Is my meat ruined?

[DropOut]

Greetings;

For those of you who know, I have just gotten into hunting but don't have a whole lot of experience - particularly concerning small game. The only part I enjoy more than the experience of being in the woods pursuing prey is actually eating it. This leads me to my current dilemma. I recently stared using a 12 gauge shotgun (before today I've always used a .22).

Well, a rabbit jumped literally inches from beneath my feet and was followed by a series of shotgun blasts. The first shot penetrated towards the bottom half of the critter, where as the second shot took his head clean off.

As a consistent .22 hunter, I'm used sinking consecutive head shots or bagging relatively clean kills. When I went to gut this particular animal (immediately after I shot it), I noticed that the meat had some gritty brownish matter coatings some of it. I then realized that some of the shot apparently penetrated the intestines or something, releasing fecal matter into stomach area of the rabbit. None of it had broken or anything, the excrement was pretty much intact and came out easily.

I took it home and after field dressing it and washed it in the sink for about fifteen minutes and seeing if I missed anything. The carcass is now sitting in my refrigerator.

I was talking to someone about this today and they explained to me that the meat would NOT be safe to eat? Is this true? Did I just ruin some rabbit's day for no good reason?

Say it ain't so!

 

[Liberty1776]

it will be fine. eat your rabbit. if you are really concerned, let it soak in a bowl of cold water for another hour or so. it will be fine.

 

[DropOut]

Thank you - that's just what I wanted to hear!

 

[bdg146]

Yeah I don't see why it would be unsafe as long as you cook it properly. That should kill any bacteria that possibly (but most likely didn't) get on the meat from the fecal matter.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Contaminated meat or not?

Dropout--From yr description, not much of the fecal matter contacted the edible meat. And you washed it off ASAP.

IMHO, the bunny is perfectly safe to eat. I'd make certain that each piece of meat was cooked all the way through--but with a rabbit, I'd do that anyway--Bunnies carry a disease called tularemia that I'm not interested in getting.

Mebbe this bunny outghta be a hasenpfeffer, or rabbit stew, candidate, rather than chicken-fried rabbit. Longer cooking time.

ETA--I'd quit shotgunning rabbits were I you. You'll always have this problem with rabbits shotgunned at any but long range.

 

[Skoghund]

As liberty 1776 said soak it cook it and enjoy. Just be carefull of the shot that really hurts the teeth.

 

[joebogey]

As a kid, about the only thing my Dad ever taught me about hunting was that a rabbit that didn't run was possibly sick and should be left alone.
Only problem with that theory is that once you find out he'll run, it's too late for a rifle shot, for me at least, therefore making the dinner table look mighty sad. The shotgun however kind of evened up the odds a bit and I killed a bunch that way.
Your rabbit is fine, just fry him up kinda slow so that he cooks all the way through. And think of those lead pellets you find as a prize sorta like you'd get in Cracker Jacks. Most of them you'll find after skinnin him anyway.

Oh, and after you get him all fried up, don't forget to use the leftover crunchies to make some gravy for the mashed taters.

mmm mmm mmm

 

[5ptdeerhunter]

My butcher buddy has always told me that getting the (pardon my French) doody on the meat isn't a big deal. The same with the other gooey/messy stuff from the inside of the animal. It just gives you more mess to clean up. The thing you don't want to get on the meat is the urine. That can ruin the taste of your meat. It would still be edible just not as tasty.

 

[DropOut]

My brother is a going to culinary school to be a professional chief, i'm sure he'll cook it properly but I will specifically warn him.

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[adobewalls]

Many of the warnings about protecting the meat arose before refrigeration and chlorinated water. Back then, you could bet that the contaminated part of the meat would turn and spoil within a few hours if outside temperatures were not cold enough.

Nowadays, with the proximitely of clean water, ice and refrigeration much of the potential for contamination can be mitigated because the caracass is usually washed and iced within the hour of being killed, and frozen in not much longer.

Still want to be careful, but the potential to save the meat is much better now than 50 to 60 years ago.

 

[frogomatic]

try a .410 instead of a 12 gauge. Hell, get a .22/.410 O/U my dad's got one, and it's my favorite small game gun.

 

[W.E.G.]

some of the shot apparently penetrated the intestines or something, releasing fecal matter into stomach area of the rabbit

aint much eatin' meat in the stomach area of a rabbit

 

[stovepipe699]

If washed off really well the guts are not going to ruin it. Jack Rabbit makes fantastic stew. Cube meat, roll in flour+salt+pepper+garlic powder,brown in frying pan, simmer in pot with potatoes and carrots(with more salt pepper and garlic)for 3 hours. Add flour and water to make gravy at the end and then enjoy. Made this for the wife and kids and impressed 'em alot. Just wanted to share.

 

[hacksaw]

Overnight soak in buttermilk, coat in flour flavored with a liberal dash of old bay, skillet fry over medium high heat, de-glaze pan with red wine or chicken stock and make a gravy....yeah, it rocks.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I've shot tons of rabbits with my 12 guage and haven't had any issues eating them.