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Hunting for Materials

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Wow! Thanks for all the replies guys!

 

Any of you hunters out there- What do you do with a squirrel (or rabbit) once you've killed it, to get maximum use out of all the materials? I'm worried if I managed to shoot one I wouldn't know how to clean it, and I would waste the whole hide.

 

On a squirrel. Run a cut down the middle of the belly. From base of neck to anus. Cut the legs off. Head too. Not worth the trouble for that little extra fur. Now just peel the hide off the carcass. Grab hide in one hand, carcass in the other, and pull the hide off. Start a cut down the tail, and you should be able to pull the bone out. Then cut off the tail bone, cut open the abdomen, and clear all the guts out. Deep fry and enjoy.

 

On a rabbit. Cut off head and legs. Make belly cut, then just peel the hide off. Just grab hide with one hand, carcass with the other and pull apart. Be careful though not to rip the skin. As others have mentioned it is vey thin. Gut it and stuff the cavity with veggies, garlic, onions, and some BBQ sauce. Season the outside and bake it. Enjoy.

 

Hope that helps. If anyone knows a better way please chime in here. :)

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On a squirrel. Run a cut down the middle of the belly. From base of neck to anus. Cut the legs off. Head too. Not worth the trouble for that little extra fur. Now just peel the hide off the carcass. Grab hide in one hand, carcass in the other, and pull the hide off. Start a cut down the tail, and you should be able to pull the bone out. Then cut off the tail bone, cut open the abdomen, and clear all the guts out. Deep fry and enjoy.

On a rabbit. Cut off head and legs. Make belly cut, then just peel the hide off. Just grab hide with one hand, carcass with the other and pull apart. Be careful though not to rip the skin. As others have mentioned it is vey thin. Gut it and stuff the cavity with veggies, garlic, onions, and some BBQ sauce. Season the outside and bake it. Enjoy.

 

Hope that helps. If anyone knows a better way please chime in here. smile.png

 

 

This is very helpful!! Thanks a lot!

 

What do I do with the hide once I remove it? Wash it off, and cover it in salt/borax?

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On a squirrel. Run a cut down the middle of the belly. From base of neck to anus. Cut the legs off. Head too. Not worth the trouble for that little extra fur. Now just peel the hide off the carcass. Grab hide in one hand, carcass in the other, and pull the hide off. Start a cut down the tail, and you should be able to pull the bone out. Then cut off the tail bone, cut open the abdomen, and clear all the guts out. Deep fry and enjoy.

On a rabbit. Cut off head and legs. Make belly cut, then just peel the hide off. Just grab hide with one hand, carcass with the other and pull apart. Be careful though not to rip the skin. As others have mentioned it is vey thin. Gut it and stuff the cavity with veggies, garlic, onions, and some BBQ sauce. Season the outside and bake it. Enjoy.

 

Hope that helps. If anyone knows a better way please chime in here. smile.png

 

This is very helpful!! Thanks a lot!

 

What do I do with the hide once I remove it? Wash it off, and cover it in salt/borax?

Someone else will have to help you there. :(

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I'm different, I guess, being limited to the South where plenty of critters live, but not very furry and condusive to fly tying materials. Got lots of Wood Duck feathers, more than I'll ever need, and a few squirrel tails, but that's about it.

 

I keep materials in a sandwich bag. VERY few parasites (if any, except moths) live on feathers and less on fur. They eat skin but mostly blood, and once that source dries up, they die. I freeze fur (squirrel tails) but that's about it.

 

Moths are by far a bigger threat to fly tying materials. And, I'm told, carpet beetles. Never seen a carpet beetle in my fly tying materials.

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What phg said about picking up roadkill can get you in trouble. (Not what he said, but the meaning of what he's saying!) First, many non-game animals & birds are illegal to possess anyway or even to possess parts of these. Picking up even one an owl or eagle feather for example, if you're caught could result in serious fines. Probably doesn't happen often, but it has happened. Not worth the risk IMO.

 

Game birds & animals, if picked up as roadkill, may still be subject to game possession laws. Meaning within the proper season & with a proper hunting or trapping license may be legal. Otherwise it may not be legal. Every state is different, so find out about the laws that apply where you are before you pick up roadkill.wink.png

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I just cut the tails of squirrels off and leave them out in the sun for a few days and voila, ready to use. One does not have to take the bone out of a squirrel tail, in fact they work better if you don't take the bone out. The guy that works for me gives me a hard time about stopping to lop off a tail in the street so I just throw them in my truck till I get home then toss the carcass behind my fence and the creek critters make it disappear in less than a day and we both benefit.

 

And don't send any of it across international borders or you could end up in really hot water(personal experience), and you don't want that because border patrol and game wardens can visit you to see your stash of feathers and skins, so don't even keep pretty bird feathers that you find in your yard, songbird feathers are also illegal to posses!!!

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I just cut the tails of squirrels off and leave them out in the sun for a few days and voila, ready to use. One does not have to take the bone out of a squirrel tail, in fact they work better if you don't take the bone out.

 

I disagree wholeheartedly. Nothing WORSE than a bone-in tail IMO. Takes no time at all to strip the bone and meat out. Only a little bit more time to split the tail on the underside and pin it out on cardboard. I borax the skin but it's not needed. In about 2 days it is dry and super easy to get exactly the hair you want. They store easier and don't stink if they get in a humid environment.

 

All the ones you buy will have the bone in just as a matter of economics. The bone does not HAVE to come out, so it doesn't. For all the animals I kill myself, I take the time, care, and respect to do it right.

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Where I live i Hunt squirrels just before they change their coats. It makes it super easy to pluck the hair off the skin without having to skin it and tan it. Just put it in an old pill bottle and now i have an endless supply of dubbing. For the tails I cut them off as close to the body, leave the bone in, then put them in ab Ziploc bag with salt and leave them there for about a week. My neighbor hunts more than I do so I get moose, pheasant, deer, and other parts quite regularly.

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Where I live i Hunt squirrels just before they change their coats. It makes it super easy to pluck the hair off the skin without having to skin it and tan it. Just put it in an old pill bottle and now i have an endless supply of dubbing. For the tails I cut them off as close to the body, leave the bone in, then put them in ab Ziploc bag with salt and leave them there for about a week. My neighbor hunts more than I do so I get moose, pheasant, deer, and other parts quite regularly.

I know it will differ from place to place, but about when does the squirrel change its coat?

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Where I live i Hunt squirrels just before they change their coats. It makes it super easy to pluck the hair off the skin without having to skin it and tan it. Just put it in an old pill bottle and now i have an endless supply of dubbing. For the tails I cut them off as close to the body, leave the bone in, then put them in ab Ziploc bag with salt and leave them there for about a week. My neighbor hunts more than I do so I get moose, pheasant, deer, and other parts quite regularly.

I know it will differ from place to place, but about when does the squirrel change its coat?

 

like you said it will differ from place to place but Here in Alberta it can go from March to April depending on the weather, say its still cold for a long period of time. If we get an early spring they will change sooner and vise versa.

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Nephew got his first moose this year and I chopped off a big chunk of hide and scrapped as much fat as I could get off, washed in borax and dawn dish soap - tacked it to a board and put borax on it. I've changed the borax out once and getting ready to do it again complete wash cycle and scrape again and borax again.

 

I've done this with a lot of different materials and haven't had any problems yet.

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I know I can probably get a squirrel, and I have watched a few videos on how to skin them and cure the hide, but what I am wondering is what you guys do with it? Shave off the fur and make dubbing? Cut zonkers? Or just keep the hide in one piece and clip off fur as needed for tails or dubbing? I'm interested to hear what you guys do with the hides.

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don't forget to check the game laws in your area for legal seasons, allowable firearms, hunting license requirements, etc. the $23 we pay here for a license to hunt small game would buy a nice batch of zonker strips, but it is fun to harvest the materials!

 

As to the how to treat them there are many previous how to's on the sight just do a search to check it out.

 

I usually clean all the skin off the hides by scraping with a knife and salt it to dry it out. I use scissors of a stripping comb remove the hair I particularly like the squirrel mixed with yarn and blended in a coffee grinder great spiky dubbing! all techniques I learned from this site

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Saw a beautiful dead coon last week but the buzzards were on it and there wasn't much shoulder to pull off on but I keep looking.

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I know I can probably get a squirrel, and I have watched a few videos on how to skin them and cure the hide, but what I am wondering is what you guys do with it? Shave off the fur and make dubbing? Cut zonkers? Or just keep the hide in one piece and clip off fur as needed for tails or dubbing? I'm interested to hear what you guys do with the hides.

All of the things you mentioned.

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