Harvest Your Hares

By Josh Glover

I cut my teeth hunting rabbits (snowshoe hares) back in Newfoundland. There it's a very popular game meat, with set seasons and bag limits. People hunt them in a variety of ways—with dogs, walking them up, and snaring. My first hunting memory is of my brother and I trailing behind my dad as he set snares on the same paths he'd taken as a kid.

Tips for Hunting Hares

One square kilometre can harbour 500-600 snowshoe hares, so find yourself a thick spruce woods that displays some signs and you should be successful. Whether you plan to walk them up, cut a beagle loose, or set some snares, you’ll want to look for tracks and buttons (scat).

If you don’t have a four-legged friend along, you can successfully hunt hares on foot by walking slowly and stopping often to scan the forest floor. Once you spot one it becomes much easier to see the next one, and the one after that.

Have 2-3 days to spare? Consider setting 4-inch wire snares using stainless or picture wire on well-beaten hare runs (paths). Be sure to check them early in the day so predators don’t get a free meal. Remember to be responsible and close them when not in use.

Air Fryer Rabbit “Wings” Recipe

Everyone loves a good chicken wing, Buffalo style or otherwise. While rabbits and hares don’t have wings, you may notice when dressing them that the front legs are rather skimpy and do not yield a lot for your efforts—especially when trying to make sausage or a pie. They do however resemble a duck wing without the skin. What I like to do is collect them over the season and when I have a half dozen or so I pull them out of the freezer and cook them up “wing” style with my favourite sauce. Now, I like a little heat with my sweet, so adding s touch of sriracha to my barbecue sauce is perfect.

Ingredients:

• 6 hares front legs (or 12 rabbits front legs)
• ½ cup white rice flour
• ½ cup corn starch
• ½ tbsp. paprika
• ½ tbsp. chili powder
• ½ tbsp. ground black pepper
• ½ tbsp. salt
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 jalapenos (optional)
• ¼ cup barbecue sauce (optional)
• ½ tbsp. sriracha sauce (optional)

Directions:

The night before, break down your defrosted legs into desired sizes. To break down a hare, separate the front legs at the scapula or shoulder blade. It’s easy to see where to cut as the front legs appear to be disconnected from the body. Separate the leg from the shoulder blade to make two pieces or “wings.” Set them in a bowl with the buttermilk, cover with plastic wrap or a lid, and place in the fridge overnight.

When ready to cook, place the legs in a colander to drain the excess buttermilk into a bowl beneath. Do not rinse the legs. Slice the jalapeños (optional) and toss them into the leftover buttermilk. Preheat the air fryer to 200ºC (400ºF) and prepare the dredge by combining flour, corn starch, paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper. When the fryer is ready, dredge each leg, shake off excess, and place the legs in the fryer basket. Cook for 12–14 minutes, until golden brown. For a crispy coating, halfway through cooking toss the legs into a bowl and lightly drizzle them with olive oil, and return them to the fryer.

If adding jalapeños, remove them from the buttermilk, dredge them in the flour mixture and place them in the fryer at the halfway point with the legs.

Legs are cooked when the internal temperature reaches 150ºF. Dust with salt and pepper to taste. Toss the jalapeños in olive oil to coat and place them back in the air fryer for another 2-3 minutes.

Serve legs and jalapeños (optional) with your favourite wing sauce, either coated or on the side.

Barbecue sriracha sauce: mix sriracha sauce with your favourite sweet barbecue sauce. You wont regret it!