Prairie Jacks

Nothing wrong with them as table fare.Headshoot them ,wear disposable gloves when cleaning them. Hide pulls right off.......check liver for yellow spots.....wash or clean with water/snow.Rabbit needs to be cooked slow like in a crockpot with a can of cream of mushroom soup etc. You can pre-brown them in a fry pan of butter on low heat before ......brown not cook or you will be eating a Uni-Royal retread........Snow geese are loaded with lice and southern deer with ticks.........don't effect the meat whatsoever........Harold
 
Would jack rabbits be the canadian equivalent of an english hare?
I think they are.

If so the meat is rather gamey but still excellent to eat.
Google jugged hare for a recipe
 
I say worth a try if you are curious. They aren't bad, but I wouldn't say they are good either. I find the meat tough but im not a chef...so. If you find the perfect recipe and cook it "properly" then you may be able to make it tasty. I usually leave them alone and hope they are there if i'm ever in a survival situation.
 
Lots of meat on them. The backstraps and hind legs have plenty of meat.
Like others have said, slow cook them, and better yet use them in a stew or stir fry. Try to give them roast beef flavour think beef.
The meat will smell rather green, I have probably eaten around 100 of them and I've pretty much had enough, they aren't the best.
I love hunting them but the meat just doesn't compare to a cottontail.
 
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I've heard lots of stories about the Manitoba prairie jack rabbits my ancestors ate. I've heard nothing but good about eating them and some type of stew was often told of.
The common snowshoe hare, often called bush rabbit, on the other hand, were only considered a starvation type food one would only use in emergencies. When I was a small boy in bush homestead land of northerly Saskatchewan, there was one of the largest peak numbers of a snowshoe hare cycle that has ever been recorded. People lived on wild meat and were often with not enough meat to eat, but only the odd family, who were extremely short of food, would eat "rabbits."
The native people knew there was not enough food value in the white flesh, normally eaten, to sustain life, so they ate the whole rabbit and stayed healthy!
Bruce
 
Hardly ever see jacks around here any more. Years ago, there were lots around and many used to hunt them. Rabbit stew used to be a hot ticket item around here.
 
I've eaten plenty of cottontails and snowshoes in my younger days. The cottontail is definitely on the good eating list. They were delicious. I haven't shot a rabbit or hare in over 30 years but was really curious about these big fellas. Thanks for the replies. I may just have to stew a couple. Worst can happen is I end up with a pot of Magpie bait?! Lol
 
If there's any sage brush in your area, I'd think twice. I tried a couple of prairie Jacks back in the day and that was enough. Tough as nails from running long distance, and tasted like sage brush. The second one
was riddled with golfball-size lumps, didn't make it into the house.
 
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