Falconry: Hunting Jackrabbits

This falconry video introduces Jackrabbits as a falconry quarry species. It discusses natural history, biology, tips for successful hunting, etc.
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[@robertlawrence7958]

That blue hare you showed is actually the Brown Hare, which, as you correctly stated, is our equivalent of your Jack rabbit. Here in the UK the blue hare is another name for the mountain hare which I believe would be the equivalent of your snowshoe hare. It turns white in winter.

[@Desmond17]

So basically, this is Max's channel now ? I, for one, welcome our new feathered overlord.

[@yeomama8424]

Great video, as usual. And your co-host Max seems to be coming out of his shell He’s got a lot of valuable input on jackrabbits 😁

[@WSmith07]

Braaaawww

[@Anon702Native]

20:18 that bird is a party animal!

[@lubospaprcka5975]

Ben thank you for uploading such good information!

[@laragwen102]

We've been eating jacks for 20 years. They make great stews and chilly. Chilly is the best! The dark red meat reminds me of boar and bear as compared to cottontails where the meat is much lighter and less nutritious. Jack meat can be quite gamey, in my experience, but guests love it until I tell them what it is.

[@GURWINDER_RAI]

I love your videos.... nice information ! Thank you.

[@KikiYushima]

Hey Ben, I was wondering if you'd be able to do a video about falconry dogs. I don't know if you use them or not, but I know a fair few people do. It'd be interesting to learn about training and what it's like to man both animals in the field.

[@cameronanderson6637]

Yes please!

[@kylewilshusen9898]

Great info. I would love to see more prey videos like this

[@goranmladenovski6392]

When you are doing a mews tour Ben?

[@btakin8737]

Priceless! Max to the Max! Oh, great material on jackrabbits as well😝

[@Aaron65444]

Long videos are the best. I just want to say, thank you for making this resource for others. I have learned so much from you. I think I have seen almost every falconry video. This is what open source media is all about. If I can make a request, please do a video on biology and feathers. I am curious about migration patterns too. It seems like a lot of the birds in southern California stay year round, and like humans, we get a lot of "tourist birds" too.

[@jonahmcbride934]

I grew up eating Jack Rabbits. Slow cooked them in a pot or crock pot till they become tender. Actually can be quite delicious, but have never been able to convince my girls. lol.

[@paulhines8612]

Ben your content is first class. I especially get a chuckle out of your impersonations....of what the animals may be thinking. I have one suggestion. Often times you're talking for quite some time about an animal without any intervening video or pictures. I think it would bump your already excellent videos up a few more notches if you could have some mini video or even still shot(s) in the corner of the screen; this way we can examine the specimen while you're talking about them. Thanks for your service.

[@yamcider6930]

I like this format!

[@Anon702Native]

Great drone shots and great info as always!

[@wesleyworley8982]

You've got a heckler for this one!

[@jantirpak7902]

Good evening Ben, a well-introduced jackrabbit species.

[@adhamabouwafia5089]

Great video with lots of very useful information Ben!

[@kingsolomon4392]

really appreciate max powell sharing his falconry experience w us on youtube, comparing and contrasting it with your info!

[@dougclark4561]

Thanks for this, Ben. This is exactly the type of stuff I was hoping for when we exchanged messages last year. Gonna be way closer to Jackrabbit territory next year.

[@freebirdofreason1994]

Good to watch, very informative as usual thanks for sharing.

[@davepeace4037]

Max makes this my favorite episode.

[@matthiasfloren2610]

I live in Belgium we have hares. I find them so cool looking. Spotted the leggy buggers even in industrial terrain. If there's open habitat and some cover you'll find them.

[@davidpook5778]

Well done, Always learn something here!

[@anablackmoon5114]

Really informative 👍👍👍

[@jaydendrelinger4304]

I agree with the idea that plucking animals off for sheer entertainment is problematic. I wish that concept would resonate amongst more hunters but as the saying goes, “if wishes were fishes we’d all take a swim”…

[@garyblack8794]

Thank you for the videos i always love learning more and your videos have saved my falconer friend from lots of probing questions Im not one but i find the hobby very interesting and you present information very well

[@yahelmedinaberrones7895]

Very nice video as always. I think it would be interesting a video about the correct way to take off the prey from a bird and some other tips during the hunt.

[@magicizaproblem]

Max is a wild bird!

[@ChuckDuncan]

Thanks Ben!

[@massmanute]

I got a kick out of the parrot. It seemed to have said "whaaaat" just after Ben said "what". I don't know if the parrot was imitating Ben, but it sounded like it.

[@facundobinelli6077]

Great video, i live in Argentinian Patagonia and the vegetation in this area looks pretty similar to the sage brush, we have many thorny bushes here and european hares aplenty(sadly since they're introduced).

[@juanotero4821]

By the way that bird on the background awesome 👏 almost took over the show. 😂😂😂

[@juanotero4821]

Hey I like your videos really enjoy ... keep it up 👍 👍👍

[@Kapok6]

I literally ate jackrabbit street tacos while watching this.

[@Anon702Native]

Do you have a recipe you can share? My freezer is literally full of jacks 😂

[@Kapok6]

@@Anon702Native damndelicious.net/2019/04/18/mexican-street-tacos/ sub jack for beef and I use 2x the garlic it calls for. I sautéed in avocado oil in a cast iron skillet.

[@Kapok6]

@@Anon702Native Also, for something simple, just slice the backstraps into medallions like beef filets are cut from tenderloin, lightly salt and pepper, then sauté in avocado oil until it's cooked through but not overcooked or dry. Taste to me is similar to a cross between venison and bison.

[@Anon702Native]

@@Kapok6 thanks a ton. I'm going out in 30min hopefully I'll get a fresh one 👍

[@Kapok6]

@@Anon702Native best of luck!

[@pakcanhunter]

I agree with you on the wasting of jack rabbit.

[@LordDaymien]

Can you make a video about Training your first longwing? Telemetry. Chamber Bred vs Passage vs Imprint. Ducks vs Grouse/Pheasants. Do I need a Pigeon Loft to reliably train a big longwing? Avoiding Eagles, etc.

[@maxinpains6937]

Max is happy now .

[@oldschoolhawking8191]

Jackrabbits are a sore subject right now to California and Nevada falconers. Their numbers seem to be at a all time low.

[@davidtorres710]

U got that right man was telling my son the same thing lean times

[@Ran-vm7fu]

Not to mention the hemorrhagic disease.. mostly in southern California, but yea.. can't find a rabbit to save my life

[@laragwen102]

I've hunted Jacks for 30 years. I've never seen their numbers this low. I've lost many of my hunting fields to warehouse proliferation but even in my remaining few fields not a jack is to be found. My poor Harris!

[@joehughes6337]

Your macaw is hilarious 😆

[@lohikarhu734]

Off-topic, but I just watched a video of a Goshawk feeding on a deer carcass that a wolf had left behind (after marking the territory ;-)) and the Goshawk got pretty dirty about the head... I guess, in winter, "free" protein and calories are a great survival proposition! Do you see this behaviour often? BTW, be as "preachy" as you like. Great to get a feel for the interaction among the prey animals and their predators.

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

If you read regular field guides or things like that it will seem like most Raptors don’t scavenge. But then when you see people who have put trail cams and survey sides out by a carcass, it is amazing that basically any raptor under the right circumstances is happy to scavenge a free meal.

[@JERFALCON]

Don’t see many Jacks these days either. Last place I saw a set of decent tracks had two “bunny blasters” walking out into the Warren! 😢

[@skyking6989]

Awesome but my heart is with the longwings.

[@lohikarhu734]

Does the hawk normally succeed in actually killing a jackrabbit, or do you often need to administer the coup-de-gras? And, how? Sorry to be so pesky with questions... BTW, should I mention your channel when commenting on other falconry channels, to publicize you a bit? ?

[@foreignbirb2579]

Is that a harness on your macaw? If not, it could be plucked feathers, which means one thing: your pet needs more attention, and is stressed!

[@leetlebob8203]

He said he’s a rescue at the start and that he has been plucking due to the old owners not providing him with appropriate enrichment.

[@Aaron65444]

can you show and talk about your mews and weather yard? I am so curious.

[@kenna6903]

Can you do videos on cotten tails for where I am we do not have jacks. Also species profiles for the lanner, red tail, and red shouldered.

[@sherizaahd]

This was great. I know that rabbit meat is so low in fat that it's a nutritional problem for anything just eating rabbit, unless you eat the organs as well. I don't know why that would be OK for some raptors and not others, your eagle example but it is a thing that you probably already know, hah. How about a video of you or someone doing the jack rabbit swap, skin and processing? I like that kind of thing to learn from.

[@oldskolrich]

Jack Rabbit is short for the now defunct name "Jackass Rabbits". They vaguely resemble the long ears and hindquarter of a donkey. The name was dubbed by pioneers and miners of the 19th century.

[@birdman5197]

#bringmaxonthepodcast 😁

[@davidtorres710]

Yea Ben Max's cracks me up question jacks anybody when processing meat there a sac of clear liquid with a bunch of parasites that look like white tadpoles do u guys have them there in Utah or is that a California thing anyway great videos ps I have a son that lives in Taylorsville going up there to vist my son an do some scouting

[@ayeartogrow]

Yes I saw that clear sac often. It is part of the life cycle of worms (like tape worms). The sac and parasite things in it won't ever be worms themselves, but if eaten by say a coyote then they are what will develop into worms. Then the worms shed cysts. The cysts are eaten by the rabbits and the cysts develop into the clear sacs/parasites. That is my understanding of it.

[@tylerbess7510]

Can we get a video on how you train to wait-on?

[@dakotaadra1044]

@Ben Woodruff After watching your series of videos it occurred to me that Harris's Hawks are often lumped in with buteos by falconers. Why is this the case? We classify them different taxonomically as parabuteos. They seem to be of a more similar build to a goshawk with longer wings. They have more flexible feathers like a buteo. And finally they exhibit behaviors that are almost unseen in the raptor world. To me they seem nothing like a buteo although I have no personal experience with them. Is parabuteo a misnomer? Or is it an accurate assessment? Or perhaps it is a misunderstanding on my part, and it is not commonplace to lump Harris's Hawks in with buteos?

[@lanes8237]

Ben, I would love it if you could share your thoughts about falconers teaming up with guys who hunt with dogs. Obviously if this were done in tandem you'd do it without a gun. I just pictured the dog flushing or running the birds and the falcon/hawk killing it.

[@shaneshac]

I hear the virus is hitting rabbit populations in the USA quite badly. The effects in Europe have been devastating with entire areas completely wiped clean. The sooner you take measures to ensure some survive the better

[@davidtorres710]

well i got lucky yesterday my cast Harris got a double jacks happy happy amen to mikey and maya

[@lohikarhu734]

You're absolutely allowed to talk about pthe circle of life '...we're all in it, until we're not!

[@randymcclellan9569]

You could also recommend steel shot to those who hunt rabbits

[@christopherrowley7506]

'use what you kill' is a reasonable motto for any hunter. You could use it to feed your dog, use the skin for crafts or sell it to someone that does crafts. You could eat it, although I know most would never do that. If you can't think of a use for it, and it's not on private land where they are causing a problem, I feel fine recommending to you--don't shoot the animal.

[@Aaron65444]

what is a "bumper year?" like drout?

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

Bumper year is a good year when there is an unexpected population explosion

[@ac9356]

Did ur parrot just copy u ad said hair

[@GURWINDER_RAI]

Have anyone domesticated hares?

[@benwoodrufffalconry]

Not in America. A few people have bred jackrabbits here and there, but they have never been legitimately domesticated to my knowledge

[@GURWINDER_RAI]

@@benwoodrufffalconry got it.

[@mahmoudsahoor3625]

Beter than the horse try the Yamaha Raptor or banshee