48
votes
Can I eat the rabbits my cat catches?
Based on several sources related to parasites that can be found in rabbit meat, as noted in other answers in this post, it is difficult to correctly diagnose whether a rabbit has been infected or not ...
- 591
41
votes
Accepted
Can I eat the rabbits my cat catches?
Can I eat the rabbits my cat catches?
The short answer is yes, but most people would not.
Our cat would do the same thing as yours, when we lived in the country. Sometimes the rabbit was just as big ...
- 9,609
40
votes
Accepted
"Don’t step on anything you can step over." - What does this mean?
Firstly, safety.
Stepping or leaning on a rotten log is not fun if you end up going through it (Dynadin did it when Geocaching and ended up with a large number of scratches down one arm, and it could ...
- 15.4k
33
votes
Accepted
Why are there separate seasons for archery and firearm hunting for deer?
I think the main reason for this is that the hunting styles are a lot different between the two. Archery hunters often don't wear orange and get very close to the their prey while gun hunters wear ...
- 69.4k
28
votes
Accepted
How likely are you to be injured by falling shot from a game shoot?
Pheasant shooters will almost certainly be using shotguns, not rifles. A shotgun cartridge contains many small pellets, and they lose their velocity much more rapidly than bullets do. In fact, their ...
- 4,785
24
votes
Can I eat the rabbits my cat catches?
TLDR
Wear gloves!
Discard the rabbit if there are white spots on the liver
Use a meat thermometer and make sure your meat is cooked through to 165 F / 74 C.
My copy of Joy of Cooking contains this ...
- 413
23
votes
Accepted
What is this weird mechanical thing I found in the woods?
The fact that's it's staked out near a hunting tower suggests it's bait to attract animals. A couple of factors suggest it's meant for wild boar (which are found in Austria), or at least to withstand ...
- 26.8k
22
votes
What is the responsible way to sell a firearm?
One possible solution, if you find a buyer that is willing to wait for it, i have heard of people taking a copy of the buyer's drivers license to the police station and asking them to run it to check ...
- 2,634
19
votes
What is pelt sealing and why is it required for certain species?
From reading the question, I suspect the OP understands "sealing" to be the verb described by the description "apply a nonporous coating to (a surface) to make it impervious.".
When they talk about ...
- 30.4k
18
votes
How likely are you to be injured by falling shot from a game shoot?
Falling birdshot stings a little, but I've never known it break the skin. It's no worse than having a 5p piece dropped on you from a couple of feet up.
If you're on a public footpath, guns may not ...
- 4,801
17
votes
Accepted
Are elk and deer colorblind to blaze orange/pink clothes?
Humans have trichromatic vision. Deer, Elk (wapiti) and some other animals have dichromatic vision. It's not that deer and Elk can't "see" oranges and reds, they just perceive them differently.
...
- 1,847
16
votes
Accepted
Why would archery season be either before or after rifle season?
Your question was about deer hunting in Pennsylvania and Oregon where the majority of the deer are whitetail deer and mule deer, respectively. My answer applies to both, generally. There are many ...
- 1,792
16
votes
Accepted
What does it mean for a caliber to be flat shooting?
Bullets follow a parabolic arc as seen below,
Image Source
As you can see the yellow line is a bullet fired from a longer barrel which results in a higher velocity and thus less drop over distance. ...
- 69.4k
14
votes
What is the responsible way to sell a firearm?
There are three ways that I am aware of, as a private seller to sell your guns to someone else correctly. Keep in mind that correctly is very jurisdiction-driven, and in some ways dependent on opinion....
- 2,800
14
votes
Accepted
Outfitter does "game prep but not processing"
It means that they will clean and gut/quarter but not turn it into jerky/steak/hamburger for you. In other words they will help you get it out of the field and then it’s up to you to process it from ...
- 69.4k
13
votes
"Don’t step on anything you can step over." - What does this mean?
It means to be mindful of what you do, how and where you move, what you do to your environment and so on. Aside the topics mentioned by @Aravona (security, noise), it may mean to avoid unintended ...
- 1,918
13
votes
"Don’t step on anything you can step over." - What does this mean?
This statement is one of those pieces of wisdom that sounds profound, but isn't.
Following this advice can lead you into trouble as easily as it can help you avoid trouble. The other answers have ...
- 24k
13
votes
"Don’t step on anything you can step over." - What does this mean?
I have always heard this in a hiking context, where it is fatigue and safety related. There is also a 'second verse' in the version I was taught: dont step on something you can step around.
It is ...
- 139
13
votes
Accepted
Any rational reason to pick a spear to hunt?
I think the reasons why people want to hunt using spears are the similar to the reasons for archery and crossbow hunting: it's about the challenge of hunting with weapons that are - at their core - a ...
- 13.3k
12
votes
Trustworthyness of a claim that a "not hung" doe can't be completely processed
You really shouldn't waste any time after you shoot a deer, how long you wait to dress your deer can affect the taste of the meat.
The first thing that happens after you kill a deer is rigor mortis. ...
- 53.7k
11
votes
"Don’t step on anything you can step over." - What does this mean?
The canonical reason for this (in a hiking context, where noise is not an issue but fatigue can be) is that it saves effort.
Think about the physics -- when you step up on to a log, you are doing ...
- 795
10
votes
Accepted
How should one properly dispose of a rabid animal carcass?
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has a series of protocols in place for this subject.
Protocols for Safe Handling and Disposal of Carcasses:
All dead animals should be handled only ...
- 9,609
10
votes
What is the responsible way to sell a firearm?
I live in a state that doesn't have universal background checks, unfortunately.
Universal background checks are simply an elimination of private sale, so the lack of such a policy simply means you ...
- 201
10
votes
Accepted
Can orange safety vest be used when hiking during hunting season?
This answer is based on research and my experience hiking in the United States, specifically the Midwest and Northeastern US. I mostly focus on deer season, because that's the big one in this area. Be ...
- 4,364
9
votes
How should one properly dispose of a rabid animal carcass?
Ken Graham has a great deal of useful information in his answer, which I will not repeat. But the OP has specifically asked how to deal with a rabid animal's carcass when he is out hunting. However, ...
- 24k
9
votes
Carrying small game while hunting on foot?
I like using a sling. You can make it out of paracord or similar like this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLtPdy4YxL4
The steps for a making a sling are pretty easy - Cut about 4-6 strands ...
- 1,816
9
votes
Carrying small game while hunting on foot?
In the days of my youth, when I was hunting cottontails, I just popped them into a plastic trash bag and tucked that into my day pack. Now a days, I would use a trash compactor bag instead of a ...
- 319
9
votes
If you get a "clean" kill on a deer how long do you have to field dress?
You field dress the deer as soon as possible while maintaining your own safety. That really means that as soon as the deer is down, I go take care of it, except if I have shot it during the last few ...
- 1,816
9
votes
Accepted
What are the reasons for prohibiting bow hunting in many countries?
For two (percieved or real) reasons, I believe:
A greater risk of wounding the animal. (Even a skilled hunter misses from time to time and a hunter with a rifle has a bigger chance of getting off a ...
- 1,992
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