New Jills first time out.

[tiercel]

Sunday I drove 140 miles to pick up a young ferret that had not been worked, but was from good working bloodlines. I had the ferret of Pestbry who is a member here on pigeonwatch. He has bred the same lines of ferrets for the last 30 years and it shows with the working abilities of the ferrets. Many thanks Bry as I told you last night she is a cracker.

 

Today I took that ferret out for the first time. Not really a good day for it but beggars can’t be choosers. Wind was about 25mph and occasional spots of rain. Decided to do a stretch of sand dunes 100’s of warrens and some rabbits. As with most sand warrens they can be pretty large as the sand is so easy for the rabbits to dig in. First warren I had a mark on was approx 20 odd holes but as the warren had been trampled by cows and had fallen through in some places I decided against trying her in there for a first time out

.

Less that a 100mtrs further on I had another mark, but same problem large warren, again not what I was looking for. Within 50mtrs I had found what I was looking for a small 5 hole warren on the edge of a bank with a rabbit at home so the dogs told me.

 

 

Down go the nets got Bry’s young Jill out of the box and put her by the net by the time i got the camera ready, down she went, like she was a veteran within 2 min’s I had her first rabbit in the net. I chinned the rabbit in the net and was just laying another when. Out of the hole that the rabbit bolted from she came, straight to hand, none of this mucking about in the mouth of the hole.

 

DID YOU SEE WHICH WAY IT WENT GUV?

 

That is the difference that a good bloodline makes. Ferret rescue ferrets are mostly ferrets that have been lost and a reason why some of them get lost is that people get fed up with them mucking about at the mouth of the hole and just walk away leaving the ferret to their own devices. Over the years I have picked up quite a few of these ferrets that have either killed in or just been left while out ferreting. With the exception of one young Jill that had a big cut all down one side of her body (she turned into a very good worker.) The rest were totally useless as workers.

Think about it, would you get a dog of unknown age and breeding from a dog pound, and expect to turn it into a fieldtrail dog? The answer to that is No you would not!! Only a fool would think that it could be done.

 

All you need for successful ferreting

 

Tiercel

[lurcherboy]

Nice pics TC :unsure: Your new one looks like a winner.

 

 

 

 

LB

[pestbry]

Sunday I drove 140 miles to pick up a young ferret that had not been worked, but was from good working bloodlines. I had the ferret of Pestybry who is a member here on pigeonwatch. Many thanks Bry as I told you last night she is a cracker.

 

Today I took that ferret out for the first time. Not really a good day for it but beggars can’t be choosers. Wind was about 25mph and occasional spots of rain. Decided to do a stretch of sand dunes 100’s of warrens and some rabbits. As with most sand warrens they can be pretty large as the sand is so easy for the rabbits to dig in. First warren I had a mark on was approx 20 odd holes but as the warren had been trampled by cows and had fallen through in some places I decided against trying her in there for a first time out

.

Less that a 100mtrs further on I had another mark, but same problem large warren, again not what I was looking for. Within 50mtrs I had found what I was looking for a small 5 hole warren on the edge of a bank with a rabbit at home so the dogs told me.

 

 

Down go the nets got Bry’s young Jill out of the box and put her by the net by the time i got the camera ready, down she went, like she was a veteran within 2 min’s I had her first rabbit in the net. I chinned the rabbit in the net and was just laying another when. Out of the hole that the rabbit bolted from she came, straight to hand, none of this mucking about in the mouth of the hole.

 

DID YOU SEE WHICH WAY IT WENT GUV?

 

That is the difference that a good bloodline makes. Ferret rescue ferrets are mostly ferrets that have been lost and a reason why some of them get lost is that people get fed up with them mucking about at the mouth of the hole and just walk away leaving the ferret to their own devices. Over the years I have picked up quite a few of these ferrets that have either killed in or just been left while out ferreting. With the exception of one young Jill that had a big cut all down one side of her body (she turned into a very good worker.) The rest were totally useless as workers.

Think about it, would you get a dog of unknown age and breeding from a dog pound, and expect to turn it into a fieldtrail dog? The answer to that is No you would not!! Only a fool would think that it could be done.

 

All you need for successful ferreting

 

Tiercel

Nice 1 AL :unsure: it will get better as the time goes on as you already know. UUUUMMMMMMMMMm i think you took the wrong jill LMAO.

Glad shes turned out good for u mate , cracking pics

Bry

[new to the flock]

Well done TC :unsure:

Brilliant pictures. She looks very keen and sounds like everything you were expecting, with the breeding showing through.

 

Good to see the dogs looking well and keen too

 

NTTF

[Cranfield]

A very nice little set-up.

A good (quiet) marking dog is worth its weight in gold. :unsure:

[tiercel]

A very nice little set-up.

A good (quiet) marking dog is worth its weight in gold. :unsure:

 

Cranfield,

 

You know that! I know that! Between just us two we have close to a century of ferreting experence under our belt. This is what I am trying to get across to the yougsters. There are other ways of ferreting other than just relying on loactors to do the job for you. If they would only listen there are people on PW that could show and help them a lot.

But @35kilos would not like to pay for the GWP in gold

 

 

Tiercel

[Ferretboy111]

Your very lucky then to be able to keep dogs, hawks ferrets etc to use as a ferreting arsenal, some of us dont have the money or space to keep dogs etc.

 

But if i did and had the space i certainly would!

 

Maybe you should write a book to share your fountain of knowledge? so us "youngsters" can learn

 

[tiercel]

Part 2. The Vampire ferrets introduction.

 

Decided today to take the other young Jill out to see what she was made of. This is the Jill that I bought as well handled and from working stock, only for her to take a chunk out of my hand the first day I had her. Her manners have come on somewhat in the month that I have had her, and she has put on a lot of weight after being fed on a good diet of meat. She no longer sees me as food thank god.

 

Down to the same stretch of dunes that I tried the other Jill on earlier in the week. This time not taking the terrier with me just the GWP who was out ferreting for the second time. Hence the lead on the dog so that he does not get the idea in his head that a rabbit in the net is his.

Plenty of rabbits above ground this morning dog rose about 5 and not one went to ground. So I had to walk some distance further than I had to on Tuesday. But at last a mark on a seven-hole warren with one small bolthole approx 7mtrs away from the main holes.

 

 

 

I laid the nets and as I always do, gave the warren 5 minutes to settle down before I put in the ferret. Down she goes no fuss then proceeded to run straight through to the next hole, and the next and the next. I was now torn between has the dog false marked on me or is the ferret no good? “I should have had faith in both animalsâ€! As she came to the mouth of the penultimate hole and went back down without coming out I thought that she was enjoying her little run around and that if there was a rabbit in there she was not interested. Two minutes later out popped a rabbit out of the small bolthole, followed closely by the young Jill. "Oh ye of little faith."

 

 

 

 

As I have now blooded both young Jills on very easy warrens it is now time to step up their education, the next step is a medium sized warren with both Jills being entered at the same time. Of course if a small warren presents its self as having rabbits at home in the mean time, that will be icing on the cake for the Jills, they can then be entered alternatively to the smaller warrens.

[new to the flock]

Nicely done TC, looks like it is quite the little team coming together there. :blink:

 

NTTF

[Cranfield]

Its takes some time to build that trust with an individual ferret.

I have had fussy ones that traveled every inch of the warren before giving up and I have had others that would be out in a minute, which meant there was nobody at home.

 

Just like my springer that use to pick up stone dead pheasants, about 100 yards away from where they fell.

 

It pays to trust them. :blink:

[Stealth Stalker]

Great post Tiercel

 

Seems like you got yourself a good working team there :blink:

 

I've been reading your posts of late on the various ferreting techniques that you deploy & being new to it myself have tried to take alot of it in.

 

I've only been out on 2 occasions ( hooked already) with a little success, what in your experiance would you class as a good sized warren to start off this years ferts?

 

It seems on my permissions all the warrens are large 15 to 25 holers on 1 place in particular along a hegderow there must be well over a 150 holes so many in fact that the hegderow has collapsed in places.

I wouldn't dream of putting them in there.

 

SS

[Ferretboy111]

Ah well, using collars, and having many can solve that!

 

Alex

 

Usually they aint all joined anyway

[tiercel]

Great post Tiercel

 

Seems like you got yourself a good working team there

 

I've been reading your posts of late on the various ferreting techniques that you deploy & being new to it myself have tried to take alot of it in.

 

I've only been out on 2 occasions ( hooked already) with a little success, what in your experiance would you class as a good sized warren to start off this years ferts?

 

It seems on my permissions all the warrens are large 15 to 25 holers on 1 place in particular along a hegderow there must be well over a 150 holes so many in fact that the hegderow has collapsed in places.

I wouldn't dream of putting them in there.

 

SS

SS,

 

I use this method of introducing ferrets as it has worked for me over the years. To my mind nothing breeds success like success. I am fortunate to have some small warrens that I can use to cut down the time it takes for the ferret to meet a rabbit in the confines of a warren.

 

The next step with my ferrets as I stated is medium sized warrens 15 to 25 holes, if you are not lucky enough to have the advantage of the smaller warrens, then you must start with what you have. I cannot see it being a big problem, but! There are a couple of factors that you might like to take into consideration.

Obviously it will take the ferrets a lot longer to find the rabbits in a larger warren, so please be mindful of this fact and give them time to work the warren fully. Also they may come across multiple rabbits within the warren and the confusing scents that rabbits crossing paths will leave. However, the most important factor, and I cannot stress this enough, there has to be a rabbit or rabbits at home for them to find. Remember nothing breeds success like success. Before you put the young ferret to ground you have to be sure that there is something at home, because if you don’t the ferret will treat it as a game, and you really do not want that.

 

Another factor to starting ferrets in larger warrens is the wind; use it to your advantage. I usually use two young ferrets at this stage, entering them at different parts of the warren, both on the downwind side of the warren. As I find that if the scent of the rabbits is blowing towards the ferrets they will be a lot keener to go to ground. It also helps them find any rabbits that are in the warren. However, there is a down side to this practice in that the rabbits cannot smell the ferrets entering the warren and make a quick exit. But as the ferrets are young and inexperienced you can usually get away with it. When the ferrets get more experienced I tend to put them in on the upwind side of the warren so that the rabbits can smell them as they enter the warren. You can then get some real quick bolts if you have done your net laying quietly enough.

 

Remember if that ferret gets used to going to ground only when a rabbit is at home it is less likely to treat it as a game. The ferret then knows that when you put it by the mouth of the hole that there is something there for it. I have in the past had ferrets that when put by the mouth of a hole, have refused to go down, because there is nothing there for them. This is the way I like to train young ferrets and it has proven it’s worth to me over the years. Hope it is of help to you.

 

Tiercel

[lurcherboy]

Great post Tiercel

 

Seems like you got yourself a good working team there

 

I've been reading your posts of late on the various ferreting techniques that you deploy & being new to it myself have tried to take alot of it in.

 

I've only been out on 2 occasions ( hooked already) with a little success, what in your experiance would you class as a good sized warren to start off this years ferts?

 

It seems on my permissions all the warrens are large 15 to 25 holers on 1 place in particular along a hegderow there must be well over a 150 holes so many in fact that the hegderow has collapsed in places.

I wouldn't dream of putting them in there.

 

SS

SS,

 

I use this method of introducing ferrets as it has worked for me over the years. To my mind nothing breeds success like success. I am fortunate to have some small warrens that I can use to cut down the time it takes for the ferret to meet a rabbit in the confines of a warren.

 

The next step with my ferrets as I stated is medium sized warrens 15 to 25 holes, if you are not lucky enough to have the advantage of the smaller warrens, then you must start with what you have. I cannot see it being a big problem, but! There are a couple of factors that you might like to take into consideration.

Obviously it will take the ferrets a lot longer to find the rabbits in a larger warren, so please be mindful of this fact and give them time to work the warren fully. Also they may come across multiple rabbits within the warren and the confusing scents that rabbits crossing paths will leave. However, the most important factor, and I cannot stress this enough, there has to be a rabbit or rabbits at home for them to find. Remember nothing breeds success like success. Before you put the young ferret to ground you have to be sure that there is something at home, because if you don’t the ferret will treat it as a game, and you really do not want that.

 

Another factor to starting ferrets in larger warrens is the wind; use it to your advantage. I usually use two young ferrets at this stage, entering them at different parts of the warren, both on the downwind side of the warren. As I find that if the scent of the rabbits is blowing towards the ferrets they will be a lot keener to go to ground. It also helps them find any rabbits that are in the warren. However, there is a down side to this practice in that the rabbits cannot smell the ferrets entering the warren and make a quick exit. But as the ferrets are young and inexperienced you can usually get away with it. When the ferrets get more experienced I tend to put them in on the upwind side of the warren so that the rabbits can smell them as they enter the warren. You can then get some real quick bolts if you have done your net laying quietly enough.

 

Remember if that ferret gets used to going to ground only when a rabbit is at home it is less likely to treat it as a game. The ferret then knows that when you put it by the mouth of the hole that there is something there for it. I have in the past had ferrets that when put by the mouth of a hole, have refused to go down, because there is nothing there for them. This is the way I like to train young ferrets and it has proven it’s worth to me over the years. Hope it is of help to you.

 

Tiercel

 

 

 

Wise words that are told to me everytime I go out with the 'last of the summer wine crew'

 

 

LB :unsure:

[Stealth Stalker]

Tiercel

I'm getting what your saying its a case of letting them do the job in hand on a known occupied warren, approaching as quietly as possible & trusting them. I've been giving them a good 15 mins to get acclimatised before seeing them again, when I do they're straight back down again & it eventually ends in a bolt, netted or otherwise, am I being impatient?

 

Because I get the feeling that they are being given the run around downstairs, obviously they are young & new to it all .

 

I have had them give a sniff to holes & not bother entering I take it this is them saying "don't bother nothing home"

 

Cheers SS

[Cranfield]

The ideal situation is, that when the ferret has moved all the rabbits out, she lets you know the warrens empty by walking out.

All the time they are down below and keen to re-enter, assume they are on rabbits, some of which take a bit of shifting and leave them alone.

You can usually tell when a ferret is working, or playing.

 

If they don't seem keen to enter a warren, then move on and mark it for another day.

 

My philosophy is that working ferrets is something best not done, if you are in a hurry.

[Ferret Master]

Nice pictures.

[tiercel]

Tiercel

I'm getting what your saying its a case of letting them do the job in hand on a known occupied warren, approaching as quietly as possible & trusting them. I've been giving them a good 15 mins to get acclimatised before seeing them again, when I do they're straight back down again & it eventually ends in a bolt, netted or otherwise, am I being impatient?

 

Because I get the feeling that they are being given the run around downstairs, obviously they are young & new to it all .

 

I have had them give a sniff to holes & not bother entering I take it this is them saying "don't bother nothing home"

 

Cheers SS

 

SS

 

A medium size warren 15 – 20 holes may contain up to a hundred meters of passageways it may also be multilayered and go down well over a metre and a half. Every rabbit in that warren knows those passages intimately and will run around those passages rather than bolt.

 

So when you see the ferrets appearing at the mouth of the holes and going back down again that is a sure sign the a rabbit is giving them the run around, and they are doing all they can to get it to bolt. To be honest it sounds as if your ferrets are doing a sterling job already.

 

Even though the ferrets will sometimes not go down a warren, (sure sign that nothing is at home) you may well have already laid 15-20 nets on that warren only to find that there is nothing at home. That can be very frustrating to say the least. However, there is a solution to that, in the shape of a dog that marks. Almost any breed of dog will mark, although terriers are far better than most dogs at it.

 

Even though I think nothing of going ferreting without a locator, unless I am certain that the warrens I am going to ferret are occupied. I would never go ferreting without a dog that marks.

 

Remember you are out to have some fun and as Cranfield has already stated ferreting for sport is best not done if you are in a hurry. Personally I love it on cold frosty mornings when you can hear the rabbits giving the ferrets the run around and you are never quite sure when or where the rabbit is going to bolt, that sense of anticipation sums up ferreting to me.

 

Tiercel

[Frank]

Personally I love it on cold frosty mornings when you can hear the rabbits giving the ferrets the run around and you are never quite sure when or where the rabbit is going to bolt, that sense of anticipation sums up ferreting to me.

 

Tiercel

 

[Stealth Stalker]

Remember you are out to have some fun and as Cranfield has already stated ferreting for sport is best not done if you are in a hurry. Personally I love it on cold frosty mornings when you can hear the rabbits giving the ferrets the run around and you are never quite sure when or where the rabbit is going to bolt, that sense of anticipation sums up ferreting to me.

 

Tiercel

 

 

We were out from 6.30 am getting back home at 4pm even though we only got the one bunny in the bag I loved every minute of it As you say that feeling of anticipation once the warrens are netted & the ferrets entered is priceless.

 

I'm planning another outing this week on my newly acquired land that I've been recce-ing I'll keep you posted.

 

Cheers for all the advice

 

Stealth Stalker

[Frank]

Best of luck SS

 

Frank.

[tiercel]

Part three of the young ferrets training.

 

Took the 2 young Jill’s and the dogs today for the larger warren introduction for the Jill’s. Had a few marks on larger warrens till I found one of the right size about 18 holes and approx 20mtrs by about 15mtrs in area. Not too large, yet bigger than they had faced before.

Set out the nets, put the two Jill’s down on the down wind side of the warren. That was the side the dogs had marked also. Both Jill’s went straight to ground only to appear at different holes within a minute of going to ground, they were duly put back to ground but the same scenario happened out with in a couple of minutes. So I just kept rotating the holes that I put them down trying to cover the entire warren. I must add that this is not unusual behaviour for young ferrets that have not cottoned onto the game yet. Had the dogs not marked the warren then I would have said that there was nothing at home. However, they had and that meant that there was a rabbit in there somewhere, at that time I did not know if the rabbit was giving them the run around or they just could not find it. I was determined to get that rabbit, so just kept sticking the Jill’s down the next hole to the one they came out from. I was just about to give the rabbit the best when the Jill that Pestbry gave me bolted it. Number one in the bag.

 

It had started light rain by this time so I decided to call it a day and head back for the car by a different route. However, the wind was at my back now, so a different way of working the dogs was called for. Walking with the wind I like to send the dogs out as far as I can see them, then get them to work back to me, takes a little longer but as the dogs are then always working into the wind I find it pays dividends. Again I had some marks on unsuitable warrens, too large to work on your own with young inexperienced ferrets. Then I had a mark on a warren that I have had rabbits out of on many an occasion in the past, not very large 10 holes but it is multi layered. In the past I have had the devils own job to get them to bolt from this warren even with very experienced ferrets. Anyhow I netted up and entered the ferrets, what followed was exactly the same as the first warren I had ferreted, they were in and out of the holes but not really going deep. In the end I did give this rabbit the best, to my mind this warren was a bit too much for the young Jill’s.

 

By now the rain was coming down as a steady stream not hard, but enough to get you wet, so I made a beeline for the car. Then as **** law will have it I have a mark on a tidy warren 6 holes and about 20mtrs Square, ideal for what I wanted. Netted up in a couple of minutes, took the 2 Jill’s from the box put one down to be followed by the next Jill at the same hole that the dogs had marked. By the time the second Jill had gone down, the rabbit had bolted, followed out of the hole by the first Jill entered. I run the Jill’s all through all the holes to make sure that there were no more rabbits at home, and that’s how the day ended with 2 rabbits in the bag and a good day had by the ferrets, dogs and especially me. Unfortunatly I forgot my camera today so no pic's i'm afraid.

 

Tiercel

[Ferret Master]

Well done. Me and Youngshot off the forum are going ferreting on Friday.

 

FM