Recipe - Southern Squirrel Stew

~ 2 - 3 squirrels
~ salt
~ pepper
~ Adolph's meat tenderizer
~ oil
~ 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
~ 1 - 18 oz jar Heinz chicken gravy
~ 1 - 2 cans Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits


Heat the oil in a large skillet.

Rub the squirrel with the Adolph's. Season to taste with the salt and pepper.

Add to the skillet and cook on high until browned on all sides. Flip as needed.

Remove the meat and place in a crock pot. Add 1 inch of water and cook on high 3 - 4 hours or until meat starts to fall off the bone.

Remove the meat and allow to cool. Save the water/broth if you want thinner gravy.

Remove the meat from the bones and return to crock pot.

Add the veggies, gravy and broth if desired. Stir together.

Cook on high 1 1/2 hours or until hot.

Serve over buttermilk biscuits.

Enjoy.

Squirrels in the big timber

Several years ago I had blood work done at Doc Carnett’s office in Salem. When I went to get the results Doc dropped an informational packet in my lap. Over the top of his glasses frame he looked at me with that piercing, serious stare and in his serious voice he said, “Read it and live it.” It was a low fat diet. “NO WAY!”, I remember thinking to myself. He knew my family health history and apparently my eating habits were not to his liking. Only Doc could get away with telling you what to do as opposed to asking and he told me to quit consuming so much red meat. Apparently my cholesterol was right on the cusp of being too high and I was only in my early 20’s. After some serious discussion about what I could and couldn’t eat I asked him, “What about wild meat – deer, turkey, squirrel, rabbit, etc.?” He replied, “All you want, just don’t fry it.” Problem solved. I consume as much wild meat as possible. In between fall deer and spring turkey seasons squirrel is a tasty change of pace that is easy to find, healthy to eat, and cheap to hunt, not to mention fun.

Squirrel season extends from the 3rd Saturday in May through the following February 15th. The bag limit is 6 and the possession limit is 12. Both gray squirrels and red fox squirrels are legal to take. As far as eating is concerned, young gray squirrels are the best. Because of their smaller size you need more to make a meal but they are much tenderer when prepared.

Methods for hunting squirrels vary. Some of the most fun hunting you will ever pursue is hunting squirrels with a good squirrel dog. Some of the best squirrel hunting dogs are Feist and Cur breeds. They make good pets and can even be trained as well-mannered house pets. I believe house squirrel dogs bond better with their masters and give more in the woods while hunting than their outside dog counterparts. Since they spend more time around their human masters they respond better to verbal commands and more fully understand what their masters want. I know some will not agree however my kids want a house dog and I’m vying for a Feist. Another more predominant method is still hunting. In the Ozarks the squirrel population is adequate enough to still-hunt in the big timber and have a lot of action and the opportunity to limit-out. In normal years big oak flats and ridges are great opportunities to still-hunt for squirrels. 2009 – 2010 season has proved a little more difficult because to the spotty acorn mast. However, they are out there.

Adequate firearms for squirrel hunting range from the 12 gauge shotgun to the .22 magnum rifle. The newer .17’s are also proving to be quite good squirrel guns. For my purposes the .22 long rifle is the caliber of choice and the most economical. The subsonic ammunition variants provide all the velocity needed at a greatly reduced noise level, thus spooking fewer non-targeted squirrels into their dens. At around $0.07 per round, if you shoot straight your limit can be had for as little as $0.42. When compared to $5.00 for hamburger or $7.00 for pork chops on average for a family of 4 it becomes a pretty good economic choice as well as nutritional choice. For folks and youth who prefer a shotgun the .410 is a great choice but much more expensive to shoot. For our very young beginners the small, inexpensive, and accurate Cricket and Chipmunk .22 rifles are great choices that are readily available at the local sporting goods store.

Squirrel hunting– easy to learn and teach, cheap to outfit, fun to hunt, and good to eat, what more could you ask for? One of my favorite recipes for squirrel is Southern Squirrel Stew. For the recipe visit my blog at www.natureseconomy.blogspot.com. It’s a tasty recipe that is not fried so it passes the Doc Carnett litmus test and he would be proud of me. Hope you enjoy it. Remember, in Nature’s Economy the food is more or less free and replenishes itself when properly conserved. Take the kids to the woods and introduce them to ‘free living designed by Mother Nature.’ Good luck, be safe, and get a big one.

Christmas Rabbits

Listening to beagles run on a cold, crisp winter afternoon is a great way to create a life-long memory that will stand tall in a child’s eyes for many years to come when they reflect back on Christmases past. If, at your family Christmas gathering, dinner is served early and you either live in a rural area or have quick access to a rural area briar patch, that span of time between Christmas dinner and dark, when most others are exhausted from the huge meal, is a great time to turn out the dogs. Not only will you work off some turkey gravy but the excitement of watching a beagle race with cottontail rabbits and then the satisfaction of harvesting the following day’s dinner, is an experience that the young will ask to repeat time and time again. And for the beagles, well, they are ready to go any time the dog box is opened in the back of the truck.

Beagles - what a completely happy-go-lucky, up-beat, and loyal breed. Short in stature, warm in demeanor, and large in perseverance, beagles will bawl at a rabbit’s trail all afternoon and then, after your long days hunt, they will jump in your lap in front of a warm fire and lay there all evening. When it comes to beagles if you are a dog lover then true happiness comes in multiples - the more the merrier. Hunting, while still possible with only one good beagle, is much more exciting and faster paced with multiple dogs. Likewise at the fire in the evening if you have several beagles competing for lap-time, between dogs jumping, tails wagging and tongues licking, it can be quite a trying experience! It’s similar to many young children all trying to get under the Christmas tree at the same time on Christmas morning.

Speaking of children, Christmas trees and presents, mixing Christmas vacation with hunting creates a great opportunity for a new hunting shotgun or rifle as a gift under the Christmas tree. A young person never forgets that first .22 rifle or .410 shotgun. The excitement is even sweeter when the recipient gets to use the gun the same day they get it. Some very inexpensive (as far as firearms go) yet sturdy examples of youth firearms for rabbit hunting include Rossi or New England Firearms .410 shotgun - .22 rifle combos, Cricket .22 rifles, Chipmunk .22 rifles, and many others. It is best to fit your child to the gun just as you would a pair of pants or shoes. Different brands have different youth sized stocks and so ‘trying on a new gun’ at the local sporting goods store is the best way to find the perfect fit.

A new perfectly fitted Christmas .22 rifle, a child bundled up in their hunting garb, beagles running, snow softly falling - what great excitement and what a great foundation for a Christmas tradition for years to come. This year rabbit season runs from October 1st through February 15. The bag limit is 6 and the possession limit is 12. With a limit that liberal opportunities abound for spending time in the outdoors hunting with friends and family. This winter I encourage you to take your child rabbit hunting with a pack of good beagles. It’s an experience both the children and you will forever cherish. The kids will want to go back again and again.

In closing, as a collector of valuable thoughts and sayings one of my favorites is the quote: “All that we are we will pass on to our children - our loves, our hopes, our dreams, our character. Therefore let your thoughts be planted in rich soil and let your actions stand tall in a child’s eyes. Just as fruit does not fall far from the tree, children do not stray far from their heroes.” As an outdoorsman with unsurpassed love for Nature’s Economy and the circle of life, I encourage each of you to introduce a child to the Great Outdoors. Remember, as their role model and their hero, children will emulate your example for the rest of their lives. Merry Christmas, good luck, be safe, and get a big one.

New Years in the Great Outdoors

Want a change from the run-of-the-mill New Years celebration? How about hitting Nature’s reset button and getting in touch with the real foundation to this life? Spend your New Years in the Great Outdoors. An ultimately peaceful star-filled sky on a crisp winter night along a river bank in the Ozark wilderness is a lesson in solitude that can be learned nowhere else. You have to feel it to understand. After the midnight buzz dies down, the children turn in and the wilderness becomes deafeningly quiet. If not for the sound of the river forever surging on, the occasional lonely coyote in distance, and the crackling of the campfire, one can almost feel the utter stillness of the winter wilderness. But make no mistake, the wilderness is not asleep and old man winter will, more than likely, throw some cold yet refreshing chills your way.

This is not a camping trip for the ill-prepared or faint of heart. The elements, like Nature itself, are beautiful yet completely indifferent to the comforts of man. With children it is easiest to use a camper with a furnace; however, in years past I have taken friends and family along in the wall tent with a wood stove and managed to stay very dry and warm. It is a tremendous effort but it is also a tremendously gratifying experience to be able to barter with Mother Nature on her terms. Sleeping bags are best if rated to 0°F. Army Surplus Extreme Cold variants are very adequate for this type of camping. An air mattress to get you off the ground is also a great way to insulate yourself from the heat-draining ground. Clothing needs to be worn in layers. Warm underclothes under layers of wool or modern thermal insulated clothing are best. Those layers of clothing will keep your backside warm after midnight as you sit at the campfire breathing in the crisp night air, searching the star-filled sky and contemplating worthy New Years resolutions.

In Nature’s Economy, tuning in the Designer on New Years provides for resolutions that seem to have a higher calling with deeper meaning and more far reaching personal and worldly impact. Likewise, vivid understandings of powerful quotes jump into the conscience, such as a line in a quote by Dean Alfange, “I refuse to barter incentive for a dole, I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm utopia.” While written to apply to man’s economy, in Nature’s Economy it is just as applicable. A camping trip on New Years Eve is as much a challenge as you will find in the Ozarks. And it is rewarding beyond your imagination. Not to mention fun when you consider the outdoor activities you might pursue. Trapping, hunting, and fishing are all on the menu through the New Years holiday. With children, a two or three day camping and fishing trip is generally the easiest and most fun for the kids. Not to mention the fact that the cold part of the year is the best time to catch a big trout in the river or lake.

This year I encourage you to try something new. Get out of the New Years rut and open yourself to Mother Nature’s New Years party. It will bring pause to the soul that is constantly exposed to the hustle and bustle of society. Start a tradition for a young child away from the video games and TV. Expose them to the foundation of life and society in Nature’s Economy. I hope to hear many wonderful stories from children who got a change of pace and a new experience on the eve of 2010. Good luck, be safe, and get a big one.

Missouri Mountain Lions

I have always been a skeptic. You know, from Missouri…you have to ‘show me.’ I spend as many days in the woods as anybody. Too many if you ask some… With squirrel, rabbit, deer (firearms, muzzleloader, and archery), turkey (spring and fall), fishing, gigging, and trapping seasons, it is not uncommon for a Missouri outdoorsman to spend well over 150 days per year outside in one fashion or another and if you really tried you could spend 200 (+) days outside. State trapping regulations require a trapper to check his traps daily and when you are a beaver trapper, trapping season alone is approximately 135 days long, so it is easy to see how much time one could potentially spend outside. That being said, I have a burr under my saddle – I’ve never seen a mountain lion. If I can’t see it, oft times in my mind, it isn’t real. One time in 35 years of hunting, fishing, and trapping, have I caught a glimpse of something of which I questioned the possibility of it being a mountain lion. I was deer hunting with my son Mitchell and we both saw it. To this day we are not sure what we saw.

Today, there is enough evidence to second guess my contention that if there are any mountain lions around, they are one in a million and just passing through. There are just too many stories, eyewitness accounts, and even confirmed occurrences from the Missouri Department of Conservation. The late Dave Hamilton, former resource scientist with MDC, wrote in 2004 that there had been 8 documented mountain lions in Missouri since 1994 and now, since Dave’s report there have been 2 more confirmed occurrences. Strangely enough 5 of the confirmed sightings state-wide were either adjacent to Dent County (Reynolds County in 1996, Texas County in 1999, and Shannon County in 2006), or one county removed (Carter County in 1994 and Pulaski County in 2001). Those confirmed sightings would surely lead one to think that a mountain lion in Dent County is not beyond the realm of possibility. Still, I spend a lot of time in the woods and I’ve never seen a mountain lion. Kind of a burr in my saddle, but I already said that didn’t I.

Officially, the Missouri Department of Conservation lists mountain lions as “extirpated.” That is a population that is extinct as a viable breeding population in the area, however it does not preclude the species from being present. Starting to cut hairs my dad used to say. As I mentioned earlier, despite hundreds of reports, there are only 8 documented occurrences in Missouri. In order to qualify as a documented occurrence the MDC must have hard evidence present such as photos, scat with cougar DNA, confirmed tracks, cougar carcasses or the like. As a trapper, I pay particular attention to tracks in my ongoing search for the big cats. A mountain lion track differs from a domestic dog or coyote track in several distinct ways. First, rarely do claw marks show in the print. Cats have retractable claws that generally are not protruding as they casually walk through the woods. Second, mountain lions have teardrop shaped toes as opposed to the oval shaped toes of dogs, bobcats, and coyotes. Third, the heel pad of cats has three lobes at the posterior side of the track as opposed to one indent for dogs and coyotes. Finally, a mountain lions track is 3 to 3.5 inches wide as opposed to less than two inches for their bobcat cousins. I’ve never seen a mountain lion track in Missouri…kind of bugs me that I can’t find a track.

Currently Missouri is missing physical evidence of a viable breeding population of mountain lions. However, Missouri does have mountain lions present in our wilderness. They actively search out dense cover and rocky terrain or swamps. Males have a home range of 90 to several hundred square miles while females stay within 50 to 75 square miles. An adult male mountain lion weighs 140 to 160 pounds and is 5 to 8 feet long, nose to tip of the tail. Mountain lions typically consume one deer sized prey animal per week. You would think a person could at least find one prey carcass during 35 years of outdoor experience…it just kind of gnaws at me.

Now, here comes the rub. I started my son Jason hunting when he was 12 years old and he is now 26. Fourteen years hunting and the first 4 years or so were spent by my side. He’s seen a mountain lion. I would love to chalk it up to a misidentification however he watched it in a road ditch for several seconds and only several yards from his truck under the headlights. Then, days later the publisher of this fine paper saw a mountain lion on his lake dam just a mile away from my son’s original sighting. Of course, neither had a camera and it was a particularly rainy stretch so there were no identifiable tracks. So, according to MDC these two sightings are not confirmed. That’s good enough for me. Therefore, officially speaking, my son and Mr. Dodd don’t have anything on me. That burr under my saddle is still bothering me…guess I’ll keep looking. Good luck, be safe, and get a big one.

Women Folk from the Ozark Hills

I grew up thinking that everyone took their fish, turkeys, deer, quail, rabbits and any other critter harvested from Nature’s bounty to grandma’s house and it magically showed up in the freezer or on your dinner plate. Grandma Stephens’ basement was the drop off for my uncles, cousins, dad, and me. We killed it and she did the rest…I just thought it was normal. Also, since Grandma O’Day was up at 5:30 am every morning anyway, I thought it was normal that when you got up to go hunting, you got breakfast made to order before heading out hunting for the day. At the O’Day Farm, this was just common practice as I was growing up. As a matter of fact, if you didn’t eat when Grandma O’Day asked what you wanted, she was downright agitated. I quickly learned that you would sooner be late to the woods than tell her ‘no thanks.’ Didn’t dream this was out of the ordinary. However, after getting married, my wife informed me that this was definitely not normal. As a matter of fact she didn’t even believe this really happened. I was dumfounded. I took her to Grandma Stephens’ house and told Grandma to set her straight.

Looking back now I am amazed at the juggling act my grandmothers performed during hunting season, which, by the way, was also the Holiday Season. Back in the Seventies and early Eighties it was quail, rabbits, and fall turkeys before Thanksgiving, deer during the week of Thanksgiving, and coons the rest of the year. Thanksgiving Day was a mad rush for the hunters – get up early, hunt until noon, rush to the house for Thanksgiving dinner, and then back to the woods to close out the day hunting. Whew, what a busy day. Christmas entailed early morning gift opening followed by rabbit and quail hunting before dinner, and then rabbit and quail hunting after dinner. Of course the grandmas, moms, and aunts spent the day at the house cooking, cleaning, and visiting. And man, were they proud of us when we brought in wild game for them to process on top of all their other chores! Not to mention the mud on the boots, the hunting coats and hats flung all around, and the guns in every corner. How did they keep from hanging us up in the basement?

Today, the seasons have changed a little. Now its archery deer, fall turkeys, out-of-state elk and pheasant, and firearms deer hunting before Thanksgiving, trapping from around the first of December through the end of March and muzzleloader deer hunting during the week of Christmas (this was not a popular MDC season change with some at my house). The mud, coats, and guns are still a challenge for me. And, since my wife has not yet subscribed to grandma’s old ways, the butcher boards on the counter and uncut wild meat in bowls in the refrigerator is another occasional issue. Oh, and rolled up frozen fur takes up too much freezer space – that’s another issue. And, if I don’t have time to skin, the occasional whole frozen raccoon or otter in the chest freezer can be still yet another source of contention. Do you think there is anywhere else in the world where the women have to deal with the issues like they do here in the Ozark Hills? Men, we are married to saints!!

As I mentioned earlier, I asked Grandma Juanita Stephens to set my wife LaDonna straight on how a good Stephens woman operated during hunting season. Grandma looked over the top of her glasses with a half ornery smile and said, “Girl, I married Jewel Stephens when I was sixteen and he was twenty-six. I thought I had to do everything he told me to do. And yes, I did clean a lot of critters. But don’t you dare do it! You make the boys clean whatever they kill.” I had just recently managed to convince LaDonna to help me cut up some of the meat after I had processed a carcass and now grandma had set me back at least three years! I’ll have to start the grooming and training process all over again! Oh well, at least Grandma confirmed it was true.


The women of the Ozark Hills are truly unique and a huge part of our outdoor experience. They are as much a part of our interaction in Nature’s Economy as any other fundamental ingredient in the experience. Today, their place in Nature’s Economy has taken a much more active role and women are doing a lot of the hunting themselves. Whatever the capacity of their interaction, to the women folk of the Ozark Hills, I solute each of you and thank you for making our way of life possible. To Grandma Stephens, Grandma O’Day, and my wife, LaDonna, a special thank you for allowing me and my children to experience the same outdoor heritage that our forefathers lived during Holiday, hunting, and trapping seasons past. Good luck, be safe, and get a big one.

A Good Death

Is there such thing as good death? According to ancient American Indian culture once all of an individual’s biological, ecological, and spiritual mandates from the Creator were satisfied, a good death was achieved in a passing in which the individual’s honor and integrity were preserved. The moment of death was considered as intimate a moment between the dying and Mother Earth as that of the mother-child relationship at birth.

My grandfather, a devoutly religious man, used to say, “death is a change in range and nothing strange.” I suppose contemplating those words in conjunction with my ever-evolving experiences in the outdoors lead to my seemingly indifferent emotional views regarding my own eventual demise. For the human species, emotionally speaking, if not sudden, the departing soul is certainly subject to many emotions and the survivors are certainly subject to much grief. For many the subject is so uncomfortable that it proves too difficult and painful to contemplate.

Ironically, in the perfect system of Nature’s Economy in the cycle of life, death is one of the two fundamental ingredients - birth and death. And, no matter what megalomaniacal reasoning we employ to convince ourselves otherwise, we are all subject to the rules of nature and we will all eventually pass from this physical world. For man, a good death is the all encompassing worthy end for which a human soul responsibly strives and humbly prays. In nature a good death occurs by default for all Nature’s creatures as they expire while playing their respective roles in the circle of life.

Today in our society there are those who would suggest that there is something inherently wrong with participating in the circle of life. The modern animal rights movement suggests that it is somehow wrong, inhumane, or cruel to harvest from Nature’s bounty for our own sustenance. While all moral and ethical beings would subscribe to the basic underlying principle of the animal rights movement’s premise of respectful treatment of all life, it is flawed reasoning to suggest that causing an animals death is inhumane and/or disrespectful.

First of all, Nature does not subscribe to the parameters of human emotional reasoning. A hunter and/or trapper who spends their allotted time during the harvest season in Nature understands above all others that the modern animal rights movement would surely consider Nature itself the most inhumane perpetrator in existence. There are no hospitals, hospice care, or pain and maintenance medications to provide comfort for a diseased or dying animal.

There is no policing authority to prevent unfair or premature death. There is no peaceful passing in the night. There is only death from the harsh elements, disease, accident, and/or being consumed. The old and weak are caught and consumed by the strong. A gazelle being disemboweled by lions while still conscious, a squirrel having it’s skin ripped apart by the razor sharp talons and beak of a red-tailed hawk, or a whitetail deer slowly and agonizingly succumbing to the long and drawn-out ravages of blue-tongue disease, these are just a few of the many brutal alternatives wildlife have as opposed to death at the hands of a hunter, trapper, or fisherman. Even though Nature does not ask for or understand human ethics and morals, if one is comforted by human precepts, then it is an undeniable truth that, for those of us who frequently witness first hand true life and death in Nature, death at the hands of man is exponentially more desirable than the end that awaits those creatures who perish by other natural means.

In Nature’s Economy, as outdoorsmen, we are all active participants, or unapologetic purveyors of death. Just as the coyote, bobcat, and mountain lion play their roles, so do we, as wild men, in a sense, do the same. As each of these creatures go about their daily routine of sustaining themselves, they dispatch and consume numerous and various creatures in the wild. Death in Nature, while savagely beautiful, is neither good nor bad, right nor wrong, rather, it is viewed by the whole of Nature with stoic indifference and as just another integral part of the continuum of life.

The creatures of Nature ask for no quarter from death, as there is none. They inherently understand that there are no promises of fairness in life, there is only natural indifference regarding their survival or death. It is as if they are inborn with the same nurtured reasoning that our own species’ super-genius Albert Einstein took many years to develop regarding his own death, ‘The end comes sometime; does it matter when?’ This does not suggest that an individual does not struggle to survive. Quite the contrary, all creatures in Nature are programmed to survive at all costs and have an inherent right to do so if they can. Ultimately, however, death will touch us all and, physically speaking, once in its embrace, there is no escape.

So, is there such thing as good death? Absolutely. In the animal kingdom, similar to human beings after achieving creator imposed mandates and on their pathway to a good death , wildlife harvested and consumed by humans have likewise completed their ecological mandate just as sufficiently as those consumed by any other predator, thus resulting in a good death in Nature. We, as humans, are not outside the scope of Nature. No matter how grandiose our ideals and beliefs, we simply push the envelope of Nature as opposed to existing outside of it.

It is our responsibility to participate in the circle of life and to teach others to understand and accept the indifferent yet perfect and beautiful design provided in Nature. When a soul is exposed to the true life and death cycle in Nature it is easier to confront their own mortality. Understanding Nature’s Economy makes for easier discussion, understanding, and acceptance of death in the animal kingdom as well as the human kingdom. Physically speaking, they are one in the same. Setting a personal goal of an eventual good death is not a taboo subject but rather an honorable pathway through life. Good luck, be safe, and get a big one.