You'll wonder why you never used this method before.
As an avid squirrel hunter I reckon I've tried most every squirrel skinning and cleaning method there is, including this one. But after watching this video I confess that I was doing it wrong, which is why I kind of gave up on it and went back to my old "cut 'em in the middle and peel it like a pair of gloves" technique.
Like Rinella, I had trouble with pulling the tail off, but there's a secret trick.
Watch the video below:
OK, the secret is to make the initial cut below the squirrel's anus and take the cut a little farther than I was going before.
It seems so simple now! Hundreds and hundreds of squirrels cleaned the harder way, and all it took was a small adjustment in where to start the cut. Good grief!
I also quite like the way that Kevin Murphy uses kitchen shears to dismember and quarter the squirrel. I may give that a try as well, as it looks pretty efficient. Although, I do enjoy keeping the rib sections for making a squirrel stock. I also keep some of the innards for cooking: heart, kidneys and liver.
The bottom line is I'm liking this method quite a bit and especially Murphy's boast that he completely cleaned a squirrel in 28 seconds. That would significantly cut down on my own squirrel cleaning time. I'm excited to give the tail method another try now that I know the important details.
I maintain that squirrel is arguably the best-eating wild game out there. And now you know how to efficiently clean the acorn hoarding critters and avoid some of the mishaps that Rinella (and I) initially went through with this method.
Like what you see here? You can read more great articles by David Smith at his Facebook page, Stumpjack Outdoors.
NEXT: RABBIT HUNTING AND COOKING BUNNIES IN GINGER BEER BATTER
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