Squirrel Shootin’ Southern Style

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 4/11/2017 | Larry Case

[w1n1]

Many of us started out shooting a BB or pellet gun at a target and graduated to small game like rabbits and squirrels. Some of us did the other way around. But it seems that in these times of shrinking hunter numbers fewer and fewer of our young people are going down that path. Four years ago Jackie Bushman of Buckmasters fame decided to do something about that and created the Squirrel Master Classic. The event is held every year at the Southern Sportsman Hunting Lodge west of Montgomery in Alabama's legendarily rich-soiled "Black Belt" region.

The Squirrel Master Classic could be classified as a friendly competition, as it pairs up teams consisting of an outdoor TV personality, a young person involved in 4H Shooting Sports, outdoor writers, and a squirrel dog handler. The teams compete in a morning and evening squirrel hunt with a shooting competition at midday. This year, the range was supervised by world champion shooter Doug Koening, whose most recent major win (as of this writing) came at the 2016 NRA Bianchi Cup.

Scoring is simple. The team with the most squirrels and most points earned in the shooting competition wins the competition. In order to qualify to take part in the event, the six 4H shooters in this year’s classic had to compete with other 4H'ers for the privilege. Read the rest of the squirrel competition story here.

[Lurker]

I ate a lot of squirrel growing up.

L

[jch10]

I volunteer my back yard.

[katana]

They should have shown a picture explaining why southerners shoot squirrels. Some of us were brought up on this stuff.

[crude77]

Me too. Still do. Young ones go in the frying pile old tough ones go in the squirrel and dumplings pile. Brains and tongues were and are considered delicacies. Very few people around me ever have though. Used to be very common.

[umgud]

I have a place up in the mountains where squirrel and quail season overlap. 4 squirrel limit and 10 quail. Usually limit out. SXS shotgun and a scoped pistol are all I take.

[NativeSon]

Same.

those evil little b@stards are nothing but rats with bushy tails & good PR.

[wbarmy]

as a young teenager, I hunted squirrel in East Texas with an AR-7. Just before dusk seemed to be my best time because I could see them in silhouette and usually bagged a few. Ate them all.

[miss marmelstein]

Does anything have to be done with it once it’s shot? Or just dressed and dumped into the pot?

[G Larry]

If I’m eating squirrel its cuz the SHTF.

[Mouton]

Had one of those little B@stards as you say take up residence in my attic. Waited at the exit point for him for 45 minutes. He finally came out, jumped to a tree and appeared to smile at me knowing that at 10 feet above ground he was relatively safe, till I blasted the sucker. My wife was bit perturbed but the neighbors have become accustomed to an occasional gun shot around my subdivision for the past 20 years so I got no blowback! The only “pot” he went into was the refuse can.

[garryowenartillery]

I ate game until I was old enough to say “No thanks, I’ll grab something in town.
If I’m eating it now, its cause i gotta.

[Dubh_Ghlase]

Lived in a development that was overrun by the pesky rodents. They really had an attitude until I broke out a single-shot .177 pellet rifle with scope. Most taken out with head shots. After a while, they figured it out and left my yard alone. Got to be sure of a good backstop though, as I didn’t want to bother the neighbors...

[Georgia Girl 2]

I learned to hunt squirrels with my Dad using a bolt action single shot .22. Good times.

[Cold Heart]

We did an overnight soak in salt water. Now days I soak them in a salt water/ tenderizer mix.

[miss marmelstein]

How many feed a family of four, let’s say. One each? (I’m not joking.) Any comparison to another animal in taste?

[Cold Heart]

Correction, I haven’t had squirrel in many years, the soaking I do now is for ducks, geese or other game that might be tough.

I have had some lean years with getting game in our freezer but this year isn’t one of them. Due to Global Warming, this year we have ducks, geese, deer, elk, wild sheep, wild boar, and bison. The last three critters are from other family members.

[Cold Heart]

A lot depends on the size of the squirrels and how you are cooking them. If you are making a stew you could get by with two to four or even one if that is all you have. Mom cooked the first squirrel in our house with a side meat for Dad.

[Cold Heart]

Oh yes taste. Been too long to be accurate comparing it to other meats but if rabbit is closer to chicken, squirrel would be closer to a lean beef.

[Lurker]

Grandma dressed it and seared it in some bacon fat. Then she made a pan gravy, added potatoes and veggies, and the squirrel went back in to braise until it was done.

A side of biscuits and you had dinner.

L