The Joys of Small Game Hunting

Let me paint you a picture. Its freezing, deer season is over, duck season is beginning to come to an end, and turkey season is still in the distant future.

So for the last few weeks, you have been sitting inside by the fire, thinking longfully, remembering those golden days of cool hunts in the fresh autumn weather to entertain you.

Well, if you have ever found yourself in this situation, I have the solution to all your problems. Pick up that old 22. Longrifle or even that little 20 gauge and go chase some bushy tailed rodents bouncing from tree to tree. In this article I will explain why you ought to give small game hunting a try and what you can do with your harvest.

To face the elephant room, yes, I do realize that squirrel or rabbit hunting may not be the top priority on most outdoorsmen's list. They aren’t quite as magnificent as a drake mallard or a big whitetail buck, however they do offer a way to pass the time in the offseason of many other species, along with a few other things we will get into later.

To build on my previous statement, the latest you can hunt antlered deer in Kansas is December 31st, non antlered is to January 15th at least in my unit.

But what to do if you don’t fill your tag or you do and still find yourself restless. Well guess what, rabbit season is year round, and squirrel season does not close until the 28th of February here. This means that even after your big game and bird hunting has come to a close, you have an ample amount of time to chase our furry friends. 

Speaking of furry, that brings me to my next point. The hides on these animals are a big bonus to the hunting of them. We will get into the other bonus (the meat) later, but for now we are gonna focus on the pelts.

As you may have noticed from some of my previous articles, I fancy myself a bit of a fly fisherman. As a fly fisherman tying your own flies can save you a decent bit of money. Squirrel tail is an exceptional fly tying material and can be used for a multitude of different flies. Other than fly tying though, rabbit and squirrel pelts can be used to make a variety of different crafts and clothing.

Now to talk about the meat. Although it may seem a bit strange I can tell you from personal experience that squirrel meat is actually quite good if prepared the right way. I find that the best way to break down a squirrel is as follows.

First make sure you have a sharp knife, it will make all the difference. I usually make a cut around all the limbs just above the feet, the one cut around the neck. Take the time to make sure you don’t cut into the meat, there isn’t a lot on a squirrel so you want to make sure you save as much as you can. From your incision on the neck, cut down to the abdomen, making sure not to pierce the stomach or any other organs.

Once this cut is made, you can follow each limb down to your cut in the abdomen. Once all your cuts have been made, you can use your knife and a little bit of elbow grease to pull the hide away from the muscle.

If all goes correctly you will have a skinned out squirrel and all your meat intact.

I like to cut off the limbs and parts of the saddle to cook separately, but if you prefer to cook it whole you can gut and wash your squirrel out by slicing into the abdomen and removing all the innards, then running water through to make sure everything is clean. There you have it, cleaned squirrel, and this method works pretty much the same for rabbits as well. Cooking is best low and slow, whether that be in a stew of some kind or a soup. 

So yes it may be a little odd at first but small game hunting is really worth the time. Some of my first memories hunting were my uncle taking me out into the woods behind my grandma's house to go shoot squirrels, and now I am making some similar ones.

My little brother is learning to drive, and there is no better way for him to practice than driving to our squirrel spot and knocking a few out of trees. The brisk winter air and the fun of the fast paced hunting of small game bouncing around the ground or from tree to tree cannot be beat.

Overall, it is truly a fun way to spend your cold winter days, and I would highly recommend you get out there and give it a go!