wabbit hunting with the 222

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303carbine

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I went for a stroll after dinner looking for deer signs and happened upon a wabbit. I sniped him from an easy distance of 60 yards and sent him to the big carrot patch in the sky. A 52 grain Sierra Hollowpoint doing a chronied 3025 fps made flying parts out of bugsy. I don't know how anyone can eat the Eastern Cottontails here because they really smell bad like rotten lunchmeat that has been sitting in the fridge too long.:eek: Maybe that's why there is a year round open season on them.
 
.222 is a little too much gun to use on a cotton tail if you want to eat them! Use a shotgun or .22 and when cleaning be careful not to puncture the intestines. They are great table fare.

Almond Cream Cottontail

2 cottontails cut into serving pieces
Flour for dredging
2 tsp. celery salt
2 tsp. paprika
2tsp. Salt
½ tsp. curry powder
½ tsp. oregano
½ tsp. black pepper
½ cup melted margarine or butter
¾ cup sliced almonds
11/2 cup half and half
½ cup sour cream
3Tbs. Dry bread crumbs with 1 Tbs. Melted butter
Rinse rabbit pieces and coat with flour. Blend celery salt, paprika, salt, curry powder, oregano, and pepper with melted butter. Coat rabbit pieces in butter spice mixture. Arrange in a single layer in a 9x13-baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with almonds. Pour half-and-half between the rabbit pieces.
Cover and bake in a 325 preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting occasionally. Uncover and remove about ½ cup of the sauce. Gradually stir the removed sauce into the sour cream and blend well. Pour evenly over the rabbit and sprinkle with the buttered crumbs.
Bake uncovered an additional 30 minutes until the breadcrumbs are browned. Serve over rice.



Nuggets McRabbit

Boneless rabbit meat, cut into bite sized pieces
½ cup flour
½ cup Bisquick
¼ tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. seasoned salt
1 egg
2 Tbs. oil
1 cup club soda,or beer
Oil for frying

Mix flour, bisquick salt and spices. In a separate bowl beat egg until frothy, add oil and soda or beer. Mix and add to the flour. Mix well. Dredge rabbit in plain flour then dip in the batter. Fry in oil until golden brown on all sides. Serve with BBQ sauce or honey mustard.



Sweet and Sour Rabbit

1 Rabbit cut into sections
¾ cup vinegar
2 large onions sliced thin
12-18 prunes
1 bottle sweet red wine
oil
2 TBS. cornstarch

Soak rabbit in vinegar and enough water to cover for at least 2 hrs. or overnight. Drain rabbit and pat dry, brown rabbit in oil, add onions and saute until onions are clear. add wine and prunes , bring to a boil and cover , simmer for 1 ½ hrs or until tender Remove rabbit and prunes thicken sauce with cornstarch dissolved in water. Add rabbit to gravy sery over rice or noodles . Prunes can be eaten or discarded.


Rabbit Delight


1 young rabbit, cut into serving pieces
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup chicken broth
¼ cup lemon juice
¾ cup orange juice
2 green peppers, chopped
½ cup chopped mushrooms
1 Tbs. fresh parsley, chopped
Pinch of ginger
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown rabbit pieces in oil. Add remaining ingredients and cover. Simmer on low heat until tender. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.
 
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mommabear

Some guys like to eat the stinky ones.....but not me.:D
I saw lots of deer before opening day and then they all looked at their little seasonal watches and left the play area.
 
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rollingrockhead

I prefer to use a 12 guage or something in 30 caliber, but I have taken deer with 22 Hornet,.222 Remington,22-250 with one well placed shot and I have never had to blast away like some buck fevered pit lampin' punk with an sks.
Does that answer your question??:rolleyes:
 
222

No, definitely not the load I would use for deer. I have a .308, 7x57, .338, 45-70 and a 12 gauge if I am seriously looking to bag a deer.
The 222 will do in a pinch with the right bullets like Partition's and Barnes X bullets but I prefer bigger calibers to be sure of a swift kill. You can't eat tracks, no matter how many there is.
 
I "liked" hunting rabbits with the 223... Head shots only... resulted in NO HEAD on the rabbit... he he he, instant bang flop!

Cheers
Jay
 
Shot many white tailed jacks around here with my sweet Sako 222 heavy barrel varmint. Get them while hunting fox and coyote. 50gr. Sierra blitz/20.5 IMR4198.

As for eating rabbit... have heard one should not consume it in a month that does not have an "R" in it. Might be a fable as I know of no scientific info behind it,
 
M12shooter, what part of the province do you usually find the Jacks? I've only seen 3 or 4 cottontails my whole life, and never seen a Jack (Although my cabin is North of Winnipeg, not South) but I heard there are lots in the Southern part of the province in the prairies, is this true? Also, I never see any cottontails during the day, even in an area with lots of tracks, are they nocturnal or more active at night?
 
Funny reminds me of the first furry critter to fall to the 222.

It was in Northern Ontario and I happened upon the Worlds Stupidest Rabbit at about 35 yards up the trail. Up came the rifle and bang, dead bunny.

Strange thing was I seen something fly out of him, upon inspection of Mr Bunny, not to be found an unbroken bone in his carcass, and finding the flying object: The extreme hyrdraulic action, literally blew his heart out, almost in surgical precision.

You must think I am the Worlds Biggest Liar.....
 
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There is a dangerous parisite that lives on a cotontails (and maybe other rabbits) I forget the exact name but basically the infected rabbits and/or parisites die after the first frosts.

The default answer to "why did you shoot it" is always "it looked at me funny"
 
wabbits

As I have stated before, here on the Island the Eastern Cottontail is an introduced species. Therefore they can be shot where ever they are encountered. (Legally of course.)There is no bag limit, and yes they can carry the parasite that aulrich was talking about. When I shoot deer here they usually have some smell as does any dead game, but these rabbits have a smell that makes you want to hurl your lunch. :eek: I have shot rabbits up north and they make really good bunny stew, but after smelling one of these, "imports" I have been turned away from wabbit stew. Elmer Fudd would have puked too, now I know why he says, "kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit".:runaway:
 
303carbine said:
I prefer to use a 12 guage or something in 30 caliber, but I have taken deer with 22 Hornet,.222 Remington,22-250 with one well placed shot and I have never had to blast away like some buck fevered pit lampin' punk with an sks.
Does that answer your question??:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

:runaway: Oh relax, I wasn't going to blame you for being undergunned and question you about the visibility by the time you finished your dinner. I'll also take your words seriously that you always make one shot bang flop. I was just curious how your .222 work on a deer as I've seen how a .223 work on a black bear. :rolleyes:
 
aulrich said:
There is a dangerous parisite that lives on a cotontails (and maybe other rabbits) I forget the exact name but basically the infected rabbits and/or parisites die after the first frosts.

The default answer to "why did you shoot it" is always "it looked at me funny"
Click to expand...


I have heard of this being present in out Varying hares in Ontario, but i have never seen it myself.
 
rollingrock

I have been hunting for 33 years now, I have never lost an animal. I have shot and had to look for the odd one, but always recovered it. I hope you find a good bolt action rifle in a caliber that is suited to hunting big game rather than an sks. The 7.62x39 is a fine round when handloaded and fired from a good rifle with a scope. I have shot deer with my Dad's Ruger 77MKII in 7.62x39 with good handloads and a Leupold scope on it. I limited the shots to 100 yards or less and made the heart lung shot when a broaside shot presented itself. I found that a 270, 308 , 30-06 were better choices for big game and used the 7.62x39 for close shots on coyotes and other varmints.
 
aulrich said:
There is a dangerous parisite that lives on a cotontails (and maybe other rabbits) I forget the exact name but basically the infected rabbits and/or parisites die after the first frosts.

The default answer to "why did you shoot it" is always "it looked at me funny"
Click to expand...

Is this the same disease as having lesions or bumps on the inside of their ears?

I personally know that a jackrabbit is capable of reaching speeds of 60km/h
 
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