rabbit and squirrel now?

[oomcurt]

Er...this may sound strange..but maybe it was an old wives tale..I dunno. Was always told not to eat rabbit till after the first frost..something about it might not be safe to eat and so forth. At any rate...either squirrel or rabbit[url] now..in[/url] this heat?? Wouldn't the meat spoil before you got it home? Oh, something else I've always done..seeing as how where I used to hunt these critters the weather at that time was always on the cool side so I never bothered field dressing them. Never had one that was bad tasting either. Just got them home..skinned and gutted them...salt, pepper and into the pan. No sauce or anything fancy and I loved 'em.

 

[arcticap]

Our early season here starts in Sept. while it is still quite warm. Until the temp.'s cool, I usually carry a foam & nylon "six pack" cooler in a knapsack filled with refreezable ice packs (& a cold water bottle or two). If I place a squirrel in there, it gets cooled down really well until I get home, and several can fit in there as well.
The only thing that might be relevant that I know about rabbits is that they can transmit tuleremia or "rabbit fever". It is a bacterial infection transmitted by direct contact with the infected rabbit's blood through an open cut or wound in the handler's skin and the proper technique would be to wear protective gloves when handling or dressing the rabbit as a safety precaution. I'm not sure if this is directly related to warm seasonal weather or not, but sometimes things are passed down through the years for a good reason. :winking:

 

[KyFlintlock]

Squirrel comes in season in about 3 weeks. We'll hunt the mornings for a few hours then clean our take. Then maybe again in the eve...but it usually isn't more than a few hours before we clean them..

Rabbit doesn't come in season until Nov.

Good luck

 

[merdean]

I was always taught "You can hunt rabbit in any month that has an "R" in it". (That leaves out May, June, July and August for the slower folk) I did not grow up hunting squirrel so never learned any folklore on them. I just hunt them in season. As for cleaning and skinning...As soon as I can. Clean em, skin em and put em on ice! Unless I am hungry. Then it is clean em, skin em and cook em.