How To Rabbit Hunting / Cleaning for the Beginner
How To Rabbit Hunting / Cleaning for the Beginner
Your Personal Ethics About Hunting Rabbits
This may seem like a silly subtopic for some of us, but I have noticed something with age. When I was younger and went hunting frequently, almost every weekend during hunting season, I would read the season calendar and make note of what it was legal to shoot and kill while hunting. For me, it was an exercise in Not Getting Into Trouble with Dad or the Law. Friend, I guess if you had been listed on the season calendar during that window, it would have probably been a good day to stay out of the woods, because I was a young fellow who was bent on bringing something home that was on the game list.
I mention that to cover the subject of ethics. As I have gotten older, I realize that since I am not a vegetarian, that much of my diet will necessarily come from meat. The reason we carnivores do not notice this as much is because the medium of money separates our eyes from the realities of hunting, setting a trap, or otherwise having to kill and butcher game. Most folks will shoot game with a rifle and others will try to bring a little more sport into it by using a Crossbow with Scope and a Pack of Metal Arrows. What I am trying to say here is that when I was younger, it was much easier on my conscience for me to kill game that I knew I was going to eat. As I have grown older, it bothers me a little. Why is that? Because, now if I shoot, trap, or pellet an animal, I will witness its suffering before it dies. Therefore, I personally will prefer fishing over hunting rabbits, but that is only perceptual.
The ethical question you will have to ask yourself is if you are ready, willing, and able to go hunting rabits with a rifle, a crossbow, or a trap, and have a clear conscience after it has happened. I do not want to spoil your recipes for rabbits as great broilers. I also realize that as a homesteader in the solitude of the wilderness, one of the reasons we moved out here was to provide our own food.
So, that is what this section is about. I am not bringing morality of a secular or personal nature into it. Just understand that if every meal you have ever had has come from the meat counter in the grocery store, neatly packaged and weighed, then you could be in for a little shock when you find you have to do this to put food on your own table.
Only you can answer the question as to whether you can do this or not.
I offer no value judgment. I am just giving you a heads up if you have never done this before, because next I will cover how to hunt rabbit, which is probably one of the simplest kinds of hunting you can ever do.
How To About Hunting Rabbits
The forest is full of rabbits. What you are looking for is a rabbits foods. One of the reason that hunting rabbits is so easy is that they multiply like crazy. If the food supply is plentiful, then in the wild, rabbits are sure to be plentiful. Even in the desert, you will see rabbits! You do not even have to be a homesteader or have a lot of solitude to see rabbits. You can see rabbits in the city, camping, or just about anywhere. Rabbits eat greenery, but mostly you will see them eating grass in the woods.
I will not say that I was a mighty hunter, because I was not. I can say that I have killed rabbits with Arrows, air rifles, and a 22 rifle. You do not even have to be all that quiet, although it truly helps if you are quiet. As you go through the woods slowly, it is almost inevitable that you will see a rabbit. Most of the time, you will be able to shoot the rabbit the first time. If you do not hit the rabbit the first time, do not worry, there is a second chance at the same rabbit.
Why is this second chance possible? It is because rabbits always travel in a half circle. They cannot help it. If the rabbit gets away, try to notice in which way its curve of path was going. If it was hopping slightly to the right, you can go anywhere from 50 to 100 feet in advance of that path, and the rabbit will practically hop right up to you. This is something my dad taught me when I was a kid and I never forgot it. It has served me well. Rabbit is a lean meat, and you will enjoy plenty of rabbits in recipes just about as well as you would chicken. Rabbit has much less fat than chicken. So, it helps to go after that second shot, because rabbit makes a great evening meal, or even served mixed in rice.
How To About Cleaning Rabbits
We cannot get into recipes for rabbits, or broilers, or doing this while camping until we know how to clean or field dress a rabbit. This is not difficult, but it is somewhat gorey if you have not ever butchered an animal before. There are numerous places around the net that will graphically show you how to do this, and there are even more useful, more versatile books that cover all kinds of game, but I will cover the basics here.
First, be aware that many animals that live in the woods carry parasites, diseases, and other critters you will not like (unlike your grocery store). It is important that you keep the carcass clean, the work area clean, use a clean knife and implements. Use clean water! Use rubber gloves! You must be careful here. You could make yourself very sick.
You will need to remove the head and feet of the rabbit. Cut the feet off at the ankles, and cut the head off. You can do this with a knife. I have seen it done with a hatchet, but prefer a knife. On the next step, we will remove the skin, but we must be very careful to keep the fur isolated from the meat.
Make a long cut on the rabbits back from the top to the bottom where the tail is (you will remove the tail also). Only cut through the fur and skin, but not into the meat. Insert your gloved fingers into the fur and pull it down on both sides until it is completely clear of the carcass. What you do with the rabbit fur at this point would probably call for another article. Some would use it to sew a coat or blanket, but would have to cure it. Most others will simply discard it.
Next, we must use our knife to make a long cut down the abdomen to remove the guts, or the entrails. There are a few methods to do this, but probably the cleanest (and grossest) way to get it done is to reach inside the body cavity and rake the rabbit's organs out by hand. If you killed the rabbit with a rifle or an Air Rifle, then you will have to be extra careful to remove any pellets that are still there from the shot. You really do not want to chomp down on one of these as it does not make for good dental health. You should wash the meat that is left thoroughly with clean water and let drain. The meat should be stored at 39 degrees Fahrenheit or colder. You may want to pack the meat in salt. Now, we move on to cooking the rabbit.
How To About Cooking Rabbits
Although this will look too simple, I usually like rabbit two ways: fried, or broiled. There is not any fat on most rabbits, so you will need some oil if you decide to fry the rabbit. There are some great rabbit recipes out there if you want to Google rabbit recipes, but I will show how I usually do it here.
For best tasting rabbit, I barbecue it, much as you would barbecue a chicken. It helps if you use seasonings like pepper or paprika. If you stored the meat in salt, you probably do not need to add any salt. Baste it with sauce as you are barbecuing it, and be careful to not let it get too dry. Serve with your favorite side vegetable.
Another rabbit dish I really like is cooked the way the old folks used to call the dish Dirty Rice. Only here, you take the meat off the bone, cut it up into small pieces, and slam fry it with peppers, salt, pepper, garlic, onions to give it some great flavor. Make sure the meat is well done. This is wild game so you do not want to take any chances with there being blood borne pathogens or other critters in the meat. After the meat is well browned, mix it with wild rice, white rice, or fried rice.
A little cornbread and some milk on the side make this a delicious meal for the homesteader in the solitude of his or her wilderness. You cannot beat this kind of eating when you go camping either.
Just be sure to keep everything clean, and you should be just fine.
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