How to Kill & Prepare Rabbits

Rabbits provide you with tasty meat that is home-raised and free of hormones like mass produced meats. However, if you've never killed or prepared one before, it may seem like an intimidating task at first. Killing and preparing a rabbit for eating is not difficult in practice, but it does require precision and swiftness to assure that no pain is inflicted on the animal and to assure that the meat isn't damaged. Knowing how to kill and prepare rabbit adds to a self-sufficient lifestyle.

Things You'll Need

  • Meat rabbit
  • Nylon rope
  • Heavy duty butchering board
  • Sharpened hatchet
  • Sharp box cutter
  • 5-gallon bucket
  • 1 pound salt
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Instructions

    • 1

      Bind the rabbit's back feet together with a length of nylon rope measuring approximately 4 feet long. Tuck all of the excess length of rope under the heavy duty butcher's block to keep it out of the way.

    • 2

      Pull the rabbit by its ears across the surface of the heavy duty butcher's block. With the rope tucked beneath the block on the end where the rabbit's feet are facing, the rabbit will be stretched out and unable to move. Grasp the ears of the rabbit tightly and tilt the rabbits head upward to expose its throat.

    • 3

      Bring down the blade side of the sharpened hatchet firmly, with enough strength to sever the rabbit's carotid artery, which is the thick main artery in its throat. If your strength is great enough you may be able to chop the rabbit's head off with the hatchet. Otherwise, severing the artery is an adequate and safe technique to kill the rabbit. Allow the blood to drain from the severed artery for approximately 10 minutes. This is called "bleeding," and it clears out unnecessary blood from game meat.

    • 4

      Spread the lifeless rabbit's body out in front of you on its back with its legs sprawled outward. Its soft belly should be pointing upward.

    • 5

      Cut just beneath the first layer or two of skin with the box cutter just beneath the sternum of the rabbit, down to its anus. This surgical-like incision is necessary for skinning and prepping the rabbit further. Make sure not to puncture the rabbit's stomach organs, because rupturing the bile sack or other vitals may make the meat taste horrible.

    • 6

      Tuck your fingers under the incision to pry the skin and fur from the flesh of the rabbit. Pull firmly as the skin separates from the carcass. Slide it off in one piece after working it free from the rabbit's body. You may have to chop the head and feet from the rabbit before achieving this. This leaves the skinless whole carcass of the rabbit.

    • 7

      Puncture the skin of the rabbit just beneath the sternum, following the same kind of incision you made to remove the skin. This time, puncture just deep enough to expose the entrails of the rabbit. Do not puncture the organs. Let them fall from the rabbit into a waste bin. Scoop out excess blood and organ matter from the carcass to hollow it.

    • 8

      Chop the rabbit carcass in half lengthwise. This splits it into two separate halves. You can quarter it as an optional step as well.

    • 9

      Add one pound of table salt to 5 gallons of cool, purified water. Use the 5-gallon bucket. Put the skinned, halved rabbit carcass in the bucket of brine solution and cover it. Leave it for up to five hours. This removes excess blood and penetrates the meat to make it tender and lose its gamy taste. Cook with your choice of recipe after this.