I really appreciate the offer! However I tend not to hunt predators, I guess you could say I feel a certain kinship with them. No judgement, to each their own, it's just not for me unless I was in a starvation situation.
This is all really good information. Thank you so much for taking the time to point me in the right direction. Bummer about the declining chukar numbers though. My work is going to be taking me South and East to Lake Abert regularly, so I am hoping to poke around the rimrock out there too. I am not deterred by needing to travel to get to good hunting territory , I am just trying to find enough info to lessen the chance of a long drive and nothing to show for it. So thank you again for sharing this info.
Lots of rabbits out there in the sage country, hunt with the Sun in your face and look for the color Red. 9 times out of 10 that's the blood in the Rabbits ears that you see.
Looks like a jackrabbit....I have never tried to eat one but I was always told they aren't too good...would be curious to know your thoughts on that?
Replying to my own question I found this article and recipe that seems to make it worth at least giving it a try: https://honest-food.net/hare-stew-hard-times/
I've eaten many o wild rabbits. They can be very good. That said, I was warned when I was a young boy chasing critters that when there is not choice you can eat a jack. But eating dirt might be a better option.
Yes I have eaten a large number of cottontails when I lived back East. I loved them. If Jack rabbit is no good to eat, I have no interest in shooting one. I hunt strictly to obtain food. I will kill a nuisance animal as well. But other than that, I try not to take life of any animal without cause.
Oh too bad! I used to 'hunt' them quite often in the past, usually out near Post, Paulina and a few places north of Redmond out near the grasslands - but never ate any.
Same here.. years ago we would go down between Christmas Valley and Glass Butte and hunt jack rabbits when the cycle was up. Between me and my 3 brothers we would shoot a hundred or more and not even put a dent in the population.. great sport and excellent practice for big game hunting season shooting...
No judgement, just a sincere question.....I just am curious what you did with them if you weren't eating them? I do understand population control is an aspect/application of hunting, but I always thought that was mostly when the large population of a species presented a problem in one way or another? Are jack rabbits a problem in their environment for another species or human activity? Or does population control hunting just help mitigate a population crash?
It kind of a case of cottontails are 'where ya find 'em'
Yeah I have a few resident cottontails in my neighborhood/yard here in Tumalo. But I don't really see them anywhere when I am out hiking/scouting. They seem to be on the smaller side here too. I have seen bigger squirrels than these cottontails in my area....maybe I should be looking at squirrel hunting more than rabbits.
