Processing a hare

Ottoshot

Ottoshot

Joined
Sep 13, 2007
Messages
479
I got out today and managed to get my first hare. I was going for cottontails but this guy will suffice. What a beautiful animal. Clean kill with my vintage 1960s Marlin 39A golden.

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Respect and thanks...
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I did manage to dress it without any help but I would like some input on what you guys do with these creatures after youve shot one. I know that the meat of Jackrabbits is rather gamey compared to cottontails but that shouldnt be a problem.

What do you guys do with the pelts? seems a shame to throw them away. I was thinking I could use it to train my dog to flush out rabbits?

Any advice on skinning would be great.
 
Another thing, this meat should be safe to eat? I checked out the liver, looks healthy. I found a web page that was warning that you would pretty much die of parasites and disease if you ate wild rabbit meat.

I dont belive it.
 
The web page you read was probably completely overblown, but you do need to worry about Tularemia (AKA rabbit fever). A wet hacking cough means its working. If you were going to get this it would have been most likely as you were cleaning it, I'm not aware of any other microorganisms that you need to be careful about with rabbits. As far as breaking down the meat, I can't help you on that but I would go ahead and eat it, just be sure to cook it well.
 
If the liver looked fine and there were no other abnormal things on the internals, it should be good. I have shot rabbits and squirrels with some pretty funky stuff on the liver and just left them lay.

I usually just gut and skin rabbits and squirrels. Remove the head and lower legs, and that's about it.

That's a sweet Marlin, by the way. I love those guns!
 
Wild hare is safer to eat than veal and boar the chances of you getting sick from game meat is extremely rare. Areas that should be avoided if you have any concerns are liver brain and spinal cord.

The pelt would make a nice little leather pouch liners for gloves? Liners for your hat ?
 
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rocketbomb said:
If the liver looked fine and there were no other abnormal things on the internals, it should be good. I have shot rabbits and squirrels with some pretty funky stuff on the liver and just left them lay.

I usually just gut and skin rabbits and squirrels. Remove the head and lower legs, and that's about it.

That's a sweet Marlin, by the way. I love those guns!
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Thanks. I really enjoy it too, got it cheap from a dealer.

So next time, before i skin it I should remove the head and lower legs? That makes sense. Skin would probably come off easier than it did.
 
I usually remove the head and lower legs after skinning, they make decent spots to hold onto when pulling skin. Not as important with rabbits, but with squirrels you need as much leverage as you can get.
 
Rabbit skin tears and sheds hair...old timers...VERY old timers sometimes made sleeping sacks out of vast numbers of them, and put them inside a wool blanket, folded, pinned along a side and the bottom.

Also, one year I found a large number of cottontails with fleas...jumping around on the hide as I skinned it in the snow. I always field dress and skin them before putting them in my game bag.

Cooking? I like a pressure cooker, but I'm sure if you Google rabbit/hare recipes, you will find a vast assortment of recipes.

Nice rifle, nice shot.

(Consider...if you field dress the critter, carrying around some empty bread bags, and putting the skinned, dressed carcass in that. Keeps the game bag cleaner, and keeps debris off the meat.)
 
Don't believe the crap people lie about. I grew up eating squirrel and rabbit and eat squirrel and rabbit at least once a week and am healthy as a horse.

I lived in AZ for 6 years and shot and ate a lot of jacks, if you get a young one soak in buttermilk overnight, flour just like chicken and fry, then make gravy from the drippins, better food can't be had.

If you get an old tough one, pressure cook or stew with a couple of chicken buillon cubes until the meat comes off the bones. Take the bones out of the meat and make dumplings, there are recipes on line, use the bisquick one it is my favorite. Another favorite is to dress and clean and bone out the rabbit run the meat through my grinder and then make chilli, as a matter of fact I had that for lunch today.

Congrats on your kill and enjoy.:thumbup: Chris

Edit: Unless you like the texture of an old hat don't roast or grill the rabbit unless you boil it first, if you boil it first it is good grilled with BBQ sauce.
 
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Frontier stew:
An easy bush recipe is to quarter, salt and pepper and then flash fry the rabbit in oil ( I keep veg. oil in an empty plastic 1.5oz liquor mini bottle) add 1 can veg. soup, 2 packets of any hot sauce, thyme and garlic if you got it and 1.5 cans of water. bring to boil and high simmer an hour or until tender. A chopped potato at the beginning or some mashed potato mix at the end to fill it out if you like. All this stuff including a plastic bowl,cup and spoon fits in your pot with a couple of tea bags and hot chocolate packs, fill with crumpled newspaper and t.p. to stop the rattling,to start the fire and eventually "dispose" of your meal. (Using leaves and moss is not fun) Tie or tape the lid down

For contamination concerns your first aid kit should always have rubber gloves. If you know you'll be hunting bring extra and use them. I like skinning with rubber glove's as its hard to clean your hands properly in the field and snow. Cuts down the wet/windchill numb thumbs factor as well.

for skinning rabbit take a small piece of cord and bind each end to rear feet, make cuts around the rear leg hocks. sling the rope over a sturdy branch so that with both hands you can peel from the legs straight down with control and no slipping right over the head.
I was a butcher for 11 years and helped on my dads trapline as a kid in Saskatchewan/Canada.

Nice gun by the way.
 
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do not believe any of the propaganda you will find on many websites. they are liberal's that suck the tit of peta! i grew up eating wild game, 90% of the meat i eat is wild game from bear to snowshoe hare. just soak it overnight in a little milk or salt water and cook as you so desire. snowshoe's are on of my wife's favorite meals!
liberalism is a mental disorder, do not believe their lies!!!!
 
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That Marlin makes me nostalgic. The first gun I ever got was a Marlin 39A with straight stock (mountie?) when I was ten, about 50 years ago. I sold it 20 years ago because I now preferred scoped bolt action 22's. Wish I still had it.
 
skimmerhorn said:
do not believe any of the propaganda you will find on many websites. they are liberal's that suck the tit of peta! i grew up eating wild game, 90% of the meat i eat is wild game from bear to snowshoe hare. just soak it overnight in a little milk or salt water and cook as you so desire. snowshoe's are on of my wife's favorite meals!
liberalism is a mental disorder, do not believe their lies!!!!
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:jerkit:
Liberal. What the hell has liberal to do with a site about tularemia. Most people concerned with tularemia hangs out in survival sites as these. Hardly liberal is it.
The fear of decease from wild game is blown out of proportions wether comming from a conservative or liberal web site.

Tor
 
Rabbits, hum, the other white meat. One of my favorite for years. I do my rabbits a little different. Bang, 22 head shot. Grab the rabbit around the neck so it hangs down like a rubber chicken. Give it a few shakes back in forth to settle the internals towards the legs, then begin constricting, in a milking motion from under the front legs creating more and more pressure in the gut area. As the pressure increases, the rabbit will herniate and the gut pile will pop out to the ground, no fuss. Twist the head off. Grab the skin in the middle of the back. Pull skin in both directions. Peel skin off . Bend the paws and make cuts thru tendons on top. Twist paws and then cut between the joint saving your knife edge. Into a plastic bag or soft cooler. Sometimes hang in tree in cold to cool meat down and return same path while hunting. No fuss, no extra weight, no fleas. Get home, open up abdominal skin and clean out kidneys and extra tissue. Pressure cook for 1 hour in celery and garlic. Remove from heat and release pressure. Remove meat from bone. Back to cooker and what you like and cook for another hour then add noodles. Or, just fry the rabbit up. Have used this field cleaning method for many years. When younger, I use to carry them around hunting. 5 or 6 rabbits get heavy. You can also sharpen a short stick, cut small slot in paw just big enough for stick to go through. This makes a great handle to relax your hand while carrying or hanging the rabbit. Regards
 
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