aidan weeks 9 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 hi i still use bells put 2 on 1 collar coz the ferrets get wise and fill them up with soil but just give them a quick flick and the soil comes out never used ferret finders to expensive to loss collars these work for me ive been useing these for years with no probs have you ever lost a ferret Quote Link to post
AndyKelly 251 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 before disco boxes there was good old fashioned ferreting 1 human,1 dog, a few ferrets and a bag of nets and a lot of patience. have seriously thought about a finder this year but i have gone without for 40 years, never lost a ferret and am perfectly happy with the way i do it. more interested in spending my cash vaccinating my ferrets against a n outbreak of distemper in my local area and making sure there ok . i can get alot of flasks of coffee for £160 +. what put me off the ferret finder is all the reports of it failing in the field. batteries failing, ferrets slipping collars, getting caught round tree stumps etc. the terrier finder is a good thing as the dogs are given better chance with the foxes but the ferret finder has always seemed to me as a money making scheme from debden does that mean that people today who cant afford a finder cant ferret? if you learn them the old country ways, traditions old and new can be passed on and they can realize that tradition is sometimes better than technology 1 Quote Link to post
pie-eater 377 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 Ferret finders are overpriced but Dig down to a few rabbits in stop ends over a season and they pay for themselves. 2 Quote Link to post
Guest vin Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 before disco boxes there was good old fashioned ferreting 1 human,1 dog, a few ferrets and a bag of nets and a lot of patience. have seriously thought about a finder this year but i have gone without for 40 years, never lost a ferret and am perfectly happy with the way i do it. more interested in spending my cash vaccinating my ferrets against a n outbreak of distemper in my local area and making sure there ok . i can get alot of flasks of coffee for £160 +. what put me off the ferret finder is all the reports of it failing in the field. batteries failing, ferrets slipping collars, getting caught round tree stumps etc. the terrier finder is a good thing as the dogs are given better chance with the foxes but the ferret finder has always seemed to me as a money making scheme from debden does that mean that people today who cant afford a finder cant ferret? if you learn them the old country ways, traditions old and new can be passed on and they can realize that tradition is sometimes better than technology Andy your talking pish...why would you work without a locator..? you are simply too tight to spend money on your partners in the hunt. Its bad advice to give anyone new to the game. buy an old mk1 off fleebay. but dont work without..its foolhardy in my humble opinion. it could be the diff between life and death for a lost ferret. the only problems I've seen with the mk3 is the person on the other end not knowing how to use it. Quote Link to post
Ideation 8,216 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 before disco boxes there was good old fashioned ferreting 1 human,1 dog, a few ferrets and a bag of nets and a lot of patience. have seriously thought about a finder this year but i have gone without for 40 years, never lost a ferret and am perfectly happy with the way i do it. more interested in spending my cash vaccinating my ferrets against a n outbreak of distemper in my local area and making sure there ok . i can get alot of flasks of coffee for £160 +. what put me off the ferret finder is all the reports of it failing in the field. batteries failing, ferrets slipping collars, getting caught round tree stumps etc. the terrier finder is a good thing as the dogs are given better chance with the foxes but the ferret finder has always seemed to me as a money making scheme from debden does that mean that people today who cant afford a finder cant ferret? if you learn them the old country ways, traditions old and new can be passed on and they can realize that tradition is sometimes better than technology The best solution, is to have both. I like to think that i am well versed in the traditional / fieldcraft methods of geting a ferret back etc, and the dog helps no end. However, there are times, when it all goes quiet, and a quick scan of the disco carrot, reveals the ferret only a foot or so down, a couple of mins of easy digging and that he ferret back, multiple rabbits in the bag and me on to the next warren. We had a day in yorkshire last season, where we had about 30 rabbits, and a good few of them were dug, after being pushed to ground by the dogs, easy as pie one foot digs, but anyone of them could have ended our days sport, if we had to sit it out and wait. Quote Link to post
Ideation 8,216 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 before disco boxes there was good old fashioned ferreting 1 human,1 dog, a few ferrets and a bag of nets and a lot of patience. have seriously thought about a finder this year but i have gone without for 40 years, never lost a ferret and am perfectly happy with the way i do it. more interested in spending my cash vaccinating my ferrets against a n outbreak of distemper in my local area and making sure there ok . i can get alot of flasks of coffee for £160 +. what put me off the ferret finder is all the reports of it failing in the field. batteries failing, ferrets slipping collars, getting caught round tree stumps etc. the terrier finder is a good thing as the dogs are given better chance with the foxes but the ferret finder has always seemed to me as a money making scheme from debden does that mean that people today who cant afford a finder cant ferret? if you learn them the old country ways, traditions old and new can be passed on and they can realize that tradition is sometimes better than technology Andy your talking pish...why would you work without a locator..? you are simply too tight to spend money on your partners in the hunt. Its bad advice to give anyone new to the game. buy an old mk1 off fleebay. but dont work without..its foolhardy in my humble opinion. it could be the diff between life and death for a lost ferret. the only problems I've seen with the mk3 is the person on the other end not knowing how to use it. Although i agree with you, i dont think you 'should not' ferret, without one, you just need to be a little smarter and more paient. Quote Link to post
Guest vin Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 before disco boxes there was good old fashioned ferreting 1 human,1 dog, a few ferrets and a bag of nets and a lot of patience. have seriously thought about a finder this year but i have gone without for 40 years, never lost a ferret and am perfectly happy with the way i do it. more interested in spending my cash vaccinating my ferrets against a n outbreak of distemper in my local area and making sure there ok . i can get alot of flasks of coffee for £160 +. what put me off the ferret finder is all the reports of it failing in the field. batteries failing, ferrets slipping collars, getting caught round tree stumps etc. the terrier finder is a good thing as the dogs are given better chance with the foxes but the ferret finder has always seemed to me as a money making scheme from debden does that mean that people today who cant afford a finder cant ferret? if you learn them the old country ways, traditions old and new can be passed on and they can realize that tradition is sometimes better than technology Andy your talking pish...why would you work without a locator..? you are simply too tight to spend money on your partners in the hunt. Its bad advice to give anyone new to the game. buy an old mk1 off fleebay. but dont work without..its foolhardy in my humble opinion. it could be the diff between life and death for a lost ferret. the only problems I've seen with the mk3 is the person on the other end not knowing how to use it. Although i agree with you, i dont think you 'should not' ferret, without one, you just need to be a little smarter and more paient. we never had locators in the early 80s and caught plenty without..im not saying dont do it. it dont matter how smart you are mate..things go wrong and when they do...its better to be prepared than not be. and as you know the list of things that can go wrong is endless...in my case if it can go wrong it usually does... Quote Link to post
Ideation 8,216 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 before disco boxes there was good old fashioned ferreting 1 human,1 dog, a few ferrets and a bag of nets and a lot of patience. have seriously thought about a finder this year but i have gone without for 40 years, never lost a ferret and am perfectly happy with the way i do it. more interested in spending my cash vaccinating my ferrets against a n outbreak of distemper in my local area and making sure there ok . i can get alot of flasks of coffee for £160 +. what put me off the ferret finder is all the reports of it failing in the field. batteries failing, ferrets slipping collars, getting caught round tree stumps etc. the terrier finder is a good thing as the dogs are given better chance with the foxes but the ferret finder has always seemed to me as a money making scheme from debden does that mean that people today who cant afford a finder cant ferret? if you learn them the old country ways, traditions old and new can be passed on and they can realize that tradition is sometimes better than technology Andy your talking pish...why would you work without a locator..? you are simply too tight to spend money on your partners in the hunt. Its bad advice to give anyone new to the game. buy an old mk1 off fleebay. but dont work without..its foolhardy in my humble opinion. it could be the diff between life and death for a lost ferret. the only problems I've seen with the mk3 is the person on the other end not knowing how to use it. Although i agree with you, i dont think you 'should not' ferret, without one, you just need to be a little smarter and more paient. we never had locators in the early 80s and caught plenty without..im not saying dont do it. it dont matter how smart you are mate..things go wrong and when they do...its better to be prepared than not be. and as you know the list of things that can go wrong is endless...in my case if it can go wrong it usually does... I totally know where you are coming from mate Quote Link to post
reddawn 2,173 Posted July 28, 2012 Report Share Posted July 28, 2012 i also ferreted for a few years without a finder, i do use a finder now, an i must admit i use it everytime iv left the house, does that mean i dont know the traditional way???? cos there has been a few times when iv run out, or lost the spare batterys i carry, or iv broke a collar an been left without the finder for the rest of the day, did i pack up an head home, did i fook, i done it the old way.... andy you say tradition is better then technology, do ye still ride a horse around?? finders aint the be all an end all to ferreting, but they make days easier or more productive, an at 1.50 a bunny i want as many as poss, an in as little time as poss, let that make me what it will, but thats how i do it Quote Link to post
AndyKelly 251 Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 1 could go out and buy half a dozen tomorrow but why the hell should i when i have said before.........alot of land up here states by the landowners NO DIGGING!!!!!!!!!!! so i could find the ferret but i cant bloody dig to get the bugger out that is why patience and old school methods r more effective here and i will under no circumstances go poaching as i work with the countryside marquee( who demonstrate old school country ways) and would not set a bad example. get off my case vin! Quote Link to post
AndyKelly 251 Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 better start saving for a jcb then as where i ferret is all granite and slate pmsl Quote Link to post
Magwitch 687 Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 Ferreting without a locator is like playing russian roulette in my opinion, one day your gonna come unstuck and you could lose a good working animal through stupidity (i found a brilliant polecat a few seasons ago minus a collar and she works like stink), losing collars, if they were MK3 collars (even though they can still be dug too when they come off) I am not surprised upgrade to MK3M collars they have leather straps like the MK1's and are just better made all together. As for battery failure its normally operator error and poor preparation (Battery testers are available and very cheap too).................................................if people are waiting 40 mins to start digging they are losing valuable time and probably lots of rabbits that could be bottled up just under the surface. There is no need for bells, and all this fieldcraft bollocks doesn't help when your animal is laid up without a collar on...................... 2 Quote Link to post
Country Joe 1,411 Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 I wouldn't go out without one, its just another tool, that you can use to your advantage, i just wish another company would make them, instead of Deben having the whole market, the mark 3 does have its good points, but that f*****g screeching, which sounds like a cross between Hawkwind and Startreck, They say they consulted Ferreter's, on what they wanted, so I wonder whos idea was for that, Regarding putting tape over the box to mask the sound, you shouldn't need to. I have the mark 3, but still prefer the tick tick of my old mark 1s. Cant understand why no other company has gave it a go, would it be too difficult to make? could Deben stop them? or just no money in manufacturing them? Quote Link to post
Guest vin Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 1 could go out and buy half a dozen tomorrow but why the hell should i when i have said before.........alot of land up here states by the landowners NO DIGGING!!!!!!!!!!! so i could find the ferret but i cant bloody dig to get the bugger out that is why patience and old school methods r more effective here and i will under no circumstances go poaching as i work with the countryside marquee( who demonstrate old school country ways) and would not set a bad example. get off my case vin! not on your case Andy..Dont get so uptight old chap. never mind all this old school ways pish.. All im going to say is this..If you go out on your permission and you cant use a spade or locator you must have the patience of a saint and a big flask, you must enjoy playing the waiting game. Anytime you want to pit your old school skills against my mixture of old school and common sense please feel free..I can assure you i will come back with more game and all my ferrets at the end of the day. Quote Link to post
AndyKelly 251 Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 that's me and im happy to carry on like that! when i go out i get 30 odd rabbits a time and im happy as larry about it. i may be stuck in the 'old ways' but that's the way i go. every ferret is accounted for at the end of the day and my rabbits are enough to keep me going . Quote Link to post
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