# Preparing a Cottontail



## wyogoob

Winter Cottontail rabbits can be strong-flavored as the snow deepens and their feed changes from grasses and broadleaf plants to sagebrush and rabbit bush. Here's a good way to take the gamey flavor out and make them tender.

Cut the rabbits up in pieces and remove as much fat as possible. Here I separated a young bunny from an old tough one.









Soak the meat for at least 4 hours in lightly-salted water with a teaspoon of vinegar thrown in. I usually soak upland game overnight. After soaking rinse the rabbit pieces thoroughly in cold water.

Put enough water in a pot to cover the meat and add chicken bouillon, a carrot and a Bay leaf or two. Be careful with adding too much salt or bouillon at this point, cooking meat in salted water can make it tough. Bring the solution to a boil, add the meat and simmer for about 20 minutes. The carrot will really help drawing wild flavors out. Drain and rinse the meat off in lukewarm water.

The old rabbit was parboiled first:









Now the rabbits are parboiled, the fat has been cooked off and much of the gamey flavor is gone. The meat is rare to medium rare, ready to use in your favorite recipe. At this point the rabbit can be deep-fat fried, pan fried, baked, or cooked further in water and then the white-colored and great tasting meat removed from the bones.









I'll put these in the fridge and maybe make some white chili out of them later. White chili is the best.


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## StillAboveGround

Looking good...
Used to eat rabbit on a weekly basis when I was a teenager...
My Granddad chased rabbits 4 or 5 times a week during the Winter.
He only fixed rabbit 2 ways; young ones were fried, old ones were thrown in pot with chicken and/or squirrels...
When Grandmother was alive, she made dumplings (Southern Pasta), after the old man was batchin' it, he used egg noodles.

White chili sounds good.


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## wyogoob

StillAboveGround said:


> Looking good...
> Used to eat rabbit on a weekly basis when I was a teenager...
> My Granddad chased rabbits 4 or 5 times a week during the Winter.
> He only fixed rabbit 2 ways; young ones were fried, old ones were thrown in pot with chicken and/or squirrels...
> When Grandmother was alive, she made dumplings (Southern Pasta), after the old man was batchin' it, he used egg noodles.
> 
> White chili sounds good.


Back home I preferred rabbit over pheasant. Over here in Hooterville rabbit has a sage-like flavor.

White chili is really good. You can use chicken, left-over turkey breast, pheasant, rabbit, grouse, quail, even pork loin...any white meat. Add onions, white beans and all manner of spices. Stay tuned for a recipe.

I like the dumpling idea. Noodles are fine too; had lots of upland game and noodle casseroles. Hey, here's an easy dumpling recipe. It's dumplings and pheasant, but you could use rabbit or any other upland game:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=23943&p=265926&hilit=dumplings#p265926


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## NHS

This is perfect timing Goob. I brought a cottontail home with me last night. I pieced it and put it in the fridge in a brine with a dab of vinegar. This post was the first thing I read this morning. I am going to prepare it using the parboil method. I haven't tried it before. Thanks for reading my mind!


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## waspocrew

That looks like a great way to cook a rabbit up! I'll have to give it a shot some time!


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## twinkielk15

I usually stick my bunnies on a spit and roast them over an open fire. YUM! I do soak them in a brine first, though.


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## hatuquack

You guys are making me hungry... Another variation I love its to soak you bunnies over night in buttermilk, when your ready to cook next night, roll them in bread crumbs, cracker crumbs or shake and bake. Either fry them or bake them. Both ways are scrumptious..Yum


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## wyogoob

Bump, it's rabbit hunting time.


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## massmanute

I went dove hunting with some friends in September and brought home a couple of cottontails. We cooked one Italian cacciatore style and the other was cooked French sasseur style... delicious.


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## lifes short

I like to prepare them as Goob advises and then seperate the meat from the bones, shot pellets etc..
Boil up some chicken stock(broth)thicken with some flour
Dice up some potatos 
add some peas and carrots
Salt Pepper to taste
mix it up good in a pie plate
throw a pie crust over it
cut some slits in crust
toss it in a 425 degree oven until the crust is nice and brown
about 30 minutes

Dive in


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## gdog

lifes short said:


> I like to prepare them as Goob advises and then seperate the meat from the bones, shot pellets etc..
> Boil up some chicken stock(broth)thicken with some flour
> Dice up some potatos
> add some peas and carrots
> Salt Pepper to taste
> mix it up good in a pie plate
> throw a pie crust over it
> cut some slits in crust
> toss it in a 425 degree oven until the crust is nice and brown
> about 30 minutes
> 
> Dive in


Uh...whens dinner??

....and top of page Gorman!


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## lifes short

If I am to lazy to make a pie crust I just cover with biscuits from the pop open cans.


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## pelican

I have a bagillion cottontails on my place. Years ago I pulled a tapeworm out of one and haven't been able to kill or eat one since. Reading this though has got me thinking about trying to get back into them


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## wyogoob

It's rabbit season again and the number of cottontails here in God's country is simply amazing. The rabbits are at the top of their cycle.....and it's rained for 2 years straight....uh, the local government trapper is doing a kick-ass job on the coyotes too.

Desert cottontail numbers are really high. I don't know where they all come from but I like it. They are as good a table fare as their mountain (Nutall's) cottontail cousins, especially if taken before the green grasses are covered with hard-pack snow.

I parboiled this bunny as described earlier in this thread. The rabbit pieces were dipped in an egg/milk mixture and then rolled in bread crumbs. Baked, uncovered, in a 350° oven for about 35 minutes.

Bread Crumb Coating:
1/4 cup - pulverized Rice Crispies
1/4 cup - Italian bread crumbs



I'll try to get some pics of a desert cottontail along side a mountain cottontail next time I go out.

.


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## massmanute

Looks good!


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## gdog

....rabbits in the soak. Saw a rabbit pie recipe that looked good, that these may go toward.

Found this page with some tasty looking recipes for rabbit/squirrel... http://honest-food.net/wild-game/rabbit-hare-squirrel-recipes/


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## utahgolf

too bad the bunnies have gone the way of the pheasant.... I use to love chasing cottontails and boy are they tasty.


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## Critter

utahgolf said:


> too bad the bunnies have gone the way of the pheasant.... I use to love chasing cottontails and boy are they tasty.


Ya just got to know where to chase them at. But then where I have found a lot is quite a drive for those on the front.


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## utahgolf

Critter said:


> Ya just got to know where to chase them at. But then where I have found a lot is quite a drive for those on the front.


yep, I'm sure they're out there just too far for me to try and chase them, I like bunny hunting but not that much!


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## wyogoob

gdog said:


> ....rabbits in the soak. Saw a rabbit pie recipe that looked good, that these may go toward.
> 
> Found this page with some tasty looking recipes for rabbit/squirrel... http://honest-food.net/wild-game/rabbit-hare-squirrel-recipes/


Cool stuff.

Don't forget there's numerous squirrel and rabbit recipe posts on the UWN that aren't too complicated, pretty basic.

Just use the UWN search engine.

.


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## Critter

utahgolf said:


> yep, I'm sure they're out there just too far for me to try and chase them, I like bunny hunting but not that much!


I have been known for driving way too far for way to little but it really isn't about what amount of meat you get out of it but how much fun you have while doing it. But when you can have 3 or 4 hunters limit out on cottontails it makes for a delicious dinner for quite a few people.


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## ARCHER11

Not many things are more fun then rabbit hunting with a stickbow! Myself, brother and a friend went up to Wyoming about a month ago for a bunny hunt and about got our limit with the struggle sticks. I recently moved to Colorado and a big bunch of friends is headed up there again this weekend for the annual Wyoming bunny hunt. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't considering making the 6 hour drive to our spot. I've been itching to get back out for some rabbits! Anyone know of any spots near Castle Rock, CO or maybe up around Cheyenne WY that I could bring home a few rabbits?

Thanks for the recipes GOOB! I'll have to try them out.


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## Critter

ARCHER11 said:


> Not many things are more fun then rabbit hunting with a stickbow! Myself, brother and a friend went up to Wyoming about a month ago for a bunny hunt and about got our limit with the struggle sticks. I recently moved to Colorado and a big bunch of friends is headed up there again this weekend for the annual Wyoming bunny hunt. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't considering making the 6 hour drive to our spot. I've been itching to get back out for some rabbits! Anyone know of any spots near Castle Rock, CO or maybe up around Cheyenne WY that I could bring home a few rabbits?
> 
> Thanks for the recipes GOOB! I'll have to try them out.


Archer, your problem being on the front range is going to be finding public ground to hunt rabbits on. Start with the wildlife management areas.

I have it nice and can take a half hour drive and be into them all the way, but I will take a few trips a year over to the Book Cliffs off of Westwater and fill up on them there.


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## wyogoob

ARCHER11 said:


> Not many things are more fun then rabbit hunting with a stickbow! Myself, brother and a friend went up to Wyoming about a month ago for a bunny hunt and about got our limit with the struggle sticks. I recently moved to Colorado and a big bunch of friends is headed up there again this weekend for the annual Wyoming bunny hunt. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't considering making the 6 hour drive to our spot. I've been itching to get back out for some rabbits! Anyone know of any spots near Castle Rock, CO or maybe up around Cheyenne WY that I could bring home a few rabbits?
> 
> Thanks for the recipes GOOB! I'll have to try them out.


Good job. The rabbit numbers in southwest Wyoming are as good as I've seen for a long time. We went out yesterday and did OK...missed more than we hit using a .22 rifle and a .17 HMR revolver. Probably could have done better with my recurve.

.


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## ARCHER11

Critter, that's what I've heard. There's a decent sized WMA about 2 hours from my house I might have to check out. Or head west and look for some snowshoe. It's going to be tough to beat Wyoming that's for sure. 

Goob, sounds like a fun day. I've only been heading to Wyoming for the past two years but every time we head up that way we have an absolute blast and kill quite a few rabbits. This year has been exceptional!


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## Stunnerphil

Got 2 bunnies last week going to try some of the recipe on the feed the one that is breaded and baked looks really good


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## wyogoob

Parboiled some rabbits in lightly salted water with carrots, onions, lemons and some peppercorns:


Simmer until the pink goes away around the thigh bone. Drain, rinse and discard the lemon slices and vegetables. Use the parboiled rabbit in your favorite recipe.

.


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## gdog

Cottontails ready for the parboil. Man...took short order to shoot them...took half the afternoon to get them all sorted out!


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## trackerputnam

I have a big problem! I have a bunch of rabbits in the backyard that are fat and juicy looking. Problem is they also have names and I remember when they were little and cute. That and the threat of death from the wife and daughter having been served rabbit without telling them what it was. I made up some noodle stuff I usually put pheasant in. They happily ate it then went back for more. It was pretty quiet around here for a few days when they realized what had happened. We are having an early thanksgiving so the daughter and I can run down to southern Utah and get her cow elk. I am making what I call critter balls. I mix a little of everything in these meat balls and cook them in BBQ sauced. This year a little left over rabbit was added to the mix! I have to thin the herd somehow!


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## neverdrawn

When I was younger we use to hunt a wash just north of town. There were a lot of cotton tails that called the wash home and we dined on them about once a week during the fall months. I thought they were delicious, comparable to pheasant. We would work the wash and as we killed the bunnies we'd quick pull out the guts, skin them and leave them on top of the brush as we hunted so we didn't have to carry them. As we hunted back toward the truck we'd gather them up and put them in a bag to transport home. One particular trip I noticed that there didn't seem to be as many rabbits on the brush as we had shot and dressed. Upon rounding a bend in the wash lo and behold there was a hawk gathering up one of my rabbits. I don't know how many he had taken, but I'm sure he ate well that day and the ingrate didn't even thank us! From that point forward we always wore our game vests and carried them as we shot them.


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## wyogoob

Parboiled some Southwest Wyoming desert cottontail hind legs in chicken bouillon with some carrots, onions, and Bay leaf. The legs were cooked about 2/3rds done.

Rinsed them off and deep fat fried them like one would do chicken legs.

Turned out very tasty with no wild flavors at all.

Roll in flour, dip in eggs, then coat with Panko:

Super:









Moist and tender:









.


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## BPturkeys

You simply can't beat Cottontail. Cook it 'bout anyway you want. The plankton of the terra firma.

Can't wait for a little more snow on the ground...little puff balls sittin in the bright sun at the edge of their holes...ping, right in the head. Believe me, you never get to old for this to not be fun.

Don't forget the barb wire.


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## LostLouisianian

Tastes like chicken??? :grin:


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## wyogoob

*Bunny time again*

Bump, its bunny time again.

2015 was the last year we had a rabbit population boom.


Packages of rabbit saddles.


Deboned rabbit meat for salami and summer sausage.


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