Paul taylor Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 Had an invite from a mate earlier today to try bolting Rabbits to the gun with his ferrets. Having never seen ferrets work or to shoot bolting Bunnies I jumped at the chance. After patiently waiting for me as I'd not eaten and was unorganised as usual we met up and went to his perm where all looked good, loads of scrapes and runs visible and lots of land to go at but unfortunately not many Rabbits showed and when they did the undergrowth was still thick with this spring like weather we've been having. We saw 5 but only got shots at 3 my first being a 25/30m shot through a few trees no time to think or aim just a snap shot at a blur disappearing quickly. He shouts get it? I shouts don't think so, walked a couple of steps and there it is stone dead with first barrel, well chuffed. Few minutes later after mate had shot at one he thought he'd hit I kicked the brambles near where he'd said and it was there and ran, bang no2 down at close range. We saw one more and both missed, him over top and me behind by a whisker so only two today but was great to watch the ferrets work I reckon they're cool little fellas. Definitely something I'd love to do again so gonna have a proper look on my perm see what areas might be workable. So big thanks to Adam and his ferrets and I'll see if pics appear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E.w. Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 Well done chap, I haven't been ferreting since I was but a lad, brings back memory's as had so much fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigadam Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 I'm having a go tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted December 27, 2015 Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 Son in law has a new ferret so we're off out on Tuesday to give it a try out. We'd give it ago tomorrow but we are taking a lady out to show a few clays for her to try out our twenties. She's come off a horse and hurt her neck so is finding the impact recoil of shooting her Browning a bit uncomfortable. I think that she would be better to use a lighter load in her 12 but we'll give it a go and see how she feels then she can get back to shooting driven again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul taylor Posted December 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2015 Good luck tomorrow Adam. Hope you get your eye in😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Great report Paul and result, most of my burrows are filled with water at present and the rabbits are above ground with the mild weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fredwalton Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Me and a mate do this. I absolutely love it one of my favourite shooting experiences, just a real shame there are very few bunnies about on his permission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul taylor Posted December 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Cheers PC it's wet here but South Yorkshire has got lucky compared to a lot of places so far. I need to get out at night and check rabbit numbers on my bit as it wouldn't surprise me if myxomatosis has come back it's been so mild and wet for a long time now. Fredwalton I can see how this game could get addictive with enough rabbits and some land that encourages them to bolt properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eccles Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Well done Paul used to do a lot of ferreting years ago great fun. atb Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 had and bred ferrets for 30 years and used to do a lot of ferreting with nets and bolting to gun absolutely fantastic. due to lack of bunters and steady decline around area over the years i finally let me line go. dont half miss it, thats life things change and moved over to a lot more with the rifle. never say never though! as for the wet weather bunters will move up into the dryer parts of the warren, if wetted out they will be living up, no doubt though in the extensive flooding we have seen of late there will be casualties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underdog Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Not done that for years. Good for you 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigadam Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Had a bit better day today got 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul taylor Posted December 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Nice one mate that's ferrets fed for a bit then👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedly47 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 (edited) Sound like great fun, must add it to my 2016 shooting goals..... Now where do I find someone with ferrets............ Great pic love the fact the ferrets not letting go... Tedly Edited December 29, 2015 by Tedly47 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigadam Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Were you at teldy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browning123 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Pleased you had such a great day - ferrets are great fun. Ferrets were one of my main tools of the job when I worked as a pest officer in the 70's, I was employed by the National Farmers Union at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul taylor Posted December 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Tedleys in North Wales mate, looks like your stuck wi me lol. Browning123 yeah was good fun mate. Definitely do it again if I get chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Excellent! Just about the best fun you can have with your keks on...almost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browning123 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Tedleys in North Wales mate, looks like your stuck wi me lol. Browning123 yeah was good fun mate. Definitely do it again if I get chance. Tedley is my shooting mate - he's all guns, rifle's, gun's, rifle's! Now it might be - ferrets, ferrets and ferrets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul taylor Posted December 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 (edited) Tedley is my shooting mate - he's all guns, rifle's, gun's, rifle's! Now it might be - ferrets, ferrets and ferrets! Ha ha ha. Just hope they don't bite his hand, it looks painful enough already. Edited December 29, 2015 by Paul taylor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browning123 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Ha ha ha. Just hope they don't bite his hand, it looks painful enough already. My worry would be of Tedley biting the ferret! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digger Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 It's cracking sport. You will be hooked in no time. We tend to shoot the warrens where they will bolt into the open and net those where they won't. Hearing the thump on a frosty day sets the heart pumping for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tedly47 Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 Tedleys in North Wales mate, looks like your stuck wi me lol. Browning123 yeah was good fun mate. Definitely do it again if I get chance. Well if the invite is there I'm sure I could drive browning123 up to Doncaster..... You know me too well Mr B (browning123) however you should also know I don't do pets... Well not yet anyway...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted December 31, 2015 Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 We went out the other day for a first time with the new ferret. Ive never had ferrets but son in law was brought up with using them by his granddad. The day started with a meet up with a person who was going to show us this new piece of ground and where to set up. After the introductions we started out. WE were, Me, Son in law and the ten year old son of his boss,three dogs and the ferret. Now I know that this company was not the ideal for going ferreting but we were just using it as a bit of exercise, a reconacence mission and an experience for the young lad. The fields were big, like 40 acres. When we started off it was dry sunny and very windy. There was a good flight line across the other end of the field with a constant stream of birds passing between two oaks in the hedge line. That was a good start. We set up at several groups of holes around the field without any interest by the ferret and just got back to the truck as it started to rain heavily. We decide to move to another field where we had seen a few rabbits when we had a look with the lamp the other week. There were quite a lot of holes to explore but we ignored the first bit because it was a cemetery and we don't know what the ferret might do and we didn't fancy a lay up and being faced with either a dig out, a long wait or abandoning the ferret. At the first hole the ferret went down and soon there was thumping but no bolt out. After a while the ferret emerged with blood on its face so it must have had a kill underground. We moved on to the next set of holes and put the ferret in but it soon started to rain heavily so I took the lad the dogs and some of the kit back to the truck leaving son in law to retrieve the ferret when it re emerged. Not the best situation but if it starts to thrash down you haven't got many options. By the time we got back to the truck we were pretty wet and so was the kit and the dogs. I felt bad about leaving the son in law and I wouldn't have normally done this but with the young lad I felt that he needed to be gotten out of the heavy rain. I didn't enjoy it much either. It wasn't very long before son-in-law soon appeared as the ferret had come out of the holes. As it was raining so hard and didn't look like stopping we decided to call it a day. The result of this day had been that we had learnt about the ground and seen in daylight. Found a really strong flightline, had a good walk and explored some holes that weren't in use, found some that were and that the ferret didn't tend to lay up. The lad enjoyed himself even though he got a bit wet. Another day we will be back without the lad and the dogs so that we can work quietly and hopefully the rabbits will bolt and the rain will hold off. We had shown our face on the ground and done a bit of research, had a good bit of needed exercise after the Christmas excesses. Came back home to clean up the dog and gun. That flight line looked a real gem and I'm sure will provide a good amount of shooting. The only downside is that it is a bit of a hike to get there with the kit, probably quarter of a mile from the vehicle. That is one of the downsides of big fields along with getting caught out by bad weather and having retrieve a load of kit back. A good day had and a work in progress. AND the young lad wants to come along again so does the dog but that is a given. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul taylor Posted December 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2015 Nice one on the new permission fortune. Hopefully this day will pay dividends further down the line👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.