Any photos of big fox squirrels?

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I've never had squirrel. How are they as table fare and what's the favorite cooking methods. Please disregard if this question is seen as hijacking the thread.
 
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I've never had squirrel. How are they as table fare and what's the favorite cooking methods. Please disregard if this question is seen as hijacking the thread.

I’ve eaten them twice now, they’re not native here in Idaho and it’s taken a while from the introduced populations in town to spill out into the rural areas where I can hunt them. They’re excellent eating and with no season and no limits I might be eating a lot more in the future


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Grumman

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I've never had squirrel. How are they as table fare and what's the favorite cooking methods. Please disregard if this question is seen as hijacking the thread.

We batter them up and fry them like chicken in cast iron. They are good eating just have to get past them looking like a rat in the skillet.
 

Felton

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We had a bunch on campus at our collage. I watched one jump on a hawk to run it off. 😳
 
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My buddy in NC has a dog that will pass gray squirrels all day and only goes for the foxes. Not necessarily what he wanted out of the dog, but we definitely got to take advantage of the area while we were there for a few years. I forgot to take a picture of the skinned-out legs next to a standard gray squirrel but it looks like you threw a rabbit into the pot.
 

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I've never had squirrel. How are they as table fare and what's the favorite cooking methods. Please disregard if this question is seen as hijacking the thread.
I killed and cooked up countless gray squirels in my youth. Even have a recipe published in one of the North American Hunting Club cook books in the early 90s. I quarter them and cook the legs in a pan on medium heat in about 1/4 inch of worcestershire sauce, melted butter, and some white wine. The meat is chewy, and there's not alot of it, but has a good flavor.

I killed a couple of fox squirels when I was younger, but only to mount them. That's our rule, can't shoot one unless you are going to mount it. Fun to watch them in the stand while waiting for deer.
 

Rogue Bay

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My buddy in NC has a dog that will pass gray squirrels all day and only goes for the foxes. Not necessarily what he wanted out of the dog, but we definitely got to take advantage of the area while we were there for a few years. I forgot to take a picture of the skinned-out legs next to a standard gray squirrel but it looks like you threw a rabbit into the pot.
That’s a beauty! I’d love to get one that color. The size always interests me. The fox squirrels I’ve killed in Oregon don’t strike me as being all that big, and they’re all the plain, orange bellies color phase. I have a couple tanned and they’re not as big as the western gray squirrel hide I also have tanned. I’ve done a fair about of reading about fox squirrels and it seems like they get bigger the further east and south one goes. It also sounds like there are a lot of different subspecies and they vary somewhat in size. Do you guys think that’s really the case? The fox squirrels I’ve seen in pics from the southeast look enormous! Definitely my favorite squirrel and I wish it wasn’t so far to travel to hunt them.
 
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That’s a beauty! I’d love to get one that color. The size always interests me. The fox squirrels I’ve killed in Oregon don’t strike me as being all that big, and they’re all the plain, orange bellies color phase. I have a couple tanned and they’re not as big as the western gray squirrel hide I also have tanned. I’ve done a fair about of reading about fox squirrels and it seems like they get bigger the further east and south one goes. It also sounds like there are a lot of different subspecies and they vary somewhat in size. Do you guys think that’s really the case? The fox squirrels I’ve seen in pics from the southeast look enormous! Definitely my favorite squirrel and I wish it wasn’t so far to travel to hunt them.
Thanks! It's a blast in Eastern NC. The best place to see a good variety of them is on the golf courses because they're not afraid of anyone there. There's definitely a good variety of color phases in the Carolinas at least, not too familiar with them in other states. The taxidermist I took this one to wanted to make one tree trunk/branch mount with the 5 distinct color variations he's seen. Heres another successful day with the good-boy where we got a jet black and a silver one.
 

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Rogue Bay

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That’s so cool! Is your dog a cur? I don’t have any personal experience with squirrel dogs but have been eyeballing the curs.
 
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That’s so cool! Is your dog a cur? I don’t have any personal experience with squirrel dogs but have been eyeballing the curs.
It's my friend's dog so I'm not too familiar with training and everything, but yes its a Mountain Cur. I don't have the patience he does to take care of a dog with that much energy at home. Definitely spend some time with one if you can before committing, they're coked-out rocket ships when they get excited but they'll work all day for ya if trained right.
 

Rogue Bay

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It's my friend's dog so I'm not too familiar with training and everything, but yes its a Mountain Cur. I don't have the patience he does to take care of a dog with that much energy at home. Definitely spend some time with one if you can before committing, they're coked-out rocket ships when they get excited but they'll work all day for ya if trained right.
I appreciate the heads up on that. Likely not a good fit for us right now LOL
 
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