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Quote:
If you aren't going to eat it,,,
Or otherwise "use" the animal,,,
Killing it for sport is just wanton slaughter.

JMHO

Aarond
If you are sport hunting, I agree.

However, if the tree-rats are pests, and in the varmint category, that's a different matter, to me. And generally a different matter under the law, as well.

as to leaving pest carcasses, well, "buzzards gotta eat, same as worms..."
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Old March 22, 2022, 12:55 PM   #145
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Better alternatives

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However, if the tree-rats are pests, and in the varmint category, that's a different matter, to me. And generally a different matter under the law, as well.
Don't understand how the Go-To option is; always to kill and trash them. There are other and much better options. ......

1) Live traps and relocation to the country. Our city maint folks, Loan them out.

2) Repell them and ever since I figured this one out, my three bird-feeder locations have not been bothered. Whatever the birds flick out of the feeders, the squirrels eat "off" the ground.

Be Safe !!!
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Old March 22, 2022, 03:46 PM   #146
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The problem with relocation is that city tree rats are usually overpopulated and you do not want to introduce diseases into a naturally isolated ecology... isolated by distance. Unless you're quarantining the rodents for a few weeks and have the veterinary experience to determine that the transported animals are disease free.

This is why it's not okay to "help the dnr" by catching fish in one area and releasing them in another. Don't fool with mother nature. Bad things can happen.

That's also why I would be reluctant to eat a city-living tree rat... propensity for disease among overpopulated.

As for leaving them for crows.. well.. my dog is going to be rolling on the corpse and that's not going to be stinky in the house.
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Old March 23, 2022, 09:00 PM   #147
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Two many people shoot small game for sport and throw it away. I don’t know how many deer hunters I hear say they don’t eat deer meat, they give it away. I don’t think much of anyone who shoots for sport.
It’s different story if animal is in pest or varmit category. If it’s doing you no harm and you aren’t going to eat it, leave it be. Go to a range and shoot some targets.
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Old March 24, 2022, 11:36 AM   #148
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Hunting/Killing ethics

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The problem with relocation is that city tree rats are usually overpopulated and you do not want to introduce diseases into a naturally isolated ecology.
That is just not so. Contact your states biologist and inquire about "Carrying Capacity". The numbers, are self regulated and predation is another factor. The only disease I have observed, is mange and that is easy to spot. I do put a stop to this, in my yard. My local head count is right at about four. Food and water is consistent and they do fairly well and they don't bother my bird feeders. ....

The only point I tried to make is that as "Killers and Hunts", you can always make up reasons to kill everything that runs, walks or flies, in your back yard. If and when I do shoot a town squirrel it's for a reason and has nothing to do with hunting. I don't leave them lay, just throw them in the trash or bury them.

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Old March 24, 2022, 04:21 PM   #149
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(I used to work for the DNR)
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Old March 24, 2022, 07:36 PM   #150
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I Teach Hunting Ethics

Quote:
(I used to work for the DNR)
I work "with" the DNR and among other subjects, teach "Hunting Ethics". ,,,

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