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AGFC: The World Champion Squirrel Cook Off will have a new home at the J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Ozark Highlands Nature Center this fall.
Arkansas Game and Fish is reminding squirrel hunters of two dates to remember this year. May 15 is the annual opening day of squirrel season, and on September 23 AGFC’s J.B. and Johnelle Hunt Family Ozark Highlands Nature Center will host Joe Wilson and the 2023 World Champion Squirrel Cook Off.
After a brief hiatus due to issues surrounding COVID-19, Wilson has partnered with AGFC to put on the show.
Wilson originally cooked up his competition in 2012 on the square in downtown Bentonville and has also held it at the Benton County Quail Barn.
He states, “this event brings the squirrel to the forefront of the culinary world, and that’s a heap better than going to waste in the attic or at the bird feeder.”
The event will be limited to 40 teams during its return. Anyone interested in entering should contact Wilson as soon as possible to ensure a space is available.
Wilson says, “We’ve had people from all over the world come to cook in the past. Two bankers from New York, a team from the Netherlands, Florida, you name it. But we’ve also had a few folks from right in the Ozarks come and show their chops with limb chicken.”
A pellet gun shooting competition for the kids will be held during the event, plus a few musicians.
A couple of rules have been put in place for the event:
Each three-person team has roughly three hours to prepare their squirrel and a side dish for the judges. Everything — grilling, frying, smoking, roasting, poaching — has to be done on-site.
All entries must contain 80 percent squirrel. Proof of squirreliness will be required before cooking. Presentation, taste, tenderness and texture all are important aspects of judging.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/squirrelcookoff to follow the cook off and learn the details for the event.
AGFC states “If you’re looking for a bag full of bushytails in May and June, one of your best bets is going to be focusing on the food. Instead of hickory nuts and acorns (akerns to us Arkansawyers) found in fall, soft foods make up the squirrel’s spring dinner menu. Red mulberries, a tree that thrives throughout Arkansas, are the catch of the day in a squirrel’s eye, and a crafty squirrel hunter would be smart to keep a record of these trees on their favorite hunting grounds in spring. The mulberry itself is similar-looking to a raspberry or blackberry, and changes in shade from green to white, then pink and finally dark purple when it’s sweetest. It’s not uncommon to find squirrels in spring that have chests and chins stained purple from all of the red mulberries they’ve gorged themselves on as these small berries ripen.”
For more information visit agfc.com
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