Did You Know You Can Hunt And Eat Squirrel Here In Maine?

So I was 'today years old' as they say,  when I found out that you can hunt (and eat) squirrels here in the state of Maine. Don't get me wrong, I've known plenty of people who try to "deter" squirrels from their yard or property by shooting in their general direction, but I didn't realize folks still hunted them for meat. So when a friend sent me some photos of a fried squirrel feed, I got curious and did some digging.

A quick check of the state of Maine website, and I discovered that you can hunt both red and gray squirrels. There are different rules, however, for each species.

Read More: Maine Hunter Safety Tips from the Warden Service

The gray squirrel season starts on the last Saturday of September and runs through till the last day of January. You must have a Maine hunting license to hunt the grays, and there's a daily bag limit of 4.

For red squirrels, however, there seem to be fewer restrictions.

In Maine, you do not need a license to hunt red squirrels, and you can do so from October 1st through March 31st, with no limit.

As is the case in most instances in hunting in the state of Maine, Sunday hunting is prohibited.

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Of course finding out that people can and still do hunt squirrel, I naturally started down a rabbit hole (or I guess in this case, you could call it a squirrel hole? ) into exactly how you'd prepare a dish from this little backyard bugger.

Here's what I found, and please feel free to share your own recipes.

Most folks say that squirrel meat tastes like chicken, so many simply season it and fry it right up.

According to one website, whether you batter it, sauce it, or put it in a soup or stew, squirrel meat is actually pretty versatile.

"While fried might be the classic and most common recipe, squirrels are a versatile wild game that can be prepared in a variety of ways."

So there you have it. If you didn't before, now you know. If you did, well them I'm not telling you anything new. But, as I said, if you have some tips, tricks or tales you want to share on your favorite way to prepare squirrel, comment away!