[Regia-NA] OT- Cooking squirrels & hunting rabbits

[Chris Boulton]

No it doesn't taste like chicken - if you've tasted rabbit before, it's sort
of a bit like that but - er- how does one really describe a taste in mere
words? It tastes like squirrel. Nice. You'll need a couple at least for one
person - if you're a carnivore like me - more is better of course....throw
the potatoes in the stew half an hour before you're ready to eat and they'll
get infused with the rich gravy as they cook - moorish, very moorish...I
tend to throw the green veg in as well at the appropriate interval before
it's ready so's to use only one large pan - less washing up - but then I
don't have a dishwasher.

As for hunting rabbits, I use just a standard .22 air rifle with silencer
and 'scope. You need to get within 50 yards and be a good shot, and accept
that some you hit will still escape down the burrow. Go for head shots every
time, or through the back edge of the foreleg into the heart and lungs as a
last resort if the angle's wrong.

Dawn and dusk are usually the best hunting times. Be down wind, blend in and
move quietly - they've got quite phenomenal hearing.

Being in the states, and firearms being easier as I understand it, go for a
.22 rifle with silencer and a good 'scope, but only if you've got a good
large safe area to shoot. One advantage of a mere air rifle - ricochets
don't go very far.

Chris.


> OK, I'll bite. Does it taste just like chicken? Probably not. How much
> meat can you get from the little pests? About two years ago I decided I
> could probably save some money on the grocery bills and save my
> expensive perennials if I ate the rabbits that chomped and chewed
> whatever they could reach. You know, I haven't seen one since. How do
> you hunt the things? Seems to my experience on the roads that they
> aren't smart enough to know they're dead.
>