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jgoodz420 · Member

Well, up until last weekend I had never even seen a jack rabbit. I was informed by some local residents of where to start looking and began my excursion...

As I arrive with my Dad at his friends house I see something sitting about 25-30yds away, along a fence line...My lucky day I guess, it was a big jack rabbit Mr. Green

I quickly unload the gun and get out behind a clump of bushes...He just sits there watching me, I get everything lined up...Compensate for wind and distance, and I pull the trigger...

Nothing happens, the safety is on Going Nuts

I push the safety off and the ominous "CLICK!!!" echoes, and the jack is running full steam down the fence line Crying or Very sad

He stops about 100yds down the fence line and hides by a large fence pole...(this is when I discover the only thing I really hate about my Condor...its safety is loud as sh!t, its gotta go...)

Just as my Dad finishes saying "I don't think you can get him from here..." I pull the trigger and he drops Faq-U

he moved another 10yds then collapsed...Upon recovery I saw the pellet passed clean through

We ranged the pole that the jack was sitting beside to be 96yds from where I was sitting Cool

The .25cal Condor seems to be working better everyday Smile

The best part was my Dad and his friend were just about excited over the whole things as I was, many things were said that would put smiles on Condor owners faces such as; "Never thought I would see the day an airgun hits anything at 100yds, let alone drops a 11lb jack" or "who sights there airgun in for 100yds? have you ever heard that before?" and "look at those pellets, WTF?" Laughing

Turned out I had left all my snow gear at home in my other bag, so I ended up going through about (110yds) 3.5ft of snow in my skate shoes and blue jeans Faq-U

Here is the jack and the bird that caught him...This jacks tracks (from the 30yds out to 100yds) were as far apart as my arm-spread (fingertip to fingertip) and I'm 6'4" Shocked

10 & 3/4 pounds, Arnold-Schwarze-bunny Smile

As it turned out, this was indeed my lucky day. I went back and retrieved my snow gear and headed out down the same fence row and back to a bush...I took another slightly smaller jack at about 60-65yds and I also came upon the biggest cottontail I have ever seen, I am now kicking myself for not weighing him Rolling Eyes

1st jack I shot at 96yds is at the bottom in this picture, all were taken with .25cal H&N Baracuda's...Look at the size of that cotton tail compared to the jacks? he is huuuuge Shocked

maybe a cross-breed?

sniper · Silver Status Member

I've never hunted wabbits but would like to.
It's the only real reason I'd want a .25 pcp (marauder).

Good job!

kanyon · Silver Status Member

great shooting...
looks like a good feed in the making....
I must go out one day and see if I can shoot a rabbit.. Laughing

jgoodz420 · Member

Thanks...

I just got into hunting rabbits myself, its a blast... Smile

This was the longest shot I have made on game so far with the .25cal barrel in my Condor, with JSB pellets I think I can push her out a bit further when the wind is not too strong...

and yes there will be a large rabbit feast going down in the near future Laughing

Cheers,

domer_pyle · Senior Member

You'd better invite your whole extended family, that's a lot of grub!!! Looks like 3 small dogs, those things are huge! Jacks are open season here in WI if I remember right, just too bad there aren't any to be found

AirGunEric · Site Admin

SMP · Silver Status Member

Dude a brace O conies and a spare to boot. Very nice.

Quick tips
Braising is the only way to go

Marsala is very nice

Make sure the braising liquid never boils or the meat will be tough and stringy, keep it below simmer to be safe.
It's done when a fork slides out easily

jgoodz420 · Member

jgoodz420 · Member

jgoodz420 · Member

AirGunEric · Site Admin

If there's lots of them, you might be able to charge people to eliminate them. Airguns are a real selling point on this- not the same amount of noise as a powderburner (generically speaking).

SMP · Silver Status Member

Hi Sorry about the slow reply. for some reason my browser only shows new messages half of the time.

Marsala is a full bodied fortified red wine that works well as a braising liquid because the acidity and enzymes break down the tougher tissues.

I would google something Marsala and mushroom braise...that should give you millions of hits.

This is the way I would approach it....basically

Dust the rabbit chunks in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Lightly brown these in hot oil and set aside

Saute onion and mushroom (brown button mushrooms cut in quarters retain a nice body in long slow cooking) Throw in a sprig or two of fresh tyme and a bay leaf.
Add your braising liquid which is usually one part wine to three parts stock. I can't tell you a quantity you need enough to cover the rabbit.

Taste the braising liquid for seasoning and adjust. Some boxed stocks are very salty so watchout with the salt. Your going to reduce the remaining liquid to a sauce so the saltiness will increase

Put your rabbit in a cooking dish that suits your choice of cooking method and pour the rest over top

From here there are three ways to go
1) In the oven at about 300-325
2) In a crock pot
3) Right on the stove. This is the way it would be done in a restaurant but is labour intense because the liquid must not hit full boil. It wouldnt be my first choice as I would be busy drinking the rest of the bottle of marsala

Test for doneness by inserting a fork into a thick chunk. The test is the fork slides in easily and slides back out easily too. If the meat grabs the fork it's not done.
When the meat is done remove from the braise liquid and scoop out most of the mushrooms and onions and place on the meat. Toss the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Reduce the remaining liquid in pot to a medium sauce and pour over the meat.

Serve that with rosemary roasted potatoes and your a chef du cuisine.

As I said google marsala braised rabbit and you should get a good feel for the dish.

jgoodz420 · Member

Awesome, thanks for all that info...

I will definitely try that out, now is this for Cotton Tail or Jack's? or both? I have been having a hard time finding cooking instructions for Jack Rabbit's. I have been told their meat is a lot tougher, which makes sense, it is also very dark like Moose meat, almost purple looking...

The back-straps & legs on a Jack are at least 3X the size of that on a Cottontail though Wink

SMP · Silver Status Member

The braising technique is best for any tough meat. So it would work well on the jacks too.