Questions for you rabbit hunters

Keep in mind you are going to cook the meat. Any bacteria or microbes should be destroyed. Now do I know this for sure? Nope, but I have eaten rabbit, squirrel, quail that have been shot with shotguns for over 45 years. Getting the guts on the meat, pushing hair, fur, and feathers deep into the meat has never made me or any of my family sick. So I would eat it without even giving it a thought. Wash it well, flour it up throw it in the frying pan and enjoy!

If the organs are discoloured, then I toss the whole shebang out. Liver, stomach, kidneys and lungs.

I suggest de-boning the meat, though that it not totally necessary. I raise meat rabbits @10-12 lbs when fully grown and are quite a bit larger than the common cotton tail.. Try green chili & rabbit enchiladas sometime. It will make you a believer.

Deep fried Rabbit Nuggets are hard to beat, too. Then again most anything deep fried is pretty good.

Wash the thumb sized rabbit chunks in beaten eggs, the roll in flour of your choice....I prefer finely crushed Ritz crackers. Then pan fry or deep fry at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes. Goes well with tossed green salad, baked beans and garlic toast. Buen comida!

I sense a future episode of the "Airgun Cooking Channel" popping up on YouTube

Rabbits when shot in muscle tissue like most animals form blood clots around wound producing the gelatin like black spot that I believe is what You saw.Wash em and eat them no harm done in a gut shot rabbit .As far as diseases spread rabbits Tularemia is the most likely to be encountered .Signs of a infected rabbit are skin blisters,white or yellow spotted liver.I have cleaned hundreds of rabbits,squirrel deer,muskrat ,coon,, possum and etc all of which can be affected and have never seen a infected animal.But the disease is out there over a large part of the world.The most common people infected are meat cutters.Tularemia has two common names Butchers fever and rabbit fever .It is spread by handling the animal and eating under cooked meat and flea or deer fly bites.

"JimNM"If the organs are discoloured, then I toss the whole shebang out. Liver, stomach, kidneys and lungs.

I suggest de-boning the meat, though that it not totally necessary. I raise meat rabbits @10-12 lbs when fully grown and are quite a bit larger than the common cotton tail.. Try green chili & rabbit enchiladas sometime. It will make you a believer.

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It would be really great if you did a detailed post about raising meat rabbits. It will take you some time to write down but if you decided to go through with it kindly make it so that a complete novice could do it like a pro that i'm sure you are. Maybe you already have a link to some great guides and can add some tips from your own experience?
Thanks in advance.

I can do something for you in a few days. I'm out of town on hotel wifi and mobile keyboard. I will post in the off topic area with a link here. in fact I will start the post now and update in depth when back home.

Here is the pilot episode:

http://www.airgunnation.com/topic/how-to-roll-you-own-meat-rabbits-for-fun-and-food/

My friend, let me tell you that one day my cousin was cleaning "gutting" some catfish and he busted the bladder in one and he tossed the fish into the "discard" pile. I asked...why are you tossing that nice fish out? He replied "its ruined"...I said no way....I have busted the bladder on many fish and rabbits before and im here talking to you...he immediately picked the fish back up and continued to clean it. Being my cousin and knowing i wouldnt just say that if it wasn't true...i can bet you he never tossed another fish over a busted bladder again. Just make sure you wash it real good and i would recommend freezing your rabbits before you cook them. I like to freeze mine atleast a week or two...but thats just the way i do it. I assure you that i gave my children fish and rabbits this way. I never had anything bad happen...nobody ever got so much as a tummy ache ! ENJOY !!!

If you're looking for recipes, keep in mind that wild rabbits are much leaner than raised ones. You may have to add fat to a recipe intended for domestic rabbit. There's no such thing as too much butter.

True - rabbit meat does not have fat mixed into the fibers, rather their fat is inside the body cavity.

I take it for granted that you are hanging the animal to tender it? Small or large animal, they all need the "40 days and nights-degree hanging".
If 10 degrees, than 4 days and nights hanging. 8 days and nights hanging if 5 degrees - and so on. In celsius that is.
Sorry if this was a bit obvious, but since you mentioned tender....

The age of the rabbit has a lot to do with how tender it is. Little ones are suitable for frying, teenagers are suitable for roasting and adults are suitable for stewing. At least that is how the show rabbits are divided up period by age.

I personally would still eat it. The main thing is to inspect the liver; it should be shiny and deep red with no spots or growths. I always give it the sniff test as well ;-)

Best way to avoid spoiling meat with urine is to drain the bladder before taking it home. Watch youtube videos by Mrdaveratz and huntersvermin. You will hear Dave say wee em out and bag em up.. Also do a salt water soak afrer butchering to help kill bacteria.