Fox vs. Gray Squirrels as Table Fare

[Texas Star]

Would those of you who eat enough fox and gray squirrels comment on which is the better meat and why you feel that way?

The fox is larger, but many feel the gray tastes better.

How do you cook squirrels?

And you may as well mention your favorite squirrel gun, be it rifle or shotgun.

 

[panther]

Not a squirrel hunter myself, but we have both kinds of them around here(as well as white ones). Most guys just use cheap .22 rifles and go for the gray ones. The fox(red) squirrels are dumb. They're the only squirrel I've ever seen on the side of the road, hit by a car. Right there by the possums and armadillos, not good company!
As to guns, the old timers here seem to believe that the more beat up and ugly a .22 rifle is, the better it will do harvesting the little critters. I have to agree with them. Those guys can hit more head shots so they save the good meat, then the best target shooters I know. Long barreled .22 single action pistols work too.

 

[oneoff]

I prefer the reds, but that is based on the size as I can't tell a difference in taste.

I prefer using a pressure cooker on 'em, but whatever works. A stick and an open fire always gets the job done!

I have two old Remington's that I go back and forth between. They have one thing in common: very, very thin sights; for a very, very fine shot.

 

[charlie sherrill]

My favorite squirrel recipe:

1) Kill squirrels

2) Dress them

3) Roll them in flour

4) Brown them in a skillet and set aside

4) Make your favorite gravy from the remaining cooking oil (I like mine with cajun seasoning, mushroom soup and onions)

5) Put browned squirrels in a crock pot, pour in gravy, and simmer for 3-4 hours on low.

6) Serve over rice with sides of biscuits and your favorite veggies and wash down with sweet tea.

We don't have many fox squirrels around here so it's mostly grays. I mix them when I have both and sometimes throw in a wild rabbit or two.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

The last "Squirrel Fest" I attended was on a saturday afternoon late September or early October a few years back. There were 6 or 7 of the guys there. The host provided sides and did the grilling, we each brought a pile of dressed squirrels. As the squirrels were grilled they were brushed with Itilian salad dressing,"The cheaper, the better" was the theory. I'm telling you that is a great theory! I don't know what the others used that day, but I had to work and was running late, so I went to a woods that was over loaded with tree rats, put on a dark jacket and had 3 in about 1/4 hour. The gun is a Savage 24, rf over 20guage that lives in my truck for such opertunities, being in a hurry, I use the 20 ga barrel and 7.5 shot. My brother likes his Stainless Single Six, with "Wildcat" hollow points. In Ohio there wasn't a limit or season on reds last time I checked, like woodchucks, and ferrel hogs.

 

[Jswiney9]

I dont see how anyone can eat a fox squirrel, they are tougher than shoe leather and I am pretty proud of my wildgame cooking skills. Gray squirrels by a huge margin from me. I live in the mountains of southwestern virginia and grew up eating em. If any of you have never tried it, cook the legs just like you would buffalo wings! I prefer franks red hot for my squirrel legs.

 

[DR505]

I've eaten both fox and gray, and can't tell much difference in the way they taste. We have Abert squirrels here too...first time I saw one I thought it was an odd-looking skunk running up a tree! I've not eaten one of these black with white stripes and tufted ear squirrels yet, but they are HUGE.

I use an old Remington Nylon 66 Apache Black to shoot them...very accurate, use standard velocity solids and aim at the head.

To cook I make a "Squirrel Brunswick Stew" modified to my taste. I add tomato paste and garlic to the standard Brunswick Stew recipe and use squirrel for the meat.

 

[Texas Star]

DR505-

I've seen pictures of the Abert's squirrel, which I think extends into AZ. Pretty things. Never saw an article on hunting them, but probably some people do.

I wonder if they suffer much predation from Ringtails. I can see how they might chase squirrels the way that martens and fishers do.

So far, no one uses classic high grade .22 bolt actions. I want a CZ-452. Used to have a Weatherby MK XXII that shot very well. Wonder what a .38 Special RN lead bullet from a revolver would do to a squirrel. I guess I could try my Ruger MK II pistol, but most squirrels I've seen in the wild were too far for handgunning. I probably should put a scope on my Marlin M-795SS. It'd help pick out squirrels in dark woods and take head shots.

In Texas, grays are mostly in the eastern part of the state. All I see around here are fox squirrels. Some have mentioned reds, but I think they mean fox squirrels. The true red squirrel is small and nasty. They supposely emasculate grays when they can, probably as a territorial thing, to prevent breeding by a competitive species. Reds may be too small to have much meat.

 

[luangtom]

When I lived up North, in MN, we had three kinds of squirrels in the state. Little bitty, nasty red-squirrels, not much bigger than a chipmunk, plus our grey-squirrels and then the larger fox-squirrels in the Central and Southern part of the state. Grandma fixed all three varieties when pa and I would bring them to her. I haffta say that the nasty, little red-ones were not much. The greys were pretty good, if prepared the right way and the fox-squirrels were, IMHO, the best prepared the way my grandmother did them. She browned them and put them in the oven to slow-roast with a gravy and veggies.

Now, these are all rocking-chair memories. So, is shooting like we used to with grandmother's beat-up .22 Stevens Crackshot.

 

[Kinman]

Round these parts all we got is little pine squirrels, they can be tasty but its an acquired kinda taste...kinda like a stew somebody threw a pinecone into. It works great in Italian meat sauces for pasta, or chili...something with some body, red wine and garlic helps. In the past I had a buddy that used to love to shoot squirrels, on a weekend we would shoot up a pile of them, skin them, cut up the quarters, roll in flour and fry in lard with alot of garlic, throw in some rice and brown it with some onions, pour in a couple three cans of chicken broth and cook up til the rice was done. It was damn good, almost as good as his "roadkill" lasagna.

 

[jlrhiner]

Depends on the time of the year. When the leaves are still on, a Ruger 10-22 or the like with a scope. I sneak up and head shoot em. When the leaves are off, and their running wild, up to and including a 12ga shooting 6's or 5's.

As far as cooking them, anything you can do to a chicken you can do to a squirrel.

 

[dpowers311]

Slow cook them, crock pot is best. If you cook to hot and fast it will be tough. I have always heard fox are tough but I have had some tough greys.
We always used shotguns when the leafs are on and 22's when there are none.

 

[Chubbs103]

Squirrels are the reason I still love to hunt today (although I haven't been squirrel hunting in a few years). I started out with a Stevens .22 over .410. We called it the Barney Fife method. I was given one .410 shell at a time, which I was allowed to keep in my shirt pocket. When there was a legitimate target, I was allowed to load and shoot. After that evolution my single shell was replaced.

Grey squirrels were the only ones we had around when I was growing up. After moving around for a lot of years I have seen all the other varieties.

We would roll the quarters and heads in flour and brown them. Then they went into the pressure cooker. Being frugal folks, we even cracked open the heads and ate the brains.

When I am an area that I feel comfortable I use my old 10/22 for head shots now. Living in the middle of the Mojave doesn't give me many squirrel hunting opportunities any more so I have moved on to Jack Rabbits. My family thinks they are great. SO many people tell me they are inedible, but those are the same folks that have never eaten one.

Chubbs

 

[ogilvyspecial]

This is one of those threads that gave me a flashback, this time back to about 1980.

My neighbor, who was also a close friend, had an annual squirrel hunt for
friends, and even though I was always invited, I begged off. If you would
have known some of those who went you would know why.

About 1980 they all went on their hunt and early that evening I heard a knock
on my door. When I answered it I wasn't surprised that it was my neighbor,
all excited about how sucessful the day had been, asking for a favor.

He wanted to know if I would help him out and clean some squirrels
& partridge, in this case, Ruffed Grouse. I didn't relish the fact that
there were 28 black & fox squirrels, as well as 7 "pat's" but I
knew that if I didn't do it, they would probably go to waste.

I cleaned the first squirrel that I had ever shot just before my 6th birthday so this wasn't
my first rodeo, but knew how big of a pain it would be dealing with that many of them,
considering what the hair does, you know the "stick like glue" thing.

That night I did the deed and when I talked to my neighbor the next day
the second phase of the favor kicked in, which I think was part of his
plan all-along. He wanted to know if I would smoke them for him.

My smoking skills weren't that refined and I wanted this to turn out "special" so I contacted
another friend, who happened to be a supervisor at a large meat processing/packing plant.
When it came to smoking meats, he was good, lip smacking good!

Because of his job, he had access to animal fats, basically suet, which he put on
the top rack of his smoker so the fat would render down and drip on the smoking
meat below, not only keeping things moist, but adding flavor ta boot.

While the squirrels were excellent, they could'nt compete with the smoked, ruffed grouse,
which was probably the best thing I have ever eaten.......before or since.

For the record, most of the squirrels I've ever taken were with an old Stevens,
bolt action, .22 that my grandfather gave me when I was about 10 or 11.
That old Stevens was kickin' 50 yr's old when I got it back around 1967-68.
It's still around but I gave it to my oldest son when it was his turn.

 

[pownal55]

I have never tried squirrels but after seeing these recipes I think it's time to try them. We have greys and reds here but the greys are much bigger. As far as shooting them goes I would use a Kimber 17 mach 2. Much flatter shooting than a 22 and easier to make long range hits.

 

[HAWKEYE10]

I always thought the red squirrels were tough to eat. When I was younger I floated small rivers and hunted squirrels. They aren't near as scared of you when you are in a boat. Most of the squirrels would fall into the water when shot. The grey's would float but the red's would sink. I had to get to the red squirrels quick and dip them up with a fishing net. If you have not floated a river and hunted squirrels you need to try it. It's a blast. You can fish after you get your squirrel limit. Don

 

[kamloops67]

i read this entire thread, and not ONE of you guys "bark" your squirrels!
louis l'amour led me to believe that was how it was done!..kinda disappointed haha

 

[Texas Star]

i read this entire thread, and not ONE of you guys "bark" your squirrels!
louis l'amour led me to believe that was how it was done!..kinda disappointed haha

I think "barking" was done mainly with muzzleloading rifles that would damage too much meat if the squirrel was hit directly.

I did write a Lost World fan fiction story wherein a heroine used a .275 Rigby rifle to shoot a stone, causing chips of it and bullet fragments to kill a couple of pheasant-like birds.
She was about to do it again in Africa, to kill guinea fowl, but a caracal lynx charged the birds and they flew. The caracal leaped and took down two, though. They're fast!

I figured that her technique would work about as well as barking a squirrel, and there was no way that she'd have any meat left if she shot a bird with a .275. She was lost at the time and needed meat and the rifle was what she had. Normally shoots birds with a 12 ga. Purdey...

 

[David LaPell]

I have three different types of squirrels. We have the fox squirrels which we see maybe a few times a year, greys which where I live are getting rare as hen's teeth, and red or pine squirrels which are absolutely everywhere. I know a guy who swears by the little pine squirrels because they get good and fat in all the birdfeeders. I have four that come by everyday and they are nearly as big around as they are long. I have not shot a squirrel in a good long while simply because I want some meat and you need three or four pine squirrels to get a one person meal. I had a Remington Model 33 with an old Weaver scope that was devastating on squirrels. One year we had a very bad plague of them at my parents house along with more chipmunks than I have ever seen. They were getting into the house, the basement and everything else so between trapping them I shot three or four daily with that little Remington. I sold that to a co worker and as soon as I get the money I am buying it back. I have killed a few with my Colt Woodsman and when I had a Single Six I hit them pretty hard. Maybe when I am up to it and back in the swing of things I might take out a few of the reds living near my shed and give myself a squirrel dinner for a treat.

 

[kudzu3]

Fox squirrels are a little tougher than the grays, but any mature squirrel is tough, the older they get, the tougher they get. As far as taste, I can't tell any difference. My mother always "soaked" them over night in salt water, before cooking, claiming that it would get rid of the "gamey" taste. I guess it did. You can also soak them in butter milk (my favorite). If they're tough, and you can tell when you skin them, they need to be boiled until tender. After that roll them in seasoned flour, lots of black pepper, and fry until dark brown, drain and serve with hot biscuits with a little honey, gravy made in the same skillet and a great big glass of sweet tea with a little lemon squeezed in it. You'll sleep good that night. I like to use a good scoped .22 and try for head shots. Heart/lung shots work well too, but if I can't get a clear head shot, I don't take the shot. Don't fool with that "barking" foolishness, I found out more than fifty years ago that it don't work and you'll wound too many. I don't use a shotgun, #6 shot is rough on the molars. I only keep the legs and shoulders unless I'm making dumplings, the other parts just don't have much meat on them. Hunt hardwoods near water. I like to stand hunt but don't stay in one place too long unless there is a lot of sign or activity. During a light rain or right after a rain is a good time to hunt, the wet leaves make it easier to be silent. Sorry about the rambling, happy hunting.