#981744 - Sat Jan 24 2009 03:13 PM
First kill!
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shawmutt
On the board
Registered: Fri Oct 24 2008
Posts: 312
Loc: Greencastle, PA
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I finally got away from the wife and kids for a couple hours today. It's the first time I've been out since my deerless rifle season. I hiked back up to where I saw all the squirrels while deer hunting, and finally got one! I made a nice headshot too, it flopped around for a couple seconds but didn't move from the spot. I was hoping for one or two more but didn't see any more the rest of the morning.
And here I was thinking I was going to get skunked this whole year. Yeah, I know, it's just a squirrel, but this is my first year hunting and my first kill, so I'm pretty happy about it. Hopefully I'll keep improving and my son and daughter will have their first a couple decades before I did 
I brought it home, set up my laptop with instructions, and learned how to clean it. Yeah, the whole skinning thing isn't as easy as I thought it was. I tried what my American Hunter magazine called "Mississippi style" skinning, slicing the back end, stepping on the tail, and pulling. I pulled the whole tail and a good chuck of back skin off, and darn near fell backwards. I'm not sure what I did wrong there, but that easy skinning method didn't work for me.
I finally got the skin off, split it's belly, and WHEW those guts smell! I dissected animals in college, and thought that smell was the preserving fluid, but no, that's what guts really smell like. I wore gloves, and I swear the smell seeped through them--I can still smell it on my hands.
I have it marinating right now, and I'm going to throw it on the stove in a couple hours and see what the buggers taste like.
I'm going to try and get out one last time next week, and then start working on my goals for next season--I need to get in better shape so I can hike in deeper, get new boots, and get a new jacket.
Here's hunter Shawmutt with his quarry (odd seating posture resulting from a 3 second timer on the camera  :
Edited by shawmutt (Sat Jan 24 2009 03:18 PM)
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#981776 - Sat Jan 24 2009 03:37 PM
Re: First kill!
[Re: Outdoorsman816]
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shawmutt
On the board
Registered: Fri Oct 24 2008
Posts: 312
Loc: Greencastle, PA
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OK then, crockpot it is. I'll throw it in the slow cooker tomorrow before church and see what happens. Thanks for the advice!
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#981851 - Sat Jan 24 2009 04:30 PM
Re: First kill!
[Re: Weimaraner]
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redneck08
old hand
Registered: Wed Jun 04 2008
Posts: 825
Loc: pa
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congrats
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#981999 - Sat Jan 24 2009 06:15 PM
Re: First kill!
[Re: quackmaster4]
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TwoLabs
old hand
Registered: Tue Jul 24 2007
Posts: 960
Loc: Mercer County
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Moderator: HuntPA, great white hunter
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i'll agree with the slow cooker, makes em nice and tender!
