Squirrel and Rabbit hunting?

[Bradracer18]

Hey guys. Me and the guys(about 4 of us) are thinking about going squirrel and rabbit hunting one of these next weekends. One friend has been before, but I haven't ever. I've hunted other stuff(deer and coyote) but not these. Any tips? I was planning to use a .22 rifle, any other suggestions?

Also, do you guys eat these animals? Do they taste good? How do you cut 'em up and prepare them to eat?


Thank for any help....just want to make the best of it, and enjoy all of the hunt(eating too!

If there is a website that is more helpful, just send me there!

[smr]

rabbit reminds me of chicken. Just fry them up and they taste great.

Squirrel is a little different. They are tough and need a little more treatment. The best way I've found is to make chicken and dumplins...of course you will use the squirrel meet instead of chicken.

The best way to clean either animal is to make a small slit in the back, stick your fingures in and rip the hide each direction.

I love eaten fozy creaters...ground hog is the best....




Have fun.

[300exOH]

I think they both taste like chicken. Squirrel is a bit more greasy though. I prefer the rabbit. We usually soak them overnight in salt water to take the gamey taste out of them. I like them fried just like chicken but they are both good in soups/stews. Hitting a rabbit on the run with a .22 will be a challenge. I prefer to use a 12 gauge shotgun. I have always had a blast hunting both. (no pun intended...lol)

smr- You eat groundhog???? I'm told that is what was in some chili I had once but I never believe my grandpa. It did taste a little funny though.

[Bradracer18]

I'm a pretty good shot, don't usually miss much. But, I don't hunt real small things either. But, honestly that is more of why we/I want to go, is the challenge. And, if we can eat something good at the end of the night with some beers, then thats a plus too!

[<DRS>GPF]

we just used pellet guns when i was growing up.

rifle or shotgun seems a little too much unless you have some sort of evil vorpal rabbits or perhaps some radioactivly enhanced squirrel breed.

[smr]

Originally posted by 300exOH
Ismr- You eat groundhog???? I'm told that is what was in some chili I had once but I never believe my grandpa. It did taste a little funny though.

Yeap..I'll eat just about any wild game. I'm not to crazy about dove or racon. When I was growing up I lived for several years with my Grandmother. We shot, raised or cought about 60% of our food. The other 40% was bought items like cheese or bacon (since we didn't have any pigs). I have tried to pass this on to my son but it's closer to 20% for us. (compared to most people we save a lot on grocerys)


Groundhog taste like a real fatty steak.

[300exOH]

Originally posted by smr
Yeap..I'll eat just about any wild game. I'm not to crazy about dove or racon. When I was growing up I lived for several years with my Grandmother. We shot, raised or cought about 60% of our food. The other 40% was bought items like cheese or bacon (since we didn't have any pigs). I have tried to pass this on to my son but it's closer to 20% for us. (compared to most people we save a lot on grocerys)


Groundhog taste like a real fatty steak.

I'll eat quite a few wild critters but groundhog isn't one. We just kill them for sport...and to help out the farmers. Never tried dove or raccoon. We mostly hunt for sport but we try to eat most of what we kill. I'd like to get back into it but the hunting isn't very good around here any more. Everything has been covered in concrete and housing. I can't even get my kids to touch wild game except for deer.

GPF- I don't think a shotgun is too much for rabbit/squirrel unless you are too close. Then it tears them up a bit. You just have to use the right game load. I used to hunt with a pellet gun when I was a kid but I prefer to make sure I get what I aim for. I'm not into going out in the woods and making a bunch of handicapped animals. lol I guess if I had a decent air rifle with some killing power I might give it a try but the one I have now couldn't kill a fly even if I could hit it.

i have shot both, but never eaten squirrel...i love rabbit...

i usually use a shotgun for both, and have a rabbit dog(beagle) for hunting bunnies...i was never really into hunting squirrel, but have spent many a saturday hunting bunnies. it can be enjoyable, but you will need a good dog that can find them and flush them out to you...they will run a big circle, using a lot of cover. very rarely will you get a shot at one that is sitting, 99% of the time they are running full bore...

prep for cooking rabbit...you can pretty much treat it like chicken as said before, try to get as many of the shotgun pellets out as you can, and watch as you eat it...i find the taste of rabbit to be more like a dark meat chicken with a slightly different flavor.

[quadwanter]

oh i love doing both

best tip i can give you with squirrel hunting is sit under a walnut tree. If youre just walking around, take your time and stop every so often and just listen to the little guys jump around. Keep a few rocks in your pocket, if its on the other side of the tree, throw a rock close to the tree and they usually run to the other side. Be quick and get a shot lol

rabbit hunting is a lot more social i think, you can talk it up doesnt really matter. If you have a dog to run them out of brush its better, if not just kick and make a bunch of noise.


cooking..well we do just about everything mentioned above, usually soak them in salt water overnight. Squirrel we make dumplings with as well.

[bradley300]

Originally posted by Bradracer18
I'm a pretty good shot, don't usually miss much. !

i assume your using dogs for the rabbits? if so, you need to remembera rabiit will be a rapidly moving, small target. my vote for rabbit hunting is 410 shotgun. a 22 should be fine for squirell