Eating Jacks

[GAdrahthaar]

this is my favorite way to prepare it, but sub coconut milk for the yogurt:

Rabbit Curry Recipe - Indian Rabbit Curry | Hank Shaw

A recipe for an Indian style rabbit curry, done Madras style. If you don't have rabbit, use chicken or any other white meat.

honest-food.net

 

[dirtclod Az.]

I'll give it a try.I'll try anything once.
If it smells like tuna,don't eat it!
If it looks like tuna ,don't smell it! Ha!,Ha!

 

[Zellhouse]

I have eaten them all my 50+yrs,Especially Antelope Jack.
Hindquarters and back straps are great.A lot more meat than
a puny Cottontail!

Have eaten cotton tail & am familiar with rabbit taste. Have not tried eating these two yet (Antelope Jacks from Southern Arizona). The meat is darker like venison. How is the taste? Gamey or similar to deer?

 

[sharpshooter97]

I use them for trapping bait, tried them once and wasn't a fan. Also can sell the white hides in winter for $2 so they are put to use. I don't shoot them unless I need one for bait though.

 

[1eyedshooter]

I come from the land of cotton tales and snow shoes, so i always like reading about jack rabbits, I think I would try one just to see !!!

 

[Mudder]

We used to watch the edges of alfalfa fields in the evening for jacks coming out of sagebrush. We only shot the young of the year and they were good.

I've done the same thing with a twist. I wait until mid-morning until the Jacks have bedded down in the brush next to the Alfalfa fields, then I kick the clumps of Sagebrush. A Jack can come out of the brush in afterburner, then start zig-zagging. You have to be quick and accurate. On a typical morning, I'll bag half a dozen Jacks. Young Alfalfa is a lot less productive than mature Alfalfa, young Alfalfa has some sort of chemical protection (tastes bad, poisonous) it looses as it matures.

Like a lot of wild game, the flavor often depends on what they have been eating. Marinate in Apple cider vinegar for a day, then Rabbit stew.

Side note, Rattlers hang out in the same spots, the shade under a Sagebrush bush, Snake boots or Gators advised. I leave the dogs at home.

Second side note, the same skills learned hunting Jacks this way is transferable to instinct shooting AR's or shotgun-

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Have eaten cotton tail & am familiar with rabbit taste. Have not tried eating these two yet (Antelope Jacks from Southern Arizona). The meat is darker like venison. How is the taste? Gamey or similar to deer?


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Jacks are similar to Deer.Out in the sage and creasote they are gamey,
along the agriculture fields not as much.Give em' a try good stuff!Not as good
as Rattlesnake though...Quail tops all desert critters. 〽

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

As former jack rabbit myself, I refuse to eat my brothers..



Also never shot one, so that may play into why I've never eaten them....

 

[Mudder]

Jacks are similar to Deer.Out in the sage and creasote they are gamey,
along the agriculture fields not as much.Give em' a try good stuff!Not as good
as Rattlesnake though...Quail tops all desert critters. 〽

Story; Friday after work grill and Beer. I handed out horderves(appetizers, deep fried Rattlesnake bits on a toothpick. My brothers new girlfriend, a little too upper-class for our group, complements me on the chicken appetizers. I tell her it is Rattlesnake, she says nice try it is chicken. I take her in the kitchen and show her the Rattlesnake guts and skin in the sink. She empties her stomach in the sink. My brother and his X girlfriend have no sense of humor.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Gotta love it! NEXT... 〽
Mudder, what state do you call home?

 

[Mudder]

Gotta love it! NEXT... 〽
Mudder, what state do you call home?

I'm out of So Cal, currently living in Germany.

 

[noharleyyet]

Cottontails after a hard freeze in our parts..

 

[Zellhouse]

Thanks for the feedback. Grandson's coming over next weekend, we'll fry up the back straps. They are surprisingly large & should feed the 3 of us.

 

[schmalts]

Can they be worst than snowshoes?

 

[Zellhouse]

Point taken... Have never tried one but understand they are good.

 

[jnd1959]

Jacks are hares. The biggest issue is people treating them like rabbits. As said before, low and slow.

 

[Zellhouse]

Cooked up the back straps off two of the antelope jack rabbits for dinner last night. Excellent table fare, floured, & fried in veg oil. Very similar to deer steaks cooked the same way. Grandson went back for seconds, he thought they were really good. My wife had a little trouble with the thought of eating rabbit. To her credit she tied it & ate a decent portion, prior to throwing in the towel. Plan on cooking the hindquarters in the crock pot. Now that I know the texture & taste, will come up with a recipe. Appreciate the feedback....

 

[mtmuley]

I'd eat one if I was starving. mtmuley

 

[Big Fin]

I've eaten many antelope jackrabbits. They are excellent. I've also eaten many blacktail jacks. They require a bit more work, but still OK if cared for and cooked with some care.

 

[MrFooGas]

Newer AZ hunter here. Since I am new and need practice on whatever I can, whenever I'm out quail hunting (not good at this yet yet lol) I'll shoot and eat the Jack's out here. I fry it up in a pan and my dog and I will eat it. Cant wait to try slow cooking like some people previously mentioned. I am not a good judge on taste compared to other wild game since I am getting into hunting I've only had what I've bagged (quail, cottontail and jack.) Just went out an a javalina hunt Friday morning with some friends and one of them filled the tag. Should be able to try some soon!