[brownrexx]

Actually I usually pick most of my butternuts when the entire vine dies but they are probably different than your squash. I grow bush type Butternut. Mine all seem to be ripe at almost the same time but if I see ripe ones before that, I usually pick them. The stems on butternut do not seem to turn brown until the vine is really dead so I am cutting them with green stems. The sign that a butternut is ripe is when the green stripes turn tan. Yours are obviously different.

The real test for ripeness of winter squash is to check it with your fingernail. The rind on a ripe squash will have hardened so that you nail does not penetrate the rind.

I cure mine in the garage which is attached to the house but not air conditioned so it's warm but not as hot as outside. It keeps them out of the sun and away from bugs and rain. My basement is cool so I cure the squash at a warmer temperature in the garage for 2 weeks before storage.

Curing winter squash allows them to give off some of their excess water and concentrate the sugars in the flesh. It also hardens the skin a bit so that it will store better and longer.