Damn, and here I was, worried about revealing my childhood rodent-eating and roadkill experiences, and you guys have me beat by a mile! And yes, you do indeed hunt squirrel with a .22, doesn't have to be LR, squirrels are pretty easy to kill. Wabbits are hard! We always hunted them when it snowed, that was the best time, because you could 'track' them. Rabbit stew was delicious, I loved it growing up. Squirrel was okay, kind of like a gamy chicken or maybe quail, duck? But the revelation at 12-years-old, that I was eating a rodent, pretty much did it for me, I haven't wanted squirrel since. I am the same way about catfish, they just taste like a garbage pit to me....can't eat 'em.
In an attempt to top some of the 'disgusting eats' stories posted, I have to share this one... My Granny LOVED souse. Head Cheese! Living on a farm, we would have an annual pig slaughter, and the whole family had a role in the event. From hoof to the freezer in about 20 hrs. Granny's main duty, was the head of the pig. Cleaning the decapitation in the big kitchen sink.... then placing it in the pressure cooker. After hours of whistling steam and rattling thingamabob... and waiting for it to cool down... she would crack the lid to reveal a nicely cooked pig head, to which she would commence to 'picking' from the skull. Basically, everything in the pig head, except the brain (retrieved earlier), is picked from the nooks and crannies of the skull, and strained in cheesecloth. I can't tell you what happens in the next phase, because I was always in the can over the toilet... but a bunch of spices and stuff are added to the disgusting pig head goo, and it is formed into blocks... souse. Yummm!