Thread: How soon should I process a freshly killed rabbit?

Heading down to the in-laws property in a couple of weeks and planning on borrowing my uncles .22 air rifle to do some rabbit hunting. I walked the property before and managed to get within ~10m of rabbits so range shouldn't be an issue. Question - how soon should I gut and skin the rabbit? Kill then gut immediately? or can I get a bunch of rabbits then take them back to the house to process? The plan is to eat them.

Alternatively, if any of you good buggers live nearby to Maramarua/Miranda in the Waikato and feel like taking a newbie around your property with a proper .22 to show them the ropes

Cheers all.

I do them asap.

Gut them as soon as you shoot them, skin them and cut them up when you get home. (that’s what I do)

Originally Posted by Finnwolf

Gut them as soon as you shoot them, skin them and cut them up when you get home. (that’s what I do)

Once gutted, would it be a good idea to put the carcasses into a backpack so I can continue walking around? Excuse the ignorance...

As above, prepare ASAP. If you don't, the smell may put you off eating them. Gutless method works great on rabbits. Skin off, backstraps off, back legs off, front legs off. Store in cool, dry place in something that allows airflow i.e. not a plastic bag. Pillow case is ideal.

skin it, gut it then give it to the dog.
over 10K killed so far and they still taste like shit to me

Once shot ( head shot gets rid of any chance of rupturing organs that may taint the meat and brusing) Lift the rabbit up by its front legs ,wrap your hand around its body and gentally push your thumb against it underside and run your hand down the length of the body a few times. This will get most of shit and piss out of it. Gut it in the field, if your going to continue hunting. You can put it in a bag but its going to keep leaking blood even after its gutted and bleed out. (So some sort of bag lining might help) Take a bottle of water with you (somerthing like a power aid bottle with a top you drink from) and rince the gut cavity after you gut it.
You dont have to gut it in the field, I often bring them back whole but not if ive shot them through the organs or id im going to be out for a while
. Im guessing from the question that you havent skinned to many either that will be easier to do back at where ever you are staying.
The biggest thing to be aware of is the direction your shooting in. A .22 can travel a km or 2 so dont shot rabbits on the edge of gullies or top of slopes where if you dont hit it the bullet has nothing to stop it.
Mostly take your time, dont feel you have to take the shot if its running off. Probly anther one not to far away.
Take note of any muck ups you make and learn from them.
Take a couple of shots at a target before you head out to make sure gun is shooting where you are aiming. Enjoy yourself.

my guide to skin it.
cut head off, run knife around al 4 "elbows"
cut feet off
then a 2" across the lower bellow adjacent to the front end of the rear legs.
stick your hand hand in through the incision and start to separate the skin from the flesh
once you have got here you basically pull the whole skin off as an inverted sweater
start with bum end and work forward
the whole thing can be done inc gutting in under 2 minutes after a few dozen have been done for practice.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

skin it, gut it then give it to the dog.
over 10K killed so far and they still taste like shit to me

You heathen!!!

You obviously didn't get to eat the good ones! People I serve up green thai curry 'chicken' can't tell the difference

Originally Posted by kruza

Once shot ( head shot gets rid of any chance of rupturing organs that may taint the meat and brusing) Lift the rabbit up by its front legs ,wrap your hand around its body and gentally push your thumb against it underside and run your hand down the length of the body a few times. This will get most of shit and piss out of it. Gut it in the field, if your going to continue hunting. You can put it in a bag but its going to keep leaking blood even after its gutted and bleed out. (So some sort of bag lining might help) Take a bottle of water with you (somerthing like a power aid bottle with a top you drink from) and rince the gut cavity after you gut it.
You dont have to gut it in the field, I often bring them back whole but not if ive shot them through the organs or id im going to be out for a while
. Im guessing from the question that you havent skinned to many either that will be easier to do back at where ever you are staying.
The biggest thing to be aware of is the direction your shooting in. A .22 can travel a km or 2 so dont shot rabbits on the edge of gullies or top of slopes where if you dont hit it the bullet has nothing to stop it.
Mostly take your time, dont feel you have to take the shot if its running off. Probly anther one not to far away.
Take note of any muck ups you make and learn from them.
Take a couple of shots at a target before you head out to make sure gun is shooting where you are aiming. Enjoy yourself.

Cheers mate. From what you and others are saying its probably easiest to gut in the field and continue skinning/breaking down the meat back at home base.

Even thought its a measly air rifle I will be using, I am itching to start sourcing some meat for the family. FAL couldn't come any sooner...

Gut them right away. I only eat the back end. Not enough meat on the front half. Skin them when you get home. keeps the meat cleaner.

slice ACROSS the back..grasp skin on both sides of cut,,,pull in opposite directions.... cut of head and feet, cut across lower belly flick guts out then clean rest out with hand.... let it cool then put in bag to keep flies away.
should take less than a minute per bunny.... the sooner you do it the easier it is...warm the skin comes right off,once cooled its harder.
dont bother with the big fellas with nuts for table...
cubed bunny meat,seasoned and crumbed then quick fried is good tucker...hare is even better.

Weather is still cool enough so just take a cord to tie them to by the head, no prob to drag them around for an hour before gutting. With an air rifle it's not likely to shoot more than four or five at most before they are spooked up. Then head back to base and do a clean job. cut the skin across ways halfway down the back (50 - 60mm), stand on head, fingers into skin cut, pull skin off back half, catch the rabbit as the skin pops off the back feet. Turn around, stand on rabbits lower back legs and pull skin off front like taking off a jersey. Stand on front skin, two cuts on neck pull off head, through in bucket. Repeat with the rest of the rabbits, then split then from arse to neck, pull out guts starting at windpipe, hose wash, then hang in a tree overnight ( where cats cant get them) to cool and dry.

A pair of good quality sidecutters or secateurs helps cut the feet off which makes pulling the cape off after gutting a whole world easier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnFOP5kIr2w