posted on Sep, 3 2009 @ 02:53 PM
to this day my favorite field dressing is how to field dress a rabbit without a knife. i learned it AFJROTC survival trainings, nothing too serious,
it was in high school...but i've gone out camping a few times and i've tried it...it's rather messy, and it takes practice, but it's so awesome
when you get it to work.
basically it comes down to this:
take the dead/unconscious rabbit, grab it around the ribs right up against the shoulder where the arms meet the torso, and try to squeeze the
intestines to the lower extremeties...sort of how you squeeze a tube of toothpaste or a ketchup bottle....
take an athletic stance, i describe it more like a wrestling stance...good base, feet as wide or a bit wider than shoulder's witdh apart, knees bent
so your center of gravity is over the balls of your feet, so your butt and knees should stick out a bit, head and shoulders up looking parallel to the
ground...
while holding the rabbit as described, hold it high above your head, and then swing it down and between your legs, imagine a long snapper...your
forearms will hit your thighs, causing an abrupt stop, and the momentium should cause the intestinse to exit the body somewhat via the anus of the
animal...then you can use your hand to pull 'em off...
i have always been told to cook the food inside it's own case...the idea is to get the intestines out so any toxins don't cause the meat to spoil,
allowing you to travel with it somewhat...a little longer than if you didn't clean it anyway...
off topic: keep the intestines, and use them to make a fish trap....survivorman did it when he was in the southern U.S. swamps, i've done it plenty
of times, use it to catch minnows for bait...works very well