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Unlike Satan, I try to take Monday "off". This means get up, drink lots of tea and coffee, say Morning Prayer on the porch, then think of something meaningful to do, like go for a shoot or a ride. Apparently there was a small pack of wild dogs loose on a parishioner's farm, so I opted for the shoot and my plan was simple. Look out for the dogs and shoot them with a shotgun and if they were sensibly in hiding, go after squirrels or rabbits.
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| Kit, note the Cloak of Invisibility, aka old Brit combat jacket... |
First things first, get your kit together, namely a shotgun, a .22, and a scoped .243 in case there's a need for a longish range shot against the dogs. Then inspect your porch arsenal and wonder why you're strangely over-armed for this expedition -- why not take a .45 and a semi-auto, just in case, for goodness sake -- and drive out.
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| No Dogs |
No sooner was I at the farm and out of the truck than there's a rabbit, at about 40 yards silhouetted between two gateposts. I quickly loaded the .22 and squeezed off a shot; one rabbit for the pot. The next step was scouting about for dogs, shotgun in hand, but they weren't in evidence, so that part of the escapade turned into a armed ramble about the countryside. There's nothing wrong with that, it's important, I think, to get out in the tree lines and fields and if you're in hunting mode you see and hear more because the senses are heightened. Still, no dogs, so I went back to the truck and there's another rabbit! Great excitement, as I swapped out guns, went into the brush and shot it. Two rabbits for the pot.
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| Two for the pot |
That was plenty of action for me -- time to head off home to skin and gut then soak the meat in brine. I made the rabbits into a red wine based stew and served up over polenta, Italian style. Next time I think something to do with a grill might be in order, or maybe a curry.
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| Clean |
Tasty, and all the better for being something I made for myself, from kill to clean to pot. A quantity of red wine didn't hurt anything either.
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| Simmer |
Moral? Don't be a slacker, get out and hunt.
God bless,
LSP
Marinade in mustard, with a little tarragon!
ReplyDeleteOINK
Excellent post! I haven't hunted rabbit in a few years. My buddies and I would go up to a valley in the mountains west of here. We'd shoot them with a .22 as well, makes for easier cleaning. One would ride around on an ATV to get the rabbits moving while the rest of us stood armed and at the ready.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle raised beagles that he trained to be good rabbit dogs. They were awesome at running the rabbits, literally bringing them to you (at about 40 mph!)
Your rabbit recipe sounds delicious, although my tastes run more pedestrian. I like pan frying the rabbit, cutting up the meat and making rabbit gravy out of the drippings for biscuits and gravy.
I do a curry rub for pheasant, but never thought of it for rabbit. Makes sense, curry is a good spice blend for wild game.
Good call, GT.
ReplyDeleteLove the sound of beagles and ATVs, Silverfiddle, and for sure, the .22 seems a sensible kind of round. Still, I'm thinking of upgrading to something hotter with a scope -- maybe some kind of .204. Probably makes sense in my "small game" world.
ReplyDeleteThe recipe was good, though a little wintery; curry's definitely worth investigating.
Pheasant! Haven't had that in years, must rectify the situation...
Wow, this looks impressive; first the kill, and you clean and cook it yourself. I can't say that I'd eat a rabbit, but yours sure looks delicious! Well I ate it once not knowing what I was eating, my grandmother was famous for having a pot of something on her back burner and one day it just happened to be rabbit. It was good... until she told me it was rabbit!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your day LSP, cheers from the land down under.
It was tasty, Darlin.
ReplyDeleteHope all's well in Australia, always wanted to visit...