Breaking the Summer Monotony

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wankerjake

wankerjake

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...With a few bunnies (one literally). We're doing a "weird food" day at my place later this evening. We've got pickled pig feet, pickled pig lips, boudins with beef gut/heart/liver, Balut ... I heard a rumor of chicken feet that I hope stays a rumor.

Anyway, I was thinking we needed something palatable that everyone can eat (although balut is pretty good, truth be told) so I decided to get out last two mornings and shoot some rabbits for Hasenpfeffer. Yesterday I got one "hase" (black-tailed jackrabbit) and this morning I got two cottontails. I knew the one was a young one but didn't realize just how small it was until I skinned it. Anyway it was a nice break from the off-season. Normally I like to fill this void with predator calling (family keeping me busy) and I did make one stand after seeing an antelope doe and fawn but no takers. Saw 4 antelope bucks between both days, could have killed them all. Only one was a small one, one was pretty nice.

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Oh, and for those who think jacks are garbage, you are missing out. They are easily as good as cottontail but way bigger.
 
I thought it was pretty good the time I had it (2 of them, duck) but I had to just eat it and not look at it.
 
I'll wait until duck season and shoot them as adults. I don't think I could keep balut down if there was any light in the room to show me what I was eating. :barf:
 
The balut turned out to be a bust. They were just un-fertilized duck eggs. Must have been a communication issue at the Asian market, my buddy said the guy didn't speak English.
 
Fried "Mountain oysters"? I've never had the opportunity, but a fair number of folks claim that they're good eating. I guess they're more of a Montana/Wyoming deal than in old-German Texas.

Those old "Dutchy" Lutherans seemed embarrassed about sex. Didn't want to talk about it. But my great-grandparents had ten kids...
 
Art Eatman said:
Fried "Mountain oysters"? I've never had the opportunity, but a fair number of folks claim that they're good eating. I guess they're more of a Montana/Wyoming deal than in old-German Texas.

Those old "Dutchy" Lutherans seemed embarrassed about sex. Didn't want to talk about it. But my great-grandparents had ten kids...
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The Reata in Alpine has "calf fries". They come with good gravy. Yum.

I knew what they were, ordered some for the wife and me. She smacked her lips until I told her what they were. I finished them.
 
My thoughts turn to fishing in the summer. Sometimes I wish I lived where the jack rabbits live, but I got nothing to shoot at here in the summer but groundhogs and in my opinion they are not edible. However, I can eat up a mess of fish any day. I even like bluegills and perch. With a fly rod and a little boat to get to them, I can spend a summer day having outdoor fun.
 
My grandfather had a 1935 Dodge, back during WW II. The headlights were nacelle-mounted on the fenders. An obvious sitting-spot for a couple of kids with .22s, driving around the pasture looking for rabbits. :) Day or night!
 
Calf fries, mountain oysters, whatever you choose to call 'em, are pretty darn good. Just don't overthink it. ;)
 
I always heard that you don't eat oysters or rabbits in any month without an "R" in it (May-August) due to parasites...am I missing something?

Also, miss those Rocky Mtn Oysters! Used to be a joint in Great Falls, MT that had an annual feed they called the "Testicle Festival". The marketing catch phrase was..."Come on by and have a Ball!"

Miss those days..good eats!
 
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Having grown up working cattle, I'll pass on the Mountain Oysters. I don't know how many bulls I turned into steers during those days, but the number has to be in the thousands, if not tens of thousands.

I still get a smile on my face whenever anyone talks about a "Steering Committee" at work.

Matt
 
Wait wait wait....

What's wrong with boudin??

Sadly I haven't got much to shoot at during the summer. Just targets for me.
 
Be careful handling rabbits during the warm summer months! Ever hear of Black Plague? It's nothing to take lightly, it killed a good number of folks in New Mexico years ago. I was taught to always wear gloves when handling rabbits and other rodents, and let them sit for a few minutes after the kill before handling them, this is to avoid being but by the fleas that carry the disease.

GS
 
In Wisconsin we wait till after the first killing frost or there is snow on the ground to hunt rabbits due to their parasites. Probably hard to do in most of Arizona.........

As for Balut, I ain't never been that hungry. Pickled Chicken feet are pretty good tho.
 
In Wisconsin we wait till after the first killing frost or there is snow on the ground to hunt rabbits due to their parasites. Probably hard to do in most of Arizona.........
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Indeed. Even up here on the rim it's usually at least mid-October until a freeze, and they still have fleas/ticks afterwards. The tree squirrels are full of fleas until mid-November it seems. I only saw one flea and no ticks between these 3 rabbits. Generally by September/early October they have a lot more. I know because I shoot a few during Dove and then quail season.
 
I'm up to about 12 cottontails this summer. I don't eat them though I just use my bow to keep them from messing my yard and garden up.
 
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