Different Jack Rabbit Nature and Hunting
The hunter shot 100 jack rabbits a day, sold the animals for 14 cents each to a processor, and went back hunting the next day. That day is long gone. The jack rabbit's numbers have diminished, and the species is now looked on by hunters as purely a sporting proposition, Jacks are no longer shot as pure pests except by ranchers and farmers. Hunters are even learning to keep some for seed, to provide ample numbers for the future.

The animals were skinned for hat makers, and the flesh was processed into mink food for fur ranches. Many a hunter, during those Jack rabbit tracks, showing small forefoot and large hind foot.

Hunt Jack Rabbit

If you want to hunt jack rabbits, you must first find regions where they are relatively abundant and it is legal to hunt. This information should be obtained from the fish and game department. Ranchers in desert regions are usually glad to grant permission to hunt marginal farmlands, once assured that the hunter is responsible and won't shoot at stock or leave gates open.

The most common method of hunting jack rabbits is to hike across the desert country until you see a jack rabbit, shoot it on the run, or wait until he "sets' for a long shot off-hand. Another method is to hunt with a dog and shoot the rabbit as he is flushed from cover. This can provide tricky shooting as the animal darts in and out of high sagebrush.

A better way, requiring more precise aiming with top quality scopes, is to hunt with a .22 rimfire repeating rifle-a single-shot is a terrible aggravation. Such a rifle should be scope-equipped, sighted in for 100 yards, and used only with long-rifle hollow-points.

Position of Hunting Jack Rabbit

The best two positions for such shooting are little known but effective. One is an offhand stance with the no grip hand back near the receiver, elbow on uplifted hip, body reared back. This is steadier than the conventional offhand position.

A better one is to squat as though sitting on the heels, holding the elbows on the knees. Both positions permit shooting over low, intervening sagebrush. A sporting form of jack-rabbit hunting is to shoot at them, either on the run or "set," with a varmint rifle.

Different Jack Rabbit Guns

Often jacks won't stop within .22 rimfire range-out to 125 yards-but will pause at 175 to 200 yards. This makes for ideal pest shooting. A good cartridge out at 125 yards is the .22 WMR. It is much more effective than the .22 rimfire but costs more to shoot.

Better cartridges for the longer ranges are the .222 Remington, .22 Hornet, .223 Remington, .224 Weathersby, .225 Winchester; and up to the dual-purpose cartridges like the .243 Winchester, 6 mm. Remington, and .257 Roberts. Shooting at running jacks with these last cartridges is great sport and good practice for the big game along with using bow hunting.

In any type of hunting, the shooter should habitually make sure he shoots into the ground at some visible distance-not where there's a possibility of a bullet ricocheting into a farm or settlement. Tularemia poses some threat to most species of rabbits, and gloves should be worn when handling dead bunnies. If you'd like to try eating a healthy young jack rabbit, here's how to skin him in thirty seconds flat: Twist the skin above both hocks until it breaks. Run a forefinger under the skin between leg and tail on each side at the back, and break it.

Eating Jack Rabbit

Eating jack rabbit is simple. Pull the skin loose gently around tail, anus, and genitals. Then, holding the animal by the heels with one hand, pull the "cased' skin downward over the en pull. The skin will break off all around the forelegs at the wrists.

Do the same at the ears-get a finger between ears and skin, pull, and peel. Break the skin off at the nose by more pulling. The skinned rabbit will have only small patches of fur left at the nose, genitals, and "mittens." It all takes quite a little less time than it has taken me to write this.