Ferreter or Electronically Aided Rabbit Digger?

[Branch 0]

I have to agree with DS there does seem to be a lot of mention of digging rabbits on here.

I have been out with people who get very twitchy after 10 mins of no ferret popping out or a rabbit bolting I think it’s the same illness as the one fishermen who reel in to check that the bait hasn’t come off every minute have.

Some people my self included love the hunt AND the wait I love to watch the dog pace the hedge twitching its head following the action anticipating the next bolt same as I enjoy to see a ferret smell and judge its next move before it enters and thus as DT said is ferreting and I’m definitely a ferreter first and a digger second!!

Good post Ditch.

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Got to agree with that Millet .The old boy that got me started on most of my hunting used to wreck a small warren with his liner ferret and cord ,a job which requires a single neat hole nowadays.Also the time factor has crept into ferretting nowadays in that people like decent bags of rabbits and as such ,like to keep the ferts moving. Lets not get all nostalgic about bygone ferreting as you can bet that had collars been around then the old boys of yesteryear would have used them as every rabbit was a shilling in the pocket when wages were bad .Anybody CHOOSING to enter a ferret without a collar or not having another waiting ,collared up in the box ,is a second rate hunter in my book .

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

It's a simple fact realy and at the end of the day people who dont collar there ferret's up but have the money to do so dont give a s.hit about there little stinker's..

 

 

Anybody CHOOSING to enter a ferret without a collar or not having another waiting ,collared up in the box ,is a second rate hunter in my book .

 

 

 

Couple of charmingly devisive statements of personal opinion there? Oh well, I'll leave it to anyone insecure enough to feel it worth the bother to bring out the keyboards at twenty paces over such insults

[porkypowell 2]

I would put a collar on a ferret for safety reasons.

I hate digging and always used it as a last resort.

I like to have a dog that marks silently not digging and snorting down the holes.

Place nets as quietly and quickly as possible and live for the explosion from the hole.

But still remain in covert ops mode as so many digs are a reults of the chaos that I saw on a video link on here the other day.

I also hate digging to other ground game but thats more acceptable as some don`t bolt.

A days ferreting needs to be fast paced not held up on a dig when you could be ferreting.

Simon

[ferreterno1 0]

i collar them up but the box isnt turned on unless i have to.

what do you do ditch?

 

 

il ask again what do you do ditch??

[tote 854]

[quote name='porkypowell' date='Feb 19 2007,

A days ferreting needs to be fast paced not held up on a dig when you could be ferreting.

Simon

 

So what happens when the ferret is stuck behind a couple of rabbits?

Do you sit on the carrying box and await it's return,or get digging,get it back

and move on?Which of the above slows you down more?

 

If you dig ONLY when you need to you will actually speed things up.

Nobody is advocating that we should be digging at the first oppertunity,if I don't have

to dig when i'm out i'm well chuffed,but I know that if I have to I can.

 

Perhaps we should all go back to feeding them bread and milk as they did

many years ago We wouldn't want that,would we?

 

Good thread ditch,it's got us all typing

[Guest Magwitch]

theres no excuse for leaving dead and dying rabbits below ground and the only way to remedy this is a liner or a locator, but you will do a lot more digging with the liner in my opinion, and you wont lose your ferret with a locator :thumbs-up:

[ferreterno1 0]

theres no excuse for leaving dead and dying rabbits below ground and the only way to remedy this is a liner or a locator, but you will do a lot more digging with the liner in my opinion, and you wont lose your ferret with a locator :thumbs-up:

 

 

good point magwitch the linar is the oldskool ferreting and thats like digging a trench

[IanB 0]

Locator, locator, locator all the way..........you want to lose your ferret on a kill in on a big old warren? You want to leave rabbits dead? You want to spend hours waiting?

 

Come on locators ARE the business......tell me the downsides of using them apart from inexperienced and eager ferreters....

 

[blakfut 0]

Hi all

I must say for me it is collar up every time, its only the last 15 yrs or so I've had locators, but I think they are a God send.

I've used ferrets without, had one collard up incase of a lie up, and in the past have used a linning Hob, but now it's a collar on every ferret every time, but this doesn't mean I dig a lot, given a bit of time the ferret will get the most stuburn of rabbits to bolt, but if not I can pin point her exactly and dig.

 

The only downfall I find is some times the collar snags in the net, not so much on the mk3.

 

Bob

[Ossie 11]

it's been a fair while since i've ferreted, but i intend to breed from a couple of jills i have, and use the kits next year. i wouldn't use the jills, as i've become quite attached to the little buggers, but it'd be nice to have some i've bred myself specifically for the purpose of working. i will more than likely work them collarless, as i have little money to buy a locator with, a lot of patience, and i can't help worrying about the risk of the ferret getting snagged (the same reason i won't put a collar on my cat).

my dad collars his ferrets, has never lost a ferret. he's never lost a collar either, as he took the workings off the collar he bought, and re-attached them to one he made himself (using a lot of electrical tape!). however, he has spent a lot of time digging!

 

 

this thread has reminded me of a little story my mum told me:

when her & dad were first together, she wanted to go ferreting with him. dad told her to "sit in the van, don't move, don't say anything, just bloody stay there!". so she does as she's told. half hour later, she sees a pair of little legs with wellies on the end, sticking out of the ground. but she remembers what he told her.. so she sits tight. another half hour passes... the legs & wellies seem to be getting agitated... so she thinks "sod it!" and goes to investigate... as she gets closer, she hears profuse muffled swearing... she finds me dad, stuck head-first down a hole in sandy soil after digging for a ferret. she pulled him out, only to get sworn at... "why the bloody hell did you stay in the van?!?! been stuck here for a f**king hour!"

 

and my younger brothers' attempt to buy a "ferreting spade", like dads'... couldn't find one anywhere, until dad pointed out that his was a drainer spade on a pitchfork handle!

[Guest Frank]

Tell me this folks. How come the parents of this day and age, can afford playstations, computers, rebok, addidas, ect ect for their kids and kids them selfs seem to have more dosh, then, why cant they get themselfs a locator and collars for their ferts, which would be the fraction of what they pay out for their other more expensive items.

 

Frank.

Edited February 20, 2007 by Frank

[Yokel Matt 918]

Good last point Frank...

 

Whilst I think it is important to keep the old skills alive i don't think we should turn our noses up at a more effective alternative. Maybe on an easy bury in light soil it would be a laugh to send a ferret in every once in a while with no collar and go old school.

 

Leaving rabbits underground is a pointless wastes (IMHO) and having to use a line ferret and having to dig a hole every few feet would be a right fag or 'listening to the spade' to locate it or whatever.

[highlander 0]

I always use a collar but only put the box on if need to i dont mind digging if it means more meat in the freezer. We have alot of sand holes up here and i have found my ferrets stuck in collapsed tunnels a few times i dont like to loose good ferrets as they are hard to come-by these days.

[ferreterno1 0]

i collar them up but the box isnt turned on unless i have to.

what do you do ditch?

 

 

il ask again what do you do ditch??

 

i take your silence as you dont do anything just read books and hunt the keyboard :whistle: