Hungry hunter

Glock4ever said:
Meat should be good. Next time before you dress the rabbit just run your palm along the belly of the rabbit pushing on it to get the rabbit to pee. As for poo, you need to just get more proficient at dressing the rabbit - eventually you will get to the point where you can dress the rabbit without anything yucky touching the meat. There is a great youTube video of a British Game Keeper dressing a pile of rabbits. He literally swings the rabbit until the guts are near the rear and than applies pressure on the front portion until the guts pop out the back end. Pretty damn impressive.
Click to expand...

Yes! I watched that, I tried that with one of them and all I did was rupture all its organs and break all its bones. The stomach split open and half the ruptured guts came out lol. What a mess. Thanks for the info.
 
theBuilder said:
Yes! I watched that, I tried that with one of them and all I did was rupture all its organs and break all its bones. The stomach split open and half the ruptured guts came out lol. What a mess. Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...

Yeah you need to be selective about that technique. It is best used on snare or animals that were headshot by a 22LR. If you hit it with a shotgun, I would recommend traditional dressing. If you aren't already doing so, I would recommend you carry a jerry can of water and grocery bags. You can wash the carcass immediately and put it into a grocery bag to keep it clean.
 
This may sound "weird", but I use a scalpel or art knife for the finer parts of cleaning a rabbit..... I dress them like a deer, only difference being I cut the head and feet off first and remove the fur......
 
I used 2.75 inch #4 steel shot, and aimed with a barrels worth of lead. One took exactly one shot to the head, the other was headshot and looked like another two went in the front arm and lung. I think my technique was just not so good. There was next to no meat damage before i tried the "toothpaste" strategy. I will have to get a nice small knife for next time.
 
theBuilder said:
I used 2.75 inch #4 steel shot, and aimed with a barrels worth of lead. One took exactly one shot to the head, the other was headshot and looked like another two went in the front arm and lung. I think my technique was just not so good. There was next to no meat damage before i tried the "toothpaste" strategy. I will have to get a nice small knife for next time.
Click to expand...

It's kind of funny actually...... I have a "cleaning stump" at my place...... Whn I get a rabbit, I put it on the stump and use a hatchet to take off the feet and head.....

Then I cut down the spine with a regular knife and remove the fur from those cuts. Which leaves me with meat bones and innards....

Then I flip it over to expose the belly.....

Rabbit guts are in a sack just like deer etc, but that sack is very thin and that's why I use the scalpel..... I carve the belly until I get to the sack and then put my finger in to separate the sack from the ribcage..... And pull it out in one piece give or take like you would a deer....... It's time consuming, but I don't mind......

That being said, your method works...... Just have water handy and wash off any contaminants ASAP....
 
Superbrad said:
This may sound "weird", but I use a scalpel or art knife for the finer parts of cleaning a rabbit..... I dress them like a deer, only difference being I cut the head and feet off first and remove the fur......
Click to expand...

This is not weird at all. I use a Havalon Piranta which is essentially a longer bladed scalpel to dress all of my game animals. Depending on the animal, I will also use a heavy bladed knife/saw to cut through breastplates of big game. The Havalon is uber-awesome for dressing game though...
 
theBuilder said:
I used 2.75 inch #4 steel shot, and aimed with a barrels worth of lead. One took exactly one shot to the head, the other was headshot and looked like another two went in the front arm and lung. I think my technique was just not so good. There was next to no meat damage before i tried the "toothpaste" strategy. I will have to get a nice small knife for next time.
Click to expand...

Maybe it is hard to tell without seeing you in action but I find the "toothpaste" technique as you call it, requires a pretty intact animal. If you got any sort of penetration through the body cavity, the pressure won't build up enough to explode out the rear. Lung shots, even high neck shots, can result in leakage of pressure and all you end up doing is crushing the guts and breaking the ribs as you described in an earlier post...
 
Longwalker said:
Forget about sneaking up on rabbits. They are way smarter than you are. Hunt with a dog. Any dog. They notice way more than you ever will and move the game ahead of them. Get ahead of the dog, or work together towards a narrow spot in the cover, so the rabbits have to show themselves. A younger brother or hunting buddy is a poor substitute for a dog, but must be employed in desperate circumstances in order to ensure success.
Click to expand...

I disagree with that statement.

I 'wasted' a helluva lot of days, still hunting rabbits, and was very successful.

I would go to the swamp in the winter, with a Slavia 620, .177cal pellet rifle. This was when I was a kid in Ontario (hey, you can't chose where you're born, eh?). I moved very slowly, constantly scanning. I was looking for one thing; that round black eyeball. It's the thing that you see first. Then a rabbit appears around it.

I found by moving very slowly, the rabbits always froze. I never had one bolt and run. Never.

I would be stalking to within 15' to 30' of them. Then I would drill them in the head. That Slavia would drive a pellet deep into the skull. One shot kills every time.



But... 'hunting rabbits is a waste of time'... the last rabbit I ever killed was probably 1979...
 
Glock4ever said:
Maybe it is hard to tell without seeing you in action but I find the "toothpaste" technique as you call it, requires a pretty intact animal. If you got any sort of penetration through the body cavity, the pressure won't build up enough to explode out the rear. Lung shots, even high neck shots, can result in leakage of pressure and all you end up doing is crushing the guts and breaking the ribs as you described in an earlier post...
Click to expand...


Yea, i am sure youre right. Like i said the one rabbit was shot through the lungs, incidentally this is also the one that i tried with.
 
Demonical said:
I disagree with that statement.

I 'wasted' a helluva lot of days, still hunting rabbits, and was very successful.

I would go to the swamp in the winter, with a Slavia 620, .177cal pellet rifle. This was when I was a kid in Ontario (hey, you can't chose where you're born, eh?). I moved very slowly, constantly scanning. I was looking for one thing; that round black eyeball. It's the thing that you see first. Then a rabbit appears around it.

I found by moving very slowly, the rabbits always froze. I never had one bolt and run. Never.

I would be stalking to within 15' to 30' of them. Then I would drill them in the head. That Slavia would drive a pellet deep into the skull. One shot kills every time.



But... 'hunting rabbits is a waste of time'... the last rabbit I ever killed was probably 1979...
Click to expand...


Again, I have to agree. Being that I have no good dog, or even a partner, this is how i have been hunting them. It worked for me.. Eventually.
 
theBuilder said:
Yes
Click to expand...

just did the same thing today and got 2 more rabbits. First time to hunt alone.
This time I learned my lesson and shot them in the head only. They're field dressed in the picture

DSC_0130_zpsxyaqiwax.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom