in at the deep end

[p-a-s]

Well i havent been out ferreing since around christmas mainly down to frozen ground and losing 2 of my 3 working team,1 died of old age. and down to my own stupidity the other escaped from the ferret court.I did contact the local rspca,vets and police but it hasnt been found,so i was left with 1 working ferret and 3 youngsters as yet un tried,i have also got the gwpxgsp pup that has just come out of her 4 week inoculation period.So i got 3 of the 4 ferrets collared up before i set off,just to remind them that the collars caused no harm.Drove the 30 min journey to a nice open warren that i had been keeping for this moment,it was a bit on the big side (17 holer) for juveniles,but i was eager to get them all started.Anyway netted up then sat in the landrover for 20 mins to let things settle down a bit.I then got the pup and ferrets out the truck left the lurcher watching us as i didnt want the pup seeing the lurcher chasing any escapee rabbits.I entered the adult ferret closely followed in the same hole with a youngster,5 mins later i got a rabbit in the net,the tethered pup didnt bat an eyelid,a few mins later another rabbit was netted,things looking good i think **WRONG** i just saw the juvenile surface without the bloody collar,oh sheite so i caught and boxed the adult and now it was a waiting game every time the youngster come up it shot back down as i tried to pick it up.so i let it latch on to 1 of the rabbits that had been netted,result i boxed the ferret back up and got out the locator box and done a sweep for the missing collar and found it lying in the grass.So i entered the other young ferret and the old 1 and let them work with 1 more rabbit being netted,at that point i decided to end on a high and packed up.It wasnt much of a bag but today was about training and it went rather well.Im now looking forward to my next outing

 

 

thanks for looking

[cometa24/7]

Excellent work and story mate, glad evrey thing went well and Good luck on your next trip out.

 

OH Yes! sixth word in from the start of your story, "letter missin" (t)

Edited February 9, 2010 by cometa24/7

[blackthorn]

looks like a good time

[Ferret Master]

This season has been a learning curve for me with the youngsters!

 

First season I've ever had young ones to bring on instead of jills that are a couple of years old already or rescue ferrets. Like you, I have had the drama of slipped collars; my new jills are very chunky but their head and neck merges into one unlike my older jills which have a pronounced head. This means I am having to put the collar on tighter than I would like as it just slips off with a bit of persuasion.

 

They are certainly keen enough, first time Mini-Me saw a rabbit the little ****** killed it 5ft under. And Guinness' first rabbit was nailed before it got to the net and dragged above ground. I'm hoping they will ease off a little bit as the land I work is not ideal to dig and I am realising how valuable workers my 2 older jills are as they don't lay up, don't work the bury at 100mph, don't weasel dance for no reason and have the full ability to differentiate between my thumb and a rabbit when its underground. :beer:

 

FM

[davecooper1]

Nice write up Paul mate, pup looks well and a good looking lurcher as well, just had a rabbit for my tea.

 

Cheers Dave.

[MM]

top stuff Paul

[SSS]

Good day all in all then Paul?

Good to see the pup coming on well.

Have you shot over her? or do you intend to?

Regards,

Sam

[Bleeh]

Tell me about it. I suffered a 30 minute slog drive (normaly 15 or so) in the ice, followed by a punctured tire and my car very nearly getting stuck. I got there a met my mate (who lives oposite the field we would ferret, the lucky ***).

 

Anyhow, we got to work. A nice left and a right, followed by a complete miss and a dig, gave me 3 rabbits within an hour. To which my mate proclamied he was too cold, had a head ache, and he went back home.

 

But, on the plus side, I tallyed up my rabbits. I got 125 ferreting last year, and I'm on 31 so far for 2010, so it's not all bad.

 

But, my hobs have all picked up bad habbits. One has become a complete spaz, and will run about everywhere, one will always kill underground, one is starting stay down holes alot, and the other hasn't got wrong yet, but luck says it will.

 

Hopefully a bit of training over the summer months will fix this.

 

 

 

PS- I like your ferret box, where did you get it?

Edited February 10, 2010 by Bleeh

[p-a-s]

cometa, thanks for pointing out the missing t and i read it back to myself aswell

 

blackthorn,ferretmaster,davecooper and mm thanks for the comments.

 

SSS, sam very good day considering how bad it could of turned out you would never believe how well the pups come on with her training.no not shot any where near her just used a cap gun in the front room when shes been eating i did take her to doveridge on saturday for a look at her reaction (from a distance) to gunshot never batted an eyelid.tuesday is the 1st time she has been on a field as she has just come out of her inoculation period.

 

Bleeh, i bought the ferret box from a game fair about 5 years ago im not 100% sure but i think it was made by mick dadd and cost me about £25 i have his number if you are interested in 1 he also knits realy good purse nets

 

thanks all paul