Shooting Cottontails and Wasting Them!

brutus54

brutus54

Active Member
Messages
857
LAST EDITED ON Jan-14-13 AT 10:47PM (MST)[p]A friend and I was talking the other day While out Bunny Hunting. About how many Hunters shoot Cottontails and leave them lay to Waste. I know some Guys go out Rabbit Hunting and shoot Jacks and Cottontails and don't take the Cottontails home. I have seen this and heard Guys talk about it. They think all Rabbits are trash! I know who cares. Well a lot of us Guys care. Cottontails are Game animals and are very good eating. Plus they are Wasting Wildlife and taking away from those of us that love a Crock Pot or Dutch Oven full of Bunnies. I Guess what I am asking is Everybody use Good Ethics when out Rabbit Hunting and don't Shoot and Waste Cottontails If you are not going to take them home and eat them. So those of us and our Families that do can enjoy eating them and not the Coyotes!
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-14-13 AT 11:01PM (MST)[p]What about ground squirrels ? Gotta keep the Condor's well fed.lol

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Disclaimer:
The poster does not take any responsibility for any hurt or bad feelings. Reading threads poses inherent risks. The poster would like to remind readers to make sure they have a functional sense of humor before they visit any discussion board.
 
Cottontails are great eating. Wish i had a dozen or so in the freezer but those around here are just starting to come back good so i won't hunt or bother them. Once they repopulate, it's game on!

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Tell this little girl they are trash. She was so excited about her first rabbit. And we made a heck of a Xmas dinner out of it and the other 6 took. I hate to see people waste rabbits, they have a value. The only problem I have is not enough time and rabbits.

emmarabbitsmall_zps59e4155a.jpg
 
Congrats to your Daughter elks96. Great Pic glad to see her break in her new Christmas present like that! the Smile tells it all!
 
elks96, that's a cool looking truck too! Tell us about it??

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
Rabbits are not a game species in my state, and I waste em. Brought one home once when I was a kid and mom wouldn't let us eat it. Kindof wierd considering we ate mainly game as red meat in our house (still bought chicken and fish etc). One time when camping, I shot two cottontails with a pellet gun and cleaned em and me and my buddy, who were camping across the lake from our parents, cooked and ate them. I am not against eating them, but basically they are for target practice and they stay where they lay.
 
If a rabbit isn't "game" in your State then you could do as you please... I suppose, but in Utah and many other places they are game animals and shouldn't be wasted. That's the law!
They are one of my wife's favorite meals and it's always a pleasure to shoot a few for the dinner table.
Zeke
 
>Rabbits are not a game species
>in my state, and I
>waste em. Brought one
>home once when I was
>a kid and mom wouldn't
>let us eat it.
>Kindof wierd considering we ate
>mainly game as red meat
>in our house (still bought
>chicken and fish etc).
>One time when camping, I
>shot two cottontails with a
>pellet gun and cleaned em
>and me and my buddy,
>who were camping across the
>lake from our parents, cooked
>and ate them. I
>am not against eating them,
>but basically they are for
>target practice and they stay
>where they lay.


Wow I thought every State had Cottontails listed as Game species. But New Mexico does not! What other States list them as non Game?
 
>Cottontails are great eating. Wish i
>had a dozen or so
>in the freezer but those
>around here are just starting
>to come back good so
>i won't hunt or bother
>them. Once they repopulate, it's
>game on!
>
>Joey
>
>
>"It's all about knowing what your
>firearms practical limitations are and
>combining that with your own
>personal limitations!"

Create a different post for the rigs. Hunting rigs under general hunting...
 
My dad was a beagle man and made a bunch off of his kennel Papio Creek kennels. He had the national champion in the late 60's Papio Creek Ticker. I grew up shooting rabbits and eating rabbits I don't shoot many anymore but it sure was fun as a kid to get up in a barn or high place and watch the dogs work a rabbit until you got a shot at it. Barbequed Bunny is hard to beat.
 
There are a lot of Rabbits and Hares around my place.

The other morning it was 30 below. There were about 20 Rabbits {Cottentails} and a whole bunch of Starlings huddled together around the foundation of the house trying to stay warm.

When the rabbits are at a high population cycle I don't even have to cut my grass. They keep it looking like a golf green. And thier droppings are great fertilizer.
 
Love eating cottontails. Have done it since I was a kid. Every year Dad would take me on a 3 day hunt for them during Christmas break. chunk them up and put them in a bag with flower,shake around, then brown in bacon grease salt and pepper cook in stove top stuffing untill done. mmmmmm
 
....worms gotta eat, just like the buzzards.....



Genghis Khan raped so many women that 1 in 200 people today carry his genes..
 
>>Rabbits are not a game species
>>in my state, and I
>>waste em. Brought one
>>home once when I was
>>a kid and mom wouldn't
>>let us eat it.
>>Kindof wierd considering we ate
>>mainly game as red meat
>>in our house (still bought
>>chicken and fish etc).
>>One time when camping, I
>>shot two cottontails with a
>>pellet gun and cleaned em
>>and me and my buddy,
>>who were camping across the
>>lake from our parents, cooked
>>and ate them. I
>>am not against eating them,
>>but basically they are for
>>target practice and they stay
>>where they lay.
>
>
>Wow I thought every State had
>Cottontails listed as Game species.
>But New Mexico does not!
>What other States list them
>as non Game?


They're listed with the non-game/exotics in Texas, just like Mt. Lions & Elk. Can shoot them year-round, with a spotlight or from the truck if that't how you'd like to go about it. Used to hunt a lot of timber company land and they had a habit of planting the roads of their properties in winter wheat. I had a lot of fun driving around at night and shooting the bunnies with a .22 off the rds.
 
Its hard for me to eat cotton tails.... not because i don't like them... but because my 22-250 doesn't leave a whole lot of meat on the bone! The bullet does a great gut job though!

Actually I agree with passing on wasting game animals. I hunt a place where there are still pygme rabbits and cottons. I pass on both knowing that they are only wasted when that 55gr vmax touches down. I just shoot jacks!


Anyone ever eaten a nice lowland prarie jack? I shot what I swear was a "40lb" mountain jack rabbit a few years ago. It was huge!! It ate very well!
 
>
>Anyone ever eaten a nice lowland
>prarie jack? I shot what
>I swear was a "40lb"
>mountain jack rabbit a few
>years ago. It was huge!!
>It ate very well!

Was it in the higher elevation? We have snowshoe hares here in the higher elevations..They are pretty damn big rabbits..

horsepoop.gif


Disclaimer:
The poster does not take any responsibility for any hurt or bad feelings. Reading threads poses inherent risks. The poster would like to remind readers to make sure they have a functional sense of humor before they visit any discussion board.
 
Cottontail s are good eating. I don't hunt them much in Utah because they are so small. No license required in Montana and they are much bigger. I still only shoot what I want to eat. Jack rabbit, different story. I still remember the truck loads of jacks from the early seventies as they were herded up and clubbed.
 
"Anyone ever eaten a nice lowland prarie jack? I shot what I swear was a "40lb" mountain jack rabbit a few years ago. It was huge!! It ate very well!"

Ah, that would be called a young Doe! :)

Joey


"It's all about knowing what your firearms practical limitations are and combining that with your own personal limitations!"
 
So, if I know someone that went out bunny bashing a few weeks ago and happened to shoot a cottontail and left it there, AND I turn them in, Is there a chance to get a bull elk tag for turning in a POACHER?
 
>Hey elks, do you live in
>Roy, UT? Theres a
>guy in my nieghborhood with
>a truck like that.
>
>Yelum


Nah I am a Colorado Guy...
 
I was out with my neighbor on New Years and when he found out that I had never eaten rabbit before, he shot a couple for us for dinner. I was impressed and thought that they tasted pretty good. My dad used to shoot and eat them back in the day and I knew not to eat jacks but had never had the chance to try a cottontail. I've already gone out and killed a few more to eat. My theory is, if I kill it then I should do something with it like eat or skin it. I don't eat yotes although I haven't killed one either yet. I hate people that waste game. We found a deer on the front this year that the hunters took everything but the front quarters because that is where they had shot it. Made me mad cause a bow kill shouldn't damage that much.


www.biggamedrawodds.com
 
Robiland. How would you get a bull elk tag.... ha ha its a cottontail. You wouldnt get anything for something like that. All that would happen is the person would get charged 5 dollars a Cottontail if it was not in season.
 
>So, if I know someone that went out bunny bashing a few weeks ago >and happened to shoot a cottontail and left it there, AND I turn >them in, Is there a chance to get a bull elk tag for turning in a >POACHER?


If you catch a bunny POACHER in Wy. give the Douglas Chamber of Commerce a call and they may issue you a tag!? They have some good bucks out there....



424jackalope.jpg
 
That's about as good as a guy will find anywhere!
I've yet to kill a jack-a-lope that good.

Zeke
 
I have seen some of those giant Rabbits that travishunter3006 and BuckSnort are talking about. In Utah and Colorado in the higher elevations they are not listed in Utah's guide book but they do exist. Iam talking about 2 feet at the shoulders and 40 lbs is not far off. I heard them called Mountain Hares. You can Damn near put a saddle on one LOL. I Have never shot one or seen one on the ground. Does anybody have any pics of theses things? Iam sure sombody has taken one or two. Plus huntFX4 was talking about Rabbit clubing in the early days I found a video on you tube about it I will see if I can upload it.http://youtu.be/iBrKxdWH6Fk
 
LAST EDITED ON Jan-18-13 AT 02:25PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jan-18-13 AT 02:06?PM (MST)

Brutus, I'm going to look for a few myself. The ones that change to a white coat in the winter are Whitetail Jack rabbits, and the others are Blacktail Jack Rabbits.

Have to correct myself, they're actually Hares not rabbits.
 
It was aroun 9500ft-10000ft of elevation when I saw it. It was seriously a 20+ pounder. I thought for sure it was a coyote the first time I saw it but was taken back upon further inspection. It was incredible to find a HUGE rabbit like that.

I wish I had a camera when I saw it!
 
It sounds like what I seen travishunter. It wasn't a Whitetail Jack I have seen those and they have black tips on their Ears. This thing did not and was a lot Bigger. I was close to it and got a good look at it and when I first saw it I thought it was a dog too. No camera and no gun I was fishing. I was with my Buddy and he saw it too so I wasn't seeing things! They are HUGE! I have seen two in Utah and a couple in Colorado. the ones in Utah were bigger for some reason. And I have seen Snowshoe Hare they are a lot smaller than these things!
 

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