tiercel Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 For a while now I have been hankering after a deep fried young rabbit. So this morning I took the GWP and a Jill that had come off-season and headed for the dunes. This was the first time this GWP had been ferreting, I have only had him a couple of months but he is keen. When I arrived at the area to be ferreted the little breeze that there was, was coming from the west. So I decided to walk to the eastern end of the area and work back into the wind. On the way down the dog spun back into the wind and stalked back up to a small 4 hole warren and marked it. I put the dog to sit netted up the warren and entered the ferret, it did not take long before I had a bolt and rabbit number one was in the net. At this point I had blown the stop whistle when the rabbit started squealing and the dog stayed where he was. All text book early season stuff. Another half a mile saw me where I had planned to turn around and work back into the wind. I sent the dog out ranging infront of me working in 50yd sweeps across the wind. It was not long before I saw him almost in slow motion stalking up to a warren, he started about 15 ft away from the warren and slowed as he got nearer, giving a positive point on the warren. It was only a two holer so I put the dog to sit on top of the dune, netted up and entered the ferret. Thirty seconds later out pops a rabbit into the net and the dog who had a full view of the net did not move. To say I was chuffed was an understatement ;D I picked the rabbit up and placed another net over the hole. It went quiet for a couple of minutes but the ferret was still down, so it was a fair bet that there were more rabbits at home. I went over the other side of the dune to check on the net there, and yes you have guessed right another rabbit bolted out of the same hole, this time the dog was on his own and as soon as the rabbit started squealing he run in and grabbed the rabbit in the net. To be fair to the dog he did not rag the rabbit but merely held it. But he was left in no doubt that he should not do that again. Off we went again, we had not gone 100 yards when he started the slow motion walk again, this time I got a photo of it, if you can call it a photo, the dial had moved on the top of the camera and I had not noticed. (David Bailey ever so much NOT.) I must be honest here I have never seen a dog do this slow walk and then a point before, but I like it. It does say something about the breeds sense of smell and their ability to pick up a scent from a warren up to 15 ft away. Ever since I seen my first GWP working I was sold on the breed, it seems as if there is nothing they can't do, and what ever they do, they do do well. Sorry I digress. This warren was quite a large one for me to work on my own, but I thought do this one and call it a day. The warren was in a bank and covered an area of approx 35yds in diameter. When I netted it up I had used 14 nets, so not a lot of holes but well spread out. I entered the ferret in the hole that the dog had marked and she went straight down, (always a good sign) only to appear at the bottom of the bank within a couple of minutes. Before I could get to her, she went back down of her own accord. About 5 minutes later the first rabbit bolted, closely followed a couple of minutes later by a second, both ignored by the dog despite the squealing when they were in the nets. (result) This was turning into a very good day and with the ferret still down, the prospect of more rabbits to come. But they say pride come before a fall. I do not know how many rabbits were still in the warren, one thing is for sure they did not want to bolt. For 45 minutes I watched the ferret poping out of one hole or another, only to go straight back to ground before I could get hold of her. Eventually I caught hold of her and put her back in the box and headed for home. I did try to get a pic of the ferret, dog and rabbits together but the batteries had died on the camera. On top of that I had forgotten my knife so could not gut the rabbits. But all in all a great few hours out. And 2 of the rabbits are ready to cure my itch for a deep fried rabbit evening meal. TC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poacher Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Excellent, must be good knowing that when you put the ferret in you'll get some sort of result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Top write up TC. I can't wait for my ferreting season to begin! FM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiercel Posted August 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 This is the end result. Deep fried rabbit and a couple of slices of Hovis, does not get much better And very nice they were too. Well worth the wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Stu Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Sounds like a good mooch out, dog looks a belter!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scout Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 Great write up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurcherboy Posted August 29, 2008 Report Share Posted August 29, 2008 You must be well chuffed what with the pointer being new to you and all. Looks like the start of a long mutually rewarding relationship TC Pics aint to bad either LB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeksofdoom Posted August 30, 2008 Report Share Posted August 30, 2008 I must be honest here I have never seen a dog do this slow walk and then a point before, but I like it. It does say something about the breeds sense of smell and their ability to pick up a scent from a warren up to 15 ft away. Ever since I seen my first GWP working I was sold on the breed, it seems as if there is nothing they can't do, and what ever they do, they do do well. Excellent write up TC, must get a clip of my GWP crawling on her belly when she gets a scent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapid 17 Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 That was agood read matey; thanks. Geoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 looking good, markings on the dog look very very similar to mine who came from just down the road from you in Milford Haven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundowner Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 Hi tc, what a write-up, thanks for that!!!! Max looks in great shape! let me know should youu "publish" again? cheers mate! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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