# skinning and preserving squirrels



## quackattack (Sep 27, 2003)

I live 3 miles north of GF and i hunt squirrels near my house. This fall me and my stepdad were getting our ice house down and we found a big hole in the side from squirrels so i shot a few of them and i want to know how to skin them and how u can preserve them without tanning them. 
thanks


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## phil999 (Mar 9, 2004)

try alum. layer it on the skin side for a few days. once the moisture is gone, rub it off and then you can soften/break in the skin with a smooth rock. it seems to work OK for thin skins, but I wouldn't use it on something fancy (or that i was prepared to waste if it didn't work).


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## Stealth (Jan 15, 2004)

You can just dry it (away from bugs) for a week or so. But if you want it soft and smooth you'll have to tan it.

Skinning is easy. ummm lets see. With out using pics its kinda hard. Squirrels are harder than rabbits. First I always chuck the animal in a creek or lake it just make skinning them easier for me. Take your knife and make a small horizonatal slit across the belly. Squirrel skin is tough so gather it in your fingers and saw at it, DONT CUT THE MEMBRANE, wait until you have the split done.

After making the slit, using fingers and knife make a vertical cut all the way up the animal, to the neck or so. Make sure you cut past the anus. After that you can cut through the membrane and use your hand to take the guts out.

BE CAREFUL TO NOT INJURE THE BLADDER OR ANY DIGESTIVE ORGANS, if you do then the juices might taint the meat. If you dont care about the meat then procced cutting all the skin off the corpse.

Remove all the guts then you tear or cut the rest of the skin off. The hair that gets on the squirrel meat is impossible to get off with water so try no to get to much on there. After that throw meat in a plastic bag with a little water (perhaps a shot glass or two full of water in there) to prevent freezer burn and walla you have squirrel meat and a skin to tan or chuck way

Good luck :beer:


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## chabla (Apr 21, 2007)

skin it like every one else tells you how but try this method of tanning it all ya need is an egg and a small fire for squirrel and rabbit hides. i do it in my back yard so you can too it only takes 2-5 days most of it is waiting.

This is my basic process:

1)Flesh and dry or wet scape hide

2)Prepare sloution of egg yolks ( i have used the whole egg as well and didn't really notice a difference, if you try both and find one way works better than the other I'd love to hear about it) mixed with a small amount of warm water. - for the squirrel I only used one egg and maby a 1/4 cup of water. for the fox and ground hog I used 6 eggs and about 1 1/2 cups of water

3) rub solution with hand into side of hide with out fur for several minutes.

4) wrap hide in slightly moist towel with another egg worked into towel and sit over night

5) lightly scrape off egg residue and sew any wholes

6) work between your hand or over rope until dry and soft.

7) smoke hide

8) let the hide sit out side for a while to air out the Smokey smell away from animals

I am still a long ways from being a master hide tanner but have found egg tanning a great way to practice and learn about the process. If anyone tries this method or a variation of it please let me know!! if you have any questions feel free to ask

good luck


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## jodell8964 (Jun 4, 2007)

Your process involves smoking the squirrel hide, how do you do this?


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## laptop100 (Jun 2, 2007)

nice job on telling how to do it. you helped me out a bit too. thanks


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