# Jackrabbit, Jack Rabbit (or whatever his last name is)



## massmanute (Apr 23, 2012)

wyogoob,

What are your thoughts on cooking jackrabbit? Anyone else, please feel free to chime in as well.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

If you soak them in buttermilk overnight and then bread and fry them like chicken they're pretty good


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

I've always been afraid to eat them.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

massmanute said:


> wyogoob,
> 
> What are your thoughts on cooking jackrabbit? Anyone else, please feel free to chime in as well.


Funny, we were all talking about this over Christmas dinner yesterday while we were munching on fried bison balls. 

We have covered this a couple times here. I recommend using the search engine while in the recipe section and type in "jack rabbit". There are some interesting posts.

I've just never had any luck with jack rabbit, even jacks from Minnesota where there's no sagebrush. They were always soaked overnight in lightly salted water with a little vinegar like I'd do for any gamey animal; coot, sage grouse, diving ducks, muskrat, eel....others. I've baked them, boiled them, stewed em, smoked em, parboiled then fried them, and ground them up and made salami and summer sausage from them.......even ruined a good pot of gumbo with jack rabbit. No one has ever shown me or given me a sample of cooked jack rabbit that was OK to eat and I'll eat anything.

Man, we have a lot of jack rabbits this year but I don't shoot them any more. It's been a long time since I cooked one. Maybe I'll get one a try them again.


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## Christine (Mar 13, 2013)

I used to cook whitetail jackrabbits when I was in North Dakota. They were dry and tough but didn't taste funny. I ground them and put them in sausage/chili/tacos. 

Haven't tried the blacktailed ones out here. My dog and chickens like 'em tho'.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Christine said:


> I used to cook whitetail jackrabbits when I was in North Dakota. They were dry and tough but didn't taste funny. I ground them and put them in sausage/chili/tacos.
> 
> Haven't tried the blacktailed ones out here. My dog and chickens like 'em tho'.


I got mine across the river from Grand Forks ND around Crookston MN.

.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Going on the Annual jack rabbit hunt with my brothers on the 1st. I intend to crock pot what I kill


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## elkmule123 (Aug 14, 2013)

I enjoyed the white jack that I crot potted. I took it with my bow back in Sept. and de-boned it before I cooked it. Those that I shared it with, thought it was beef. :mrgreen:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

You guys are killin' me. I'm gonna have to drive out in the country and pick up a road kill I guess.


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## brendo (Sep 10, 2013)

wyogoob said:


> You guys are killin' me. I'm gonna have to drive out in the country and pick up a road kill I guess.


I killed a few yesterday goob! I can give you the locations


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

brendo said:


> I killed a few yesterday goob! I can give you the locations


Yesterday? As tasty as those things are some "culinary diverse" Utahn probably picked them up off the road by now. :-o



yeah, top of the page!

.


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## brendo (Sep 10, 2013)

wyogoob said:


> brendo said:
> 
> 
> > I killed a few yesterday goob! I can give you the locations
> ...


These are safely hidden in the sage brush with a well placed bullet for minimal meat loss


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

brendo said:


> These are safely hidden in the sage brush with a well placed bullet for minimal meat loss


Cool. In Wyoming I assume.

inside joke, too much coffee


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

If they are in Utah do I have to use the gutless method to clean them?




yeah, way too much coffee


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Got a blacktail doe this morning. I'll let you all know how it turns out


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Took it out o the saltwater/ vinegar n put in red wine I boiled with garlic, thyme, fresh rosemary, onions, carrots n celery. Put meat in after wine cooled. Gonna soak it for 24. Then ill strain wine n reboil n skim it while I brown the meat bacon fat. Add it all together in crockpot with dried chanterels n let it go overnight. Any tips or feedback would be well received. I just bastardized a couple more complicated recipes I found online.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

35whelen said:


> Took it out o the saltwater/ vinegar n put in red wine I boiled with garlic, thyme, fresh rosemary, onions, carrots n celery. Put meat in after wine cooled. Gonna soak it for 24. Then ill strain wine n reboil n skim it while I brown the meat bacon fat. Add it all together in crockpot with dried chanterels n let it go overnight. Any tips or feedback would be well received. I just bastardized a couple more complicated recipes I found online.


Years ago I tried to cook a jack like that, sans the chanterelles. Reconstituted chanterelles can be a little rubbery. I cut them up in small pieces and reconstitute them before adding them to the crock pot.

.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

I soaked them in the chicken stock before I added them. I hope it's at least tender. I can choke it down if that jack at least gets tender.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Tastes just fine. Tender. Some bites are dry as sawdust others are like slow roasted chicken.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

35whelen said:


> Tastes just fine. Tender. Some bites are dry as sawdust others are like slow roasted chicken.


Aren't you afraid of getting tularemia? Or do you just need to cook them good enough?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

longbow said:


> Aren't you afraid of getting tularemia? Or do you just need to cook them good enough?


I thought tularemia was from rabbit liver or kidneys. We always ate cottontail rabbit liver until the big tularemia scare in the 70s.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

I looked this up on Mother Earth News.

So, yes, there is such a thing as rabbit fever, even today. But no, it isn't a great threat and shouldn't keep those who wish to do so from hunting and eating wild lagomorphs. Here are the rules for safety:

1. Harvest wild rabbits only during legal hunting seasons.

2. Avoid handling animals that indicate by their actions (or inaction) that they may be ill.

3. If you have cuts or open sores on your hands, wear rubber gloves when preparing wild rabbits for the pot.

4. Cook all wild meat thoroughly.

The meat of cottontail rabbits and snowshoe hares is tender, tasty, and healthful. There's no need to let the remote threat of tularemia keep you from munching bunny. Just be aware.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/nature-and-environment/rabbit-fever-zmaz87mazgoe.aspx#ixzz3OCzFQWLg



I feel better now.


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## 35whelen (Jul 3, 2012)

Kidneys and liver looked fine. I'd heard tularemia was more common in cotton tails and would cook out. Since I dressed the rabbit without gloves I figured whatever it might have I'm gonna get anyway so may as well eat it.


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