Jack Rabbits

Tinbucket · May 12, 2017, 07:40 PM

In the sixties on way to Nam we stopped at an air base in California to refuel.
As we were taxing to a terminal there were scads of jackrabbits everywhere.
Many had been run over by taxing aircraft and there we bloody remains everywhere. Everywhere you looked they were running as the jet scared them up. And a lot of coyotes were there chasing them or something.
I never saw the like before.
Then in the 90s and later on trips out west I don't remember seeing many if any, in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana where the only thing you saw was wheat and yellow grasshoppers, nor in Tx,AZ or anywhere.
I remember reading Moms 'old school books from the thirties with photos of just dirt roads and lots of game and rabbits.
During the depression and dust bowl days Jack Rabbits kept many families from starving as did eating crows.
I head and heard of plagues or jackrabbits.
What has happened? Have they all bee poisoned? I never read reports of hunting Jack Rabbits. I understand they frequently tasted of sage.
Anyone hunting rabbits out west?

Rangerrich99 · May 12, 2017, 07:48 PM

delete, double post

Rangerrich99 · May 12, 2017, 07:50 PM

Plenty of them in AZ, and southern UT. Sometimes we bag a few during a prairie dog shoot. I personally haven't shot one in a couple years, just cotton tails. One of my buddies took a couple jack rabbits home last spring, but neglected to get me a sample of his girlfriend's cooking.

Though I wouldn't say they're overrunning the place, everywhere I p-dog shoot I could probably bag enough for a family of four any day of the week.

Art Eatman · May 12, 2017, 08:10 PM

There are cycles of population explosions. There was one in northeastern Nevada/southwestern Idaho in 1980 or 1981. I went out with a buddy in the desert near Winnemucca and we shot over 100 in about an hour, without leaving the truck.

In Idaho, farmers set up long vees of chicken-wire fencing. Several families would gather and herd the rabbits into the vee and club them. Saved their crops. Time magazine had an article about it.

FITASC · May 12, 2017, 08:22 PM

When I drove through Wyoming decades ago, the jacks were plastered all over the road and made the driving a little dicey at times. In NV they were everywhere. Not worth hunting compared to the cottontails.

FrankenMauser · May 12, 2017, 10:31 PM

As Art mentioned, the Jack population is highly volatile. Some years it's a total bust, other years you have to stop firing because the barrel is almost on fire and you're nearly out of ammo.

Whether or not Jacks are worth even considering for eating depends upon the season and the location. Bubonic Plague is prevalent in some of their habitats (flea vector), and you don't want to be messing with that crap. They're also tick-ridden nightmares during the warm season.
In the winter, if it looks healthy and was hit appropriately... fair game.

They don't taste bad, at all.
But, like most game: Easy to overcook. Easy to cook too quickly. And easy to dry out. Gotta take it low, slow, and easy with some added fat.

I usually mess around in Southern Idaho, Western Wyoming, and Northern Utah. In these parts, 2008 was a decent year, 2012 was a boom year, and 2015 was pretty good.
This year.... zilch. Really rough winter.

(But I suspect they'll be breeding like crazy this year, feast upon the bounty provided by all the water, and give us a boom next year.)

Old Stony · May 13, 2017, 05:40 AM

I think they do run in cycles. When I was young, we shot them regularly in Nebraska and Wyoming. Now I live in East Texas and haven't seen one in this area for many years now, although we do have a good cottontail population.

cptjack · May 13, 2017, 06:04 AM

during my stint in new Mex we hunt them all the time ,fun with pistol, they would run and circle ,turn around and look ,bang if you guessed where they looked over their shoulder, every day at about 1 pm it would rain ,would take shelter in a old metal building ,when rain stopped about 10-15 minutes ,they would come out, bang,,,,,could smell them when one was near...was told by the locals ,that you would starve from eating jack rabbits, no noutrishism

ShootistPRS · May 13, 2017, 12:17 PM

Like venison, rabbit meat has very little fat and if eaten without other fat in your diet you can get sick and die from the lack of fat. Other than that the meat is very good for you and full of the protein your body needs.

Cirdan · May 13, 2017, 12:40 PM

Got them all the time here in N NV. Surprised I don't see more of them as road kill since they seem to like sitting in the middle of the street.

FITASC · May 13, 2017, 03:17 PM

I used to live in your neck of the woods (Tahoe); those jacks were all over the hills West of Virginia City - they were a pest and treated as such. For what they lived on, you'd be better off going to McD's for a grease burger

armoredman · May 13, 2017, 11:40 PM

They're down here, haven't bagged one yet for the stewpot. AZ Fish and Game calls them, and no, I'm not making this up, "Arizona's original fast food."

troyinidaho · May 15, 2017, 01:02 AM

I was driving out in the middle of nowhere around here... In the Owhees in SW Idaho and seen plenty. Nothing for miles and miles but sagebrush.

Double Naught Spy · May 15, 2017, 08:24 AM

Jackrabbits run in bust/boom cycles of about 7-10 years, but these cycles tend to be local or regional. So what is being seen in west Texas may not be going on in Arizona or central New Mexico, for example. The population will explode and the collapse.

FITASC · May 15, 2017, 03:02 PM

Quote:

AZ Fish and Game calls them, and no, I'm not making this up, "Arizona's original fast food.

I would have thought that to be the Road Runner (BEEP BEEP)

doofus47 · May 15, 2017, 03:21 PM

apparently, there's no shortage in Bishop, CA, either. My wife has all sorts of tales of the cousins out chasing jackrabbits with 22s.

FITASC · May 15, 2017, 04:17 PM

Quote:

The population will explode and the collapse.

Weather, water, food, predators - all will differ, not only from state to state, but even from county to county out West (where some counties are bigger than certain Eastern states) and will affect the populations of jacks, cottontails, quail, chukar, etc.

Jack O'Conner · May 16, 2017, 06:14 AM

Sounds like you landed at Travis AF Base. When I was stationed there in the 1980's, plenty of jack rabbits, too. My secondary job was wildlife control and I trapped or shot dozens of jacks near the airfield. They're good eating during the "winter" months and make great stew or chili.

Jack

Art Eatman · May 16, 2017, 10:48 AM

When my mother was a little girl of five years, +/-, there was just enough of a bounty on jackrabbits to keep the kids in .22 shells. Probably two or three cents. Hereford, Texas, around 1915.

hagar · May 19, 2017, 10:23 AM

Only jackrabbits worth eating in AZ were the antelope jack rabbits. They were in general not worm infested like the other jacks, and had delicious meat. But relatively scarce, not found all over AZ.

Art Eatman · May 19, 2017, 11:24 AM

Beware the jackelope, particularly during mating season.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...=yhs-fh_lsonsw

FITASC · May 19, 2017, 11:31 AM

You REALLY want to beware of this guy during mating season:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wester...ck_rattlesnake

Ricklin · May 19, 2017, 11:47 AM

I was stationed at Castle AFB in the CA central valley back in the 1970's. We had boom-bust on jackrabbits and there were a lot of them.

Scads of fun, and I had a good accurate old Winchester .22 semi auto. We shot at ton of em. all shortly after the local Peach harvest came in. The processor would pile huge mounds of Peach pits on their property.

One does not have to wonder what happens to a jackrabbit population when the food supply is unlimited. Only downside was that Winnie really needed to be a .22 Mag. They were big tough Jacks. Almost all were shot on the run.
Never even considered eating em. Sure shot a lot of em tho.

May 12, 2017, 07:40 PM	#1
Tinbucket Senior Member Join Date: January 17, 2015 Posts: 355	Jack Rabbits In the sixties on way to Nam we stopped at an air base in California to refuel. As we were taxing to a terminal there were scads of jackrabbits everywhere. Many had been run over by taxing aircraft and there we bloody remains everywhere. Everywhere you looked they were running as the jet scared them up. And a lot of coyotes were there chasing them or something. I never saw the like before. Then in the 90s and later on trips out west I don't remember seeing many if any, in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana where the only thing you saw was wheat and yellow grasshoppers, nor in Tx,AZ or anywhere. I remember reading Moms 'old school books from the thirties with photos of just dirt roads and lots of game and rabbits. During the depression and dust bowl days Jack Rabbits kept many families from starving as did eating crows. I head and heard of plagues or jackrabbits. What has happened? Have they all bee poisoned? I never read reports of hunting Jack Rabbits. I understand they frequently tasted of sage. Anyone hunting rabbits out west?

May 12, 2017, 07:48 PM	#2
Rangerrich99 Senior Member Join Date: March 20, 2014 Location: Kinda near Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,254	delete, double post Last edited by Rangerrich99; May 12, 2017 at 10:43 PM.

May 12, 2017, 08:22 PM	#5
FITASC Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2014 Posts: 6,446	When I drove through Wyoming decades ago, the jacks were plastered all over the road and made the driving a little dicey at times. In NV they were everywhere. Not worth hunting compared to the cottontails. __________________ "I believe that people have a right to decide their own destinies; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only so long as) individual citizens give it a 'temporary license to exist'—in exchange for a promise that it will behave itself. In a democracy, you own the government—it doesn't own you."- Frank Zappa

May 12, 2017, 10:31 PM	#6
FrankenMauser Senior Member Join Date: August 25, 2008 Location: In the valley above the plain Posts: 13,424	As Art mentioned, the Jack population is highly volatile. Some years it's a total bust, other years you have to stop firing because the barrel is almost on fire and you're nearly out of ammo. Whether or not Jacks are worth even considering for eating depends upon the season and the location. Bubonic Plague is prevalent in some of their habitats (flea vector), and you don't want to be messing with that crap. They're also tick-ridden nightmares during the warm season. In the winter, if it looks healthy and was hit appropriately... fair game. They don't taste bad, at all. But, like most game: Easy to overcook. Easy to cook too quickly. And easy to dry out. Gotta take it low, slow, and easy with some added fat. I usually mess around in Southern Idaho, Western Wyoming, and Northern Utah. In these parts, 2008 was a decent year, 2012 was a boom year, and 2015 was pretty good. This year.... zilch. Really rough winter. (But I suspect they'll be breeding like crazy this year, feast upon the bounty provided by all the water, and give us a boom next year.) __________________ Don't even try it. It's even worse than the internet would lead you to believe.

May 13, 2017, 03:17 PM	#11
FITASC Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2014 Posts: 6,446	I used to live in your neck of the woods (Tahoe); those jacks were all over the hills West of Virginia City - they were a pest and treated as such. For what they lived on, you'd be better off going to McD's for a grease burger __________________ "I believe that people have a right to decide their own destinies; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only so long as) individual citizens give it a 'temporary license to exist'—in exchange for a promise that it will behave itself. In a democracy, you own the government—it doesn't own you."- Frank Zappa

May 12, 2017, 07:50 PM	#3
Rangerrich99 Senior Member Join Date: March 20, 2014 Location: Kinda near Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,254	Plenty of them in AZ, and southern UT. Sometimes we bag a few during a prairie dog shoot. I personally haven't shot one in a couple years, just cotton tails. One of my buddies took a couple jack rabbits home last spring, but neglected to get me a sample of his girlfriend's cooking. Though I wouldn't say they're overrunning the place, everywhere I p-dog shoot I could probably bag enough for a family of four any day of the week.

May 12, 2017, 08:10 PM	#4
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	There are cycles of population explosions. There was one in northeastern Nevada/southwestern Idaho in 1980 or 1981. I went out with a buddy in the desert near Winnemucca and we shot over 100 in about an hour, without leaving the truck. In Idaho, farmers set up long vees of chicken-wire fencing. Several families would gather and herd the rabbits into the vee and club them. Saved their crops. Time magazine had an article about it.

May 13, 2017, 05:40 AM	#7
Old Stony Senior Member Join Date: May 31, 2013 Location: East Texas Posts: 1,705	I think they do run in cycles. When I was young, we shot them regularly in Nebraska and Wyoming. Now I live in East Texas and haven't seen one in this area for many years now, although we do have a good cottontail population.

May 13, 2017, 06:04 AM	#8
cptjack Senior Member Join Date: October 1, 2014 Posts: 314	during my stint in new Mex we hunt them all the time ,fun with pistol, they would run and circle ,turn around and look ,bang if you guessed where they looked over their shoulder, every day at about 1 pm it would rain ,would take shelter in a old metal building ,when rain stopped about 10-15 minutes ,they would come out, bang,,,,,could smell them when one was near...was told by the locals ,that you would starve from eating jack rabbits, no noutrishism

May 13, 2017, 12:17 PM	#9
ShootistPRS Senior Member Join Date: January 3, 2017 Posts: 1,583	Like venison, rabbit meat has very little fat and if eaten without other fat in your diet you can get sick and die from the lack of fat. Other than that the meat is very good for you and full of the protein your body needs.

May 13, 2017, 12:40 PM	#10
Cirdan Senior Member Join Date: December 2, 2013 Location: Tahoe Posts: 363	Got them all the time here in N NV. Surprised I don't see more of them as road kill since they seem to like sitting in the middle of the street.

May 13, 2017, 11:40 PM	#12
armoredman Senior Member Join Date: May 22, 2007 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,299	They're down here, haven't bagged one yet for the stewpot. AZ Fish and Game calls them, and no, I'm not making this up, "Arizona's original fast food."

May 15, 2017, 01:02 AM	#13
troyinidaho Junior Member Join Date: April 19, 2017 Posts: 13	I was driving out in the middle of nowhere around here... In the Owhees in SW Idaho and seen plenty. Nothing for miles and miles but sagebrush.

May 15, 2017, 08:24 AM	#14
Double Naught Spy Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2001 Location: Forestburg, Montague Cnty, TX Posts: 12,717	Jackrabbits run in bust/boom cycles of about 7-10 years, but these cycles tend to be local or regional. So what is being seen in west Texas may not be going on in Arizona or central New Mexico, for example. The population will explode and the collapse. __________________ "If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011 My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

May 15, 2017, 03:21 PM	#16
doofus47 Senior Member Join Date: June 9, 2010 Location: live in a in a house when i'm not in a tent Posts: 2,483	apparently, there's no shortage in Bishop, CA, either. My wife has all sorts of tales of the cousins out chasing jackrabbits with 22s. __________________ I'm right about the metric system 3/4 of the time.

May 16, 2017, 06:14 AM	#18
Jack O'Conner Senior Member Join Date: July 11, 2005 Location: Manatee County, Florida Posts: 1,976	Sounds like you landed at Travis AF Base. When I was stationed there in the 1980's, plenty of jack rabbits, too. My secondary job was wildlife control and I trapped or shot dozens of jacks near the airfield. They're good eating during the "winter" months and make great stew or chili. Jack __________________ Fire up the grill! Deer hunting IS NOT catch and release.

May 16, 2017, 10:48 AM	#19
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	When my mother was a little girl of five years, +/-, there was just enough of a bounty on jackrabbits to keep the kids in .22 shells. Probably two or three cents. Hereford, Texas, around 1915.

May 19, 2017, 10:23 AM	#20
hagar Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2000 Location: Colombia, SC Posts: 745	Only jackrabbits worth eating in AZ were the antelope jack rabbits. They were in general not worm infested like the other jacks, and had delicious meat. But relatively scarce, not found all over AZ. __________________ I don't have time for busy people

May 19, 2017, 11:24 AM	#21
Art Eatman Staff in Memoriam Join Date: November 13, 1998 Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA Posts: 24,798	Beware the jackelope, particularly during mating season. https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...=yhs-fh_lsonsw

May 19, 2017, 11:31 AM	#22
FITASC Senior Member Join Date: December 6, 2014 Posts: 6,446	You REALLY want to beware of this guy during mating season: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wester...ck_rattlesnake __________________ "I believe that people have a right to decide their own destinies; people own themselves. I also believe that, in a democracy, government exists because (and only so long as) individual citizens give it a 'temporary license to exist'—in exchange for a promise that it will behave itself. In a democracy, you own the government—it doesn't own you."- Frank Zappa

May 19, 2017, 11:47 AM	#23
Ricklin Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2008 Location: SW Washington state Posts: 2,013	Peach Pits! I was stationed at Castle AFB in the CA central valley back in the 1970's. We had boom-bust on jackrabbits and there were a lot of them. Scads of fun, and I had a good accurate old Winchester .22 semi auto. We shot at ton of em. all shortly after the local Peach harvest came in. The processor would pile huge mounds of Peach pits on their property. One does not have to wonder what happens to a jackrabbit population when the food supply is unlimited. Only downside was that Winnie really needed to be a .22 Mag. They were big tough Jacks. Almost all were shot on the run. Never even considered eating em. Sure shot a lot of em tho. __________________ ricklin Freedom is not free