Anyone hunt cottontail to eat?

[donny h]

I don't really hunt, but I'm getting a little more serious about my outdoor skills, and here is a glaring omission: I have never caught, cooked, and eaten small game in the back country.

So I'd like to give it a try, and cottontail seems to be the 'tasty' critter in the small game guide for Utah. Would you agree?

I know in a survival scenario raw lizards and bugs are more likely food in the Utah desert than a plump rabbit falling in my lap, but I want to practice on something a guy would eat when he ISN'T starving to death.

Any tips on where a guy might find some cottontails in Utah? I'd swear I've seen them here, but I can't remember any one, single spot.

Oh yeah, I might be in for the long haul, I'm hunting with a .22lr, iron sights.

I've have seen wild turkeys here, a few times, they looked reasonably tasty, but if I understand correctly it is never legal to hunt them with a rifle.

[Iceaxe]

Cottontail are excellent eating. But you had better check the Utah small game proclamation. You need a small game hunting license and you need to hunt in season. The proclamation is filled with a whole bunch of rules......

Pheasant are anther wild critter that are excellent eating. Cook it in a good teriyaki sauce.

Use to be a really good restaurant in SLC that had cottontail on the menu.

Good luck

[fourtycal]

Cottontail are good eats. I have a half dozen in the freezer right now left from new years weekend hunting. I shot them in southeast Utah (south montezuma creek canyon) they were thick. I have seen them above (south of) Vernon creek reservoir and north of the sand dunes on the foothills. It seems like the farther you drive from the city the better luck you will have.

[rock_ski_cowboy]

I've seen quite a few around Roosevelt, but its been a few years.

[LJ]

I see all sorts of cottontail down here around Hurricane every weekend. I think they need to be culled a bit. Can't play the golf course without seeing over a hundred of them.

Dumb Bunny Story - when I was a kid back in the day, my parents kept rabbits for eating purposes. One of them was a pet though, I was 5 or so. One night during dinner I noted that I hadn't seen my bunny Snowball that day. Dad put his fork full of bunny casserole down and asked "was that the white one"?......I still have nightmares from eating my bunny snowball.

[Iceaxe]

"was that the white one"?

[hesse15]

I see all sorts of cottontail down here around Hurricane every weekend. I think they need to be culled a bit. Can't play the golf course without seeing over a hundred of them.

Dumb Bunny Story - when I was a kid back in the day, my parents kept rabbits for eating purposes. One of them was a pet though, I was 5 or so. One night during dinner I noted that I hadn't seen my bunny Snowball that day. Dad put his fork full of bunny casserole down and asked "was that the white one"?......I still have nightmares from eating my bunny snowball.

in sardinia we have similar story
the small little cute lamb make his life as a pet for few weeks and close to crhistmas day you said kids that he was homesick and they gave back to his mom
and you sure you do not mention in front of the kid that they are eating snowball
sad
about rabbit
we eat that a lot
but is not so tasty so you leave in vinager overnight or wine and you cook with capers and black olives and some spice
the marinate give more flavors to the meat
another thing
in sardinia when you buy rabbit in grocery store they have also the head
i think so nobody will put a kitty cat instead
that after you take the fur off look really alike but the head

[Iceaxe]

in sardinia when you buy rabbit in grocery store they have also the head i think so nobody will put a kitty cat instead that after you take the fur off look really alike but the head

I hate to ask.... but.... how would you know this?

You been skinning cats and selling them as rabbits

[hesse15]

in sardinia when you buy rabbit in grocery store they have also the head i think so nobody will put a kitty cat instead that after you take the fur off look really alike but the head

I hate to ask.... but.... how would you know this?

You been skinning cats and selling them as rabbits

no i only saw rabbit skin off and i cleaned a mummified cat (found in my basement) for my comparate anatomy class
so yes they really look alike
never eat a cat and no planning to
my dad did it
and he said kind of taste like rabbit and was nothing special.
In sardinia we eat different food than USA
like my favorite are horse steaks they are so good

[hesse15]

Pheasant is consider a delicacy in Italy if you want i can put original real italian recipes for cooking it

[donny h]

After seeing the requirements to get licensed to hunt in Utah, I think I am going to forget the idea.

Six evenings in class, a written test, and a shooting test at the range is a lot of commitment for a guy talking about taking one or two rabbits a year.

Also, the legal season on cottontails is really short, mid Sept. to late Feb., and this is not when I am in the back country, and game birds are not EVER legal to shoot with a rifle in Utah, so my plan is mostly down the drain...

[Sombeech]

Pheasant is consider a delicacy in Italy if you want i can put original real italian recipes for cooking it

Sure! Let's hear 'em!

[jumar]

Ooo, I could use a good recipe!

[DickHead]

After seeing the requirements to get licensed to hunt in Utah, I think I am going to forget the idea.

Six evenings in class, a written test, and a shooting test at the range is a lot of commitment for a guy talking about taking one or two rabbits a year.

Also, the legal season on cottontails is really short, mid Sept. to late Feb., and this is not when I am in the back country, and game birds are not EVER legal to shoot with a rifle in Utah, so my plan is mostly down the drain...

It might just be worth getting some real wilderness survival manuals that involve the collection of small game.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Field-Dressing-S...QQcmdZViewItem

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006...books&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081...lance&n=283155
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...001&id=0005991

Realistialy (sp), in a real survival situation, you can just skin a wabbit and cook it like that over an open fire. Slow roast, be careful to cook thorughouly. Wabbit is extremely lean, so to avoid 'protein poisioning', eat the entire wabbit.