Got my first rabbits

[AlienHobo]

Like a lot of others this year, I took advantage of the opportunity to get a hunting license by taking the on-line-only Hunter's Safety course. One problem, is that the place I wanted to try my first rabbit hunt was all burned up in this year's fires.

Well, it turns out my in-laws have a rabbit problem and asked me if I wanted to help them out, but they live down south in the desert near the Anza-Borego State Park. So, I didn't get a chance to get down there until this Thanksgiving.

I used a Gamo Whisper Wildcat .22 pellet air rifle.

We arrived late Wednesday afternoon, but I managed to get two before the sun set..

No hunting on Thanksgiving, but on Friday, I got two more. I probably would have gotten more, but there was a hawk hanging around that seemed to spook them.

Skinned and gutted them and left the head, guts fur and feet for the coyotes.

I've never eaten rabbit before, so I 'm looking forward to trying it out.

Here is a picture of my first kills.

[johnnyh75]

congrats !!

[faris1984]

nice

[M76]

[racinjason233]

^^^^^^
That made me laugh!!

Great job! Cottontails too, Yummy!

[dovehunter]

Watch out for worms! Here in Kern County, most have worms. I take my son almost everyday to shoot rabbits. Got 4 today. Most have worms. All cotton tails.

[johnthomas]

I thought you had pet rabbits. At least those wont poop all over. lol

[AlienHobo]

Watch out for worms! Here in Kern County, most have worms. I take my son almost everyday to shoot rabbits. Got 4 today. Most have worms. All cotton tails.

I didn't see any worms. Where should I look?

[tony270]

WTG, look for a defective liver, white or yellow spots, fatty deposits, strange off color, looks healthy then cook throughly as with any meat.

I didn't see any worms. Where should I look?

Might be referring to wolves/botfly larva. They get on deer, etc, cattle and other farm animals too, they are obvious and located just under the skin, doesn’t ruin the meat but look gross. Worms in the meat are killed during the cooking stage, they look like strings attached to muscles, can be difficult to distinguish from the rabbit muscle itself, also in the body cavity, cut out the ribs and remove the parts like you do a chicken.

[bigbossman]

I didn't see any worms. Where should I look?

Most of the Central Valley rabbits I killed had tape worm cysts or Bot Fly larvae in residence. The Bot Fly larvae come off with the skin and the tape worm cysts are in the abdominal cavity and wash out easily, so no worries with either. Once in a while you will get one with a very spotty liver, or what looks like gooey pustules in the meat. Don't eat those.

I always used nitrile gloves when field processing the rabbits I took, to help with avoiding Tularemia and so forth. I recommend the practice..... keeps your hands free of blood and gore, too.... less cleanup is always a good thing.

[AlienHobo]

WTG, look for a defective liver, white or yellow spots, fatty deposits, strange off color, looks healthy then cook throughly as with any meat.



Might be referring to wolves/botfly larva. They get on deer, etc, cattle and other farm animals too, they are obvious and located just under the skin, doesn’t ruin the meat but look gross. Worms in the meat are killed during the cooking stage, they look like strings attached to muscles, can be difficult to distinguish from the rabbit muscle itself, also in the body cavity, cut out the ribs and remove the parts like you do a chicken.

Most of the Central Valley rabbits I killed had tape worm cysts or Bot Fly larvae in residence. The Bot Fly larvae come off with the skin and the tape worm cysts are in the abdominal cavity and wash out easily, so no worries with either. Once in a while you will get one with a very spotty liver, or what looks like gooey pustules in the meat. Don't eat those.

I always used nitrile gloves when field processing the rabbits I took, to help with avoiding Tularemia and so forth. I recommend the practice..... keeps your hands free of blood and gore, too.... less cleanup is always a good thing.

Thanks for the info, guys!

[bigbossman]

Thanks for the info, guys!

Not a problem, rabbit hunting is one of my favorite hunting activities, and I've killed a ton of them. They have their fair share of parasites, but most are in the guts or in/on the skin. I don't recall ever seeing one with wormy meat, but most all either had the cysts or Bot Fly. Once in a while I got one with a diseased liver, but not very often.