Mori strikes again!

[timegoat]

Been pretty busy lately, but finally got a chance to combine pest control with dinner again today.

I had just wrapped up a many day marathon of web work and decided I needed some fresh coffee. While it was brewing I was staring out the kitchen window looking over my hunting grounds and sure enough, this guy was hanging upside down on the tube feeder that I had left empty for a week+ and had literally just refilled hours earlier.

I like to give the pests a warning shot, so I loaded up a H&N FTTP (the copper plated ones) and took a shot at a rusty tomato can I keep out there to scare the blue jays away. The squirrel was off the bird feeder before I even took my eye out of the scope. Figured now was a good time to try my hand at cleaning again (I did a terrible job last time), so I loaded up a second shot and just watched for a bit.

He came down from his hiding spot in the tree and was scampering around the ground under the feeder (about 25yds out), but never paused long enough for me to take a shot. Then he took off to the left into some thicker ground cover and I lost sight of him for about 5 minutes. Sure enough, I saw motion about 20ft away from the feeder and saw this guy sitting on top of one of the dead logs out back. As soon as I got my cross hairs on him he took off again but back towards the clearing under the feeder.

Now that I knew where he was going I was able to follow him through the ground cover and sure enough, he was headed back towards all the spilled seed but still wouldn't give me a good shot. As soon as I lined up, he'd move. Then he made a mistake. Half his body was behind a small stump, but his head and upper half were in clear sight. I hadn't decided whether or not to go for head or vitals, but he made the choice for me. It was gonna be a head shot. He'd put his head down and back up, down and back up, so I lined up where he'd have his head when it was up, and sure enough, he popped his his head back up right into the cross hairs.

Squeezed the trigger and heard... well, it wasn't the thunk of a body shot and it wasn't the crack of a head shot. It sounded more like when I'm shooting into my pellet trap. Kind of a quiet strike sound. He rolled over onto his side and twitched for about 10 seconds. Wasn't sure if he was dead so I put another pellet in and got back on him. He wasn't moving. I could see his open eye in the scope and there was absolutely no motion from the rest of the body.

Fired that shot into my pellet trap, grabbed a glove, my camera, and went down back for pics. The first pic looks all nice and peaceful but there was a lot of blood on the ground and no exit wound. Flipped him over and, I can't be sure, but it looks like I hit him right in the eye!

Got him in a bucket of water right now for a pre-cleaning soak. Figured I'd give that technique a try and see if it works for me. I'll let ya know if it was a dead on eyeball shot when I go back down for cleaning.

- Mark

[Jonesin]

Nice shot!

[timegoat]

Thanks! It was a clean eyeball shot.

...and it's official, I'm terrible at cleaning game.

- Mark

[bradyman1]

Did you try the cut the tail method as shown on you tube? I find it very easy that way. A sharp knife really helps also. Great shot!

[timegoat]

Thanks bradyman. Yeah, that's the method I'm trying and my knives are scary sharp. From the videos I'm doing every thing right, but when it comes time to step on the tail and pull, the skin starts coming away clean but then holds onto the meat and shreds the upper body. In this case the skin took the tenderloin and even some upper ribs with it. Makes getting the innards out pretty easy, but... it just isn't happening all nice and clean like in every video I've seen. I know I'm getting clean separation with the first few cuts at the base of the tail. And it all starts out well enough.

Perhaps I need more practice? Perhaps I need to wait longer? The body has been still warm on both attempts. This is a skill I really want to learn.

- Mark

[shadow]

Fine shooting and pic's bro and that look's like a healthy sized Gray there too. Ed

[timegoat]

Thanks Ed! He was good sized. Definitely fattening himself up for winter.

- MArk

[Jonesin]

Don't worry, Mark...I couldn't get it to work for me either on the past 3 I've done since seeing it done that way. I keep ripping the tails off meaning I'm cutting to far I guess.

Cliff

[timegoat]

Thanks Cliff. Glad to hear I'm not the only one having troubles. If you're ripping off the tail, I think you might be right about cutting too far up the back. Once I get through the tailbone I start to angle the skin cuts down towards the belly in the direction I want it to tear. Haven't had the tail come off yet... yet.

I'm stuck on my body temp theory. Most hunters seem to have a good amount of time between the kill and the clean. Since my hunts are right out my window it's literally been shoot and clean. Next time I'm going to wait an hour before cleaning. My theory is the muscle tissue is still warm and expanded so if I wait for the cavity to cool then the muscle will be cold and contracted... hopefully holding onto the skeleton better than if it was warm.

We'll see.

- Mark

[timegoat]

p.s. Looks like I might get another chance sooner than I thought. Shooting that big male has left a power vacuum on my acre+. Suddenly there's a much smaller gray, a red, and a chipmunk running around back there. I keep a pretty good eye on the goings on out back, the gray might not be a stranger, but I haven't seen a red or a munk in quite a little while.

- Mark

[Froghunter]

Mark,

Great post and enjoyed the story and pictures. It maybe better to cut across the back (Just the skin, so you can get your two index fingers in) on the older squirrels. After that just pull and sometimes it ain't easy. You may have to do some knife work around his junk/family jewels area, but just keep working the skin back. After acouple of hundred of them you will get the hang of it! Just kidding! Keep at it and at the end of the season you'll be a pro.

Again enjoyed the write up!

Froghunter

[dk1677]

Nice shooting Mark!

[Atchman2]

I always cut them in the middle of the back and then pull the skin off from both directions.  They have really tough skin compared to a rabbit or even a raccoon.  That was some nice shooting! 

[Lochlainn]

Thanks Cliff. Glad to hear I'm not the only one having troubles. If you're ripping off the tail, I think you might be right about cutting too far up the back. Once I get through the tailbone I start to angle the skin cuts down towards the belly in the direction I want it to tear. Haven't had the tail come off yet... yet.

I'm stuck on my body temp theory. Most hunters seem to have a good amount of time between the kill and the clean. Since my hunts are right out my window it's literally been shoot and clean. Next time I'm going to wait an hour before cleaning. My theory is the muscle tissue is still warm and expanded so if I wait for the cavity to cool then the muscle will be cold and contracted... hopefully holding onto the skeleton better than if it was warm.

We'll see.

- Mark

I agree with this theory. I skinned a squirrel the other day just minutes after shooting it and it was a pain in the arse to skin. The meat tore and the hide had a hard time coming off of the body. I find that if they skin better if allowed to cool off a for a few hours or so. Grats on the nice sized gray bro! Very nice shot. That pro-compact looks great!

I always cut them in the middle of the back and then pull the skin off from both directions.  They have really tough skin compared to a rabbit or even a raccoon.  That was some nice shooting! 

I find this method works the best for me as well. I tried the standing on tail method but didn't really like it. It had too many extra steps and found it tore the meat sometimes and the tail would usually rip off. Cutting in the middle of the back and pulling both directions seems the easiest for me.

[Jonesin]

I always cut them in the middle of the back and then pull the skin off from both directions.  They have really tough skin compared to a rabbit or even a raccoon.  That was some nice shooting! 

That's the way I feel comfortable but that's the way I was taught when I was a youngun.

Mark, the ones I did that way were harvested within 20-30 minutes of me skinning. Body temp was up there. I was always taught with nutters to slice down the back and pull both ways like Atch states.

Cliff

[Furseeker]

Mark nice read. That's a beautiful gun you have there.

[timegoat]

Thanks everyone! I might give the back slice method a try next time, but I'm also gonna let it cool down a bit before hand. We'll see. I often have a plan one day and change my mind the next.

Practice makes perfect, dunno why I expected to just make it happen right off the bat.     Eh... I didn't learn to shoot in a day either.

More to come! There's actually two Reds running around out there now. Saw them chasing the new gray away from the spilled birdseed. They're all mine!

- Mark

[timegoat]

Saw the new gray out in the rain today. Didn't take the shot cause I didn't want to get my camera and rifle wet. On the hunt tomorrow. I want those Reds!

- Mark