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Any body know how to skin or a Wood Chuck???

O

old

Well-known Member
Location
Camdenton Missouri
Well finally got one, borrowed a trap so he is sitting out in the rain taking a shower right now. Wife wants me to Barbeque it. She says it is eating our garden so we get to eat it. Have a recipe to barbeque it but nothing on how to clean it for doing so.
Thanks
 
I don't even have words for what you're wanting to do. I just ain't backwoods enough I guess. How much rain you getting? I would have thought that would be a bigger deal than catching the groundhog.
 
Rich, Just skin it like a coon or anything else.

Hang it up by the back feet. Cut around each foot at the ankle. Take the point of your knife and slit it down to the butt. Peel the skin down to this point. Then slit the tail, or in this case cut it off, you aint wantin the pelt I take it.

Then just keep skinnin.

Then gut it, clean it and roast it. Might try par boiling it to get the fat off. Roast is slow in the oven, the cover with BBQ sauce. Should be good. Although I haven't tried one. But they are fit to eat.

Please give us a report.

Gene
 
yes they are good to eat, par boiling to tenderize, then barbeque,..like mentioned before, skin like you would a coon
 
I cut it uo in four quarters and the back and put it in the pressure cooker for 45 minutes. Then remove and either bake or broil for 15 minutes with your favorite sauce on it.
 
Hang it up with hind legs. Cut from leg to leg around a-hole. Pull skin down around front legs and cut off head at neck. If it is very old will be tough. Need to parboil first than bake. Actually ground hog is pretty good. DH
 
for a really easy way to skin a tuff old chuck, just put a "pencil-size" hole in the skin ( but do not go into the body cavity) and stick the point of the air compressor nozzle in there.......... will blow it up like a big hairy football but it separates the hide from the carcass. you may have a bit of skinning to do but this saves a lot of time.go go to the bathroom first or you'll pee yer pants when you do this. it looks pretty funny!
Cal
 
Last I checked we had 3/4 of an inch of rain.
As for the wood chuck this thing has been one of those things I have been fitting all summer and it is eating my tomato's my pumpkins and my squash so yes it is not going to feed me since it stole my garden food. Never tried it before but figure why the heck not and if I do not like it, it might save on the dog food bill LOL
 
I have a recipe by a Bill Harper for barbequing it and is says to soak for 12 hour in a marinade he has in the book. Since it is raining and I have to go to Columbia tomorrow may have the boy take care of cleaning it while I am up that way. Guess I should maybe find out where you are one of these times I am up your way to stop in and see your toys
 
friend of mine says after skinnin it wrap it in the cotton mesh like they do roast beef, and fill the cavity with sweet potatoes
 
Woodchucks, rabbits and gray squirrels make good stew.They have a clean diet,Chickens will eat anything, baby rats, maggots and each other.I say this for those who eat chicken but turn up their noses at wild game.In making stew you should always brown the meat in some olive oil.Add the vegetables of your choice and cook slowly on a wood fired cook stove.
 
Old guy around here, used to say there was scent glands that should be removed, near his butt, careful not to open them, or they will make them taste gamey. He also said to soak 'em in salt water, for a night, and they are more tender. I never ate one, look too much like a rat!
 
Hi Old

A old family friend that was a meat cutter by trade, told me and showed me. I've always try to learn anything I can.

Any way he grow up in the depression eating coons, opossum, ground hog and the like.

Now skinning is up to you.

Cleaning is the key, Lifting the front legs where your arm pit would be you'll see a mucus gland. I think it is for making fat but not sure any way remove it. They look like tan snot. There are three set of these to remove. One more where you side meets your belt line (love handles if you will). Last is very small in the center of the hind legs. All make them taste too gamey.

Next place in cold water bring to a boil, as soon as the foam come to top, change out water repeat.

Bread and fry like chicken. Then call Earl. He was the one that thought me, Earl Pratt is long gone now but not for gotten. He thought me to try to be a meat cutting and not a butcher.

Teddy
 
If it was a opossum I would agree that it looks like a rat but a wood chuck look more like an over grown squirrel then a rat. And yes the recipe book says to remove glands under the legs
 
I'll pass - but if you got a good recipe for possum, daughter just borrowed my live trap for the one in the her basement.
 
Come to think of it Rich, ours are somewhat tame. Here is a picture of Chuckie, the name defying Tree Hog. (opposite of a ground hog) Here he is about 14 feet up a tree eating the leaves. I had never seen one do this until I made it out to the country where I live now. This guy goes up and down trees like a grizzly!!
a80504.jpg
 
Heck yes and the son also and maybe a few of his friends. The way things are going you never know it might be good to know what and how to eat off the land
 

don't ruin that good stuff with bbq sauce..Boil him some with an onion and potato and shake&bake him... After you decide you like it, keep a pair around and kill the young ones when they are about rabbit size....

You's talkin some gormet eatin right there.....
 
We used to do it with two people.

lay Ground groundhog on the ground on its stomache grab a hand full of the back skin cut crossways about the middle about 2" making a 4" slot then have a buddy grab one side, and you the other with a couple fingers in the slot from both ends skin will strip off clean to the neck and legs cut off head, tail, and feet leave them in the hide.
 
My mom used to soak in salt water then bake em in the oven until good & brown,but BBQ sounds good too.Just don't go inviting to many people if you only have one to eat.
 
They are good climbers, never knew they did this for quite some time either. I think its because of the dry weather, they like us, are trying to survive, it seems when that kind of weather is upon us, they are more aggressively seeking palatable forage, which means our gardens, flowers and so on become priority targets once discovered and they do not forget once they discover something supple, fresh and green like what is nurtured in a garden, flower bed etc.

WoodChuck003.jpg


WoodChuck002-1.jpg


Can't believe how far he went "out on a limb" thats where the new growth is though, they sure are smart, how he knew that, way up there was good to eat, must have compared notes with the beaver in the pond below !

WoodChuck001-1.jpg
 
Hello old,
One neat trick to skinning is to separate the skin from the flesh first.
I have seen it done on a sheep, but never done it myself. It works on all relatively small animals. Slice the skin through on on the rear legs-paws above the joint. Blow into the hole,air gun works good too, the skin will separate from the carcass and be easyer to skin.
Guido.
 
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