First Rabbit in 23yrs!

JohnM · December 13, 2012, 05:23:10 PM

I know, I know technically it's a 'hare' but we don't have cottontails up here and calling it 'hare hunting' sounds weird. ;)

In theory I was going bird hunting but in practice I was taking the dog for a walk. The dog is no bird nor rabbit dog as he walked right pasted this guy and the rabbit didn't kick up til I walked by. Then the dog chased him down and just licked at him. :

I had never heard a wounded rabbit in real life, those predator calls are spot on!

Any recommendations on how to cook him up? I stove up the back end some so the dog will get that (he already got the heart and liver), so that doesn't leave much but figure I'll try it.

JM

PS This only my second rabbit. :D

Jeff · December 13, 2012, 05:46:06 PM

Well, we would cut him up into pieces and soak him in salt water over night in the refrigerator. We would then par boil him, then take him out and cook him like fries chicken. Hare is tougher than tame rabbit or chicken if you are not used to wild meats. You may prefer to boil him up, bone the meat, then make a soul or perhaps a meat gravy for potatoes.

treefarmer87 · December 13, 2012, 05:50:45 PM

jeff said it just right, i usually fry squirrel or rabbits

thurlow · December 13, 2012, 06:41:51 PM

When I'se a kid, rabbits (cottontails) were PLENTIFUL; don't know if there was even a 'limit'. Wasn't at all unusual for 2 or 3 hunters to kill 10 or more............every time we went hunting. Coyotes moved in about 20 or 25 years ago and there are NO more rabbits (might see one every other year). Same thing with the quail; there were 2 coveys that raised/lived every year within earshot of our shop and we always killed a few when we went hunting. (Our dogs were curs and we hunted rabbits,squirrels and quail all at the same time) Haven't heard one in years; don't think they exist in the wild around 'here'. I'd cook the rabbit just like I would a squirrel; fry 'em if he's young; stew, dumplings, parboil, etc, if he's old. 8)

drobertson · December 13, 2012, 07:15:07 PM

I'm thinking as far as rabbits go, if there is one, there has to be more! Clean it, freeze it and go get some more. then follow the above directions. Fried with tators and gravy is just hard to beat.

treefarmer87 · December 13, 2012, 07:22:42 PM

There are plenty of rabbits, but no quail here :'( . i love to quail hunt, i have only been once in my life, and got 1 bird, because the coveys are so scarce.

thecfarm · December 13, 2012, 07:25:24 PM

We ate alot of rabbit stew growing up. My Father really enjoyed going rabbit hunting with his beagle. We always had one,some real good,some not so good. Than the rabbits just kinda disappeared. I see very few tracks.

Autocar · December 13, 2012, 07:45:18 PM

When I as growing up I kept rabbit on the table with my single shot 22 but farming practices has changed so much its hard to find any. I seen one the other day in a brush pile by my shop but would feel bad to shot him hes probably the last one around :

JohnM · December 13, 2012, 09:21:56 PM

Ok, thanks for the recipe ideas, I think I'll try the frying one.

Thurlow, I found coyote tracks right in the rabbit tracks. :D

Ray, that's strange you don't have many rabbits near you. I say strange only because we seem to be covered in them the last couple of years. I know rabbits run in cycles (every 7yrs or something like that) but I'm not sure how 'localized' those cycles are (only a hundred miles or so between us). We also have loads of partridge(grouse), I flushed 11 while taking a long walk during deer season, in the past if I flushed three it'd be a lot. And speaking of deer... >:( Didn't see a single one all season! Matter-o-fact I didn't see a deer track today, only rabbit, bird and yote. >:(

JM

ET · December 13, 2012, 09:58:15 PM

Our gun deer season in Ohio ends this coming Sunday. After that me and my buds gather and do some bunny hunting as well. My theory is that if you don't shoot them, you won't have any. When I moved here in 81 there were no rabbits. There were also no one hunting. It's not unusual now for us to harvest around 50 each year off my place. There more ways to eat rabbit than you would believe. Keep shooting!
ET

Ernie · December 14, 2012, 01:01:14 AM

Easter is the time in New Zealand's south island for Easter bunnies

http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/alexandra/100341/record-broken-easter-bunny-hunt

It's an annual thing and is very popular. I haven't noticed an associated recipe book.

SwampDonkey · December 14, 2012, 03:34:48 AM

I have lots of rabbits, a few yotes, see some deer hanging around and lots of moose. ;D

The preacher was a neighbor and hunted with a beagle to. Until one day the rabbit chased the dog, so to speak, and he shot the dog. Man did he feel real bad.

Al_Smith · December 14, 2012, 04:46:08 AM

We have cottontails in abundance mainly because of the amount of cover . In late spring I can sit on my patio sipping a brew and if I'm real still the young ones will get within ten feet of me .

We also have red tail hawks that pick them off .

I haven't hunted in years but it wasn't uncommon years ago to limit out then being four rabbits per day .

Rabbits or at least cotton tails are odd in the fact they will make nests right in the middle of an open field and they don't live in warrens like most hares .Every so often they have young right in my front yard .

SwampDonkey · December 14, 2012, 05:30:22 AM

In the fall while hunting, I've seen folks that like rabbit meet more than me, have a roof top tied down with hares they shot. I don't know what is legal bag limit but a car top of hares is a lot of hares. :D :D

Axe Handle Hound · December 14, 2012, 08:29:51 AM

If you build some brushpiles in the woods you'll have rabbits. I don't know where they come from, but the minute you have a place for them to hide they'll be around. I try to burn all my brushpiles before winter to keep the little buggers from eating all my saplings during the winter months. This year my neighbor decided to cut down 100 box elder trees, pile them up 50 feet from my property line, and then head south for the winter....thanks for that.

thecfarm · December 14, 2012, 08:57:39 AM

I think they kinda disappeared somewheres around 70-75. He hunted here his whole life. I don't think it from over hunting. My Father would go and not speak of another hunter. We do have deer. Not alot,but I see them quite often. Just saw 6 the other day. The rabbits were here and there was no brush piles. My father hated brush piles in the woods. Our woods is not a great place to get around. He would complain about a brush pile in the way. Cut up the brush small and there is nothing to pile,as he would say.When My Father was growing up his parents owned almost the whole hill.

Den Socling · December 14, 2012, 10:53:42 AM

Ernie, what did they do with 24,000 dead rabbits?

Chuck White · December 14, 2012, 11:51:52 AM

When I was a kid, we'd hunt rabbits (Snow Shoe Hares) from the end of deer season till the middle of March!

We'd usually get 6 or 8 whenever we would go hunting!

We would cook them up the same way Jeff mentioned, making sure to soak them in salt water first!

Now it seems everything is against them, they coyotes moved in, then the various hawks that stay through the winter and the owls!

We usually have a pair that come into our back yard off and on throughout the winter! They're safe because there are so few of them, we don't hunt them.

When I used to burn firewood, we would take the smaller limb-wood and make a sort of hutch for the rabbits to hide in, and yet the coyotes and foxes couldn't get in!

doctorb · December 14, 2012, 12:52:34 PM

Rabbits and hawks have inverse population numbers, when one increases, the other is decreased.

Axe Handle- What are you holding up in that picture? That fish looks as big as you!

Ernie · December 14, 2012, 02:06:23 PM

Quote from: Den Socling on December 14, 2012, 10:53:42 AM
Ernie, what did they do with 24,000 dead rabbits?

The vast bulk are processed into pet food with some hunters taking a few home for a feed. Rabbit pie is really delicious, much like chicken pie.

Den Socling · December 14, 2012, 02:46:01 PM

Yes, rabbit can be delicious. When I was a kid, I hunted rabbits every night after school when they were in season. Then I would give them to my Grandmother and she would cook them. Those were good days!

thurlow · December 14, 2012, 03:58:24 PM

It was illegal, but we used to 'headlight' rabbits, 'cause we liked/needed 'em for food. When I was about 16, I went hunting one night and killed one in the pasture that was in front of the house.....wasn't 50 yds from the front door. Shot it with a .22 rifle. Since I didn't want to have to carry it with me 'til I got back, I walked to the nearest fence and put it on top of a post. The old headlights we had were pretty pitiful; when I was through hunting, I came back by to pick it up; just before I got to where it was, I REALIZED that there was something out there WITH ME and it appeared to be AFTER me. I swung the headlight all around and couldn't see anything, but could still hear it. I finally put the light on it; it was the rabbit that I had KILLED and it was running around in circles. I was able to catch it; the .22 had hit it in the top of the skull and had glanced off, just stunning it. I held it by the backs legs and whacked in across the back of the neck.......as I had done to dozens of others before.

trapper · December 14, 2012, 05:35:53 PM

I box trap them. Less messy than shooting them. I take the hide off, then cut the backstraps off. Then I cut the legs off. The entrals and remaining carcess go to the cats.
The backstraps go in one pile to get fried. The legs go into stew or soup. I put some apple tree prunings out to keep them well fed until I catch them.