BillyDa59
Member
Yep. I've begun hunting rabbit and I've a few questions.
1. I've been told not to eat rabbits I shoot in summer months. That is when disease starts breeding in abundance. What months/seasons is it safe to eat wild rabbit?
2. The only/first rabbit I shot and ate tasted funny... like fish to be exact. No kidding. What caused this? I made sure not to rupture or cut any digestive organs while gutting and skinning it! Although for some reason I was unable to achieve a headshot that day, so I shot for the heart/lungs instead. Might it have been that shooting it in the torso caused the fishy taste?
3. How can I check if a rabbit I shoot is diseased? As of now, I just examine the guts, particularly the liver, for anything strange. Especially those little white cyst-type things that supposedly show up in some diseased rabbits. I've read that those are some kind of parasite eggs.
4. How fast are rabbits supposed to go down? Obviously a headshot means you have a rabbit that is DRT but the only one I shot was with .22lr in the torso. I shot him twice. He didn't seem to react at all to the first shot. After the second shot he lazily hopped ~20 yards (vaguely in my direction) into a barn to just lie down and die it seemed. I followed him. When he stopped I put one more bullet in him just to make sure he wasn't suffering anymore than necessary. I wonder if that last bullet was actually necessary? I would really like to know how to tell if the rabbit is actually dead.
5. I need an easier way to skin these things! Making the initial slice into the rabbit skin was VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE. I had pull up some skin on his back and push the knife through using my weight pushing downwards against the ground. Should I perhaps just use a razor to make that initial slice? The rest wasn't too hard but still a pain. What can I use that will easily cut up a rabbit?
6. Any tips for cooking the rabbit? That first one I pretty much cut off everything until I had a rack of ribs which I just threw on a propane BBQ. It took about 20 minutes to cook and WOW that was some nice, tender, juicy, moist meat! The only complaint I have was that it tasted like fish, as I had said before. Does rabbit meat take well to slathering on BBQ sauce? Maybe I should just sprinkle on some Johnny's? Nothing too fancy please.
1. I've been told not to eat rabbits I shoot in summer months. That is when disease starts breeding in abundance. What months/seasons is it safe to eat wild rabbit?
2. The only/first rabbit I shot and ate tasted funny... like fish to be exact. No kidding. What caused this? I made sure not to rupture or cut any digestive organs while gutting and skinning it! Although for some reason I was unable to achieve a headshot that day, so I shot for the heart/lungs instead. Might it have been that shooting it in the torso caused the fishy taste?
3. How can I check if a rabbit I shoot is diseased? As of now, I just examine the guts, particularly the liver, for anything strange. Especially those little white cyst-type things that supposedly show up in some diseased rabbits. I've read that those are some kind of parasite eggs.
4. How fast are rabbits supposed to go down? Obviously a headshot means you have a rabbit that is DRT but the only one I shot was with .22lr in the torso. I shot him twice. He didn't seem to react at all to the first shot. After the second shot he lazily hopped ~20 yards (vaguely in my direction) into a barn to just lie down and die it seemed. I followed him. When he stopped I put one more bullet in him just to make sure he wasn't suffering anymore than necessary. I wonder if that last bullet was actually necessary? I would really like to know how to tell if the rabbit is actually dead.
5. I need an easier way to skin these things! Making the initial slice into the rabbit skin was VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE. I had pull up some skin on his back and push the knife through using my weight pushing downwards against the ground. Should I perhaps just use a razor to make that initial slice? The rest wasn't too hard but still a pain. What can I use that will easily cut up a rabbit?
6. Any tips for cooking the rabbit? That first one I pretty much cut off everything until I had a rack of ribs which I just threw on a propane BBQ. It took about 20 minutes to cook and WOW that was some nice, tender, juicy, moist meat! The only complaint I have was that it tasted like fish, as I had said before. Does rabbit meat take well to slathering on BBQ sauce? Maybe I should just sprinkle on some Johnny's? Nothing too fancy please.
