21 replies to this topic

[wanapasaki]

I shot two giant jacks today skinned them, and threw them away according to the advice I'd been given by my dad who has hunted all his life. He said that where we live (Tehachapi) the weather is too hot and the rabbits are prone to alot of bacterias and parasites. I already know about tularemia and how to check the liver to see if the rabbit is infected. Anyways any input would be awesome. I don't like throwing away game meat

[Jeff213]

It doesn't matter if the rabbits are infected as long as you cook them well. Try cooking the jackrabbits into a stew and make sure the stew gets up to about 200 degrees and stays at that point for a little while. The stringy meat of jack rabbits can be good when slow cooked properly. The process of cooking, if cooked well, will kill all bacteria and parasites in the meat. Just make sure you wear gloves when cleaning and wash your hands well afterwards and also be careful while preparing.

[wanapasaki]

good to know I can eat jacks. Maybe my dad just follows the old wife tales lol. I always wear gloves (well rcently) when I skin rabbits now Thanks for the advice! How is stockton holding up on doves?

[Jeff213]

I have only gone out for doves once and I only got 1 dove when I went out. I don't have the money to buy more shells for my shotgun right now, I am doing most of my hunting with air rifles, and doves unfortunately aren't legal to take with air rifles.

[bretmoua]

I never worry about parasites on game animals. If that was the case, I wouldn't be hunting at all. Like everyone has mentioned already, just make sure to thoroughly cook the meat. I have tried a couple jacks in the past but didn't like them as much as the cotton tail.

[peeker seeker]

Young Jack are great tender and yummy. Just like chicken. well not really a little darker meet than cotten tails and a little more flaver not bad at all . best time to get them is in the spring. and wenter for the older ones.

[wanapasaki]

Those look yummy, did you fry them. My dad freaked me out. He was like "No way jose, If you eat those you'll have a tapeworm hanging out of your @$$" lol so he got my pretty hesitant to try them. Maybe I will just stick with the local cottontails. Let me tell you guys what. I save up a dog poop load of jacks in freezer bags and I'll give them to you in bulk? Sounds good?

[teamhirev]

sounds good to me haha will you ship

[Portagee_Shooter]

That's nasty....I aint eatin' no Jack Rabbits! At least not while my supply of spagetti O's holds out

[Jeff]

Jacks are good as long as you slow cook them. It's amazing how different they are from Cottontails.

[Jason]

A lot of folks do eat them. I don't think you have any greater chance of catching something from a Jack than another game animal. Just cook it good. I personally choose not to eat them but if we keep getting all this hope and change wrecking the economy, necessity may force me to expand my pallet.

[John Bishop]

Jacks are good as long as you slow cook them. It's amazing how different they are from Cottontails.

Yep, cook them in a crock pot and they've very tasty.

[BullsEye]

I love the legs on jacks! The back straps are a lot gamier they taste like liver almost. I am going to try to make some sausage with them when I get enough probably will mix in some pork too.

[TheRoman1]

Your dad's freak-out about jack rabbit is absolutely an old wive's tale. I've eaten all the jacks I've caught since hunting. Many have sat in the car while I went and hunted for a few more hours. And I do believe they do not pose a threat of tularemia; that is only cottontails. Worrying about parasites is fruitless - be sensible and you are fine. I've never even used gloves to clean cottontails or jacks, though perhaps I ought to just in case. The crux of the jack rabbit question is whether or not you like the taste. To me, they are the very essence of gaminess, at least in the desert (no idea about other states). Their meat is pitch dark and very "bloody" tasting. However, I've had people who've never hunted or eaten game before come over for big meals of jack rabbit and they loved it! Check out my recipe on this forum for "Jugged Hare," bar none the best recipe for jack rabbit I've ever come across. The key (as others have mentioned) is too slow cook it - this totally breaks down the effect of the innumerable shiny, silvery tendons you find throughout jack that are tough as fishing line. Also, I found that when it comes to gamey flavor, if you don't have the desire to cook your meet for a long time, an overnight soak in a lot of water with a 1/2 cup vineager, a good bunch of salt and sugar almost completely eliminates gamiess. This worked wonders on the deer I got this year, so I tried it on jack and it worked well. I simply friend the jack like a cutlet and it was plenty tender and has lost much of that coppery, bloody gamy flavor.

[ShooterJohn]

I don't know how many of you have ever had chicken cacciatore but it is something I grew up with. My aunt who raised me used the recipe to cook game I brought home as a youngster.

It is frequently referred to as "hunter style" as the word cacciatore means "hunter" in Italian.

http://simplyrecipes..._style_chicken/There are many slight variations but this will give you the basics. This recipe omits mushrooms, bell peppers and zucchini. But we always had the kitchen sink approach to cooking it all goes in. Canned stewed tomatoes are fine in this as it tastes better the soupier or more like stew it is for me. It really keeps meat from drying out and the tomatoes add allot of flavor. I think the acidity of the tomatoes also removed some of the gaminess in certain animals. We cooked everything from squirrel, rabbit, dove, quail and pheasant this way and served over spaghetti noodles it is a meal fit for humble man or king.

[PredatorMaster]

[ShooterJohn]

You wouldn't know good food. I suppose MRE's are more your taste.

[PredatorMaster]

You wouldn't know good food. I suppose MRE's are more your taste.

Heck yea.

[ShooterJohn]

[Moe]

Growing up in a poor family we ate lots of jackrabbits. My cousins and grandfather hunted them which was easy and my grandmother cooked them. I remember her cooking them in a tomato sauce similar to Swiss Steak. It was slow cooked and really tasty.I went to Utah with a couple of friends to go pheasant hunting a lot of years ago. I didn't take enough dog food but thought I'd be able to buy some over there. Well, everything was closed so we shot a few really big jackrabbits, cleaned them and cut the meat into chunks and cooked it for the dog. We served it to her with some rice and it looked and smelled so good we had dinner with her. Again, it was good stuff. Those were the biggest jackrabbits I've ever seen.

[sum-rifle]

"Meat is Meat" Some tastes better than others. There is nothing wrong with eating Jack Rabbit (which is actually a "Hare") There is some truth to the parasite question but it is also part wives tail. I always heard that you should only eat rabbits killed in months with a "R" in them. (September, October, November, December, January, February March and April) because they contained parasites in the intestines or livers during the warmer months.That may well be true and good advice but as has been said, cook them long and slow and you will be good to go. Even if you do not care for the flavor if you cover with a tomato or other sauce if will mask the taste and you are still getting the protein and calories.

[Colin]

I hesitantly tried jack rabbit once that had been cooked in a pressure cooker in a stew. It tasted like the best pot roast I'd ever had. It was very, very good. I actually liked it better than any of the cottontail I've had.