They skin very easily, skin tears such that you don't even need a knife if they're warm. Just cut under the tail and up the sides of the legs, take the skin from the incisions up over his head and up his front legs. That will leave him wearing fur pants. Pull the skin off the hind quarters. Cut legs and head off with the skin/tail. Gut him and wash him out. If it's a young cottontail, fry 'em up. If he's an old tough buck, smother him or prepare stew or dumplings. Same applied to squirrel, but that their skin is quite a bit tougher than a rabbit. Best get 'em warm. If they cool, you'll have to stand on the tail and pull on the hind legs to get the skin off the upper body. Young squirrel fry delicious. Stew and squirrel dumplings are always good. My mom made the BEST dumplings. I don't do dumplings, just cut cheap biscuit dough into dumplings. It's okay, but it ain't mama's dumplings.
I'd rather hunt squirrel on a spring day in the woods than just about anything. The eats ain't bad, either.
Oh, you don't "attract" rabbits, you have to get out and find/jump 'em. Best done with a shotgun. A good beagle or beagle pack is a super fun way to hunt rabbits, but I don't have a dog. Cottontail love briars, dew berry patches, anything with thorns that's thick. They'll hang out around any dense cover, but such thorny patches deserve special attention.
Jack rabbits are actually hares and they're much easier to spot on the open plains/desert out west. They're not the table fare that cottontails are, though.
Stick with rabbits. They taste much better.