# Jackrabbits



## dmaestas

Has anybody seen a lot of Jackrabbits in an area this year? We have a thanksgiving tradition of going out and doing our part to control the population


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## holman927

I read there are less hawks in Springfield. I bet there will be more Jacks there.


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## 35whelen

Saw a ton on antelope hunt by Loa


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## Critter

It is a drive but the area between Greenwich and Antimony is loaded with them this year. Plus you might be able to get a little fishing in.


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## caddisguy

Our Black Friday traditional bunny hunt turned into a nice hike in the sagebrush. Walking a couple of hours out near Faust and Vernon we did not see ONE rabbit...... out in the sage we did find old sofas, tables, tvs, pop cans and discarded plastic bottles. what is wrong with people?:-?


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## Speedbump

Agreed. I swear you can tell the amount of animals by the lack of trash. The farther you get from people and the trash the more bunnies you will find.


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## Riverrat77

There are several spots in central utah with plenty of rabbits. The girlfriend and I went out this last weekend and shot a few in a couple hours.


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## 12many

Im going to chime in again. First off i'm not any kind of activist but growing up I was always taught you eat or use anything that you kill, with that said killing anything that will not be used is a waste of ammo and time, I know that I'm going to get BS for posting this but using killed jacks thinking that a coyote will eat it is crap, we all know that the deer carcass on the side of the road would suffice and can be done without wasting wildlife (via your hand) of any kind. People now a days think that it is ok to kill just to kill (no better than a poacher), go kill your neighbors cat they do more damage then any jackrabbit would ever do they kill just to kill (urban vermin). Jacks are not not diseased or a pelage despite what people think.


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## Fishrmn

12many said:


> Im going to chime in again. First off i'm not any kind of activist but growing up I was always taught you eat or use anything that you kill, with that said killing anything that will not be used is a waste of ammo and time, I know that I'm going to get BS for posting this but using killed jacks thinking that a coyote will eat it is crap, we all know that the deer carcass on the side of the road would suffice and can be done without wasting wildlife (via your hand) of any kind. People now a days think that it is ok to kill just to kill (no better than a poacher), go kill your neighbors cat they do more damage then any jackrabbit would ever do they kill just to kill (urban vermin). Jacks are not not diseased or a pelage despite what people think.


So&#8230; how do mosquitoes taste? Houseflies? Spiders? Or do you kill them, just to be rid of them?


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## martymcfly73

12many said:


> Im going to chime in again. First off i'm not any kind of activist but growing up I was always taught you eat or use anything that you kill, with that said killing anything that will not be used is a waste of ammo and time, I know that I'm going to get BS for posting this but using killed jacks thinking that a coyote will eat it is crap, we all know that the deer carcass on the side of the road would suffice and can be done without wasting wildlife (via your hand) of any kind. People now a days think that it is ok to kill just to kill (no better than a poacher), go kill your neighbors cat they do more damage then any jackrabbit would ever do they kill just to kill (urban vermin). Jacks are not not diseased or a pelage despite what people think.


One of the dumbest things I've read on here. Are you related to one eye?


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## 12many

I though we were talking about animals not house insects or vermin that could do a person harm, were talking about wasting wildlife maybe these are the future teachings to our youth knowing that its ok to kill just to kill. Some joker shot a monster deer in the thread post "Another Buck Poached" in Big game
This happened south of Cedar City, these things make me sick and I hope that they catch whomever is responsible. Shooting jacks is just a start making someone believe that its ok just to shoot whatever they want. How about the 2 moose poached near current creek on the elk hunt back in Oct? shooting a farmers cows off the road? I know that decent people in general wouldn't do things like this but it has to start with some good ethical teachings.


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## pelican

Hello Ingrid E. Newkirk. Welcome to the forum. I always find it funny when people tell other people what type of life you can take and what type is wrong, what ever did a housefly do to hurt you?.....then try to validate themselves by saying they are not a animal activist. To say shooting rabbits and leaving them makes people, hunters poachers is idiotic. You sound like the same tards that blame guns for the murder of kids in newtown and 500 murders in Chicago. .


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## Airborne

12many->Wow, this is going to be a tough sale, probably not worth the time but what the heck.

Humans place different values upon different animals; I know it’s a crazy concept. Usually this value is based upon scarcity, beauty, monetary, tastiness or other quantifiable qualities. Big bucks, moose, farmer cows all have this. Jack rabbits are not scarce, they reproduce prolifically (that means fast and with great numbers), they are not considered beautiful by most, they have been known to carry disease, and I doubt they taste good (I could be wrong about that). Because of these reasons they are a non-protected species by law and may be hunted and left lay. Much like carp and coyotes, human hunters will not wipe them out by any means and the occasional recreational hunter has very little impact on the overall population. What humans do get out of hunting rabbits is enjoyment of the sport and the chase which has value in and of itself, nobody is hunting solely to feed their family anymore, we hunt because we love the sport of it, it’s in our genetics. Competitive sports are a cheap substitute for the thrill of the chase that our ancestors have done for millennia.


Man has been killing for sport for eons. The myth of the native hunter only taking what he needs to survive is a Hollywood story. The ethos and ethics you profess to be superior are not based upon anything more than myth and urban thinking. 

My family's protein needs consists of at least 80% wild game, I kill big and small game every year and we live on it and love it. So obviously the need for food and to use what I kill is important to me and I follow the law. But no modern hunter hunts because they 'need the meat'. That is a bonus to hunters but is not the primary reason to hunt.


If you still cannot see any difference between animal species and the role of man there are several groups that profess the same illogical thought process, namely the Humane Society of the US and PETA.
Go to their forums and leave this one alone.


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## wyoming2utah

12many said:


> I though we were talking about animals not house insects or vermin


Interesting....I know many a farmer/rancher that would consider jack rabbits "vermin" because they eat out the bottoms of haystacks, but whatever, dude!

Personally, I liken jackrabbits to mice...you remind me of a boss I worked for when I was in college--he was doing a grad project in the Uintas on cutthroat trout and I was helping as a summer worker. Monday through Friday we spent our time living out of a cabin on the north slope above Mountain View, Wyoming and our little forest service cabin on Bridger Lake had plenty of mice to go around. But, since my boss was a bit of an extremist when it came to killing things, instead of using mouse traps to eliminate the pesky critters that he claimed would crawl into his afro at night, he live trapped them and then released them outside the cabin every morning before we left to work...

...needless to say, the mice would just reenter the cabin after they were released. After weeks of doing this, he finally figured out that his live traps weren't doing any good. So, he allowed me to use a real mouse trap!

I took my 3 year old out on thanksgiving day to shoot some jacks...we killed 4 in about an hour and left all to lay and whither in the sun. They may or may not be used by scavengers; I don't care either way. What was important to me, though, was the fact that I could go out with my little one and enjoy some good quality huntin' time together. He loved it and so did I...I am pretty sure that my son will carry my love of the outdoors and hunting on with him, and so that legacy won't die with me!


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## Fishrmn

I know dozens of guys who have blasted jackrabbits with high powered rifles. None of them are wife beaters. None of them are rapists, murderers, child abusers, drug traffickers, or any other type of criminal. The people I know who are child abusers (ex-father-in-law), drug abusers, etc are the ones who didn't want to participate in the jackrabbit hunts.

You can draw your own conclusions, but I believe that people who have shot a few jackrabbits know how destructive a high powered rifle can be, and have no desire to use one on another human being.


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## 10000ft.

I have a dozen jacks and cotton tail on my property, they are fun to watch and my kids love seeing them daily. I pretty much only shoot what I eat or animals causing problems. I personally don't shoot rabbits on or off my property. I don't care if other people do. I have killed dozens of mag-pie and raccoons, a few fox, skunk, mink, wild cats and weasels . . .


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## LostLouisianian

Don't know how Jacks taste but back when I lived in Louisiana there was nothing I liked better than getting out in the morning with the beagles and bagging a mess of cottontails and cooking them up. I think cottontails are my favorite eating game animal. Squirrels and raccoon are a close second.


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## pelican

I have tons of raccoons you can come kill and cook up.....lots of cottontails too this year


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## KineKilla

Shoot 'em....Leave 'em....and laugh while I do it.

I know....I'm sick in the head!


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## Stunnerphil

I'm looking for cottontail to shoot and cook them up they are good eating


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## swbuckmaster

Like chicken


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## dmaestas

Regardless of anybody's opinions, me and some of my close hunting buddies had a great time. We got into a bunch of jacks and a few cottontails which we kept and were delicious. This isnt a tradition we plan on stopping anytime soon. I am an avid hunter that respects all animals, and in no way will blasting some jacks make me want to go poach a trophy big game animal.


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## colorcountrygunner

Good to see you guys had fun, but practice a little muzzle control boys.


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## Mavis13

LostLouisianian said:


> Don't know how Jacks taste but back when I lived in Louisiana there was nothing I liked better than getting out in the morning with the beagles and bagging a mess of cottontails and cooking them up. I think cottontails are my favorite eating game animal. Squirrels and raccoon are a close second.


Raccoon???
Hmmm....
I might just have a new bet for my little brother...


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## LostLouisianian

Mavis13 said:


> Raccoon???
> Hmmm....
> I might just have a new bet for my little brother...


If you want to know how to cook em let me know.


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## wyogoob

Not too many jack rabbit recipes here but there's been some great **** recipes posted on the UWN.

How clean and prep a raccoon:
http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/37603-raccoon-2.html

Every wild game feed has BBQ'd raccoon:
http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/37956-bbq-d-raccoon.html

Baked raccoon with parsnips, the best:
http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/37955-baked-raccoon.html

Pulled raccoon, popular at LSU football tailgate parties:
http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/37957-pulled-raccoon.html

And everyone's Holiday favorite; **** and sauerkraut:
http://utahwildlife.net/forum/26-recipes/37958-koon-n-kraut.html


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## LostLouisianian

Definitely read up and look at youtube videos on cleaning them. If you don't get the glands out they will taste pretty bad. There are several glands you need to remove. Yep, you’ll see a little black gland under each leg between the skin and meat, looks like a buckshot, just pluck them off and any others like that that you see.........also, not all ***** will have the glands,usually older ones, sometimes younger will not have them.....

I cut it right behind the front shoulders thru the backbone and again right in front of the hind legs and throw out the rib cage (center section),there’s not enough meat on it to worry about anyway........the front section and rear section stay connected to that section of backbone...

I’ve eaten **** a number of ways, the best is to pot roast it..........

large oval magnalite pot, season the **** like you would any other meat, put in pot with carrots and potatoes,you can add onions and bell peppers if you want,enough water to go at least half way of the meat, put in the over at 350 degrees with the cover tightly on the pot,depending on the size of the ****,I’d guess from an hour to 2 hours,you’d need to check it about every 30 minutes, cook until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.........


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## 12many

this discussion is awesome I would like to try raccoon, I have never tried it before but I have dog proof traps, have never caught one but something got into them last year and took the whole thing wire and all, maybe someone I don't know but I will definatly try these receipts, I'm not going to tell the wife what she is eating either but I'm sure she will enjoy. Thanks for the awesome comments, also WYOGOOB will you share grandpa Tims receipt for the rub?


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## LostLouisianian

12many said:


> this discussion is awesome I would like to try raccoon, I have never tried it before but I have dog proof traps, have never caught one but something got into them last year and took the whole thing wire and all, maybe someone I don't know but I will definatly try these receipts, I'm not going to tell the wife what she is eating either but I'm sure she will enjoy. Thanks for the awesome comments, also WYOGOOB will you share grandpa Tims receipt for the rub?


The first time I had **** they didn't tell me what I was eating. I would have tried it anyway. I loved it. It's one of my favorite wild animals to eat.


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## wyogoob

12many said:


> this discussion is awesome I would like to try raccoon, I have never tried it before but I have dog proof traps, have never caught one but something got into them last year and took the whole thing wire and all, maybe someone I don't know but I will definatly try these receipts, I'm not going to tell the wife what she is eating either but I'm sure she will enjoy. Thanks for the awesome comments, also WYOGOOB will you share grandpa Tims receipt for the rub?


 
Something like this:

*Grandpa Tim's Raccoon Rub*

½ cup - brown sugar 
4 tbsp - paprika
2 tbsp - salt
2 tbsp - coriander
1 tbsp - black pepper 
1 tbsp - garlic powder
1 tbsp - chili powder 
1 tsp - cayenne pepper


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## brookieguy1

LostLouisianian said:


> Definitely read up and look at youtube videos on cleaning them. If you don't get the glands out they will taste pretty bad. There are several glands you need to remove. Yep, you'll see a little black gland under each leg between the skin and meat, looks like a buckshot, just pluck them off and any others like that that you see.........also, not all ***** will have the glands,usually older ones, sometimes younger will not have them.....
> 
> I cut it right behind the front shoulders thru the backbone and again right in front of the hind legs and throw out the rib cage (center section),there's not enough meat on it to worry about anyway........the front section and rear section stay connected to that section of backbone...
> 
> I've eaten **** a number of ways, the best is to pot roast it..........
> 
> large oval magnalite pot, season the **** like you would any other meat, put in pot with carrots and potatoes,you can add onions and bell peppers if you want,enough water to go at least half way of the meat, put in the over at 350 degrees with the cover tightly on the pot,depending on the size of the ****,I'd guess from an hour to 2 hours,you'd need to check it about every 30 minutes, cook until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.........


Try you some possum yet?


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## 12many

Thanks for the info, I'm going to try these receipts.


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## 06springfield

I agree with 12many we should kill our neighbors cats, they are always pooping in my garden. **** cats.


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