After a little bit of time and practice, squirrel cleaning will become second nature. The quicker you get to the task, the easier the hide will come off, and the quicker you can cool down the finished meat.
- Wear rubber gloves to keep your hands clean and keep any bacteria from your hands off your squirrel meat.
Step One (The Shirt):
- Cut the base of the tail, just above the anus with a sharp knife. Cut through the vertebrae in the tail but do not cut the skin on the other side.
- Place the severed tail under your boot pinning it between your footwear and a rock (or piece of wood) and grab the squirrel by its hind legs.
- In one smooth motion, pull up on the squirrel’s legs away from the tail. The hide will begin to peel off the carcass, like you are taking off the squirrel’s “shirt.” This works best when the squirrel is still warm right after the shot.
- You will be able to pull the hide off the carcass all the way to the head and front paws. Leave the hide on at this step, it’ll help you with leverage for the next step.
Step Two (The Pants):
- After Step One you will be left with a carcass that only has hide on the rear legs, resembling “pants.” There will still be fur attached to the head and front legs too, which you will use to anchor the squirrel for removing the “pants.”
- Continuing to step on the tail attached to the “shirt” section of the hide, pull the “pants” section of the hide off the squirrel to the hind paws, where you can sever the hind paws from the carcass and then sever the head and forepaws from the carcass.
Gutting
Once the hide, feet, head, and tail have all been removed from the squirrel, it is time to gut using a knife or game shears.
- If using a knife: make an incision from the bottom of the rib cage toward the back legs. This will allow you to reach your hand inside the body cavity and remove all the internal organs. Once the squirrel is eviscerated, it’s ready for cooking.
- If using game shears: make an incision from the bottom of the rib cage toward the back legs and cut through the center of the pelvis (muscle and bone), then gently push the legs apart to open the pelvis. Then use the shears to reach inside and clip out the internal organs, letting gravity take them to the ground.
- Placing skinned and gutted squirrels in a gallon-sized plastic bag in the back of your upland vest or inside your pack will help to keep the meat free from debris. Leave the plastic bag open so the meat can continue to cool.
Preparing
- Once the squirrel is eviscerated, you can quarter it easily with shears. It’s usually better to do this when you get home from your hunt. The two front legs can be clipped right off behind the shoulder. The two hind legs can then be cut at the hip joint. This will give you 5 pieces of squirrel ready for cooking.
- If you want to take it a step further, you can delicately remove the meat from the bones to allow for bone free cooking. A small sharp knife and some patience will do the trick for the legs. Don’t forget to remove the meat along the spine as well.
- Don’t be afraid to rinse the meat prior to cooking; often there will be hair and blood on the meat after gutting.
Read more about best practices for wild game processing and preparation.
