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Ferreting Months


Lucky Shot 1958
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It really depends on the weather , I have not done any for a good few years , now we seem to be getting milder winters there are young about pretty much all year , trouble is once there are lots of young about you spend more time digging to laid up ferrets than you do ferretting .

 

If I was still doing it I could not see me going much before December and into Feb depending on how cold it is.

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The way the climate is and rabbits are basically breading all year round, it limits the months you can ferret. I only do it November - Early February now because any later and the ferrets stay underground at the young. If the ground is easy dug its not a big hassle, but the ground I ferret has really deep warrens or limestone ground that can't be dug.

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Depends on what your landowner wants really. We used to ferret mostly around the winter months only, but I was much younger then and didn't mind digging. I no longer choose to dig so I don't use collars nor a locator anymore, preferring just to ferret to the gun.

Although rabbits can breed fairly well at any time, the prime time for it is round about now. I was out with ferrets and gun just last weekend, and although some does are reluctant to bolt when nursing young you can still get good results so long as you're patient.

The biggest snag can be ferrets finding a nest, eating the young and then going to sleep, but I find that if I feed mine a bit prior to going out they will still nip young but tend to not hang around too long afterwards.

A good fall of snow is prime time to go ferreting as you can see loads of signs of activity around holes, whereas high summer is the opposite, and as ferrets can't sweat they can overheat and die.

An old boy I knew would take a jerry can full of water and a bucket so he could plunge his ferrets in if they got too hot, but he's long gone now.

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ferreting gets shorter every year it seems. as said on many of the post earlier it depends a lot on where there are young showing. but it is also as important at the start when you need the first frost to kill the cover back. I have no problems digging to my ferret, which you will have to do if you do enough. but I would not be happy losing rabbits because the covers to thick. down here I start October / November and are nearly always finished by the start of febuary

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Big Bob beat me to it.

It was an old countrymans saying thet you can only get good ferreting when there is an R in the month.

When I was a lad and did ferreting with my father, he always said the same.

The rest of the time take up gardening !!

Another tip was to clear the brambles and block a few holes a day or so before you intend to ferret, particularly if the warren is a large one .

That way you can approach the holes quietly, place the nets quietly and not get them all cobbled up and you only need to net the holes that are being used.

Saves time and you use less nets and the rabbits will bolt quicker if they haven't heard you stomping around above ground.

Edited by EMcC
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So there you go Lucky Shot. Loads of advice on both sides of the coin. Suit yourself basically.

Whatever you decide to do, your ferrets welfare comes first. The only thing I wouldn't do is work them in the middle of summer in high temperatures, but saying that it's lovely and cool underground. :)

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So there you go Lucky Shot. Loads of advice on both sides of the coin. Suit yourself basically.

Whatever you decide to do, your ferrets welfare comes first. The only thing I wouldn't do is work them in the middle of summer in high temperatures, but saying that it's lovely and cool underground. :)

It is not only cooler underground in summer but there are also a lot of kits for your ferret to gorge on and go to sleep, which is what most ferrets do on a full stomach.

So there you are, good ferreting from Autumn until early Spring or 'gardening' during the summer :yes:

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It is not only cooler underground in summer but there are also a lot of kits for your ferret to gorge on and go to sleep, which is what most ferrets do on a full stomach.

So there you are, good ferreting from Autumn until early Spring or 'gardening' during the summer :yes:

Yep. It's never been much of a problem really, but each to their own. Not too keen on gardening. :)

Edited by Scully
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I worked with a proffessional Rabbiter and he always referred to ferreting in the summer as Gardening as we were always having to dig out.

Mind you when ferret collars and locaters were introduced it made it a lot easier but in the day of liners it was long and not always productive.

Also in the summer it was always a priority to keep the ferrets, not being used, cool as the boxes used to get hot as H***l and could easily suffocate them, also make sure you have a drink for the ferrets, to give to them when you stop for your lunch.

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Have a mate who has sadly fallen by the wayside nowadays, but when we were younger we both loved our ferreting ( he especially enjoyed ferreting to his hawks ) and were out in all weathers on many a day. He taught me how to make my own nets and how to chin a rabbit in a split second.

He had a Mk1 locator and collars and loved to dig, and certainly knew his stuff. I once saw him pull five live rabbits from a stop we'd dug down to. We must have broken every ferreting rule there was; we smoked, talked, told jokes and laughed and generally wandered about but still managed to get good bags somehow. Happy days.

This is my preferable way to ferret nowadays; not a spade in sight. :)

http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/topic/279384-a-few-hours-out-this-morning/?hl=%2Bberetta+%2B682+%2Bsuper+%2Bsport

Just realised it is almost a year to the day since this pic' was taken.

Both are jills, and the one looking down at the rabbits was born with only one eye and is the mother of the other. The box has a curved back and was made by mate I've mentioned in this post. He comes out shooting with us on the odd occasion in season, but mostly spends his days in the pub. Very intelligent lad, just couldn't be bothered to do anything with it.

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Scully, I do agree with you. Ferreting to shotguns is the only way to do it. Bolt the rabbits shoot them, lift the ferret & go to the next hole. No problem with setting & lifting nets; also, it is some of the best sport you can have.

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Thats the thing about ferreting theres no rules written in stone you make it up as you go i had the lads out last month and the rabbits where flying out then my son and i where at a permission 1000 up and there seemed to be two rabbits per burrow the first one would come flying out and the second was a spade job no reason for it but thats how the day went . My only rules these days are all the ferrets and nets come home and a few rabbits are a bonus

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The period I was talking about was when rabbits were controlled by professionals working in pairs putting down on average 15 to twenty nets each and leapfrogging as we went along.

An average day would be between 50 and a 100 rabbits a day.

Then we used to lay snares and that was anything up to 200, we carried bunches of 50 at a time as the stakes and teelers made that many just about carryable.

In those days it was a full time job and quite profitable too but not many liked doing it as it had to be done whenever the land owner called you.

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Have a mate who has sadly fallen by the wayside nowadays, but when we were younger we both loved our ferreting ( he especially enjoyed ferreting to his hawks ) and were out in all weathers on many a day. He taught me how to make my own nets and how to chin a rabbit in a split second.

He had a Mk1 locator and collars and loved to dig, and certainly knew his stuff. I once saw him pull five live rabbits from a stop we'd dug down to. We must have broken every ferreting rule there was; we smoked, talked, told jokes and laughed and generally wandered about but still managed to get good bags somehow. Happy days.

This is my preferable way to ferret nowadays; not a spade in sight. :)

http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/topic/279384-a-few-hours-out-this-morning/?hl=%2Bberetta+%2B682+%2Bsuper+%2Bsport

Just realised it is almost a year to the day since this pic' was taken.

Both are jills, and the one looking down at the rabbits was born with only one eye and is the mother of the other. The box has a curved back and was made by mate I've mentioned in this post. He comes out shooting with us on the odd occasion in season, but mostly spends his days in the pub. Very intelligent lad, just couldn't be bothered to do anything with it.

The same here, and i will never change.

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