Back in the late 70's we killed a thousand of more in a Summer, Each!
My next door neighbors were a precious older Mexican couple, they were like my Mom and Dad. Lina begged me to kill her some rabbits. So, I shot 5 in the head with a 22rf and cleaned them for them. I would usually go over for coffee on Sat morning. Lina and John had a surprise for me that Sat morning, the pressure cooker was whistling when I walked in the Kitchen, Lina told me that it would be ready to cool off in a few minutes.
When I opened the pressure cooker, I could see rabbit backs, legs, thighs, onions, and a two halves of a clove of garlic.
I was hesitant to eat, but they are all grins and excited. I chose a the back of the rabbit of course, and the meat was just falling off the bones. The meat was simply delicious! I ate till I thought I was going to pop.
The next Sunday, there was a big family get together with all enjoying Rabbit taco's, they were the best I have ever had.
Many do not eat wild game anymore. If you do decide to try cotton tail or Jack rabbit, always check the liver for spots and if the rabbit has a wolve growing out of the skin, don't eat it, it is a large worm. These two things are easy to check for, and rabbit is a delicacy. Fried rabbit with gravy is nothing short of awesome.
In Arizona, they have a pigmy cottontail rabbit, they never get tough. I used to sit on the top of a river bed and shoot them in the head as they came out to sun after the morning sun rise, limit at that time was 10 per day. I would cook them basted with pork shake and bake for some fine eating.
Rabbit stew is better than beef stew, seasoning is always the key.
Eating wild game has been associated with poor people, and I have to admit that my dad was a Depression child where hunting and fishing provided much scarce meat as his father was a preacher that was a pastor of several churches at one time and was paid in slabs of meat, chickens, as animals were slaughtered. Today, we are seeing that squirrels and rabbits are not on the dinner plate anymore, they are delicious to say the least.
A few years ago I went to Texas on a hog hunt. Dad and I got a free hunt because I cleaned the hogs and dad and I did the cooking for the group. Hogs were being slaughtered but the general idea was that boars were not fit to eat. A 200 lb boar was killed, I butchered the hog, and slow cooked the hog in a pit. Those guys ate on that hog for two days, including the owner that told me that they would taste horrible. Lots of game animals are really good eating, knowing how to cook it is another story.
Two animals that I can not eat, Javelina and bear, they are horrible tasting to my way of cooking.