Reactions to Field Dressing.

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Last hard class

After squirrel hunting, I like to hide a head or two in the bowl of beer nuts at the nearest bar.

lol Hey!

[Tress]

Originally posted by Dusty:

I shot a boar fox squirrel up here so big I had to golfball it.

Kinda like this one?

large squirrel pic.jpg


Tress

[Dusty]

Originally Posted by Tress

Kinda like this one?

Attachment 20253


Tress

Not quite...now, that's a whopper.

[cold1]

Here is a link to amazon search. Plenty of books on butchering and skinning.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...utchering+game

The basics are to separate the hide from the meat and the organs from the carcass. Sizing your knife to the game helps.

You do get over the "sickness" with time. The smell of the insides was what used to get me. I would gag but keep working. The smell hasn't bothered me for years now.

If nobody else tells you, its great of you to get back to your roots and start hunting. Its difficult where you are but stick with it.

[mark46th]

The first time I went quail hunting with my buddy, I was driving along and noticed that the shadow of my CB antenna had a little knob on it that shouldn't have been there. When we stopped for gas I noticed he had put a quail head on my antenna. He had also stuck one at each corner of my bumpers and one on my spare tire...

[Dusty]

Finally got to go huntin', but it didn't turn out real well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iaH69SJ4AI

[Go Devil]

Originally Posted by 1stindoor

...and if done properly will give you a nice rabbit puppit to keep yourself occupied during survival training.

Now that, is some funny shit!

Holy hell, that is funny!

[Go Devil]

I pitch small game in some water (Creek/Pond/Pail) to soak the undercoat. This does two things: Cools the animal and kills any skin parasites (fleas/ticks/mites). Keeps the fur matted so as to be less likely to stick to the meat.

I use a small, very sharp knife.

Pinch a thumb and index finger full of hide (fur&skin) at the base of the skull and make a cut just below the pinch. This should make a 1" incision.
Insert thumb and finger into incision and around neck.
Pull (you will not need a knife for this stage) fur at cut down from neck towards feet and tail.
Cut off feet, tail, and head with hatchet.
Insert knife under sternum and pull upwards toward neck, cutting through ribs next to sternum. Cut through pelvic ring in a similar fashion.
Gut like fish towards anus without spilling digestive contents onto flesh.

This process should take 3-5 minutes.

Check rabbits for white spots on liver; if spots are present, don't consume meat.

Save innards for bait.

Wash flesh in cool water, removing any hairs or offal.

Soak flesh in salt water overnight.

Boil flesh for 5-10 minutes (this will tenderize and mellow the taste for those not accustomed to eating wild game) then fry or grill.

Wearing gloves for the dressing process saves cleanup time and effort.

[SLVGW360]

Longstreet,

I grew up killing and cleaning various critters, both domestic and wild. What you experienced reminds me of cleaning pheasants. In my mind, they are quite tasty, but stink like all get out when you're cleaning them. I was fairly young at the time (early to mid-teens). If I cleaned one or more birds, I could not eat one for at least a day. The nausea caused by the smell stuck with me for the rest of the day. I never had that problem with mammals. Deer, elk, rabbits don't smell bad to me so I have never experience that problem with them. The visuals never did much, but my earliest memories of dead deer and elk are from when I was probably 4 years old.

Your being new to this likely plays a significant role, but I'm sure the QPs have a much better understanding of that than I. They get to see lots of young men who have never experienced this sort of thing and have to teach them through it. I too have seen new comers attempting to clean animals and it is sometimes lengthy and comical. A big part of my job is to serve the public, so I step in and offer advice so they can get the job done without making a horrible mess.

It will get better with time. Good luck and good for you!

RB

[Traweek]

My dad and I went when I was on Christmas leave in the course..

[Habu-MFFI 175]

Tree rats are some great eats and cleaning them gets easier with practice. I've been chasing small game as far back as I can rememeber so I've skinned loads of squirrels and still chase them today.

[JK1500m]

OP, where'd you shoot this squirrel? Head or chest? I have no idea how much damage your high-powered pellet gun is doing but a hollow point through the chest can open things up and make it messy for anyone cleaning a squirrel.

Typically, when I'm squirrel hunting I'll carry a ziplock bag and skin them within 10-15 minutes after killing them. How'd you try and skin it? My favorite method is lifting up the tail and slitting underneath until you get a flap of skin exposed. Step on this flap of skin (it's important its the skin and not the tail) with your boot grab the squirrel by its rear legs and pull. I use game or garden shears to cut off the feet and take the front and rear quarters and discard the rest. This may make life easier for you as you won't really be dealing with the entrails at all. However, eventually you'll have to deal with them if you wish to hunt larger game.

Once you practice it, it becomes an extremely quick process. Unfortunately I don't have any suggestions for your feeling queasy other than what's already been mentioned.