Ewwybody be vewwy, vewwy quiet. Tell me about hunting wabbit

[mostly-]

OK, the real question is: where, relatively near the TC, can one hunt Rabbits?

I'm coming to understand that if you didn't grow up hunting, it's hard to get started.

Does one call the C.O.? Does one look up WMA's? How does one get started?

There are Wild Life Management area all over the place (once you get out of the cities) As well as State Forests to hunt and other public places. 2 WMA in Hennapin county one by Champlin one by Rockford (So. of Buffalo on Hwy 55.)

Up by Elk River is is Sand Dunes as well as Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge (between Orac and Zimmerman) The place is pretty big. I wouldn't go deer hunthing there - The place is crawling with hunters.

Pick up a Minnesota Atlas that lists National Forests, State Forests, Wildlife Management, or National Waterfowl Production Areas. You can generally hunt small game in any of these. Careful about waterfowl - specific regs on those. The generally have marked off parking areas and the boundaries are clearly marked.
try http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/hunting/tips/locations.html
for county by county locations use http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/wmas/index.html there is a MN map at the bottom where you can select a county and it lists the WMA located therein select one and it tell you where it is what you can hunt and info about the location.
purchase maps here http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/prim.html

My God man ever use the internet??? Google it!
"minnesota and hunting and public and map"



I don't think I'd eat "city" rabbits... Too much Nitrogen, Potash and Phosperous - if you know what I mean...

Mostly-

[Pat]

Most of the places where you can hunt rabbits with a gun, you will find no rabbits.

Ain't that the truth. Sounds like grouse hunting...

[Ramoel]

I'll go along with where you can hunt there are no rabbits. My yard is full of the little guys but I never see any on our hunting land. We like to eat rabbit too. Once in awhile I trap a couple in the yard with box traps. I have to get to the trap before the wife though, she lets them out. She loves the meat but can't stand the idea of killing them because they're "so cute". Once I turn them into meat she's fine with it.

[DeanC]

Growing up I had some Ukrainian friends who had defected from the USSR. (Mom was a world-class ballerina) They would snare rabbits in the backyard all the time. They made some awesome stew. I think Dad is a Cadillac dealer now. What a country!

[Pat]

An oldie, but still a goodie: http://youtube.com/watch?v=IkHCDkYkYnk

[brauchma]

Bunny Hunter: The Story of the Rabbit Who Had a Gun

I think I am a dumber person for watching that. Where do you find this stuff?

[ttousi]

Bunny Hunter: The Story of the Rabbit Who Had a Gun

I think I am a dumber person for watching that. Where do you find this stuff?

Been said before................here it is again

DeanC has waaaaay too much time on his hands.............that or he has his "crew" surfing the net for him.

[Rip Van Winkle]

Ewwybody knows you need a spear and magic helllllmet.
Elmer & Bugs

[1911fan]

if you see hawks and or coyotes, you will not see any rabbit.

Back in the 80's before the hawk population recovered, our hunting land would have hundreds of them around, now the hawks and coyotes get them all and most the grouse too.

I would not like to shoot and eat local city rabbits, who knows what they are eating as far as lawn care products etc.

I have shot rabbit in tennessee and they were fatter and much more plentiful there than here. all we needed there was a .22 and a dog to get them moving. Cut up and fried like chicken they were a less greasy and more tender mild meat.

As far as the OP and going hunting for deer, Understand if you want to hunt deer and are worried about how much meat to care for, you can take what you want and donate the rest to food shelves. Also cleaning a deer is no different than cleaning a fish or a rabbit.

slit open the belly, carefully take the knife and remove all the innards, for the most part, just like in a fish, the innards are just lightly attached to the carcase and will be easy to remove. Take your knife and reach up into the heart lung cavity and remove all connective tissue and then work your way up to the esophagus and cut around this as far up as you can then just pull it hard and when you have it tight, take the knife and cut it off as far up the throat as you can. Work your way down to the nether end and make a cut that completely encircles the anus, pull that out a bit and with a piece of string or a plastic wrap twisty, seal that off, With a doe, do the same to the female opening and then continue the cut up toward the belly opening. the waste tracks drop down thru the pelvis and there are two ways of getting it out, one is the slow and gentle way of carefully cutting around and away everything that holds the waste tracts to the body. Then gently pull the tracts back through the pelvis and into the belly cavity and then roll the gut pile out onto the ground. Or get a small saw or hatchet, split the pelvis and then lift out the tracts while cutting them free.

I find the smallest knife available work the best for cleaning deer.

I use a Bark River mini Canadian and a browning sharp point. both have cutting edges no longer than your finger, and both are very compact. I used a gerber EZ out Jr for years that was about a 1 1/4 inch blade. Any more and it just gets too crowded for me. A good friend uses disposable Scalpels from a medical supply house, he uses two per deer. The only time I use a bigger knife is if I am quartering the animal out right there. I only do this if the weather is very warm and or large, Then a 4 inch blade will do all you need. If you butcher up the deer by your self, then a couple of 8 or 9 inch slicers will really speed it up.

[Pat]

...if you see hawks and or coyotes, you will not see any rabbit.

Back in the 80's before the hawk population recovered, our hunting land would have hundreds of them around, now the hawks and coyotes get them all and most the grouse too.

I have found hawks to be hardly worth stewing, and further, that coyote meat just never loses its stink.

But then again, I grew up where Democrats are fairly conservative...

[1911fan]

I agree, hawks are nasty tasting, somewhere between great horned owl and sand hill crane... now bald eagles, yummmy like crossing peregrine falcon with loon......