Hunting with out a finder

[longnetter 32]

I remember those early locators,feckin things, used to pick up Radio Luxemboug and everything on them

I wouldn't ferret without a locator now, they weren't about when I started and being the youngest in the group guess who got to sit and wait for the ferret to come out

[fensaluki 35]

ferret locators have been around since the mid 70's 35 years or there abouts. i started with out a locator in 1980,,, and ocasionaly now will have a mooch with a ferret in the pocket ,,, and somtimes getting kits going without a collar on, along side seasond workers.

 

but you will be leaving bunnys if you dont have one,,, just friday gone i had 3 digs , wich i think is nothing for a full day out, those 3 digs were 18 inch deep and acounted for 4 rabbits. each dig took only took 5 mins,, or i could have waited an hour or so for the ferret,,, you do the maths

 

I do remember my old man having a locator but i dont think he ever used it. It's funny, some folk seem to be digging all the time, i get maybe a handful or so a season and i'm out nearly everyday for at least an hour or two and full days twice a week, or more. The rabbits are bolted. We know we dont leave kills, even if the ferret was super quick and didnt stop for long, we could still tell by the dog, same with any rabbits still holed up down there. The ferrets kill, and move on and we can mark it and dig down, but like i said rarely happens and i've never dug to a live rabbit.

 

 

are you sure about that though mate? not being funny mate or doubting you at all but i honestly would have thought that if you were

ferreting every day off the season then sods law should make sure you get a few multiple bottle ups.

A couple of weeks ago we had a very good session and ended the day with 59 rabbits.This was our best day this season but wouldn't have been if we hadn't have dug 18 bunnys from the ground. We didn't dig anything like 18 holes as we took a 6 out of a stop as well as 2's and 3's from other stop ends. From the 18 dug only 3 were dead two singles and the front one of the 6.Getting multiple bottle ups is not at all un common with us to the point we usually have a friendly little bet before a dig as to how many we end up with from each dig and we find it very rare that any rabbits behind the front one are dead as this one usualy blocks the ferrets path to the rest.

Don't think I'm trying to tell you your job mate but are you checking thoroughly behind your dead rabbits to make sure there is no more there as its very easy to cover the next one with soil as your pulling the first one out and not see his mates lurking just a little further up the tube.

ATB

[artful212 394]

i would put him in small sets maybe 2 or 3 holes that look ok

i didn use a locator for years and know a fela that still doesnt just depends on the ferret

gud luck

[Ideation 8,216]

ferret locators have been around since the mid 70's 35 years or there abouts. i started with out a locator in 1980,,, and ocasionaly now will have a mooch with a ferret in the pocket ,,, and somtimes getting kits going without a collar on, along side seasond workers.

 

but you will be leaving bunnys if you dont have one,,, just friday gone i had 3 digs , wich i think is nothing for a full day out, those 3 digs were 18 inch deep and acounted for 4 rabbits. each dig took only took 5 mins,, or i could have waited an hour or so for the ferret,,, you do the maths

 

I do remember my old man having a locator but i dont think he ever used it. It's funny, some folk seem to be digging all the time, i get maybe a handful or so a season and i'm out nearly everyday for at least an hour or two and full days twice a week, or more. The rabbits are bolted. We know we dont leave kills, even if the ferret was super quick and didnt stop for long, we could still tell by the dog, same with any rabbits still holed up down there. The ferrets kill, and move on and we can mark it and dig down, but like i said rarely happens and i've never dug to a live rabbit.

 

 

are you sure about that though mate? not being funny mate or doubting you at all but i honestly would have thought that if you were

ferreting every day off the season then sods law should make sure you get a few multiple bottle ups.

A couple of weeks ago we had a very good session and ended the day with 59 rabbits.This was our best day this season but wouldn't have been if we hadn't have dug 18 bunnys from the ground. We didn't dig anything like 18 holes as we took a 6 out of a stop as well as 2's and 3's from other stop ends. From the 18 dug only 3 were dead two singles and the front one of the 6.Getting multiple bottle ups is not at all un common with us to the point we usually have a friendly little bet before a dig as to how many we end up with from each dig and we find it very rare that any rabbits behind the front one are dead as this one usualy blocks the ferrets path to the rest.

Don't think I'm trying to tell you your job mate but are you checking thoroughly behind your dead rabbits to make sure there is no more there as its very easy to cover the next one with soil as your pulling the first one out and not see his mates lurking just a little further up the tube.

ATB

 

As mad as it sounds mate, it's true. The dogs mark, and will not leave a set if there is a live bunny down there or even a fresh dead one. We very rarely get rabbits that bottle up, they do often of course fight it out, and sometimes we need to wait for 15 mins or so, but if that happens they usually stagger out minus the eyes one by one. Only rabbits we have dug to are usually in single holers where the ferret gets straight in, blocks the tube and kills the bunny. Also when digging a hole the dog always gets a look so wouldnt miss a bunny down there. For some reason its only ever the one. And trust me i feel about cos i want it to be six. But yer, dogs a handy thing,

 

Edited to say i might actually have dug one live rabbit out, well someone else did while i was there, not sure cos it was ages ago, but it might have been alive.

Edited February 21, 2011 by Ideation

[The one 8,470]

Thats the thing that the guys ferreting with out a locator fail to grasp is that no every rabbits dead just now there pairing up you often get two in a dead end and the last few i got where wedged in tighter that a cork in a bottle the ferret cant get to them and gives up after scratching at the first rabbit and you could be leaving a breeding pair in the burrow ,

[kinderbeano 13]

3 years ferreting,never used a locator,never lost a ferret .although the ground i hunt is mostly small warrens and im lucky enough to have ferrtes that dont lay up.i will admit though that the odd underground kill is waisted and i plan on investing in a locator to stop this..why nt use evrey advantage thats available

Edited February 22, 2011 by kinderbeano

[tote 854]

3 years ferreting,never used a locator,never lost a ferret .although the ground i hunt is mostly small warrens and im lucky enough to have ferrtes that dont lay up.i will admit though that the odd underground kill is waisted and i plan on investing in a locator to stop this..why nt use evrey advantage thats available

 

It's not always a case of a ferret lying up though is it? The bit below was a reply I put on another thread about" digging or not digging".

 

They don't always bolt mate.

 

Have you read this thread?

 

http://www.thehuntin...-day-ferreting/

 

Sometimes not digging isn't an option, the above won't be the first time a ferret has got caught on the wrong side of rabbits in a stop end. Imagine this scenario, a jill has got a ferret bottled up in a stop end, she works away at it and eventually manages to get over it and ends up in the stop end. Another rabbit or rabbits appear and press up against the first one jamming it into the ferret who ends up well and truely stuck. You have two options, 1- wait untill the rabbits move so the ferret can come out, could take half an hour but would probably take far longer, sometimes hours. Or 2- get the locater out and get digging which would usually be the quicker option.

[The one 8,470]

Aye twice last year i had a jill jammed between two rabbits at seven foot never in a month of sundays was she going to get out spent three hours each time digging the same old git out .

 

But as said you can still ferret with out a locator but i never knock any permission back and will ferret a few crazy places so i always use a knocker box

[kinderbeano 13]

3 years ferreting,never used a locator,never lost a ferret .although the ground i hunt is mostly small warrens and im lucky enough to have ferrtes that dont lay up.i will admit though that the odd underground kill is waisted and i plan on investing in a locator to stop this..why nt use evrey advantage thats available

 

It's not always a case of a ferret lying up though is it? The bit below was a reply I put on another thread about" digging or not digging".

 

They don't always bolt mate.

 

Have you read this thread?

 

http://www.thehuntin...-day-ferreting/

 

Sometimes not digging isn't an option, the above won't be the first time a ferret has got caught on the wrong side of rabbits in a stop end. Imagine this scenario, a jill has got a ferret bottled up in a stop end, she works away at it and eventually manages to get over it and ends up in the stop end. Another rabbit or rabbits appear and press up against the first one jamming it into the ferret who ends up well and truely stuck. You have two options, 1- wait untill the rabbits move so the ferret can come out, could take half an hour but would probably take far longer, sometimes hours. Or 2- get the locater out and get digging which would usually be the quicker option.

 

i totaly agree,i often loose rabbits to being killed underground and have long waites from ferrets occupied with rabbits in stop ends,there are huge advantages to using locators and im not saying not using a locator is not without its drawbacks and risks,but ferreting without a locator can be done and done sucessfully allbeit not as efficiently as with locators.i should realy have bought a locator by now because the advantages to me and the ferrets are huge but as of yet i have never had majour problems with ferreting without a locator.

[ferretman2011 0]

Any one got any tips for rabbiting with out a ferret finder. Got a young hob not long ago and want to give him a couple of runs out before the season ends. Cab afford a finder yet. Need to save up for next season. Does any one have any tips on rabbiting with out a finder.

i never used a finder when i first started i just stuck to small sets but there was some long waits till the ferret returned

[Ideation 8,216]

Thats the thing that the guys ferreting with out a locator fail to grasp is that no every rabbits dead just now there pairing up you often get two in a dead end and the last few i got where wedged in tighter that a cork in a bottle the ferret cant get to them and gives up after scratching at the first rabbit and you could be leaving a breeding pair in the burrow ,

 

 

They dont give up mate, even if they need to eat their way through. I know what your saying tho, i always use locators, but i guess i'm just very lucky in that i very very very rarely need to dig (usually counted on fingers by seasons end), and dont leave the dead/bottled up. My main reason for having the collar, is simply that sometimes ferrets do just get stuck, or end up 50/100 yards away after going up a pipe or some thing silly.

 

For me 160 quid would be a very cheap price to pay to get one of my workers back, so buying a locator was a no brainer.

[Ideation 8,216]

Aye twice last year i had a jill jammed between two rabbits at seven foot never in a month of sundays was she going to get out spent three hours each time digging the same old git out .

 

But as said you can still ferret with out a locator but i never knock any permission back and will ferret a few crazy places so i always use a knocker box

 

 

Thats another upside - with the collars i have much more confidence sticking the ferrets into some wierd and wonderful places (attics, barns, cellers, up hollow trees, into massive brush piles etc).

[fensaluki 35]

ferret locators have been around since the mid 70's 35 years or there abouts. i started with out a locator in 1980,,, and ocasionaly now will have a mooch with a ferret in the pocket ,,, and somtimes getting kits going without a collar on, along side seasond workers.

 

but you will be leaving bunnys if you dont have one,,, just friday gone i had 3 digs , wich i think is nothing for a full day out, those 3 digs were 18 inch deep and acounted for 4 rabbits. each dig took only took 5 mins,, or i could have waited an hour or so for the ferret,,, you do the maths

 

I do remember my old man having a locator but i dont think he ever used it. It's funny, some folk seem to be digging all the time, i get maybe a handful or so a season and i'm out nearly everyday for at least an hour or two and full days twice a week, or more. The rabbits are bolted. We know we dont leave kills, even if the ferret was super quick and didnt stop for long, we could still tell by the dog, same with any rabbits still holed up down there. The ferrets kill, and move on and we can mark it and dig down, but like i said rarely happens and i've never dug to a live rabbit.

 

 

are you sure about that though mate? not being funny mate or doubting you at all but i honestly would have thought that if you were

ferreting every day off the season then sods law should make sure you get a few multiple bottle ups.

A couple of weeks ago we had a very good session and ended the day with 59 rabbits.This was our best day this season but wouldn't have been if we hadn't have dug 18 bunnys from the ground. We didn't dig anything like 18 holes as we took a 6 out of a stop as well as 2's and 3's from other stop ends. From the 18 dug only 3 were dead two singles and the front one of the 6.Getting multiple bottle ups is not at all un common with us to the point we usually have a friendly little bet before a dig as to how many we end up with from each dig and we find it very rare that any rabbits behind the front one are dead as this one usualy blocks the ferrets path to the rest.

Don't think I'm trying to tell you your job mate but are you checking thoroughly behind your dead rabbits to make sure there is no more there as its very easy to cover the next one with soil as your pulling the first one out and not see his mates lurking just a little further up the tube.

ATB

 

As mad as it sounds mate, it's true. The dogs mark, and will not leave a set if there is a live bunny down there or even a fresh dead one. We very rarely get rabbits that bottle up, they do often of course fight it out, and sometimes we need to wait for 15 mins or so, but if that happens they usually stagger out minus the eyes one by one. Only rabbits we have dug to are usually in single holers where the ferret gets straight in, blocks the tube and kills the bunny. Also when digging a hole the dog always gets a look so wouldnt miss a bunny down there. For some reason its only ever the one. And trust me i feel about cos i want it to be six. But yer, dogs a handy thing,

 

Edited to say i might actually have dug one live rabbit out, well someone else did while i was there, not sure cos it was ages ago, but it might have been alive.

 

 

Fair play to you mate.As I say I wasn,t doubting what you say fella just curious thats all. I guess its all down to different peoples methods and if we were to wait long enough they would probably crawl out past the dead ones and bolt as yours do but to be honest we like to get over as much in a day as we can so usually we put jills in let em work if we think they are struggling to bolt em we stick the hobs in and give em half an hour and if they are still not bolting then that usualy means the big fellas have them bottled up so out come the spades.Most of the stuff my way is only 3ft deep or less and fairly easy going so it dosn't take long and then off to the next set.

We also use a dog to mark and very reliable she is to but usualy if we have got to the stage of having the big fellas in and digging then between them they have most of the bunnys bottled up so as we whip em out some body is up front at the next set marking with the dog and netting up.

ATB

[Ideation 8,216]

ferret locators have been around since the mid 70's 35 years or there abouts. i started with out a locator in 1980,,, and ocasionaly now will have a mooch with a ferret in the pocket ,,, and somtimes getting kits going without a collar on, along side seasond workers.

 

but you will be leaving bunnys if you dont have one,,, just friday gone i had 3 digs , wich i think is nothing for a full day out, those 3 digs were 18 inch deep and acounted for 4 rabbits. each dig took only took 5 mins,, or i could have waited an hour or so for the ferret,,, you do the maths

 

I do remember my old man having a locator but i dont think he ever used it. It's funny, some folk seem to be digging all the time, i get maybe a handful or so a season and i'm out nearly everyday for at least an hour or two and full days twice a week, or more. The rabbits are bolted. We know we dont leave kills, even if the ferret was super quick and didnt stop for long, we could still tell by the dog, same with any rabbits still holed up down there. The ferrets kill, and move on and we can mark it and dig down, but like i said rarely happens and i've never dug to a live rabbit.

 

 

are you sure about that though mate? not being funny mate or doubting you at all but i honestly would have thought that if you were

ferreting every day off the season then sods law should make sure you get a few multiple bottle ups.

A couple of weeks ago we had a very good session and ended the day with 59 rabbits.This was our best day this season but wouldn't have been if we hadn't have dug 18 bunnys from the ground. We didn't dig anything like 18 holes as we took a 6 out of a stop as well as 2's and 3's from other stop ends. From the 18 dug only 3 were dead two singles and the front one of the 6.Getting multiple bottle ups is not at all un common with us to the point we usually have a friendly little bet before a dig as to how many we end up with from each dig and we find it very rare that any rabbits behind the front one are dead as this one usualy blocks the ferrets path to the rest.

Don't think I'm trying to tell you your job mate but are you checking thoroughly behind your dead rabbits to make sure there is no more there as its very easy to cover the next one with soil as your pulling the first one out and not see his mates lurking just a little further up the tube.

ATB

 

As mad as it sounds mate, it's true. The dogs mark, and will not leave a set if there is a live bunny down there or even a fresh dead one. We very rarely get rabbits that bottle up, they do often of course fight it out, and sometimes we need to wait for 15 mins or so, but if that happens they usually stagger out minus the eyes one by one. Only rabbits we have dug to are usually in single holers where the ferret gets straight in, blocks the tube and kills the bunny. Also when digging a hole the dog always gets a look so wouldnt miss a bunny down there. For some reason its only ever the one. And trust me i feel about cos i want it to be six. But yer, dogs a handy thing,

 

Edited to say i might actually have dug one live rabbit out, well someone else did while i was there, not sure cos it was ages ago, but it might have been alive.

 

 

Fair play to you mate.As I say I wasn,t doubting what you say fella just curious thats all. I guess its all down to different peoples methods and if we were to wait long enough they would probably crawl out past the dead ones and bolt as yours do but to be honest we like to get over as much in a day as we can so usually we put jills in let em work if we think they are struggling to bolt em we stick the hobs in and give em half an hour and if they are still not bolting then that usualy means the big fellas have them bottled up so out come the spades.Most of the stuff my way is only 3ft deep or less and fairly easy going so it dosn't take long and then off to the next set.

We also use a dog to mark and very reliable she is to but usualy if we have got to the stage of having the big fellas in and digging then between them they have most of the bunnys bottled up so as we whip em out some body is up front at the next set marking with the dog and netting up.

ATB

 

Aye mate. Funny thing is, its only the last one thats ever dead and thats rare,when they are bottled, she just goes from one to the next ripping the eyes out and they bolt pretty much straight away then. To be honest we rarely have to wait much. The rabbits aint seen a ferret before, and being super quiet, they soon run when the horror is unleashed down below. Like i said the ones we've dug to have been in single holers where the ferret was straight in, on the rabbit and its dead. No where for it to run. I'd say that its rare we are there for half an hour. Only in the super sets where we are getting 20 + rabbits from the one set do they take longer.

 

I guess we're lucky,especially with a couple of the ferrets we have, and multiple dogs help to. I think the different attitude is also born of dealing with sets that are mostly 6/8/12 foot min (different areas), through a lot of root, stone etc.

[whin 463]

ferretd without collars and no big deal just make sure they are well fed and dont put them in silly warrens were its awkward a good hunting man knows his land so knows what to expect most of the time , after years of expierence being on the same bits, collars are a god send but wouldnt stop me going to some areas maybe others ,started of fererting with an old maste rof the game h wheelan a good allround poaching guy he never had collars and if you no your charges ferrets etc you get to know how they work etc