Thread: Very bad rabbit smell if not gutted immedietely

Ive noticed that if i decide not to gut a rabbit immediately after shooting so i can bring it home to process, the entire rabbit including the flesh smells like a weird biochemical waste + petroleum and a little sprinkling of hell, even if the rabbit has only been killed 1 or two hours ago. Does the bloating cause nasty smells to spread from the body cavity to the rest of the animal or something? This smell is completely absent in rabbits that I gut in the field so it is definitely from the guts. Even the back straps smell a bit like that weird smell. Not even sure if I should eat it. Its as if the whole animal is spoiled. Absolutely no part of the guts were punctured, completely clean.

Anyone else have experience with very bad rabbit meat smell if not gutted immediately after shooting? What is this unholy sorcery? Is the meat salvageable?