Ferret Master Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Hi, We had an early start on Sunday morning as me and my Dad were off to Hampshire to meet up with Nick (beatingisbest) for a spot of ferreting on his permission. We met just after 9am at a local pub and headed off to the land. As we drove down the drive avoiding Nick’s cherished pheasants we arrived at the land. Unfortunately it was evident that myxy was rearing its ugly head again, however Nick assured us there would be plenty of healthy bunnies left on this land. After exchanging a few pleasantries with the landowner we collared up the ferrets, taped up their collars and headed to the first bury of the day. As we walked over to where we would start the day we saw lots of rabbits running along the bank, we decided to take the long way round to drive them into the more open buries that would be easier to work. The first bury that we netted up was an 8 holer alongside a fence line with some holes in the bank below it as well. The plan was also to net up the other small burrow 15 yards to the right of it in case any rabbits slipped the nets but could then back net themselves further along. However the best laid plans never quite work and this certainly wasn’t a great plan as was shortly proved by my Dad after trying to set the first net on the other bury. He came running back announcing that he had just ‘Seriously annoyed an underground wasps nest.’ Sure enough there were lots of angry wasps piling out of the hole seeing what the intrusion was. I offered to give the underground nest one with the .410, this offer was declined by my father who instead decided throwing soil and the flying wasps and burying the nest would be a better idea. It wasn’t. Anyway after mankind vs. wasps had finished with the wasps asserting their dominance we entered Echo my old poley jill who unfortunately has cancer, but is still very keen and up for it so I still take her out with the other 2 jills. I then entered Grace my other poley jill to provide back up incase she needs it. A minute passed before the first rabbit hit a net under a hawthorn tree, this was pursed perfectly however it was immediately followed by another rabbit which made its break for freedom down the waspy warren. Rather it than me! Another rabbit then hit the net at the far end of the bury and was quickly dispatched by myself. After this rabbit was dealt with both jills emerged and old Echo immediately scuttled over to where this rabbit was laying on the ground and gave it a good ragging! Dad vs. wasps. The victorious wasps. We left these nets down for the chance of a back netted rabbit later on and then moved onto the main warren of the hedgerow which had some holes out in the open but many inside a thick untameable mass of blackthorn and brambles. It soon became apparent that the 40+ nets I had brought would not be anywhere near enough. We decided to net all of the outside holes and any holes we could easily reach quickly until every net was used up. This left at least 15-20 holes inside the thick of the hedge uncovered. I had a hunch that these were the holes that rabbits were most likely to hop to and fro from rather than bolt for freedom from. I then stood on one side of the hedge with Nick’s .410 and Nick while my Dad covered the opposite side and I entered my sandy jill Nippy. It seems that my gamble paid off as the first rabbits bolted into the more exposed holes and any bunnies that emerged in the hedge went back to ground in the hedge. We had 4 rabbits in the bag before we even saw the ferret again. I was holding her until a couple of nets could be reset again when I heard my Dad call ‘Ollie I’ve got another rabbit!’ Another rabbit had bolted without a ferret even being to ground! We then put Nippy back under who bolted another rabbit taking our overall tally up to 8. Nick then said we had some more open warrens to attend to just down the track so we left the rabbits hanging behind a barn and set off down the track. We arrived at a large country garden and found a promising looking burrow around the base of an exotic looking tree and yucca plant. This provided some tricky netting up as the leaves were lethal to the eyes and any other exposed places of the body! We entered Grace who bolted a rabbit into a net under the spiky plant, it rolled out the net and went to ground again. She went back in and after a spot of rumbling under my feet we had a bolt from the same hole but properly pursed this time. With 9 in the bag we walked along through a copse, and tried a couple of 2 holers on the way on the off chance that they were holding. Unfortunately they weren’t. I also took this opportunity to give the ferrets some Ferret Complete biscuits and a drink. We then arrived at a large gravel and flint bank which was riddled with holes but appeared to be split into 3 different buries. This was good news as our 40 odd nets would be nowhere near enough to cover the side and top of it. We netted up the left and middle part of the bury and entered Grace again. Not much happened for a while until we had a good bolt taking the peg cleanly out of the soil which was far from ideal for holding a firm peg. After my Dad’s resemblance of ‘Swan Lake’ diving on the rabbit running along with a net wrapped round it Grace went back to ground. We then had a bolt on top from some holes further along that we thought (or rather hoped) were not connected. I plugged my feet down 2 of them before another rabbit bolted further along! Netting up the first section of the bank. Blocking the holes. With 10 in the bag which equalled our previous record I was determined to get one more rabbit in the bag. So we netted up a burrow further along which we hoped the rabbits had gone to ground in. I took the bottom of the bank and my Dad took the top while Nick stood back with his .410 ready for any escapees. Grace was entered and after a couple of minutes we heard rumbling and a rabbit hit a purse net, partially netting itself and pulling the peg out, and was now rolling down the bank. I legged it towards the bunny as fast as I could and made a grab for the rabbit, it rolled out the net the moment I got there but a quick belly flop by myself had our 11th rabbit in the bag and our new record. Grace went back under and I heard faint squealing moments later. Grace’s **** was visible from a hole up the bank and she had hold of a rabbit and was attempting to draw it to the surface. I positioned myself by the hole and a fraction of a second later the ferret and rabbit bolted into the net which I caught in mid air to avoid chasing down the bank again! Unfortunately this rabbit had myxy and it’s size and weight reflected this. With 12 in the bag we decided to call it a day and headed back to the car. I was determined to prove myself with Nick’s pop gun as on our last trip out I had missed a bolting bunny and had received no end of stick for it ever since. Despite beating a few rough patches of cover on the off chance that they could be holding a rabbit nothing emerged. We walked back down the track and as we arrived at the gate we saw 2 rabbits feeding on the grass behind the cars approximately 50 yards away. Leaving the kit by the gate I stalked over using the cars for cover until I was 25 yards away. Peering through the windows of the car where were still 2 rabbits feeding. One was sideways on and another head on. The sideways on bunny was a bit too close to the electric fence and gate for my liking so I popped out and fired at the rabbit facing me. He went down and was collected by me despite Nick now exclaiming we now had an unlucky 13 rabbits in the bag! This is the final bag of the day, the 410’d rabbit is the big sod on the bottom right of the picture. Thanks for a great day out Nick. Well done for reading this far and I hope you enjoyed it. Cheers, Ollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuart92 Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 great one lads find petrol is best for wasps lol stuart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiercel Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Cracking read as usual Ollie. Well-done young man sounds like a day full of fun. I must add your planning and thinking on the hoof, is first rate. You are thinking like a hunter, covering eventualities that may or may not occur. Now get yourself some long nets. Pm me if you’re interested and I can point you in the right direction. TC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grasshopper Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Well done to you all,sounds like you had action all day,just to 2nd Tiercel,long nets are really useful when ferretting.. once again well done and a good read too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatingisbest Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Nice big Hampshire bunnies! None of that **** from Wiltshire! At least now Ollie should be able to gut and skin rabbits reasonably quickly, its funny how he didnt mention the fact that one rabbit ran past behind him while he had the .410 and after shouts from me and "the supervisor" he still hadnt a clue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staglioni Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Fantastic write up should be in a magazine well done mate stag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjk88 Posted October 22, 2008 Report Share Posted October 22, 2008 Cracking write-up, I enjoyed that read. Nice result as well, sjk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferretman Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 nice1 lads great wright up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatcatsplat Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Sounds like a good day out - Well written too!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cranfield Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Well written and an enjoyable read, as usual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockerfella! Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 nice write up. photos aswell and thats a bloody big bunney!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonna Shoot a Wabbit Posted October 23, 2008 Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Excellent write up, well done lads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted October 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2008 Glad you enjoyed it guys. FM :yp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenhunter Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Enloyed the read.....Took me back too many years to mention.....Sigh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJUK Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 That was a really interesting read. Cheers! Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyjaimz Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 Great write up and cracking pictures there, can't wait to get out with ferts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUSC Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 welldone olly mate. the shoot down here is gna be at the end of october/ beginin of dec by the looks of it. weve got a huge influx of new shooters this year and thusly its taken much longer to train them all up, so they can compete. glad u had fun, hope school is goin cool. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJUK Posted October 25, 2008 Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 (off topic) Being a total newbie, how does this ferreting method work please? Thanks. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted October 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2008 welldone olly mate. the shoot down here is gna be at the end of october/ beginin of dec by the looks of it. weve got a huge influx of new shooters this year and thusly its taken much longer to train them all up, so they can compete. glad u had fun, hope school is goin cool. Alex Sounds good mate. Let me know what something is sorted. I'm off to the clays in the morning. (off topic) Being a total newbie, how does this ferreting method work please? Thanks. Jon A ferret is entered into a rabbit warren and it bolts the rabbits into nets where it is then dispatched. FM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Nice read lads, I'll have stop pigeon shooting and take my polecat ladies out for some excersize. Pigeon controller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJUK Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Cheers. A ferret is entered into a rabbit warren and it bolts the rabbits into nets where it is then dispatched. So once netted you can shoot it in the net? How do you get your ferret back? Thanks. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferret Master Posted October 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 No we just kill it by hand. No need to go firing shots into the ground where there are ferrets working not to mention trying to restrain a rabbit in a net for shooting. Generally they just come to hand once the bury is empty of rabbits but if they kill under or become trapped then they can be dug out with a radio tracking device called a Ferret Finder. FM :look: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GJUK Posted October 26, 2008 Report Share Posted October 26, 2008 Cool I've learnt something new today. Thanks Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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