View Full Version : First rabbit
tenbears10
29-09-2004, 19:39
Just a quick one. Do I need to hang rabbit before skinning it. I just bagged my first with my recently aquried HW35. I'm still pretty chuffed with it all but just not sure if I get on and skin it or hang it for a couple of days.
Thanks guys
Bill
TheViking
29-09-2004, 19:45
I'm still pretty chuffed with it all
I was too. Though the biggest I've shot is birds, but still ones heart beats a lot quicker when it's done...
tenbears10
29-09-2004, 19:47
I know exactly what you mean there Viking.
Bill
Assume you have thumbed and paunched it? If not do so immediately.
Rabbit is best skinned fresh and doesn't really gain from being 'hung', so I'd just crack on with it if I were you!
Tantalus
29-09-2004, 19:51
i gut em immediately and skin em when i get home or even the next morning if i'm lazy
have heard some say they are less tough if you let them unstiffen before cooking
sorry if this is a bit gruesome i tried to keep it as toned down as possible under the circumstances
Tant
Paunch it as soon as it's dead, leave the extracts somewhere discrete for nature to recycle. I tend to skin and joint as soon as I've got it home an use straight away, store in the fridge and use within a couple of days or stick in the freezer for longer storage. No need to hang rabbit, hare does need hanging but I see so few I leave them be.
Cheers
David
TheViking
29-09-2004, 20:04
And don't hit the stomach or guts.... :wink: It stinks. We tried killing hens at school and then skin them and then cut them to see what was inside (we had a biology project), but then we hitted the guts and it stank like :censored: ....
Bunny innards ain't so bad as that, but not something you'd want to sniff!
tenbears10
29-09-2004, 20:20
All done, thanks for the input guys. Knew I could count in you for a prompt answer. Don't get a lot of meat on one do you.
Bill
Tantalus
29-09-2004, 20:28
depends on size lol
back legs and lower back should get ya 3 portions
ribs and forelegs may be better saved for a 4 legged friend tho. Prolly the best thing is to boil em up and take the meat off the bone just in case dog chokes on little bones
Tant
Bunny innards ain't so bad as that, but not something you'd want to sniff!
The liver, heart and kidneys are fine to eat :biggthump
Ed
Tantalus
29-09-2004, 23:10
my grandad showed me the easiest way to deal with a rabbit a long time ago
i would like to share it
cut the belly open with a long ways cut from between the legs up to the ribs
.
Then hold the rabbit , ears in one hand , back legs in the other
A swift swing (sort of holding the rabbit at arms length and turning 180 degrees) and 99% of the innards will come (flying) out
leaving mostly chest stomach and liver to remove
nice and easy
Tant
And remember not to let go! :o):
And make sure that everyone else wears waterproofs in case they get splatted!
Great methd though!
Must admit it didn't work for me but I think I was being a little too delicate and either not doing it fast or strong enough.
A swift swing (sort of holding the rabbit at arms length and turning 180 degrees) and 99% of the innards will come (flying) out
Tant
Outside! do it outside!
One rabbit usualy does two people when I prepare it. If I have guests I'll often debone the meat, breadcrumb it and fry it and stick alongside a load of tappas without saying a word about what it is.
Rabbits aren't too bad to do - and you get a neat fluffy skin to cure, save the leg and back tendons too - they're a bit short but you can make thread out of them. The worst I've had so far was well hung partridges, they smelt a great deal and the cat kept trying to make them move.
Realgar
The way we do them is to lie them on their fronts and go through the skin on the back, and slide up along the backbone. Pull the skin away from the inner membranes - dont use a knife, just use your fingers....
Pull the skin down the legs front and back and keep pulling up to the neck. You end up with a 'bunny handbag'...!
Chop the feet off with a sharp knife/stick or axe, then pull the skin up over the head and cut the head off at the neck - you've now got a complete bunny skin with the feet and head attached. The fur round the anus is probably still intact, so just leave it.
The nice thing is that the guts are still held in the membrane. Turn it onto its back, and cut the membrane carefully. Cut up to the rib cage, then tip the guts out. Cut off the intestine about 6 inches from the anus, and then cut a 'V' around it, and a quick pull and the anus and attached fur and intestine will come out in one piece - no contamination !!
Then push 2 fingers up through the diaphragm, open them and hook the heart and lungs out and pull...!
Thats it....!!!! Its a lot quicker to do it than to write it..!!! Takes one of our guys about 90 seconds.....
We'll be doing a few this weekend if anyone wants a photographic 'how to'......
Cheers
Peter
Photo's would be good as I've yet to do it my self.
All done, thanks for the input guys. Knew I could count in you for a prompt answer. Don't get a lot of meat on one do you.
Bill
Boned and diced:
1 bunny + a selection of veg = 1 family size pot of stew
1 bunny + 1 pheasant + a bit of venison + the basis for a brill game pie
I'd say roast 1 bunny serves 2 to 3.
Cheers
David
The liver, heart and kidneys are fine to eat :biggthump
Ed
Yep,
They go in the stew or the stock pot! :super:
Rabbits aren't too bad to do - and you get a neat fluffy skin to cure,
Realgar
Anyone tell me a simple way to cure the skin? My 4 year old trainee rabbit butcher/bushcrafter/mad knife woman wants to do one every time we are doing rabbits.
Cheers
David
Paganwolf
30-09-2004, 13:04
Boned and diced:
1 bunny + a selection of veg = 1 family size pot of stew
1 bunny + 1 pheasant + a bit of venison + the basis for a brill game pie
I'd say roast 1 bunny serves 2 to 3.
CheersDavid
1 roast bunny serves 2 to 3 :shock: how big are the bunnies up there in ?Derbs David !! :rolmao: :wink:
Paganwolf
30-09-2004, 13:07
Anyone tell me a simple way to cure the skin? My 4 year old trainee rabbit butcher/bushcrafter/mad knife woman wants to do one every time we are doing rabbits.
Cheers
David
Simplest way ive done it is to tack the skin to a board fur side down rub plenty of cheap salt into the wet skin to draw the moisture out and leave it some where warm and dry, when its fully dry rub some vasaline or cheap hand cream into the skin to soften it. :wink:
tenbears10
30-09-2004, 13:54
What do you do with the skin once you have preserved it? You will need a lot of bunnies to make a coat, for example.
Bill
Paganwolf
30-09-2004, 13:59
Ive made a Davie Crocket hat with rabbit skins and a few squirrel tails, it took about 10 bunnys and 3 squirrels or you can make a waist coat nothing thats going to take to much of a hammering as rabbit skins arnt the most toughest of skins, but good to play around and practice with :wink:
Simplest way ive done it is to tack the skin to a board fur side down rub plenty of cheap salt into the wet skin to draw the moisture out and leave it some where warm and dry, when its fully dry rub some vasaline or cheap hand cream into the skin to soften it. :wink:
Alum works and isn't so prone to going soggy in humid weather. I've tried glutaraldehyde but it makes very easily torn fur ( it is however machine washable ). By far the best I've come across so far is birch tar diluted down a bit with oil/brain/bone marrow - anything greasy really, don't use olive oil, the green tinge is quite offputting. You will smell of creosote for a couple of months though....
I keep a 2" square of bunny fur in my pocket for giving snares a quick wipe over with once they are set. It masks the smell of your hands....
Cheers
Peter
1 roast bunny serves 2 to 3 :shock: how big are the bunnies up there in ?Derbs David !! :rolmao: :wink:
Bunny size!!!!!! What have you got, gerbils? :wink:
Paganwolf
30-09-2004, 21:09
essex rabbits, they are leaner :shock: :wink: :roll:
rapidboy
30-09-2004, 22:16
Anyone tell me a simple way to cure the skin? My 4 year old trainee rabbit butcher/bushcrafter/mad knife woman wants to do one every time we are doing rabbits.
Cheers
David
Try these guy's for a tanning solution.
http://freespace.virgin.net/sts.northwales/intro.htm
I spoke to them at the Midland game fait a few years ago and they sorted me out with a cheap tanning solution.
Just mix it up with water and it lasts for years.
I've done loads of skins for the guy's at my gun club (black powder shooters).
You jump the skins in it for 24 hours ,rinse and dry ,then work the skin to make it soft.
It's cheap ,simple and it works.
I tanned an otter pelt last year and it turned out absolutely fantastic.
Anyone worked with seal skin??
bushwacker bob
30-09-2004, 23:48
I tanned an otter pelt last year and it turned out absolutely fantastic. :yikes:
Anyone worked with seal skin??[/QUOTE] :shock:
so thats what happened to Tarka :cry:
logstacker
01-10-2004, 06:23
ALWAYS gut it quickly,it`ll go sour else.Skinning is always easier when warm,and no,there is no tradition of hanging rabbits.
rapidboy
01-10-2004, 07:52
I tanned an otter pelt last year and it turned out absolutely fantastic. :yikes:
Anyone worked with seal skin?? :shock:
so thats what happened to Tarka :cry:[/QUOTE]
Road kill mate and it seemed such such a waste to let it rot ,absolutely beautiful pelt.
The fishermen shoot seals near where i live sometimes and they turn up on the shore but usually they are too far gone to skin.