I pull off the front legs cause 75% of the time they are crushed and bloodshot from a hex head smashing through them. The rest of the time, they are so small on our southern cottontails, they aren't much worth eatin.
Might be semantics...but I sometimes have a problem understanding others' definition of "wasting" game. 1)I've never seen anything in the wild wasted. 2)I certainly wouldn't leave large portions of meat in the field...but the front legs on shot up or small rabbits and squirrels, frogs etc...yep, without a doubt.
One of my grandfathers could care less for the rest of the squirrel, but he'd fight you over the head so he could eat the brains. One grandfather said only head shots, the other said never a head shot....to each his own.