Nobody hunts hares or rabbits anymore

[sachem longrifle]

God, when I was a boy, snaring and hunting rabbits was a favorite pastime with the neighbor kids. We would walk the woods in winter and harvest snowshoe hares and cottontail rabbits and have some fine eating. I don't see anyone doing that anymore. Everyone wants deer. Nothing wrong with that, but I wonder why nobody hunts rabbits anymore? They do taste good, they're plentiful, it's not alot of expense to hunt them.

[Crappie Rage]

I will admit that I get out once or twice a year to hunt cottontails. We brought my 10 year old nephew last year and he shot his first few rabbits with a single shot .410. He can't wait to go again this year.

[Gforce]

me and my friends go out rabbit hunting. we push through groves and get a nice amount of rabbits when we go. usually we use 20 gauge shotguns but sometimes 22s. if the rabbits have fleas on them are they still good to eat?

[metrojoe]

I saw my first snowshoe while grouse hunting a couple weeks ago. It startled the hell out of me. The dog was on it in a heart beat. I never had a clear shot.

I don't see many rabbits. I sure see a lot of tracks in the snow though. They must be almost completely nocturnal.

[fishermn]

Ya just gotta look, they are there, they r just really well camoflauged and will hold tight almost until you are right on em. I quit hunting them many years ago, due to lack of the family liking rabbit, and the potential for tularemia.

[EatSleepFish]

me and my friends have been out 2 times this year. with not a lot of snow on the ground them snowshoes stick out like a sore thumb! the first time we got 12 snowshoes and a grouse i got on the wing with my .22, and last saturday we got 4 snowshoes and a grouse. I've found that earlier in the season they'll bunch up in young aspen and hay swamp, but when the first couple of snowfalls come, theyll head for the thick pines, and later in the season, theyre used to the cold and can be found anywhere. Just walk very slowly, and stop every 50 steps or so, cause snowshoes are very bold, and theyll just sit there trying to remain concealed until they think their covers blown. Happy Hunting!

[thewalleyeguy]

I find it a good way to keep in shooting shape for when rifle season comes around. If you can get consistent at hitting a rabbit with a .22 you should be able to hit a deer that is either standing or slowly moving pretty easily.

[DTro]

I know someone who would really like to give it a go sometime

Champion Bloodlines and never been on a wild hare

[Gordie]

we usaaly run down by the Iwoa boarder to a friends grandmas farm couple times a year and drive the groves for rabbits and it seems to be easier to get permission to hunt for bunnys than phesants and if we do happen to get a phesant its just a bonus.

drto looks like a great beagle have you had him/her out for bunnys yet.

[Swill]

ok this might a stupid question, but don'r rabbits carry disease and flees? Or is that only an issue in September / early october.

And let me guess, the taste like chicken? I would like to hunt rabbits, heck the might stay out of my garden next year!

[Bubbadust]

I get out one or two times a year for cottontails. We tend to hunt along railroad tracks, kicking the brush piles. The action is fast and furious. Two of us will typically take 6-8 in a couple of hours. However, it is becoming hard to find anyone willing to eat them. I don't much care for them, but luckily I work with a guy that does.

[Gordie]

Swill its just my opnion but rabbits are far better tasting than any chicken I ever had. they are good smoked, bbq-ed,cassarolled,grilled,rabbit saladsandwiches. we typically debone the rabbits and use in place of chicken. we even have ground into sausage and its not to bad but you need a lot of bunnys for this.

we dont hunt for rabbits until after it freezes hard a couple of times. was told by grandfather that this ensures that the diseased ones die off and the fleas are gone not sure all of this is true but I've been eating rabbits for almost forty years and hope to do it for another forty.

[CANOPY SAM]

I still hunt rabbits. I used to hunt them with bow and arrow as a kid. They are fun to hunt, pretty easy to find, and plentiful. A quiet day in the woods, forest floor covered in snow, grouse and rabbits in the pan - that's a great day!

Eatsleepfish? You shot a grouse on the wing with a 22? Isn't that kind of a dangerous thing to do? You're shooting a rifle in the air!

[New Yankee]

Grandpa was right!

"Tularemia is a bacterial disease of rabbits that is transmittible to man, usually through openings in the skin. Hunters who notice small white or yellow spots on the surface of the rabbit's liver when they are field dressing it should discard the entire rabbit immediately. During the early stages of the disease the liver can appear normal, though the infected rabbit may behave oddly, move slowly or be easily captured. It is a good idea to wear rubber gloves when dressing a rabbit and it is important to always cook rabbit meat thoroughly. Tularemia is transmitted between rabbits by fleas and ticks. Rabbits die from the disease, so it is not a problem once there has been a good hard frost and the temperature remains cool. A hard frost kills ticks and fleas which carry the disease, and a rabbit infected prior to the freeze will normally die within a few days of contracting the disease."

Copyright © Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. All rights reserved.

Hunting rabbits behind two or three beagles has got to be one of the best hunting experiences I've ever had - bar none. It's just a blast! Been many years since I've done it though!

However, I'd rather clean a gut shot deer than a rabbit! They are really good fried like chicken.

[BLACKJACK]

Quote:

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However, I'd rather clean a gut shot deer than a rabbit!

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Thats a fact, it seems like they're all guts!!! When we did hunt them, it was always a problem having guys using too heavy a shot and making a mess. 7 1/2 or 8 shot will do, it doesn't take much to anchor a rabbit.

We always used to have a rabbit hunt the day after Christmas, we've kind of gotten away from it. They are tasty, especially the hind quarters and back. This year in SoDak, we jumped a lot of jackrabbits while pheasant hunting. We wanted to shoot a couple but didn't want our bird dogs getting the idea that chasing rabbits is good.

[charliepete2]

They are fun to hunt, but taste bad and are nasty to clean.

[Mike #1]

I have been trying to find other rabbit hunters without much success. I have a beagle that loves to chase the bunnies (she looks like yours dtro). If anyone is looking for someone else to tag along please let me know. My dog is begging me to take her.

[Bubbadust]

Mike, where do you live?

[Mike #1]

Woodbury

[EatSleepFish]

Canopy Sam- it was at the bottom of a hill, with the hill blocking the bullet from going any further, so i believe it was pretty safe. also they're wasnt a house within 2 1/2 miles from where we were hunting.

[Mike #1]

We would still like to go so if anyone needs help with a good dog let me know.

[Jim Hudson]

Snowshoes are fun to hunt.. Have always taken a couple days in the winter to go after these rascally wabbits... Good eating too... Cant say much for cottontails though...

Was even better when my friend had his old beagle... That ol girl was good on a track, but was slow... Allowing the rabbit just enough time to stay ahead and make the circle... Usually giving us a great shot on a slow moving rabbit...

[doubleUcubed]

We've been hunting them for many years. I think we will be on about out 26th or 27th year for the Annual Rabbit Feed. Over the years we've hunted them from Hutchinson to Willmar to Redwood Falls to Watson, MN. Many of the older farmers enjoy seeing the hunting crew come back around year after year. Typically it's 3-6 guy's dressed in orange driving a farm site/grove, with one or two of them as posters at the other end. I love deer hunting but Rabbit hunting is a lot more fun with a lot more actions and many a laugh at the missed Rabbits. We use 12 gauge shotguns with 7 1/2 or 8 shot. Now you have me thinking of some of the "older" original hunters who have since passed away. Man, we had some good laughs!! When cleaning them we have one guy chop the head and legs off with a small hatchet. One guy grabbing and pulling the skin off the Rabbit. Another guy holding the Rabbit upside down as another takes a knife and splits the groin area, cutting away the ribs and intestines on the way down. Then they are put into water, rinsed a few times and then left in salted water overnight in the fridge. Total cleaning time per Rabbit with the right 4 guy's, about 2-3 minutes. For the feed we usually try to have about 200-225 Rabbits. We usually only serve the back legs and loins. You will get about 12 ounces of meat from those two if the Rabbit isn't shot up too bad. Some are prepared with Barbeque Sauce, some with onions, some with cream of mushroom soup and some just seasoned. It's top of the line eating.

[HC Eye Hunter]

Double U,

Is it possible to take the rear legs and the loins without gutting the rabbit?

[doubleUcubed]

Good question? We've never done it but I would imagine you could do it pretty easily. If you can clean the Rabbit's while they are still warm it makes skinning them pretty easy. To get what you want I would start by cutting the back legs off half way up, by grabbing the Rabbit in the middle of the back you can tear the skin and pull the hide off 1/2 to the front and 1/2 to the back, you should then be able to pull the skin off over the back legs and be left with back legs and loins exposed. Cut the back legs off as you would on a chicken, etc., then cut the loins out along the back bone. Should work pretty good.