Rabbits are generally under-appreciated table fare. The meat is ultra-lean, protein-rich, and has a mild, pleasant flavor. Processing a rabbit is also straightforward. Because of its size and delicate anatomy, a freshly-killed bunny is surprisingly easy to skin. Even a dead rabbit or hare that’s been allowed to cool for a few hours is pretty easy to handle, although it may take a little more patience and muscle than one with some lingering body heat.
In the not-so-distant past, every 12-year-old knew how to skin a rabbit, and most could do it with their eyes closed. Unfortunately, growing up in the modern world doesn’t offer nearly as many opportunities to hone the skill. The good news is that it doesn’t matter if you’re 12 or well past middle age; it’s never too late to learn. As with any new skill, practice makes the process easier. The more rabbits you skin, the quicker, easier, and cleaner the process becomes.
If you’re new to cleaning game, skinning rabbits also make good practice for larger mammals with similar biology. Cleaning rabbits is far less intimidating than skinning and butchering a big-game animal; the process, however, is incredibly similar. So whether you plan to grill, fry, or simmer your rabbit meat in a stew, knowing how to skin a rabbit is the first step to enjoying one of the finest-eating game animals on Earth. Here’s how to do it.
Photo by Alice Jones Webb
A Simple Method to Skin a Rabbit
There is more than one way to skin a rabbit. For instance, advice from an old Air Force Survival manual (circa 1985) recommends putting a serious squeeze on your bunny. The manual’s illustrations depict a man in a flight jumpsuit almost spiking a dead rabbit between his legs and its innards flying skyward.
This method is intended to help you skin a rabbit without the luxury of a knife, but it’s instructional for another reason: It’s a reminder that rabbit hides are pretty thin. In fact, plenty of rabbit hunters still practice the squeeze method to quickly gut and cool a rabbit in the field as they keep hunting.
Still, the knife-free method is a fairly unconventional approach to rabbit skinning. If you want to take a more traditional path when separating a bunny from its hide, pay attention to the advice of Scott Perkins. Perkins is not only a hunter, but he also owns a second-generation butcher shop in Creston, Ohio, with his brother Seth. With plenty of skinning experience under their belts, the Bearded Butchers are an excellent resource for learning the how-tos of game animal processing.
Keep in mind that their rabbit-skinning method doesn’t keep the hide intact. Instead, it’s best used for rabbits destined for the frying pan, not for preserving their fur.
Step One: Remove the Feet
The first step in Perkins’ method is to remove the rabbit’s feet. Place the blade of a sharp knife just above each foot. Push down hard on the back of the blade with the heel of your hand while the other hand applies downward pressure to the knife handle. Cut directly through the bone until each paw is separated from the leg.
A sturdy fixed-blade knife makes the perfect tool for this type of work, but a sharp pocket knife or other blade will also work. You can also use game shears or heavy-duty scissors to remove the feet.
Step Two: Remove the Head
To disconnect the rabbit’s head, use the same technique you used on the feet. Place the blade right at the base of the skull and push down. The knife will cut through the hide with no problem, but chopping through the neck can take a little more effort.
Step Three: Remove the Hide
Now that you’ve freed the hide from the appendages, here’s how to skin a rabbit. Pinch the rabbit’s back to pull up some loose skin and make a small cut in the hide. Once you’ve made the cut, insert two fingers on each hand on either side of the incision. Using your fingers like hooks, use firm steady pressure to pull the skin in opposite directions, one toward the head and one toward the hind legs. Once you reach the legs, it can take some wiggling to work the hide over the legs and entirely off the rabbit.
“Rabbit hides are really thin, so you might need to get it off in pieces,” Perkins advises. “If you have a flat surface to work on, it makes it just a little bit easier.”
Sometimes, the tail pops off with the skin. If it doesn’t, simply use your knife, applying downward pressure to remove it with the same technique used to separate the head and feet from the body.
Step Four: Remove the Entrails
With the hide completely removed, insert a sharp knife at the base of the sternum (the breastbone) and slice upward toward the neck, exposing the heart. Then pick up the thin muscle of the abdomen with the forefinger and middle finger of your off hand (so you don’t accidentally cut the guts) and carefully cut the muscle by slicing toward the rear of the carcass.
Then, using firm downward pressure on the blade, cut through the pelvis.
With the insides exposed, grasp the lungs, windpipe, and esophagus with one hand and pull, peeling the internal organs back toward the pelvis and removing them from the body. Keep pulling until everything is out of the way.
Photo by The Bearded Butchers / YouTube
“By doing it that way, we’re able to keep everything clean,” Perkins explains.
It’s important to avoid nicking the entrails with the tip of the knife during this step. You also don’t want to accidentally rip them open so that the contents drip onto the meat. If this does happen, all is not lost. Just make sure to wipe off the meat quickly.
Inspect the Liver Before Discarding the Guts
Check the rabbit’s liver for signs of diseases before tossing it aside. A healthy liver will be smooth and dark red. If the liver is peppered with numerous pinhead-size lesions, discard the entire rabbit without eating it. This is a sign of tularemia. Also known as “rabbit fever,” tularemia is a highly infectious and potentially deadly disease caused by Francisella tularensis bacteria that’s not uncommon in wild rabbits.
How to Skin a Rabbit for Fur
If you want to keep a rabbit pelt intact for tanning, you’ll need to be a bit more careful with the skinning process. Instead of cutting a small hole on the rabbit’s back, make a slice on the underside of the carcass and then use your fingers to separate the hide from the muscle. Finally, you will pull the hide over the legs, being careful not to tear the skin. For detailed instructions, check out this video above.
FAQs
Allow the rabbit to thaw at room temperature for at least an hour (if not several hours) before beginning the skinning process. Once the carcass is pliable enough to stretch out, you can begin skinning. The rabbit does not have to be completely thawed.
Smaller knives are usually better for skinning and butchering small game animals including rabbits. Blades that are 4 inches or shorter work well. Just make sure it’s sharp.
Some hunters prefer to skin and dress the rabbits they kill immediately. Others prefer to wait until they get back home after the hunt. As long as the rabbit wasn’t gut shot or its not hot outside, the meat will keep for several hours (or longer in freezing weather) even if it isn’t field-dressed. However, skinning is much easier when the carcass is still warm and limp.
Final Thoughts on How to Skin a Rabbit
Now you’re left with a rabbit ready for the crockpot or further butchering depending on your culinary plans. If you need detailed instructions on how to break down bunnies for cooking, check out our step-by-step guide to how to butcher a rabbit.
The best way to learn how to skin a rabbit is to try it for yourself. It’s okay to take it slow and to make mistakes along the way. The key steps are to first snip off the feet and head, make an incision along the bunny’s back and then pull the hide in opposite directions until it is removed. Once you remove the organs and entrails, the rabbit is ready for butchering or a recipe that calls for a whole rabbit.
