Went out for a hunt this morning. I've been curious whether Arizona rabbits are edible before the first frost, which is sometimes never unless you go up in the mountains.
I'm still pretty new to hunting, so every trip is still a new experience. Today I shot two jacks and saw opposite extremes of how they react. Both were chest shots at around 60 yards.
The first was a big black tail. He did the most extended death dance I've ever seen, including bouncing off a cholla and getting covered in pieces of it. There was blood everywhere. He looked sickly on close inspection, so I didn't butcher him.
I think the second was a young antelope jack. I thought I missed him completely because he nonchalantly hopped off like nothing happened. I started to follow him and found him lying peacefully on his side about 20 yards from where I shot him. He was still making sounds so I shot him in the head. The head wound did not bleed, and I couldn't find any other mark on him. The "autopsy" revealed that I'd shot through both lungs but missed the heart. The chest cavity was completely full of blood.
The organs on the young one were perfect. He didn't even have any larvae under his skin. The only parasites I saw were two brown ticks on his ears. He also did not have the strong gut smell that I'm familiar with from black tails. I don't know if that's because he's a different species, or because he was young. The meat is fragrant, almost floral. He will go in the pot tomorrow.
I'm still pretty new to hunting, so every trip is still a new experience. Today I shot two jacks and saw opposite extremes of how they react. Both were chest shots at around 60 yards.
The first was a big black tail. He did the most extended death dance I've ever seen, including bouncing off a cholla and getting covered in pieces of it. There was blood everywhere. He looked sickly on close inspection, so I didn't butcher him.
I think the second was a young antelope jack. I thought I missed him completely because he nonchalantly hopped off like nothing happened. I started to follow him and found him lying peacefully on his side about 20 yards from where I shot him. He was still making sounds so I shot him in the head. The head wound did not bleed, and I couldn't find any other mark on him. The "autopsy" revealed that I'd shot through both lungs but missed the heart. The chest cavity was completely full of blood.
The organs on the young one were perfect. He didn't even have any larvae under his skin. The only parasites I saw were two brown ticks on his ears. He also did not have the strong gut smell that I'm familiar with from black tails. I don't know if that's because he's a different species, or because he was young. The meat is fragrant, almost floral. He will go in the pot tomorrow.
