rabbit hunting questions...

H

hoytinak

New member
So I bought my little cousin a youth Henry lever action and over some time he's gotten pretty good with it. He asked me today if I would take him rabbit hunting this coming season. I admitt, I've never been rabbit hunting :o but would love to take him. (I'm really the only one in my family interested in shooting and hunting except my father but he's getting where he can't get around to do it anymore)

Now to my questions: How do you prepare a rabbit? Do you gut it or skin it first? Any tips? Thanks in advance!
 
Absolutely the easiest animal I have skinned... I start with a slit in the skin from ankle to ankle of the back legs and a little slit in the skin from there towards the sternum a couple 2 or 3 inches... I work it loose with fingers and end up with an inside out hide. I personally got used to setting the knife down after the *T* shaped slits and once hide is off I gut it. It takes a matter of minutes so the order of gut or skin first don't so much matter. Gut shot bunnies are a dern bugger to work with IMO... If that Henry is a .22 I would stress head shots only. I don't like to cook with them much as I never had fricassee free of bones. I have put the whole carcass tied in cheese cloth in the pressure cooker to contain all the meat and bones and then deboned it and made gumbo type dishes... I am also a poor sous/gravy chef so them tasty white gravy type recipes over rice are risky business for me.
Brent
 
I figured you'd be one of the first ones to answer. ;) Yeah the Henry is a .22lr and headshots would be pretty easy for him and me (I'll be using my 10/22). I didn't think it'd be too hard as I've been doing some reading on it and alot of what I've read say not to even open a knife till the skin is off and to just rip the skin off. Thanks :)
 
Why wait? Summer bunnies are fun too....
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=289235
As with Florida, Tejas considers them a *non*game critter and can be hunted year around...
Cottontails are classified as nongame animals and there is no closed seasons or bag limits in Texas. They provide considerable hunting recreational opportunity for sportsmen and may be hunted by any legal means or methods at any time on private property. A hunting license is required to hunt cottontails.
From...
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land/habitats/cross_timbers/upland_game/
In case you hadn't yet known...;):D
Brent
 
As with Florida, Tejas considers them a *non*game critter and can be hunted year around...
Cottontails are classified as nongame animals and there is no closed seasons or bag limits in Texas. They provide considerable hunting recreational opportunity for sportsmen and may be hunted by any legal means or methods at any time on private property.
Click to expand...

One of the many reasons i love texas!!! It's nice to just pick up the 22 (or now my fun little 1,000 fps pellet gun) and shoot them any time of year, granted they're out of their holes.
 
Put in a wee nick behind the head, stand on the rabbits head then put 2 fingers inside the nick. Pull upwards & hey presto an inside out bunny. Cut through the back leg bones with clippers or just snap them to separate the pelt & ensure no fur gets on your meat.

Any gut shot ones stay there - not worth dealing with
 
Aussie land

I have shot thousands of rabbits in austalia. you gut the rabbit soon as possible after shooting it. It is much harder to gut the rabbit when it becomes stiff, you risk hitting the intestine and spoiling the meat. Reason being it is more difficult to bring the skin away from the gut region. You can then skin the rabbit after your hunt on the same day, or if it is cool weather you can hang the rabbits from a rope if your staying several days. Head shots are the best as little damage is done to the carcus and risk of hitting the crap bag is none.
Way of skinning is to cut a small slit on the back of the rabbit witht the knife blade up, so you dont nick the meat. Then if too people one hold from tail end and other from head and pull opposite ways.
Its best to remove the head and upper feet first before skinning. Young bunnies and does are generally easy but those old bucks can be a little tough. Be careful not to rip the rabbit in half when pulling skin off. Good luck
 
Hey HogDog, try this:


Nick the skin in the middle of the back with a small jack knife. Next grab hold on each side of the cut and pull. One half will come off the front, and one off the back. All done!

Frequently you can just skip the knife and grab 'em in the middle of the back and pull both ways.


Butta, I'm not sure 'bout down under, but here the only thing we do before guttin' is skninnin'. It keeps moast of the hair off the meat that way. We do gut 'em right away, and for the same reasons you suggest, but skinnin them quickly is easier, too.

Here in Montucky we hunt them only when there is snow on the ground. It keeps us from starving out a den of bunnies because they don't breed in the winter. Of course I do understand why it makes no difference in the South.
 
Kiwi... I feed gut shot and summer bunnies to the dogs... hide and all...
we were taught to wait fer snow when in michigan to avoid "rabbit fever" but in the south we just want to avoid fleas and ticks:D
I will look at that skinnin' method come fall as all my summer bunnies are bulldog treats...
My skinnin' education was from runnin trap lines as a kid so I did them the same as I did nutria and coons...:o
Brent
 
Say Butta999, are you shootin' cotton-tails or Jacks? If it takes two people to skin 'em, they must be Jack Rabbits. Good technique on the skinning; I wish I had read your post before I posted about skinnin'. You explained it much clearer than I.


As to Rabbit Fever, a MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologist tells me that it was Tularemia, an illness caused in rabbits when lab specimens were turned loose in California. He also told me to look for blisters on the skin, and hard white bumps on the liver. He also said it would not hurt a human if the bunny was well cooked, but he sympathized with not finding a diseased animal appetizing.



Ah +1 HotDog. I never thought of trying to spare the hides.
 
Use solid, preferably sub-sonic ammo. Greatly reduces meat damage, rabbits aren't hard to put down, no need for hollow points.
 
I've always heard only hunt rabbits in months that have the letter "R" in them, otherwise not in the summer months. I've read up quite a bit on Tulermia (or Rabbit Fever) and it's a blood parasite that can be communicated to humans while handling. Like if you cut yourself with the knife you're using to skin the rabbit with and its' blood/fluids gets in your cut.

As far as the meat goes, it's fine to eat after being thoroughly cooked. I've never been able to cook rabbit in any tasty way, but I'm going to try one of those fancy Hasenpheifer recipes one of these days. I like to hunt them in the winter since I enjoy tanning the furs and it's a little nicer in the colder months, especially here in AZ.

Here's a link that explains skinning/tanning them:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/1983-01-01/How-To-Tan-Rabbit-Hides.aspx

And here are some recipes:
http://www.bowhunting.net/susieq/rabbit.html
 
they are cotton tail rabbits. they are quite easy to skin but the big old bucks can be a little harder. Be careful when skinning too as you can slice your hands on the rib cage, as my uncle did once. solids can be used as all head shots will drop on spot, but if a stray shot hits the chest or gut region the rabbit will scurry to their burrow and more than likely die 6 foot under. Waste of fine meat for you or the dogs.
Back to skinning, they can be quite hard sometimes because we usually hunt over 4 days and hang them in between two trees with rope then skin at the end of the trip.
We do have hares here which are double the size of rabbits they are much tougher. Bullet of choice for me is winchester powerpoint.
i can post a good pasta sauce receipe if you like as i am italian and the meat melts in your mouth.
 
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"...I'm really the only one in my family interested in shooting..." Apparently not anymore. This is a very good thing. However, how old is he? A Hunter's Safety course is required.
Start here. http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/learning/hunter_education/
Deal with one thing at a time.
Your local public library should have both skinning how-to and game cook books. Get one or two rabbits first. Mind you, buying a commercially raised rabbit to learn how to cook one isn't terrible either. Not exactly cheap though. Even though it's far cheaper than hunting for 'em. It's not the same thing.
Bunny bones aren't thick nor hard. Use tin snips or those cut anything scissors for small game. Knives will, of course, work, but scissors are far easier.
 
here are some bunnies i shot this summer. These were taken at my dads work which is an open range zoo. Shooting along side rhinos and zebras was quite fun. Shot 27 in 2 hours leading into dusk with my brno .22. Was using winchester subsonics at the time.
 

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rabbit its very easy to cook, first unskin it, remove the guts, and leave the flesh in a recipient with milk about two hours, make a sauce blending olive oil, garlic, onions, coriander, sal and pepper, if you like use tabasco . remove the rabbit from the milk and add the sauce, leave it another 1 - 2 hours, then grill it.
if you are in a hurry just unskin it, ungut it, add salt and pepper and grill it, its delicious that way, enjoy!!
 
Butta,
i thought you Auusi's got rid of all those pesky wabbits?

Seriously though, are the rabbits under control down under? From what I was told there was a lac of predators to keep them in check. Any truth to that?
 
Gbro

No natural predators have never kept the rabbit population down. Viruses do, Myxomatsois, Calicivirus, 10/80 poison and ripping up the warrens with dozers. They introduced the calicivirus in the late 90's. We used to hunt a property with rifles and ferreting as well, 200 rabbits for the weekend was nothing to accomplish. Now the same property is lucky to produce 12 rabbits. That virus knocked them bad but over the years they became imune to it. There are still good numbers of rabbits in Australia but finding them is a little harder.
The photos of me are only 10 min from home at my dads work rabbits are plentiful, but every 12 to 18 months they drop 10/80 poison and they disappear. Farmers have relaxed a lot since the drought hit and the goverment no longer funds poisioning programs, so it now costs the farmers if they want to rid of the rabbits. such a vast country with massive amounts of bushland from bottom to top all animals thrive.
My mate shot a 30" Sambar stag the other night only an hour out of Melbourne. We have the best country......:D
 
B...999,

Then the information that I heard was quite factual. The predator, or lac of is a BIG factor in population controls.
Here in Northern Minnesota, USA when there were good trapping seasons, good fur prices, trappers able to seriously subsidize there livelihood trapping we would find rabbits aplenty. We have snowshoe hare primarily, but it wasn't unusual to fill a freezer with Hare and rabbits(cotton tail) in a weekend hunt. And a 10-15 mile drive in the back country on a late afternoon seeing 70-100 hare alongside the roadways was a sure thing.
Well trapping is low, seasons short, prices, not to far off of 1975 high, but limits low on certain fur bearers. Well that afternoon ride would gross out at maybe 1 sighting for 8-10 trips. I have an 18 mile drive to the hunting shack and although this season 2-3 hare might bee seen (all summer), there were years when no hoppers are seen all year and I make that trip once a week at the minimum.
Last Deer season I hunted an area that had some sign (tracks in the snow) and saw 2 during the season. My money is on it was the same one 2 times. But thats a wild guess.
Moral of this is, The natural predator is the best population control for these tasty hoppers.
You will hear things like population cycles and such but with our habitat we had (pre-1980) always held large populations even on low cycle years.
Why, Is so bad that Federal protection has been placed on one predator(Canadian Linx) because their numbers are low on account of not enough snowshoe hare in the area the Federal Government feels is their home. Of course some screwball Federal judge in California made that ruling for Northern Minnesota to try and shut down logging as the Borrows Linx(Bob Cat) would use the logging roads to expand the area the Federals feel belongs to the Canadian Linx.
End of Rant,
Have a nice day and shoot straight.
 
G-Bro... Also un controlled or limited control of yotes, b-cats and wolves will reduce their numbers hard than the yotes thin down as the rabbits come back so it seems, at least down here in florida, to be quite an unpredictable roller coaster population ride...
Brent
 
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