No R in the month

[Feltwad]

Here in the UK the old folk law system was not to eat rabbit if there is no R in the month. I for one observe this but a majority do not .The reason been that most rabbits are heavy with young or feeding young which is known has a milky doe Rabbits are classed has ground game but also a pest some will breed all the year round if weather conditions are right but the months of May , June, July, and August are the main breeding months
Feltwad

 

[Cattywompuss]

That's an interesting rule. Never heard it here in the U.S., but at least un The South our small games seasons tend to be December, January, February, and a little bit of March. It's illegal to hunt rabbits any other time in GA or AL. No shooting bunnies at Easter see?

As a coastal boy we also stuck hard and fast to only eating oysters in months that end in Ber.

 

[Old Hawkeye]

Here in Iowa, I was told that the "no R month rule" was because of a parasite rabbits can carry in the warm months that could make you sick if you eat them. I have no evidence or documentation for that, so it may just be an "old wives tale", which I have no definition for either! Surely we have some members here "older than dirt" that can explain it!

 

[Tom Compton]

Met a guy in college who worked clearing land for a developer. He handled a nest of new born rabbits bare handed. Spent a week or so in the hospital. Rabbit fever they called it.

 

[sawyer04]

Takes a good frost before I will eat a rabbit in Missouri, then I eye ball the muscle tissue and liver for defects.

 

[Britsmoothy]

They have young in January and February in my part of the UK.

 

[andy52]

Takes a good frost before I will eat a rabbit in Missouri, then I eye ball the muscle tissue and liver for defects.

I've always heard the same thing and don't hunt rabbits until late October.

 

[Cattywompuss]

They have young in January and February in my part of the UK.

What species of rabbit do you hunt? In the U.S. south we have cotton tails, but everyone differentiates average rabbits from the so called Swamp Buck/Cane Cutters.

 

[Britsmoothy]

What species of rabbit do you hunt? In the U.S. south we have cotton tails, but everyone differentiates average rabbits from the so called Swamp Buck/Cane Cutters.

Oryctolagus cuniculus

 

[Griz44Mag]

Here in the UK the old folk law system was not to eat rabbit if there is no R in the month. I for one observe this but a majority do not .The reason been that most rabbits are heavy with young or feeding young which is known has a milky doe Rabbits are classed has ground game but also a pest some will breed all the year round if weather conditions are right but the months of May , June, July, and August are the main breeding months
Feltwad

I was taught this rule (in Texas) by my grandfather at a very young age.
His explanation was that if you take rabbits in the "no R" period this year you won't be taking any next year. And rabbit stew was\(still is) a favorite around our family.

 

[Griz44Mag]

What species of rabbit do you hunt? In the U.S. south we have cotton tails, but everyone differentiates average rabbits from the so called Swamp Buck/Cane Cutters.

In the US - there are 15 species of rabbit\hares identified.
My favorite (to eat) are the Eastern cottontail found here in Central-Northern Texas.
There are 6 species of cottontails in the US - small differences in size and colorations splits them into the sub species.
When hunting with a friend many years ago in Tennessee we hunted cottontail and they were definitely different that the Texas variety.
In Texas, they inhabit all but the western arm of the state, which has its own distinct species of cottontail: the desert cottontail.
https://www.google.com/search?q=rab...i57j0i22i30.6679j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[Cattywompuss]

In the US - there are 15 species of rabbit\hares identified.
My favorite (to eat) are the Eastern cottontail found here in Central-Northern Texas.
There are 6 species of cottontails in the US - small differences in size and colorations splits them into the sub species.
When hunting with a friend many years ago in Tennessee we hunted cottontail and they were definitely different that the Texas variety.
In Texas, they inhabit all but the western arm of the state, which has its own distinct species of cottontail: the desert cottontail.
https://www.google.com/search?q=rab...i57j0i22i30.6679j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Had a swamp buck approach me fishing one time. Got about 10 feet from me and then jumped in the pond and swam the 100 yards across it. I was quite surprised.

 

[Feltwad]

During WW2 the wild rabbit was one of the main types of meat here in the UK ,then the rabbit was seen in large numbers it was common to take 50 -100 rabbits from one hedge row bolting them with a ferret also netting them with a long net of 50 yards and a good dog then the Sundays lunch was a rabbit it was a cheap meal . One of the main sport for rabbits was following the horse or tractor binder at corn cutting time this provided some good sport and a good bag. this came to almost a holt in 1953 with the introduction of the man made decease known has myxomatosis this was terrible decease to administer to any animal most rabbits are now immune to it but for some it still has outbreaks it is spread by a flea that lives in the rabbit holes . It killed the demand for rabbit which are now eating by only a few and will not reach the numbers that it once was .
Feltwad

Corn cutting time

 

[dave61965]

Here in East Texas when I started hunting I was taught to only take rabbits in months ending in the letter r, the reason being the coolest months the rabbits didn’t have the wolf worm or bot fly larvae under their skin.

 

[Woody Morgan]

Bot flies. Euughh.

wm

 

[longcruise]

S. Nuttall is my favorite.

 

[Rudyard]

'Under ground mutton' good with chips in rabbit gravy. Liitle B s got introduced here & Australia . but they got foxes we didn't in NZ . I still harvest them with MLs or my Pinfires taste same .
Fond memories of harvest & readying for the last middle strip & pegging foxes fom it .
Cheers Rudyard

 

[hanshi]

Tularemia, rabbit fever, is a very dangerous disease and can be fatal. As a youngster I would take them at any opportunity with a pellet rifle. So I never have actually been "rabbit hunting" but spent all my woods time hunting squirrels. The occasional bunny was fine with me.

 

[upperplains]

Mr. Feltwad, I love that corn cutting time photo. I love to compare at how nicely the folks back then were dressed as compared to what is common today. It's the same when I look at my family photos of prior generations.

 

[toot]

years ago when I hunted rabbit, when I gutted then and the liver was a bright yellow I chucked them. it was called TULEREMIA, SPOTTED LIVER, not a good meat to eat!!