oregon jackrabbit- what about eating them now

A

AirRifleGuy

New member
For you seasoned members accustomed to killing, then eating, this is probably a retarded question but I need to know.

There seems to be an abundance of jackrabbit in an area I will be allowed to hunt and this might be a good opportunity to "get schooled" on taking a rabbit from field to fryer. I barely recall there being a rule about when to eat jacrabbits- it might be never or only when with The Donner Party.

Thanks for your help.

John
 
Different areas seem to have different opinions about it. Personally I consider jackrabbits dogfood, year round. Wrong food chain for me, unlike their cousins the cottontail.
 
I don't understand what is meant when you say "Wrong food chain."

Anyway it's not the highest priority but I often wonder about. These guys apparently get a steady diet of alfalfa and might be OK.
 
Jacks carry a multitude of parasites that die off during the winter. With that said, my old man always taught me that cottontails were good year round, but jacks were to be left for the yotes during the non-winter season. He was raised eating jacks in Nevada and tells me they're excellent fare. I don't know from experience yet, but will soon enough.

If it's still winter, I say go for it. Now, jack meat can be pretty tough. You gotta be to survive in these climates and conditions. One way to loosen the meat up is to cook it in a pressure cooker for a while, then fry it. Make some rabbit gravy. Add corn and fresh mashed taters... Mmm-boy. Make you wanna slap your mamma. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif Another way is to marinade the meat in buttermilk. Make sure the buttermilk has live cultures. The enzymes in the milk will break down the meat and tenderize it, not to mention add a difference to the flavor.

Regardless, enjoy it and share the fruits of your labor with a kid. What better way to get a kid hooked on hunting than to let him/her taste the end result. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif Just make sure you don't poison the kid in the process. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
food chain I eat off of includes

steaks of beef, elk, deer etc.
most vegetables
most fruits
fowl including chickens, turkeys, pheasants, doves, quail
fish of some types including walleye, salmon, trout and many assorted ocean types
most types of nuts
bunnies (cottontail rabbits)
nearly all wild game (game being the operative word here)

food chain I don't eat from includes such things as

dogs
cats
jackrabbits
rodents including mice, rats, prairie dogs
birds that include any thing that looks like a crow, magpie, blackbird, pelican, seagull, ghetto chicken
fish that include carp, suckers

You could marinate my jackrabbits in battery acid for a month.
We make huge piles of them for a big burn off once they have been soaked in diesel fuel...I would prefer to eat the ashes.
 
Quote:
Here's my shortened NO EAT list:

tentacles
testicles
raw fish
membranes


Hav'nt tried Rocky Mountain Oyster's eh? They are actually pretty good. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
They are all right as long as you pop them in a crock pot for a long while with a plenty of seasoning, onions, tomatos, potatos, diced garlic, rice, and soldier beens.
They aren't as good as there cotton tailed buddies but they will do if needed. Not sure if anyone who is ripping on them has actually tried them done up the right way or not. But then again I was raised on the anything is edible when prepared the right way diet.
I'm from the Rogue Valley where abouts are you from in Oregon? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
I included testicles on basic principle after going to a chinese restaurant and seeing tentacles in my chicken soup- I never got over it. The "two T" rule.

When I cook something IT'S DONE, except for a great steak which I will eat mooooooing.

The rabbit deal should maybe be cut/crosscut in several areas to expose the grain ends and let it cook better. Stringy doesn't work for me. When I cook chicken thighs they receive two cuts each that go all the away around the bone. People aren't sure, after smoking it, what they are eating but THEY LIKE IT.
 
I'm rippin on them and I've tried them. Neighbor lady used to cook them up all the time. Between the smell and the little things that crawled out while they were cooking I didn't have to taste much.
The ranch owner where we thin them out prefers to burn them as opposed to letting his dogsor even coyotes eat them....go figure.
 
With good guidance and some assurance I could become more of a "anything is edible when prepared the right way"(rogue_bow) but I am on my own instead.

Fifteen years or so ago I was at my uncles place eating at a party celebrating the visit of his sister from Austria. I dove into a German Gold potato(I think) and found a white thingy crawling out of it- man that sure stuck with me.

I want to be a Bear Grylls but it aint in the cards unless I get stranded or something. Hunger drives the wheel.
 
I used to eat the cottontails when I shot them back in New England. Since I moved to AZ I have heard a lot of stories about "desert" rabbits.

I have heard you should only eat them in the winter because in the summer they can have tulameria or other stuff. You should never eat jackrabbits. You can eat jackrabbits but you have to soak them in brine for 24-48 hours. And all sorts of other stuff.

TBH, I stay away from eating them at all because I can't decide what is true and what is not and I don't want some 10 foot worm growing in my guts or brain.
 
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Quote:
who ever said "anything is edible" never actually tried to eat "anything".



Steve you should come to Louisiana and see what these Cajuns from south Louisiana eat. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jimmy
 
jimmy - heading out Friday night to the farm. Theres plenty of jacks out there at night to make a few meals. I'll clean and freeze a few for you if you'd like.
 
Quote:
jimmy - heading out Friday night to the farm. Theres plenty of jacks out there at night to make a few meals. I'll clean and freeze a few for you if you'd like.



No thanks. I am not a Cajun, but I do like fried crawfish tails. They are very good.

Jimmy

Tell Marcie and Kim hi for us. Will see them in March.
 
Oh well....they still aren't movin over to my list of "things I will eat". I don't care if the month has a Z, Q, P or number in it.

My mother said they ate them all the time during the depression. They were still not regarded as 'good tablefare'.
 


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