Rabbit Hunt

This afternoon we went out for “a walk with attitude,” also known as hunting, just around the farm. Back by the raised garden beds we immediately scared up three pheasant roosters, and Steve got off a good shot, but missed. I can’t even imagine someone hitting a pheasant on the fly, though he assures me he’s shot geese before. Steve had a shotgun and I had a 22 rifle, completely for effect, as I’d have no idea what to do with it, let alone be able to raise it and shoot at anything. That shotgun packs a lot of punch– has a really loud shot that echoes into the distance. I figured that one shot early was enough to scare anything away. We walked through a lot of areas where deer had clearly been lying down, and saw their paths through the dry reed canary grass. No more pheasant, however.

We stopped and talked to Paul about the log cabin, and saw where he’s cut out the plates for the electric. It will be disassembled this week and transported up to the lake. Before he reassembles it he’ll drill through the logs and run the wires. Paul is a certified electrician, and I think he really enjoys that part. It’s a beautiful place. The logs have all been bleached and have a sort of giraffe-like mottling to them.

For the last leg of the walk we went through the pine grove, and Steve said to keep alert for rabbits. I always think this is a bit of a joke, but no. I heard the rustle and the next thing I knew there was another loud shot, and he actually hit a rabbit on the run. He pulled it by its leg and dropped it on the lawn, and it seemed to be breathing still to me, though he said it was very dead. I didn’t like that part at all– the dying of the rabbit, the warm, dead thing. Though I don’t have any problem with shooting rabbits or pheasants, or even deer really, if you eat them.

I had seen a woman skin a rabbit in the movie Roger and Me by Michael Moore about Flint, Michigan, and told Steve it should be easy– that the skin just peels off. We brought the thing back, and after our photo ops, Steve chopped off the feet and head, then skinned it. I cleaned it up and consulted two cookbooks: How to Cook Everything by Mark Bitman and Dean and Deluca Cookbook by David Rosengarten. D&D recommends marinating it for 2 days, which isn’t really going to happen, and then grilling it. Mark Bittman recommended a marinade for one day, which gives me time to pick up some bacon and celery for the rest of the stew recipe tomorrow. There isn’t much meat, hardly worth all this effort, but it is a bit of an adventure. After setting aside the marinading rabbit, I made some good chili.

All in all, a good day.