dressing rabbits without a knife

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jbr87

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K guys I know this sounds weird but I've seen a couple examples of this on youtube just wondering if anyone actually does this (I'm assuming a head shot is needed for this technique) .

Myself I hang them from their feet and clean rabbits by skinning and gutting em.

Does anyone actually do this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-aQbbX52Zs
 
It is very easy to dress a rabbit w/o a knife.

Step 1 - Twist the rabbits head around and around until it comes off.
Step 2 - Grab fur and pull towards the tail.
Step 3 - part the belly tissue/liner and carefully pull out the guts.

I have done this a couple of time but I am not fond of dressing rabbits w/o a knife because I like to chop the paws off. Regardless of methods, be prepared for the stink - every single rabbit I have dressed and skinned smelled horrible.
 
Glock4ever said:
It is very easy to dress a rabbit w/o a knife.

Step 1 - Twist the rabbits head around and around until it comes off.
Step 2 - Grab fur and pull towards the tail.
Step 3 - part the belly tissue/liner and carefully pull out the guts.

I have done this a couple of time but I am not fond of dressing rabbits w/o a knife because I like to chop the paws off. Regardless of methods, be prepared for the stink - every single rabbit I have dressed and skinned smelled horrible.
Click to expand...

true story about the stink lol
 
Glock4ever said:
It is very easy to dress a rabbit w/o a knife.

Step 1 - Twist the rabbits head around and around until it comes off.
Step 2 - Grab fur and pull towards the tail.
Step 3 - part the belly tissue/liner and carefully pull out the guts.

I have done this a couple of time but I am not fond of dressing rabbits w/o a knife because I like to chop the paws off. Regardless of methods, be prepared for the stink - every single rabbit I have dressed and skinned smelled horrible.
Click to expand...

I would suggest starting at the other end. Twisting the head off is messy and unnecessary. I spent several winters with a Cree trapper and this is how he taught me. Not saying this is the only way or the best way, just explaining the way I was taught.

a) Grasp the fur tightly near one ankle and stretch the skin apart with your thumbs all the way around the ankle; then do the other one
b from there on in you basically turn the rabbit inside out by grasping one foot then then the other and pulling the fur down away from the foot
c) when you get to the anus area, just stretch the fur until it tears where the two legs join
d) grasp the fur of both now skinned legs and pull towards the head- it comes off very easily and quickly like taking off a sock
e) when you get to the head you have two choices: i) cut the head off at the base of the neck if you don't want the fur for anything
ii) if you want the fur complete slide the fur over the head until you get to the eyes, nose and mouth and then carefully skin around those openings until the fur is completely removed

You would need a knife for the last parts.

This fellow's wife skinned the heads because she made rabbit fur blankets and hats. Very warm and cozy. And that is how they did it in Northern Saskatchewan as I recall. I have some pics somewhere of the kids doing it. I will see if I can dig them up. They could skin and gut a lot of rabbits in a short amount of time.
 
Better hope you don't run into this one.

Rabbitattack.jpg
 
That last vid has some good stuff.

The one thing I hate, though, is picking hairs off my food. Chopping the legs off with the cleaver in a regular kitchen, is gonna leave a pile of short, cut, hairs all over everything. You can see the hairs when he does it.

If I had to do enough to feed customers at a fine dining establishment, and had a prep area to work in, maybe... But I still prefer to peel the skin back and split the joint by cutting the tendon on the side and bending the bone sideways. It takes very little extra time, and reduces the amount of hair on my hare. Har de har! :D

Do like the idea of processing in bulk, and eating for a while off the efforts, too.

Cheers
Trev
 
I do it without a knife. Pull out the front legs, twist and pull from the rear downwards. All you're left with is the rear quarters and the backstraps. Guts stay inside the fur. I also carry a pair of gardening shears in my vest and cut the rear feet off, and away we go.
 
trevj said:
That last vid has some good stuff.

The one thing I hate, though, is picking hairs off my food. Chopping the legs off with the cleaver in a regular kitchen, is gonna leave a pile of short, cut, hairs all over everything. You can see the hairs when he does it.

If I had to do enough to feed customers at a fine dining establishment, and had a prep area to work in, maybe... But I still prefer to peel the skin back and split the joint by cutting the tendon on the side and bending the bone sideways. It takes very little extra time, and reduces the amount of hair on my hare. Har de har! :D

Do like the idea of processing in bulk, and eating for a while off the efforts, too.

Cheers
Trev
Click to expand...

The hare hair (har har) issue is solved by doing the gutting, chopping and skinning in the field/forest. This way nature takes care of the refuse, and you return home with "meat" instead of "cute little bunnies", which makes them more appetizing to women and children.

I used this exact technique for the two squirrels I shot last weekend. I have watched the video enough times that I have the process memorized. I found a suitable log for chopping and used my "rough use knife" as a clever. A bit of hair ended up on the meat, but I had a water bottle with me so I could rinse them off a bit before throwing them into a freezer bag inside my cooler bag (had some of those cold packs in there).

Upon returning home you just give them a more thorough rinse, maybe trim off any damaged meat, and throw them in the salt water overnight and then proceed as instructed by Mark in the video.
 
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