Pre-frost rabbits in Arizona

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H

hasenpfeffer

Member
Apr 2, 2015
231
4
Arizona
My vet told me that he almost never treats fleas or flea-borne diseases in southern Arizona. It surprised him when he moved here from the east coast. I've been curious to see whether the fall rabbits are disease-free. It's been chilly (40ish) but no frost yet around 3300' where I like to hunt.

I got one jackrabbit tonight. I inspected its white underfur immediately and saw no fleas. When I got it home, I found one of those big larvae (botfly?) in the bag with it, and the wound where the parasite had been on its rump. There was no other sign of disease on the meat or organs.
 
Yep! My user name is a German dish traditionally made with jackrabbit. :) I don't stew the whole carcass. I just remove the legs and back straps, then open the body cavity to see if the organs look healthy. I got 1.75 pounds of lean dark meat off the one I shot tonight. (And I'm sure I left some bits. I'm not a very good butcher. Practice, practice...)

I've yet to bag an antelope jack. Those things can be over 10 pounds, so they should have 4-5 pounds of meat on them.

Edit: Or perhaps I should say, a jackrabbit is the closest thing we have in the US to the European hare that is the namesake of the dish.
 
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If they taste somewhat similar to the european hare then they're delicious. Especially hare stew (the hasenpfeffer) is very nice.

There is indeed not that much meat on a hare(/jackrabbit), the usable parts are front and rear legs and a small part of the back. Where I work for, the back portion is, of which I know, the most expensive per kilo of all small animals we're allowed to hunt. It's a very tender and tasty portion of meat (if cooked the right way ofcourse).
 
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