49 replies to this topic

[ShooterJohn]

I heard from an acquaintance last week that they were cited for shooting jack rabbits and leaving them lay. Come to find out it's true. Jack rabbits though considered by most to not be edible are classified as small game. So being small game it is illegal to leave them lay. You must take them and use them accordingly. Leaving them is wanton waste and you will be ticketed for doing so

§257. Resident Small Game Defined."Resident small game" means the following resident game birds: Chinese spotted doves, Eurasian collared-doves, ringed turtle-doves of the family Columbidae, California quail and varieties thereof, Gambel's or desert quail, mountain quail and varieties thereof, blue grouse and varieties thereof, ruffed grouse, sage grouse (sage hens), white-tailed ptarmigan, Hungarian partridges, red-legged partridges, including the chukar and other varieties, ring-necked pheasants and varieties, and wild turkeys of the order Galliformes; and the following game mammals: jackrabbits and varying hares (genus Lepus), cottontail rabbits, brush rabbits, pigmy rabbits (genus Sylvilagus), and tree squirrels (genus Sciurus and Tamiasciurus).

They saw the warden and figured they hadn't done anything wrong. They were stopped as they left the property. Licenses were checked and after a short conversation they were cited and released after returning to pick up the rabbits.

[wannakillacoyote]

So do people eat tree squirrels as well?? I HAVE heard of some folks eating jacks though.

[CoyoteHuntress]

So do people eat tree squirrels as well?? I HAVE heard of some folks eating jacks though.

Grey squirrels aka a tree squirrel -is really yummy..

[ShooterJohn]

Tree squirrel are excellent eating! I wish there were more like the old days. They are super quartered and fried up. Yum! But the way we have them the most is lightly browned in a sauce pan and then finished off in the crock pot with vegetables and potatoes.

[Jeff]

I've still got tree squirrel in my freezer from last season. It's actually some very good meat. I've got some the size of rabbits in my freezer. That sounds good right about now.

[Flaccid Barrel]

Good to know. Pardon my ignorance, but where in the DFG regs does it say that you have to retrieve resident small game? I saw where it said that any animal killed immediately becomes part of your possession limit. But for Jacks there is not limit. Seems as though the warden is splitting hairs and making life tough for some local hunters.Do you think that burying them would suffice for the sake of the regulations? Just trying to keep it legal and learn.

[bzzrd feedr]

It's called "Wanton Waste" and basically means that you must make a serious effort to retrieve the game you kill or wound. I've seen a guy get the book thrown at him for shooting doves and not making any effot to pick them up. Jacks fall into that category.

[Flaccid Barrel]

Thanks for the clarification.A citation for a DFG violotation would be a terrible way to end an outing. I guess I'll look over the recipes for Jack stew and invite the neighbors. Hoping for a busy year.

[Thumper Dunker]

I pick them up to feed a pair of foxes and a pair of yotes that are on some property that they are safe on. And when they have good hides I skin them out.

[sum-rifle]

It does not matter what you do with them after you pick them up. You can go straight to 7-11 and toss them in the dumpster if you want. Crows are the same. It is illegal to just leave a Game Animal lay. You must make an effort to retrieve it.

[acousticmood]

Anybody ever drop their crows off at the post office like it says in the regs?

[Soreloser]

I wanted to jump in here real quick and relay something about the fact that this whole Jack Rabbit and Wanton Waste issue is really serious with DFG right now.We had a DFG Lt. approach us at our last show and we talked with him for quite some time about some up coming changes and he brought up this Jack Rabbit issue. He was a great guy and very informative. Anyway, as it has already been stated, the DFG is and will without a shadow of a doubt cite you for leaving a jack rabbit in the field as wanton waste. Rest assured, this is something that the wardens are actively seeking out and most of them know all of the hotspots that a lot of us have gone to in the past in order to snipe jacks. As of that conversation, which took place beginning of March, there had already been several cases of shooters being cited.Tim

[John Bishop]

I've shot and eaten a lot of jack rabbits. There's really no need to waste the meat. Jack rabbit tastes as good as any other rabbit, it's just tougher due to being more muscled then cotton tails. I simply just crock pot it, and the meat falls off the bones. Plus you get about twice as much meat as a cottontail. There's also some good sausage recipes for jacks. And if you really don't care for the taste, take it home and make some healthy dog food.

[acousticmood]

And if you really don't care for the taste, take it home and make some healthy dog food.

I never thought of that - but what a great idea!

[Braz]

Back in the mid 60's I lived in Hesperia, Southern Cal. Use to hunt about 3 times a week for rabbits for the pot just for the dogs. Would boil the rabbit until it fell off the bone, then would cook rice in the water. When done, would mix the meat and rice together, and the dogs loved it. Allowed me to use my $ for things like food for the family and such.

[X EAGLE 23 X]

I have a jack sitting in my freezer right now. I think it all depends on how you cook them, as already stated, putting them in crock pots is probably the best way to cook them. But their meat isn't all that bad.

[ShooterJohn]

A Dutch oven is another great tool for slow cooking meat in. I can turn the toughest chunk of meat into something that cuts with a fork.

[Tradhistorian]

If you field dress them and find the spots on the liver or stomach (diseased) do you still have to carry it out or can you leave it where you dressed it?

[Thumper Dunker]

You can still eat them ,they can have that stuff and the liver will look fine. Just cook good. . Most of the time the liver is mixed up with the lungs any way.

[hawker]

Young jackrabbit is tasty ... older takes a long cook and lots of other flavors -- it has a liver-like edge. Using jacks for dog food -- that's smart, makes me wish I was hunting jacks.BTW, if you know falconers are hunting in the same field, please don't leave dead animals or parts/guts lying in the open. Throw bits under a bush, bury them a bit, or tear up some grass and cover it. Our hawks will often jump on that stuff and it's a pretty nasty business to get them disconnected, particularly if the stuff is a few days old. Thanks thanks thanksFollowup edit 10/8/10: if you tossed a bunny head into an overgrown dry creek, thank you for your discretion. I saw it, but my hawk didn't.

[DirtyDave]

STEW. I might try this recipe for crow toohttp://honest-food.n...tew-hard-times/PS: I eat everything I shoot except for ground squirrels

[Airpower]

My dad grew up at the foot of Mount Saint Helen's in Washington state during the last depression and they did not let anything go to waste.Years ago he was telling me about eating black bird pie and I asked him, "How did it taste?"He hesitated for a moment before replying and I expecting him to say some thing like, "Taste like chicken", but he didn't. He said, "Hum, well ... like black birds of course - nothing else like it".

[BullsEye]

The best method for prepping Jack rabbit is de-boning it or quartering it into a ziplock full of water and then add a handful of salt. I let the rabbit brine in the fridge for 3 days then I freeze it in the brine. When your ready to eat it let in naturally defrost and rinse the brine out and any left over salt. I have breaded the meat and fried it. BBQed it with a wet rub, Stewed it, made sausage, wrapped it in bacon and cabbage and grilled it. There are a tone of different ways to cook them up but to get the best flavor I brine them and it makes the biggest difference. Enjoy.Here is my latest creation.http://www.californi...showtopic=19425

[Jor64ge]

Hello there!....getting in to small game hunting and wondering if anybody knows about a good area close to Ontario Ca. where i can hunt jacks.....any information will be welcome and apreciated........Thanks!

[TonyS]

Jor64ge

Hello there!....getting in to small game hunting and wondering if anybody knows about a good area close to Ontario Ca. where i can hunt jacks.....any information will be welcome and apreciated........Thanks!

Gasoline and boot leather is the answer to your question. I would not expect to receive an answer on any hunting website to the question of where to hunt.Welcome to CPC. Good luck!

[Jor64ge]

Got the hint..............Thanks Tony,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,nice day to everyone,

[Randyb1]

Agree.. Jack Rabbit can make a very nice meal. I remember as a kid folks used to turn their nose to jack rabbit meat. My grandmother cooked up one I had recently shot and fed it to a one such fellow, without first telling him what it was. He loved it.. Changed his mind about the meat. In fact reading these posts make me want to track one down

[BCF]

Anyone hear know what a "Wove" is? They are nasty thumb-sized maggot looking creatures that live between skin and muscle in jackrabbits. After seeing a huge one, that grew about an inch in a couple weeks of eating rabbit fur in my garage, I decided not to eat them anymore. I cook them up and give to my dogs. I have tried to eat them before, but in my opinion there's no comparison to cottontails as far as taste goes. Fun to hunt them, so I'm glad my dogs like them.

[ShooterJohn]

It's actually a Warble and it is the larval stage of a botfly. Generally, the host is not severely damaged by this parasite. The majority of the injury occurs when the larvae exit the host through the warble. Parasitism by the botfly does not affect the edibility of the rabbit, generally the area adjacent to the warble is trimmed away, and the rest of the rabbit is suitable to eat. They occur on all animals even your cat s and dogs get them.

[KNOCKED UP]

I have never had a problem eating jack rabbits. Cottontail are a little better but you can put a jack in a pressure cooker, and the meat will fall off the bone. Squirrel is some good eatin too!Tom