Eunice Smelcer, apparently in her mid to late 20s, was living in Emerts Cove, in Sevier County, Tennessee when recorded in 1939.
[transcription copyright Michael Montgomery and Paul Reed, 2017]
[S = Eunice Smelcer; I = Interviewer Joseph Hall]
I: Uh, could you tell us your name, please?
S: My name is Eunice Smelcer, and uh, and Willie Stinnett is my grandfather, and I’m very glad to say it.
I: You have a good grandfather.
S: Yes sir.
I: Do you have children?
S: Yes, I have two, a boy and a girl.
I: How did you amuse yourself when you were a girl, Missus Smelcer?
S: Uh well when, till I was twelve years old, I went to school, but I didn’t like it.
I: You didn’t like school?
S: No, I never did like school, I wanted to, I wanted to be part-Indian and go a-hunting, I liked to squirrel hunt.
I: So would you tell us a little bit about a squirrel hunt?
S: Yeah, anything you want to know of.
I: Uh so would you go with boys or would you go with girls?
S: No, I goed myself.
I: You went by yourself?
S: Uh-huh.
I: Did you take a dog along?
S: No, I want a gun.
I: Uh, so you would kill them then?
S: Yeah, I reckon you’d call it that, I, I, I killed six uh one day.
I: Six squirrels one day?
S: Uh-huh.
I: What was the weather like that day?
S: Well, it was pretty and sunny and quiet.
I: Pretty and sunny, what do you think is the best weather for squirrel hunting?
S: Anything in the world for me, I have good luck anytime.
I: You have good luck anytime?
S: Uh-huh.
I: Some of them say that the best kind of weather to squirrel hunt in is uh, a kind of foggy day.
S: Well, I just have as good luck at one time as I do another, and uh, uh I take my kids with me and, and I have as much fun with them as I do if I was by myself.
I: Do you use uh long-range bullets?
S: No, I use a double-barreled shotgun.
I: A double-barrel shotgun?
S: Uh-huh.
I: Do you do any possum hunting or coon uh coon hunting?
S: Uh-huh.
I: Coon hunting?
S: Uh-huh.
I: Tell us a little bit about possum hunting and coon hunting when you do it.
S: Uh well you do it when uh, after it goes to frosting, when the uh, when the fur gets ripe, then is when you want to catch them for the market, uh unless you want to eat them, and we don’t like to eat them.
I: You don’t like to eat them?
S: Huh-uh.
I: Well, what does possum meat uh taste like?
S: Well, it tastes like something I never tasted before.
I: Did you ever eat any bear meat?
S: Yes.
I: Uh how do you like bear meat?
S: I like it.
I: What does it taste like?
S: Well, it tastes similar to hog meat.
I: Similar to hog meat.
My how times have changed since Eunice was interviewed back in 1939. While there are still some folks who squirrel hunt it is certainly on the decline and the margin would be even smaller when you count the number of women squirrel hunting with their children.
I love the insight into her life that was caught by Joseph Hall. She obviously cared very little for possum or coon when it came to eating them. I wonder if she or her family sold their furs. Of course the interview makes me wish I could know all sorts of things about her 🙂
A few that come to mind:
- What she looked like?
- If she had to move once the park was built?
- How she cooked the squirrels and if she eat the brains like my grandmother did?
The website that houses the transcript often has the actual recording of the interview, but the recording with this transcript sounds like it is Eunice attempting to get one of her children to talk into the recorder. That fact is interesting in itself.
Last night’s video: A People and Their Quilts 4.
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Never ate squirrel before. I heard the there is a specific hunting season for them back East. In Texas they’re varmints like Hogs and rabbits. You can bag them any time of the year here in Texas. Rabbit it really good eating.
I agree Eunice would be someone to sit and pick her brain and learn the old ways from. There so much wisdom to learn by cherishing the experience of the Ol Timers. The Good The Bad The Ugly. Learn from their mistakes or success.
Thank you Mrs Pressley for Sharing these stories!
I always went squirrel hunting with my dad. We would take turns shooting em out of the trees. My dad taught me how to shoot. I could beat any boy or any one except my dad. We have tied a few times. we hunted all our food(meat). I’ve ate plenty of squirrel, rabbit, coon , turtle, wild goat and boar. I love to hunt Only thang bout squirrel is there’s not enough meat on em. Loved this post Tipper. I seen myself in this one.
I recall a picture of my maternal grandmother and she had a shotgun in her hand. I don’t know if she hunted. She was born in the Azores, in Portugal. The pic was probably taken on Hawaii Island. I never did get to ask her why she posed for that picture, or if she ever hunted. This was in the early twenties. I heard Chatter say squirrel meat is delicious on your vlogs when they went out looking for squirrels. It must be an acquired taste.
When I was a girl, I dearly loved to hunt squirrels when I got home from school, and after my chores were done. I was taught to shoot with a .22 rifle with an open sight. I never much liked shotguns, they are too loud. Also when using a shotgun, I had to spend extra time digging out the shot from the meat. Shotguns in my experience would scatter a bunch of squirrels at each shot. Then for the next half hour, I spent looking for and chasing them down again in all different directions. However, with the .22 rifle, they didn’t scatter as much. They came back to the oak or pecan trees fairly quickly.
They often hid in the squirrel nests in the tops of trees, although it wasn’t the season (late fall & winter) for their young to be in a nest. I believe the squirrels think the nests are a safe place to hide. I’ve shot many squirrels outta nests and knot holes where they were hiding.
I liked to hunt what we call fox squirrels in our neck of the woods. They have a big bushy reddish tinged tail, with red tinged fur. They are bigger and meatier than the smaller cat squirrels. The cat squirrels are gray as a rat, small, with very little meat on them.
When I was a newlywed, my hubby and I loved to squirrel hunt together. The one that got the least amount had to skin and dress them all. He likes to hunt with a shotgun, so I hate to lose and have to clean em’ up. I do think he had an advantage with the shotgun because of the wide pattern of the shot. However, in the early years, I often sauntered on to the house while he had to dress the day’s bounty. I haven’t hunted squirrel in a good many years, but it was something I loved to do.
I personally don’t eat squirrel anymore. A few years ago, I was prepping a squirrel to fry, when all of a sudden I literally smelled a rat.. yep, it smell just like a rat. I almost gagged. That did it for me. My boys and their daddy will eat squirrel all day long. I just can’t get over the smell. I didn’t notice the smell when I was younger. I asked my husband if they smelled like rats to him and he said nope, they smelled like they always had to him. Now if I was really hungry, I will hold my nose and eat the meat anyway. Wonder if there is some trick to get that smell gone. I know with other wild game, soaking in buttermilk, removing glands, silver skin, etc. does the trick, but I’ve never heard of a way to make squirrels not smell like rats. I wash and clean them very well. I’ve marinated them in buttermilk, vinegar, added all sorts of spices, but nothing does it for me. The family doesn’t like the spices because to them it’s not authentic fried squirrel to them. They just want plain salt, pepper, flour, and lard to fry the meat in. They even frown at buttermilk and especially vinegar.
One last thing on this subject, I was taught to only hunt squirrels to eat in months that had a “R” in the name. Jan., Feb., Mar., Apr., Sep., Oct., Nov., & Dec. Squirrel season is long here. Starting in Sep. all the way to spring. One can sock away a good many squirrels in the freezer or in jars if you prefer in that time. We used to have 15-20 squirrels in the freezer at any given time when the boys were still home and hunting all the time.
We’ve never eat coon or possum though. They are readily available. I would have to be really hungry to eat a possum I think. If you watch Micah McGie’s YouTube channel they eat a wide variety of meats most other people would never eat. Check out their YouTube channel. I think the name of it is McGie Family Homestead Adventures.
I think the recorder got her name wrong. It may have been Euna or Una. After a bit of research, I found this obit for an Una Smelcer who had a grandpa named Willie Stinnett.
https://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Una-Brown-Smelcer?obId=2558565
I have fired a shotgun maybe three times in my life. Never at game – just a target. I hunted with a 22 or a 30-30 – the 22 for rabbits and squirrels and the 30-30 for bigger game . I hunted with a ‘flip’ at times. (In parts of the country they are called sling shots but the forked stick with inner tube and a pad to launch a rock was a flip when I grew up. The only brains I’ve eaten were squirrel and hog – the squirrel brains as is and the hog brains scrambled with eggs. I ate a coon once and a friend and I ate most of a skunk. When his mother told us what it was we upchucked. She had cooked it for the dogs and set it out to cool. I’ve hunted and eaten deer, snakes and bear also as well as several kinds of birds. I don’t recall not liking any of them. The squirrels here are so small I would need a half dozen for a good stew or pot of dumplings. We had the big ‘fox’ squirrels in East TN when I was a kid. I’m not sure any of the hunting I did was because of a need for food but more as an adventure. We had plenty of beef, pork, chickens and turkeys that we raised. My 22 was Bought by a great uncle and pawned to my mother for $5. I started hunting with it alone at about 7 or 8 years of age. I hunted and ran rabbit traps on the way to and from school. I put my shells in the teacher’s desk and propped the rifle in the corner behind her. I still have both rifles but rarely use them.
Enjoyed the comments, I squirrel hunted with a shotgun once, and my grandmother who fixed them said she had to spend too much time picking out pellets. After that used a 22 and had to be careful as our 22 only shot long rifles. The 22 was easier on my shoulder as both our shotguns were 12 gauge full chokes with a regular butt plate. The only thing that I ever shot that kicked harder was a BAR, when I was on active duty in the Navy. Squirrel is good if it is cleaned properly and cooked by someone who knows how to fix wild game.
Thanks Tipper, I would loved to have known Eunice. I’ve eaten all kinds of wild game. If prepared properly it’s all delicious.
My first hunting experience was squirrel, it’s great for teaching patience and observation.
The first game I ever hunted as a boy was gray squirrels. I’m 70 years old and I still love squirrel hunting as much as I did as a young boy. Squirrels make fine eating too. I prefer to hunt them with a .22 rifle, but a shotgun works just fine too.
Now that’s a tough lady! I remember eating fried squirrel, but it’s been a long time ago.
Loved last night’s reading and I loved seeing all the pictures of the quilts. It would be hard to pick a favorite, but those crazy quilts were amazing! I wish I could quilt. Maybe that’s a new hobby I need to take up. I am so glad you chose this book to share. Thank you!!
Most boys in the 1950s hunted squirrels or rabbits, or both, every Saturday. One boy had one beagle. I had a little fice that would jump rabbits and tree squirrels. Sometimes adults were along, but usually not. We hunted for recreation and also to help put meat on our tables. It didn’t take me long to figure where a running cottontail would likely end its circuitous route. That was the place to be to get a shot. We also caught rabbits in homemade box traps (“rabbit gums”) baited with apples. I’d guess we caught three possums for every rabbit we got, partly because we just let the possums go.
Someone mentioned carrying squirrels by their tails. We also strung them on a cord by punching a hole behind the leg tendon and hung them from our belt. My mother sewed a hunting bag, with a sturdy shoulder strap, which served me and my brother well. Hunting coats with rubber-lined game bags came much later.
What a treasure to have recorded Eunice at a time much different from life today. I have a great memory of when I was a very young child. There was an Aunt Catherine in my life I loved with all my heart. We visited their humble mountain home often, and she probably was the most cheerful and pleasant person I ever knew. She had cooked up some squirrels one week end my uncle hunted and they for whatever reason were set aside in the kitchen while the folks gabbed and caught up on events. I was a child of around three years of age and was left to my own devices which was common in those bygone days. they did not monitor children as they do in this day and time. I wandered into the kitchen and apparently devoured the pile of cooked squirrel. I do recall the peals of laughter from my aunt when they discovered the remainder of the squirrels, but only my good natured Aunt Catherine was laughing. Until my Aunt’s death at the young age of 26 in 1950, this story was the source of laughter anytime we visited. Children always remember the folks who were good to them growing up. Oh, have not ate squirrel since then even though it was offered a few times early in childhood. I love Jim’s post about being bewildered that more posters do not eat squirrel. He might be pleased to know that this poster ate it, and it was so delicious I became totally foundered at a very young age. 🙂 I love his writing! I also applaud Sadie Ledbetter’s posts about some of the old ways. As time permits I love to read the posts of many of your Blind Pig followers.
Have you ever heard of “barking” a squirrel? You don’t actually shoot the animal itself, you hit the limb he is standing on. That stuns him temporarily and he will fall to the ground. If you are quick enough you can get to him before he recovers and runs off. That way you can dispatch him properly without messing up any meat.
Papaw, I heard a story about a fellow whose wife was so ugly that he’d take her squirrel hunting and when she spotted one she’d stare at it until it fell to the ground, dead. She “uglied” many a squirrel that way, he said, but then he had to leave her home because she was tearing them up too bad.
Papaw, my Daddy tried to shoot the squirrels between their shoulder right behind their head when they were facing the tree. He would only use solid point 22 longs or sometimes shorts, never long rifle hollow points. I was taught early to not pick up a squirrel if they was any chance of it still be alive. If one ever bites you , you will know the reason for this.
I read this one time, a young boy went squirrel hunting with some adult men, when starting out the boy picked up a pocketful of rocks. He would not let the men shoot the squirrels , he would throw a rock left hand, hit the squirrel in the head killing it. After doing this several times, one of the men asked him why he didn’t throw with his right hand. The boy told them “my paw says I mess up to much meat if I throw with my right hand”!
I didn’t mean you just run and pick up a squirrel, you don’t do that when you’re sure they are shot. I didn’t want to get too gruesome, that’s why I said “dispatch him properly”. Tipper runs a pretty tight ship here and I know what happens when you step over the line!
The other day I took some fish out of the freezer that our 14 year old granddaughter and the blacksmith had caught. It was a delicious supper. Fried crisp with home made French fries and vinegar coleslaw.
So I texted her and said thank you for our supper.
Her dad told us later, she said I wonder what grandma cooked for supper? The squirrels I shot or the fish I caught.
Yes squirrel hunting is still a favorite in or area. If you open the kitchen cabinet door closest to the sink, you will find years of papers, mostly post it notes taped. Each one is dated by the year. There are groups of 5 marks for every squirrel shot out the kitchen window.
His favorite thing is to get a cup of coffee, a bar stool, open the window and shoot them.
When our dog was still here, he’d get so excited, he knew what was about to happen. As soon as the gun was fired he wanted out the back door. Bentley would proudly retrieve it and bring it back to the house.
Young squirrels are fried. The old ones make delicious stewed with dumplings. Think I’ll go get some out of the freezer now for dinner.
My aunt and her husband came to visit while a young man was here asking my permission to squirrel hunt. My uncle said son I bet you don’t know that a squirrel is a member of the rat family, therefore I would have to be mighty hungry to eat one. That young man has never been back asking to hunt. If I ever went hunting, I’d be like Eunice and goed by myself.
Tipper–I’m partly bemused, partly bewildered, and completely saddened that so few of the commenters have hunted or eaten squirrel. There’s no finer all-around training in woodsmanship than squirrel hunting. It teaches stealth, marksmanship (at least if you are using a .22), patience, persistence, and knowledge of the quarry’s habits and habitat. As for the meat, if properly prepared it is absolutely scrumptious. It was a favorite on our family table when I was a boy, and I still love to hunt and eat squirrels. I probably have five dozen in the freezer right now and I had a fine supper of squirrel and dumplings just yesterday. Like this woman, my maternal grandmother loved to hunt bushytails, and our family has a wonderful photo of her dressed in a shoe-length flour sack dress holding a .22 in one hand and a brace of squirrels in the other.
Jim, in my early comment I mention my Daddy and his open sight 22 rifle. He very seldom missed, it was too late to pray for whatever was in his rifle sights. Him and my uncle got into trouble one time with Grandmother, they were sitting on her porch shooting her roses off her rose bush by cutting the stems into. After his heart attacks and failing eyesight, he could still shoot pecans out of the top of an old and very large, tall pecan tree in our yard. I will say my mother would cook squirrels for the broth and make dumplings but would not eat them. She said they looked too much like the large field rats. She always kept the meat, even chicken, separate from her dumplings.
I figure I’m in trouble today with the lady members after my earlier comment. Don’t be too hard on me.
Jim, we do eat squirrel, but I surely can’t eat the brains. Fried squirrel or squirrel dumplins. Rabbit is also fixed the same way. Momma said they would take a spoon to crack it. I reckon I could never get past that image.
We surely appreciate you and your wisdom! We have a lot of wisdom right here daily from many places. I am so thankful and enjoy it so much!
Interesting how much can change in one generation. I agree with the comment above, that we just aren’t hungry enough now days. Not sure if that’s a blessing or a curse. Captivating peek at a moment in time.
Did a quick bit of research. I believe her name was Euna Brown Smelcer. She passed in 2002 and rests in Sevierville.
https://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Una-Brown-Smelcer?obId=2558565
In WV squirrel hunting is something a lot of young boys do to put food on the breakfast table usually. Folks here eat fried squirrel and gravy with biscuits. I’m up for it, but have passed this far. I tried bear once and thought it plumb awful and disgusting. Staring at its head on a table surely did not whet my appetite! I gotta be honest y’all! If it’s hard and tough times, I ain’t a bit too proud to hunt whatever I can get! Back in the day after the depression they say there were no deer or not much else in these hills cause it was hunted out! If the economy keeps tanking, a country person can make it. I watch a show called ALONE on Saturday about lone folks say in Patagonia, Mongolia or Vancouver Island. The last one standing gets 500,000$ and my personal salute for being a real force to be reckoned with. There’s bears, wolves, boars, mice, spiders, deadly terrain and it’s something to watch and learn… we got 10 inches here in Bluefield, WV and it’s a balmy 4 degrees! Good times!!! Gods blessings to your family -the whole lot of ‘em-Miss Tipper- and the cat Zipper named for you says hi (she would if she could talk.)
My Grandma took up squirrel hunting out of necessity as a single Mom with four kids during the Depression. After the necessity had passed, she still hunted. (“Still-hunting” by the way is what we called hunting without dogs, just being stealthy, whether sitting or “slipping” through the woods.) As you note, squirrel hunting is very much less common now than when I was a boy. The only hunting I ever did was squirrel hunting but I never had the vision to use a .22 rifle.
Beanie’s uncle Lloyd was uh having trouble with squirrels in his cornfield one fall. He told me and Beanie that if we’d liminate um he’d furnish the gun and shells. We set up bout daylight out next to the road, one lookin one way kinda and the udden the udden, sos we wouldn’t risk shootin one another. As the sun come up them critters started comin in for breakfast. It was like a battlefield for a while there. We shot squirrels til we uz tared of shootin squirrels. We quit bout 10 o’clock and counted up our score. I had killed 21 but Beanie won. He beat me by one.
As you probly know, you carry your squirrels by their tails. I know, sport hunters have vests and coats with pockets for their catch and their kill. I don’t thank they make a coat that would hold 21 squirrels. We took Uncle Lloyd’s shotguns back home and barried a towsack. We had to take turns carryin that.
Lloyd kept two er three of them thangs fur supper and told us to keep the rest. So, off we go with 39 squirrels in a towsack. Grammaw Breedlove lived right up the road so we stopped to show her. Guess what her reply was when I asked her how many she wanted! “You get them thangs outta my house!”
We proceeded on, stopping at ever house on the way and givin them all they would take. By the time we got to Beanie’s house, guess how squirrels we had left. Yep, 39! We set there on Beanie’s porch for a while bragging about our accomplishments that day until somebody called him inside. While he was gone I snuck on off up the road to my house. Emptyhanded I might add.
43 squirrels in one mornin from one cornfield is unbelievable and I wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t been there. I wouldn’t have believed that there were that many squirrels in that whole section of the county. Rumor has it that Lloyd was making something other than cornbread outta his corn. Maybe there was sumpthin about the corn that attracted squirrels from near and far.
My mama made the most delicious fried squirrel when I was a kid. But my favorite was when she would cook them until they were so tender, and then pull the meat off the bones and make squirrel gravy over mashed potatoes. We thought that was a feast. Now I can’t even think about cooking and eating one—not sure why— except, when I was a kid I was not the cook. I didn’t know until I was much older, that my mom never ate it. I just didn’t pay attention to the fact that she ate mashed potatoes and veggies and skipped the squirrel. So, I guess I am a little like her in that respect. I would definitely eat it if I was hungry enough, and we definitely have plenty to choose from running around in our yard—munching on our acorns and, unfortunately, our apples every year.
Oops. Can’t even type my name today. Lol
Brenda
There’s a woman with her own mind! I have never eaten any of the meat mentioned in interview. I do remember that my dad said that he ate so much squirrel during the depression that he would never eat it again. The only brains I have eaten was fried calf brain. It tasted like fried (what we call sponge mushrooms). They were good.
Tipper, I think if you could have interviewed Eunice, you’d have done a much better job of it. You seem to have that talent of making people feel at ease so they open up to talk all about themselves, their kin folks and way of life. I know you would have gotten her favorite squirrel recipe. Plus you would have described her to us before your interview started so we would have an image of what she looked like, when and where she was born, along with the setting you we’re interviewing her in. We are thankful to these gentlemen for getting this interview with her recorded or we would have none to read about Eunice at all.
My maternal grandmother would shoot the squirrels who messed with her two pecan trees. She made pecan pies, candies, cakes, etc. and she was not willing to share too many of them with the furry critters. Grandmother prepared the squirrels and would serve with a rich brown gravy. Wasn’t bad eating as I recollect.
Lord God Almighty please forgive our sin please bless us Lord with love care and protection bless our houses and homes with love care and protection please bless the water lord so we don’t freeze please bless the electricity so we still have heat, thank you for our blessings God please bless our animals with love care and protection we give you the praise on and the glory, in Jesus name we pray and ask these blessings thank you God Amen
I have old cookbooks with squirrel recipes. I’ve never eaten it, but my mother, born in 1912, ate squirrel in her youth and she said it tasted good. I would surely be willing to try it if I had the opportunity, but these days I just feed them during the winter.
Momma liked squirrel brains too. She was one of thirteen children and she said they would fuss over who was gonna get them. I can’t imagine. I reckon we ain’t hungry enough. I hope I’m never that hungry.
Speaking of eating, I am ordering Rattlesnake beans this year. We have never grown them so I hope they produce good here. The older we get the poles are just easier. It gets harder each year to stoop with my back.
Thanks for sharing!
God bless all y’all!
You want be disappointed. we have grown them for years here in Blount County, Tennessee and in my home place Sevierville. Tennessee. They have the best taste with VERY FEW spots to clean. They produce very long clean beans and it takes very little to fill up a jar. Our favorite.
Loved the read yesterday and loved the pictures. My hubby and I were surprised to see some of the patterns and to have know ladies who have copied some of them. I am a novice quilter and have only made 7 so far. The patter I have chosen for the one I am working on now is more or less free style and will need 270 3 1/2 by 9 1/2 strips to make up 72 squares in all. With the binding around I am aiming for a kings size….wish me luck. Prayers for Granny and God’s Blessings on you guys.
Squirrels were the only thing my Daddy would hunt. The only gun he ever owned was a single shot 22 cal bolt action Winchester he paid $6.50 for new in 1946. I now have this gun and it is not for sale at any price. We did also eat rabbits that were caught in a rabbit gum. Going squirrel hunting with Daddy was a special joy for me. Times have changed, back then the men squirrel hunted and either hunted rabbits with beagle dogs or birds (bobwhite quail), there were no deer or turkeys in upstate SC. Now they only hunt deer or turkey, quail are non existent, a few rabbits, but plenty of squirrels, but no one that I know hunts them. I do have a friend that still rabbit hunts with dogs he not only hunts but runs in field trials. He texted me a video last week of his dogs running.
I like to tease my women friends and tell them when you see squirrels playing in the road you can tell the males from the females, the males that will run and get out of the road, the females are the ones that run back and forth, they can’t make up their mind.