LITTLE ROCK — Sunday’s feature about squirrel hunting at Bayou Meto WMA sparked a flood of e-mails from readers asking about Roger Milligan’s squirrel skinning rack.
The device is called the Hunters Helper Universal Game Holder. It’s made in North Little Rock, and it makes skinning squirrels a snap. It comes in two colors, red for squirrels and yellow for rabbits and raccoons. Other than color, there is no difference.
Install the rack on a stable, vertical surface about chest high, with the point of the teardrop-shaped hole facing down. It comes with four screws to secure it to a flat surface so it won’t move or fall.
I attached mine to a thick board that I can take anywhere. I use a ratcheting strap to clamp it to a tree without damaging the tree. George Cochran bolted two of the devices to the metal posts of his game and fish cleaning gazebo at his Bayou Meto cabin.
Begin by wedging the squirrel’s rear ankles into the small teardrop shaped holes. The squirrel should hang with its head pointed down and its back facing out. Remove the hide the traditional way, with an incision through the tailbone and across the hips to pull the hide down toward the stomach. Then, wedge the squirrel’s head in the large tear-drop shaped hole and pull the other part of the hide over the back legs.
Hunters Helper also makes a catfish skinning rack, as well as deer and hog skinning hooks and attractants.You can see the full catalog at www.huntershelper.com SHOTGUNS VS. RIFLES
In 1997, I interviewed a hunter in Indiana who specialized in “barking” squirrels with a .32-cal. muzzle loader.
The term “barking” refers to the art of shooting squirrels that are hunkered close to a limb. Instead of shooting the squirrel, you shoot at the limb just under the squirrel’s chin. The round ball hits the limb and drives wood splinters and shrapnel through the squirrel’s brain without destroying meat.
He was an older gentleman who acknowledged that hunting squirrels with a muzzle loader isn’t for anyone.
“Use a .22 if you want, or even a bow, but for heaven’s sake, never, ever hunt squirrels with a shotgun,” he said.
He thought shotgunning for squirrels was unsporting and that it damaged too much meat. However, every hunter education class teaches students using single-projectile firearms to never shoot into the air, and to always have a solid backstop. Shooting a rifle into the treetops violates that commandment. Even a .22 long rifle cartridge is said to be lethal at ranges up to 1 mile, according to the warning on the box.
Squirrel hunting seems tobe an acceptable exception to this commandment. I violate it, too, so I’m not criticizing.
However, I’ve also noticed that a high-brass load of No. 6 lead does less damage than a .22 LR hollow point, unless it’s a head shot. I hear a lot of bragging, but I don’t see many .22 head shots. I hear a lot of .22 bullets go into the air, too, but I rarely see a corresponding number of squirrels. One squirrel for every three shots is about right.
No telling where those other bullets land. I haven’t heard of anyone getting hit by one.
AGFC DIRECTOR
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission made an odd decision last week to reopen its advertisement seeking a new director.
The announcement originally closed June 9 and attracted 130 applicants. I read every one of those applications, including the one from the pizza delivery guy and the barista from a local coffee shop.
The commission identified 15 applicants to interview, and six or seven are probably highly or uniquely qualified. Amazingly, not a single highlevel administrator from another game and fish management agency from another state applied.
Evidently, the commission isn’t entirely comfortable with any of the applicants because it voted last Wednesday to keep the application process open until it actually names the new director.
This is interesting because the commission will rank the interview candidates in tiers. If someone applies in the 11th hour, that person’s application will have to be evaluated and ranked and an interview scheduled while the presumptive nominee cools his heels.
In many states, the governor appoints the game and fish director or natural resources director. A new governor usually appoints his own people to those positions. Commissioner Emon Mahony said reopening theapplication period might attract a displaced director or high-level administrator from another state.
What this probably means is that the AGFC won’t choose a new director at least until January.
Sports, Pages 21 on 08/23/2012