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Joined: May 2013
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I also saw that you can catch lots of worms by using crushed walnuts soaked in water. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZutYfFwm8MDon't have any around here but looks fun. Rob C
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Joined: Jan 2006
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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When I was a kid my dad would take us on Hickory huntin trips. He always knew where some good trees were. He'd make me and my brother stand back and then he'd throw a heafty stick up into the tree and knock down bunches of nuts. We would gather up many gunny sacks full, take em home, hull em and then LET THEM DRY for several weeks in the sun. We would spend all winter crackin em on the concrete floor of the basement and havin the best snacks and cakes you can imagine. Dang, talkin about it makes me hungry.
Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,386
Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,386 |
FT, thanks for the vid link about catchin worms. My granddaughter is spendin the night tomorrow and after we change wheat into gum you bet wer're gonna mix up some Black Walnut brew and catch some worms ta catch some YP and SMB on sat. This site is soooo cool!!!
Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 16,095 Likes: 287
Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
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My Grandson kills tree rats in my back yard with a 22. However, he uses Calibri's. No powder and fairly quiet.
It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.
Without a sense of urgency, Nothing ever gets done.
Boy, if I say "sic em", you'd better look for something to bite. Sam Shelley Rancher and Farmer Muleshoe Texas 1892-1985 RIP
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,686 Likes: 892
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,686 Likes: 892 |
A few years ago I cooked some squirrels in the crock pot, and they must have been only eating hickory nuts for a while. They tasted like I had put a dash of liquid smoke in with then while they were cooking.
A buddy is coming up from Alabama next week, and while I don't think he will be hunting, I'm sure he can show me an easier way to skin them. He like squirrel hunting so much he has a Feist.
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15 |
I chiseled the green husks off those nuts from this afternoon: Regular nut on the left, giant on the right. A quarter and a fifty cent piece for comparison. If I were picking hickory nuts up for our own use, I wouldn't use either of these.
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,386
Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,386 |
Scott, yrs ago an ol boy taught me how ta completely clean a squirrel in around 6 mins. It's too much for me ta type but if you'de like me ta call and walk ya through it I will be pleased to. Then you can post it and maybe get it officially recorded. Properly prepared, squirrel ranks right up there with venison, wild hog, Goose, Quail, rabbit, BG, WE, etc etc My mom fed 8 people on a poverty level budget but we all ate very well.
Do nature a favor, spay/neuter your pets and any weird friends or relatives.
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,686 Likes: 892
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Bob:
Give me a week. He'll be up here then and I'll see if we can beat 6 minutes.
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,511
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,511 |
Now that is just too dang cool, and luckily I have walnut trees. Although I'm still a little leery about cooking squirrel, between my .177/.22 cal pellet gun and walnuts, could be a fun weekend (once I see if I have any walnuts yet ). And the best part is when people ask "where do you come up with all this?" My response? From Pond Boss, where else?
Keith - Still Lovin Livin https://youtu.be/o-R41Rfx0k0(a short video tribute to the PB members we met on our 5 week fishing adventure) Formerly: 2ac LMB,HSB,BG,HBG,RES
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Keep your squirrel tails when you shoot them. If done properly, Mepp's will buy them from you or trade for spinners. They make the hook dressings from the tail fur for their spinners. I ate a lot of squirrel in college. They're great in a pressure cooker. 6 a day is the limit. I went through a lot of .22 lr shells. Loved the CCI Velocitors. Were fast and accurate out of my rifle.
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,188 Likes: 29
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,188 Likes: 29 |
A friend and I went squirrel hunting back in college, and I learned something important about fleas. I had no idea so many fleas could fit on one squirrel's hide! My dorm room became so infested I had to bomb it.
It did taste good though, made squirrel stew.
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
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Young squirrels fry up pretty tender, but if it's old enough to have come over on the ark with Noah, then a pressure cooker is a near necessity.
Yep, squirrels have fleas....and ticks. And once in awhile, warbles.
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,794
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 3,794 |
Keep your squirrel tails when you shoot them. If done properly, Mepp's will buy them from you or trade for spinners. They make the hook dressings from the tail fur for their spinners. I ate a lot of squirrel in college. They're great in a pressure cooker. 6 a day is the limit. I went through a lot of .22 lr shells. Loved the CCI Velocitors. Were fast and accurate out of my rifle. Travis - now you tell me - I could have been rich by now just from road kill.. Tied some fancy flies tho... G/
N.E. Texas 2 acre and 1/4 acre ponds Original george #173 (22 June 2002)
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 304
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 304 |
I have 340 acres that comes out to about 7000 trees.
I will actually buy the bullets for friends if they promise to shoot squirrels and crows!
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,511
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,511 |
There's some good videos on skinning squirrels and with what you've all said about cooking 'em, I gotta give it a try. Seems like I've cooked everything except Opossum, Squirrel and Raccoon since I've lived here, but the Coons are on my list! After ridding my pond of over 1400 BCP so far, the Coons are well-fed and fat, as witnessed on my trail cams!
I didn't get a chance at the squirrels this weekend (but when I do I'll keep the tails) but I did try the walnuts-for-worms experiment and had a dozen in no time, and on very dry ground. That was one I had to try for myself and can say that it truly works!
Keith - Still Lovin Livin https://youtu.be/o-R41Rfx0k0(a short video tribute to the PB members we met on our 5 week fishing adventure) Formerly: 2ac LMB,HSB,BG,HBG,RES
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,686 Likes: 892
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Posts: 28,686 Likes: 892 |
I have 340 acres that comes out to about 7000 trees.
I will actually buy the bullets for friends if they promise to shoot squirrels and crows! When I lived in So. Cal. a buddy had a friend that raised dairy cows and also had a veal operation going on. He was in a crow flight path, and they'd make a mess of his place eating the feed for the cows and pooping on what they didn't eat. He would furnish the decoys and electronic caller and we'd have a blast shooting crows. Best day was 120 of them. We'd put them in a pile in one of his fields, and at night he's shine 'yotes that came to eat the crows and take 'em out.
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15 |
There's some good videos on skinning squirrels and with what you've all said about cooking 'em, I gotta give it a try. Seems like I've cooked everything except Opossum, Squirrel and Raccoon since I've lived here, but the Coons are on my list! After ridding my pond of over 1400 BCP so far, the Coons are well-fed and fat, as witnessed on my trail cams!
I didn't get a chance at the squirrels this weekend (but when I do I'll keep the tails) but I did try the walnuts-for-worms experiment and had a dozen in no time, and on very dry ground. That was one I had to try for myself and can say that it truly works! Taste, is of course subjective and personal....some things are best left to be experienced, rather than wondered about. But were I to offer my thoughts on this post, I might well start by recommending that you stick with a young coon for your first attempt. Think milk on it's lips. On the matter of cooking possum, I would simply advise you to cook it outside and downwind of the house, in a pan or dish that you don't mind relegating to "dog dish" duty forever thereafter. And preferably for a dog that you don't like.
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,511
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Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,511 |
Thanks Sprk!
When it comes to cooking Coons and Opossum I started losing interest pretty quickly after doing some research, so I think I'll leave those in the "things I've wondered about, but not for very long" column.
And for what you said about the possum, nuff said!
Keith - Still Lovin Livin https://youtu.be/o-R41Rfx0k0(a short video tribute to the PB members we met on our 5 week fishing adventure) Formerly: 2ac LMB,HSB,BG,HBG,RES
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3 |
I have 340 acres that comes out to about 7000 trees.
I will actually buy the bullets for friends if they promise to shoot squirrels and crows! Unless your trees are really sparse, you should have a heck of a lot more than 7000 trees. If you assume trees on a 10-foot spacing, that gives you over 400 trees per acres -- and that is on the low end for many unmanaged forests. So, further assuming that 300 of your 340 acres is wooded, that still gives you well over 100,000 trees. Then, let's assume you have 1 squirrel for every 100 trees, which is again probably very low. That is 1000 squirrels! That is a lot of squirrel dinners if you just take 10% per year. When it comes to cooking Coons and Opossum I started losing interest pretty quickly after doing some research, so I think I'll leave those in the "things I've wondered about, but not for very long" column.
And for what you said about the possum, nuff said! I'm kind of like Andrew Zimmern, and there isn't much I haven't eaten in my life. For about 35 years, my career took me to a lot of very off-beat places where I always sampled the local foods. I hit a million air miles way back in 1978. The only places I ever got food poisoning while traveling was in Dayton, Ohio, and at the USN Acey-Duecy Club in Sasebo Japan -- both times on American food. I've had possum and coon. I wouldn't try possum again, at least not if I had to clean it. I've never cleaned anything worse than a possum (I've never cleaned a vulture, but it couldn't be much worse). Because rabies in coons has become so prevalent, I no longer touch coons. I still "take out" a number of them each year, but I don't touch them. I leave them for the scavengers. If I have to move them, it is with the tractor front-end loader, or a pole and pulley I have, much like what the professionals use to grab wild animals from a distance. But squirrels -- I'm trying hard to propagate a lot more fox squirrels. We still have a lot of small grey squirrels, which are hardly worth the effort of cleaning. The fox squirrels are a lot bigger, and they sure are tasty. I apparently don't clean squirrels or rabbits like most people. I don't care about the hide/fur. I use wire cutters to clip off the tail and the legs at the knees. I take out the scent glands. Using a sharp knife I start in the middle of the belly, and cut the skin perpendicular to the belly/spine, and go all the way around. So, I've basically cut the skin in half, from head to tail. I then just grab it and pull the skin apart towards the head and tail. I cut off the head with a hatchet. I rinse the carcass under a hose, and then gut it. I'd say it takes me longer to find the tools to do it, that it does to do it. Squirrel and rabbit are both extremely sweet meat. Sometimes I cook the whole cleaned carcass in a pressure cooker and pick the meat from the bones for stew or soup. Other times I will quarter them, but throw away the ribs since they are so small. In this case, the quarters get battered and fried like chicken. Good eatn'
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 6,980 Likes: 15
Ambassador Lunker
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Ambassador Lunker
Joined: Jun 2008
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I tend to start under the tail when I clean a squirrel. I do the step and pull method.
"Forget pounds and ounces, I'm figuring displacement!"
If we accept that: MBG(+)FGSF(=)HBG(F1) And we surmise that: BG(>)HBG(F1) while GSF(<)HBG(F1) Would it hold true that: HBG(F1)(+)AM500(x)q.d.(=)1.5lbGRWT? PB answer: It depends.
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 304
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Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 304 |
I have 340 acres that comes out to about 7000 trees.
I will actually buy the bullets for friends if they promise to shoot squirrels and crows! Unless your trees are really sparse, you should have a heck of a lot more than 7000 trees. If you assume trees on a 10-foot spacing, that gives you over 400 trees per acres -- and that is on the low end for many unmanaged forests. So, further assuming that 300 of your 340 acres is wooded, that still gives you well over 100,000 trees. Then, let's assume you have 1 squirrel for every 100 trees, which is again probably very low. That is 1000 squirrels! That is a lot of squirrel dinners if you just take 10% per year. When it comes to cooking Coons and Opossum I started losing interest pretty quickly after doing some research, so I think I'll leave those in the "things I've wondered about, but not for very long" column.
And for what you said about the possum, nuff said! I'm kind of like Andrew Zimmern, and there isn't much I haven't eaten in my life. For about 35 years, my career took me to a lot of very off-beat places where I always sampled the local foods. I hit a million air miles way back in 1978. The only places I ever got food poisoning while traveling was in Dayton, Ohio, and at the USN Acey-Duecy Club in Sasebo Japan -- both times on American food. I've had possum and coon. I wouldn't try possum again, at least not if I had to clean it. I've never cleaned anything worse than a possum (I've never cleaned a vulture, but it couldn't be much worse). Because rabies in coons has become so prevalent, I no longer touch coons. I still "take out" a number of them each year, but I don't touch them. I leave them for the scavengers. If I have to move them, it is with the tractor front-end loader, or a pole and pulley I have, much like what the professionals use to grab wild animals from a distance. But squirrels -- I'm trying hard to propagate a lot more fox squirrels. We still have a lot of small grey squirrels, which are hardly worth the effort of cleaning. The fox squirrels are a lot bigger, and they sure are tasty. I apparently don't clean squirrels or rabbits like most people. I don't care about the hide/fur. I use wire cutters to clip off the tail and the legs at the knees. I take out the scent glands. Using a sharp knife I start in the middle of the belly, and cut the skin perpendicular to the belly/spine, and go all the way around. So, I've basically cut the skin in half, from head to tail. I then just grab it and pull the skin apart towards the head and tail. I cut off the head with a hatchet. I rinse the carcass under a hose, and then gut it. I'd say it takes me longer to find the tools to do it, that it does to do it. Squirrel and rabbit are both extremely sweet meat. Sometimes I cook the whole cleaned carcass in a pressure cooker and pick the meat from the bones for stew or soup. Other times I will quarter them, but throw away the ribs since they are so small. In this case, the quarters get battered and fried like chicken. Good eatn' Those numbers you have are for pine. The recommended spacing for an irrigated pecan orchard in Georgia is 34 trees per acre. That is a 50' row with the trees 25' in the row, but even with this spacing if you do not intend to hedge the trees you will end up thinning down to 17 trees by15 years. Then down to 9 trees per acre by age 30. This is done in order to maximize the trees canopy exposure to the sun. With pecan trees nut production is at it's best when the trees are not crowded.
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 57
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 57 |
If your job is something you enjoy youll never work a day in your life
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Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,712 Likes: 3 |
Those numbers you have are for pine. The recommended spacing for an irrigated pecan orchard in Georgia is 34 trees per acre. That is a 50' row with the trees 25' in the row, but even with this spacing if you do not intend to hedge the trees you will end up thinning down to 17 trees by15 years. Then down to 9 trees per acre by age 30. This is done in order to maximize the trees canopy exposure to the sun. With pecan trees nut production is at it's best when the trees are not crowded. Cray -- sorry about that. I somehow missed the post where you are a pecan farmer. And yes, that sure would make a difference. Ken
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 57
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 57 |
[/quote] Because rabies in coons has become so prevalent, I no longer touch coons. I still "take out" a number of them each year, but I don't touch them. I leave them for the scavengers. If I have to move them, it is with the tractor front-end loader, or a pole and pulley I have, much like what the( professionals use to grab wild animals from a distance.)
besides farming I also am a licensed nuisance wildlife control professional, and state certified predator control hunter/trapper, then during winter I am a fur trapper. It is not unusual for me to take over 5,000 raccoons, 11,000 opossums, 2,300 fox, 7,800 coyotes, etc.. per year, I give these numbers, (have to report them to State wildlife Officials) to show the extent at which I handle these creatures,first I only use a catch pole when handling live animals that bite, including dogs, second some live animals like opossums, I don't use a pole, nudge them with your foot they play dead, pick them up by the back of their head and toss them in a sack (now you Georgia boys should know all about possum in a sack) I assure you that at least in the state of Indiana the cases of wildlife rabies is way over exaggerated, there are I am afraid to say others in my wildlife control profession who purposely exaggerate these facts for their own financial interest. I do not condone this practice, and in fact it angers me, spreading fear through lies to enrich ones self to me is no more than a form of terrorism. Now that said it is good practice to wear gloves when handling these animals, but don't be afraid of them, and don't waste a resource, even Georgia coat coons are going for ten bucks apiece this year. And if one enjoys a coon dinner, rabies is only in the blood and brain, and coons are no more of a carrier than squirrels, same percentage, so, clean your coon, cook it thoroughly and enjoy.
If your job is something you enjoy youll never work a day in your life
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 57
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Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 57 |
Thanks for the replies. I don't think what I have is worth the effort it takes to bend over and pick up. Sure wish i could find some walnut trees... Come north, I have so many black walnut they are a nuisance, and the buyers pay so little its not worth harvesting them, 47 dollars for a pick up truck load, geesh
If your job is something you enjoy youll never work a day in your life
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