Who eats rabbits and who eats squirrels ?

[Der Aulte Jaeger]

I've had cottontail (several varieties), jacks (white and black tailed), snowshoes, Fox Squirrels, Greys, Red and several of the ground squirrel types including ground hog. All eat well if taken without a gut shot, cooled quickly and prepared right. Fried Squirrel, Biscuits and Gravy is hard to beat.

 

[Northstar]

We shoot and eat a lot of cottontails here in Michigan. We don't hunt them until late December or January though, mostly because up till then there are other seasons we focus on but also because you want a good freeze to kill the fleas. I've also learned that you want to hang them in the garage for at least three but preferably five days before you cook them. It greatly improved the flavor and tenderness. Another reason we wait till later in the season, it's cooler and you can hang them. You don't want it so cold they freeze, but at least 45-50 degrees.

Gut them and rise out good then hang em where the dog can't reach em. Slow cook em with veggies and some kind of liquid, awesome. I'm kind of surprised to hear you guys out west find them so exotic, but then you guys do have a LOT of big game to fill freezer space with.

 

[mdcrossbow]

Started hunting Rabbit with a 22 at 9 YO, squirrel and few years later. Deer did not populate the area till the late 70's so upland game was the after school sport. Got to love rabbit stew and squirrel pop pie.

 

[nickdooley987]

here in illinois we eat both rabbit and squirrel, matter o fact, i just had bbq squirrel today, parboiled then slow roasted in bbq sauce, mmmm mmm

 

[Der Aulte Jaeger]

Southern Fried with Gravy and biscuits! Both yumm!

 

[klrbaer]

I've hunted squirrels for many years, however my wife and kids got me a Marlin 917 .17 Mach 2 about 4 years ago. I LOVE this little gun.

As far as eating them? Oh yeah, as much as I can. I've been blessed with many placed to hunt and the time to spend in the woods. I've taken over 60 squirrels this season and I've still got over a month and a half left in the season.

 

[Moosie]

Do you guys Drink your wn pee for Survival too ?!?!?! Just asking

 

[krshunter]

Absolutely love rabbit. Been eating them since I can remember. Mostly had them in stews and recently decided to try doing something similar to hotwings with the legs. Put them in a crock pot all day with the hot sauce ingredients and they were great.

 

[turkeyguy53]

Rabbit Feast

I had bunny rabbit at a great French Rest. in the Ballard section of Seattle just last night. Yummy !!!!! The pate and bread was wonderfull as well as the wine. See some hunters have another side to them. Life is good.

 

[mdunc8]

After a long night of drinking in college, I watched my buddy mircowave a freshly skinned squirrel that he pulled out of the fridge.

 

[174in]

use too eat alot of both rabbit and squirell kinda lost my appetite for them over the years makes me wonder why I even have 4 .22's

 

[mdhunter]

I know this much... I may not be a world class whitetail hunter however I could be a world class squirrel hunter. Those little bastards are everywhere....Perhaps I should reconsider what I hunt.

 

[JohnCushman]

debone the rabbits and make a spicy beer batter and deep fry in little nuggets.....food of the Gods

 

[rickybobby]

Hey guys! I'm new to the forumn, and this is a subject that's near and dear to my heart - eating. I like 'em both, but I've got to say squirrel is my favorite. Rabbit is good, but a big pot of squirrel gumbo on a cold day can be a life changing experience.

 

[steve sutton]

I had an Uncle who owned a farm in North Georgia when I was a kid. He didn'thunt but his son was my favorite Cousin and introduced me to hunting......he had a pack of Plotts that he used for Squirrels and Rabbits in the daytime and a Raccoons and Possums at night.....

We shot lots of Squirrels and Rabbits and Coons in front of those dogs, (Possums you shook out and brought home to fatten on sweet potatoes before butchering them), and my Aunt made em all taste like as good as her fried Chicken, and thats saying something.......

My Uncle loved Squirrel stew the best.....the entire Squirrel was skined including the head.....backbones and ribs were used to make a stock..thighs front legs and the heads went into the stew with dumplings......my Uncle had sole claim to all the heads, cracking them with a nut cracker and eating the brains with a spoon......to this day I can't look at a nut cracker withou hearing that wet crunch and then a slurping sound......

Anybody for Squirrel stew?

Steve

 

[Randy11]

...my Uncle had sole claim to all the heads, cracking them with a nut cracker and eating the brains with a spoon......to this day I can't look at a nut cracker withou hearing that wet crunch and then a slurping sound......
Steve

That's phucked up.

 

[Big Slick]

The best way to take care of a old jack rabbit is to boil the meat off of the bone like you would an old stew hen. My buddies wife did this with the jacks we brought home then she would make rabbit pot pie. As Borat would say, " Very Nice!"

 

[M. R. Byrd]

Man, I am getting hungry. Think I will do the Chinese buffet in Dodge for lunch.

Any good recipes for porcupines? Seems the land I just purchased is loaded with them. Porkies on the prairie.

 

[noharleyyet]

We used to go out after a hard freeze and take rabbit for chicken frying...make cream peppered gravy w/ country fries & onions...mmmmm!

 

[drthornton]

Squirrel hunting is a lot of fun and just like any other critter, prepared right can be really good eating.

Here a couple things I learned from a buddy of mine from Arkansas who is a real Squirrel hunting aficionado.

1. Most folks simply throw their harvested squirrels on the ground. They tend to curl up in a ball and when they stiffen up in the ball and are harder to clean. Avoid this by taking a small stick and sharpen 1 side with your knife. Stab it between the tendon and bone just above the Ankle. Allow the squirrel to hang straight which significantly helps for cleaning later. Just add to the stick as you kill more.

2. There is a art to cleaning a squirrel. Here is a good link on how to.
http://s428.photobucket.com/albums/qq5/greybeard49/?action=view&current=SquirrelSkinning.flv

3. Squirrels feeding on pine cones can have a piney/tar taste

4. Avoid pan or deep frying older squirrel as the meat can be tough which I think has given squirrel meat a bad name for a lot of folks. In the case of older squirrel I pan fry then put in a mushroom gravy in the oven for an hour or so. Also brining (water, salt, sugar)your squirrel prior to cooking also gives you a very juicy and flavorful meal.

5. How do you tell if a squirrel is older? Simply take one of its legs and bend it. If it is somewhat flexible, it's young. If it feels like it's gonna snap before it really gives, it's older.

I suppose you can follow this for rabbit as well. I have always heard never eat rabbit until after the first freeze due to the aforementioned disease rabbits carry.