Backyard targets of oportunity

[NVScouter]

A while ago I had just gotten off work when my wife tells me she sees a rabbit outside. So I run outside in boxers, tank top, no shoes and get a nice 45y shot at this guy. The solid thunk of the 22 cal crossman premier pellet sounds good so I run back inside and put some pants/shoes on. Its about 25 outside so running over was out of the question. All in all this fat whitetail hare was a good score.

Nice fat legs and huge backstraps, they came out more like a deer than hare.

My son is 3 and 34lbs
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f10/NVScouter/MAR13048.jpg

22 pellet in and out
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f10/NVScouter/MAR13050.jpg
Can you believe that is one hare? Must be 3lbs of meat there!
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f10/NVScouter/MAR13054.jpg
Happy family for dinner!
http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f10/NVScouter/MAR13057.jpg

[John in WI]

Wow--he was a big fat one, wasn't he?

How are you preparing him?

[dk17hmr]

Um..... we normally feed jacks to the coyotes.

Let us know how it tastes.

[John Allen]

This sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy, You might be a redneck if you run around chasing Rabbits in your undies :-)

[7Acres]

Awesome! Looks like you took care of business!

[richhodg66]

Used to have jacks all over the place when I lived down in west Texas. The old timers here say they used to have them here in Eastern Kansas, but I've never seen one here.

Don't believe I ever saw one that big before. Enjoy it, I'd be curious to know how it tastes and how you prepared it as well.

[Bullshop]

Nice WT jack. We can them with spuds, onions, celery, carrots, garlic cloves and a bit of hot pepper to spice it all up. Comes out kinda like Dinty Moor rabbit stew.

[MBTcustom]

Darn good shot. You failed to mention what rifle you used?

[richhodg66]

Sounds like an air rifle. It's amazing what efficient killers they can be. Dad got me an RWS air rifle when I was about 17 and we had just moved into a house with about two dozen mature pecan trees in the yard and no neighbors to speak of. It was in town, but I did some of the best squirrel hunting of my life right there in the backyard.

[phonejack]

Kinda sorta jealous of being able to do that !

[Bulltipper]

Very cool! I too would like to know what your dinner turned out like, we have some good sized jacks here in SW Oregon as well.

[Griz44mag]

A jack is meat, just like most critters. In a stew - fantastic - chunked and pan browned is good too.
Your table spread looks downright yummy. Looks like I'm going to need to do some silly wabbit chasing next fall.

[Idaho Mule]

Ain't that a snowshoe hare?? JW

[MBTcustom]

Sounds like an air rifle. It's amazing what efficient killers they can be. Dad got me an RWS air rifle when I was about 17 and we had just moved into a house with about two dozen mature pecan trees in the yard and no neighbors to speak of. It was in town, but I did some of the best squirrel hunting of my life right there in the backyard.
I know its an air rifle. I was wondering what brand.

[Swamp Man]

Nice jack. I enjoy hunting small game with my air rifles put a lot of meat in the pot with them over the years.

[dk17hmr]

Ain't that a snowshoe hare?? JW

Snowshoes have short ears.

[Bullshop]

A tidbit of info for your wabbit pleasure.
Montana has 5 types of rabbits. Anyone know what they are?

[300winmag]

A tidbit of info for your wabbit pleasure.
Montana has 5 types of rabbits. Anyone know what they are?

Big-Small-Slow-Fast-Dinner, thats 5.

[300winmag]

Hares and Rabbits
From Montana Field Guide:[34]


Desert CottontailOrder: Lagomorpha Family: Leporidae

Snowshoe Hare, Lepus americanus, coniferous forests,
White-tailed Jackrabbit, Lepus townsendii, grasslands
Mountain Cottontail, Sylvilagus nuttallii, forests, brushy areas,
Black-tailed Jackrabbit, Lepus californicus
Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii
Eastern Cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus
Pygmy Rabbit, Brachylagus idahoensis

[Jim]

Big-Small-Slow-Fast-Dinner, thats 5.

I thought the five types were "Living, shot, skinned, butchered, cooked".

[NVScouter]

Ain't that a snowshoe hare?? JW

Thats a Whitetail Jack, kinda poor man's snowshoe. They can get to the 9lb range like most big jacks but tend to eat/live more like snowshoes/cottontails. They turn pure white (that one is about 80%) like snowshoes and get confused with them alot.

When I was a kid I ate a few Jacks but mostly cut em up for dog food. My Grandfather was a master chef and his dogfood smelled better than most 3 star resteraunts.

I cut the meat up in medium cubes and ditched all stringy meat, garlic onions, white whine in a dutch oven. Just past browned I added salt, pepper, rosemary, basil. Cook for a bit then add parsley and cook until it gets soft and serve.

The only thing on Hares VS Rabbits: Hares naturaly have a body temp 10* hotter and carry parasites longer, also the big ears are super vascular and can get big infested pimples. Shoot kick em over, check...bugs leave em. Skin ASAP and check for mite bites...small black dots under the skin. I'll shoot cottontails after the first freeze but wont touch a hare until after a month of freezing.

[NVScouter]

I know its an air rifle. I was wondering what brand.

Crossman Nitropiston HP 22. I've crono'd the Premiers at 738fps, and have it sited in at 55y for pidgeons that land on the barn.

[NVScouter]

This sounds like a Jeff Foxworthy, You might be a redneck if you run around chasing Rabbits in your undies :-)

All I was missing was my bathrobe and floppy ear hat like Randy Quaid in X-mas Vacation.

[Olevern]

consumed and waiting to be consumed?

for ya'll country folk; that would be et an waitin to be et.

sorry for the lack of caps where appropriate, typing laboriously with left finger only temporarily (for the grammar police out there)

I guess this might be an example of intentional ignorance or stupidity that so annoys some here, if so, great!

[1Shirt]

Best chili I ever ate was made out of course ground jack!
1Shirt!

[NVScouter]

consumed and waiting to be consumed?

for ya'll country folk; that would be et an waitin to be et.

sorry for the lack of caps where appropriate, typing laboriously with left finger only temporarily (for the grammar police out there)

I guess this might be an example of intentional ignorance or stupidity that so annoys some here, if so, great!

Step away from the NyQuill...............

[300winmag]

I thought the five types were "Living, shot, skinned, butchered, cooked".

In this part of Ohio we only have the cottontail that I know of. Your 5 type's apply here very well. They have the snowshoe hares in some counties and are protected.

[Bullshop]

Well what ya know I learned something from this myself. I didnt know that Montana had black tail jack.
I also didnt know of the several sub species of cotton tail other than the pigmy.
The 5 types I have taken are
Snow shoe hare
white tail jack
cotton tail
pigmy
and pika
Going back and reading from the field guide I now think maybe your pulling my leg since there was no mention of pika.

[300winmag]

Well what ya know I learned something from this myself. I didnt know that Montana had black tail jack.
I also didnt know of the several sub species of cotton tail other than the pigmy.
The 5 types I have taken are
Snow shoe hare
white tail jack
cotton tail
pigmy
and pika
Going back and reading from the field guide I now think maybe your pulling my leg since there was no mention of pika.
Distribution and habitat
The American pika can be found throughout the mountains of western North America, from central British Columbia in Canada to the US states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California and New Mexico.[7]

Pikas inhabit talus fields that are fringed by suitable vegetation on alpine areas. They will also live in piles of broken rock.[8][9] Sometimes, they will live in man-made substrate such as mine tailings and piles of scrap lumber. Pikas usually have their den and nest sites below rock around 0.2–1 m in diameter but often sit on larger and more prominent rocks. They generally reside in scree near or above the tree line. Pikas are restricted to cool moist microhabitats on high peaks or watercourses.[9] Intolerant of high diurnal temperatures, in the northern portion of their range they may be found near sea level, but in the south they are rare below 2,500 metres (8,200 ft).[8] Pikas rely on existing spaces in the talus for homes and do not dig burrows. However, they can enlarge their home by digging.[8]

Diet

[deep creek]

That be a whitetail jack turns white in winter ,not bad eating.The meats dark a little differant than cotton tail.When i was a kid i would track them after a new snow and try to hit them when they jumped you had to look close.

[TheGrimReaper]

That thing looks like a Wererabbit.

[John Allen]

big-small-slow-fast-dinner, thats 5.

nice.

[popper]

I've always considered rabbits like barracuda, only one season when you can eat without getting really sick.

[dk17hmr]

Distribution and habitat
The American pika can be found throughout the mountains of western North America, from central British Columbia in Canada to the US states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California and New Mexico.[7]

Pikas inhabit talus fields that are fringed by suitable vegetation on alpine areas. They will also live in piles of broken rock.[8][9] Sometimes, they will live in man-made substrate such as mine tailings and piles of scrap lumber. Pikas usually have their den and nest sites below rock around 0.2–1 m in diameter but often sit on larger and more prominent rocks. They generally reside in scree near or above the tree line. Pikas are restricted to cool moist microhabitats on high peaks or watercourses.[9] Intolerant of high diurnal temperatures, in the northern portion of their range they may be found near sea level, but in the south they are rare below 2,500 metres (8,200 ft).[8] Pikas rely on existing spaces in the talus for homes and do not dig burrows. However, they can enlarge their home by digging.[8]

Diet

That and they have to be the cutest of all the rabbits in the west. They are all over where I elk hunt.

[Idaho Mule]

Thats a Whitetail Jack, kinda poor man's snowshoe. They can get to the 9lb range like most big jacks but tend to eat/live more like snowshoes/cottontails. They turn pure white (that one is about 80%) like snowshoes and get confused with them alot.

When I was a kid I ate a few Jacks but mostly cut em up for dog food. My Grandfather was a master chef and his dogfood smelled better than most 3 star resteraunts.

I cut the meat up in medium cubes and ditched all stringy meat, garlic onions, white whine in a dutch oven. Just past browned I added salt, pepper, rosemary, basil. Cook for a bit then add parsley and cook until it gets soft and serve.

The only thing on Hares VS Rabbits: Hares naturaly have a body temp 10* hotter and carry parasites longer, also the big ears are super vascular and can get big infested pimples. Shoot kick em over, check...bugs leave em. Skin ASAP and check for mite bites...small black dots under the skin. I'll shoot cottontails after the first freeze but wont touch a hare until after a month of freezing.Thanks NV, I thought it was a snow shoe coming out of his winter white and into summer brown/gray. JW