beginners question.

[gerjan 7]

Hello.

Ferreting with purse nets is the only form of hunting in my country wich everyone can legaly do aslong you have permission from the landowner so i'm thinking about getting started with it.

I have read about housing ferrets, feeding them, breeding with them, handle ferrets, about ferreting and i can make purse nets but there is one thing i cant find.

 

Does a ferret needs to be trained before you can sent it down a warren?

 

Thanks.

[alcamy22 7]

normally you work a young ferret with an older one to start with however with ferrets its very much there natural instinct to hunt so they should do it instinctively but some a far better than others

[rob190364 2,594]

Hello.

Ferreting with purse nets is the only form of hunting in my country wich everyone can legaly do aslong you have permission from the landowner so i'm thinking about getting started with it.

I have read about housing ferrets, feeding them, breeding with them, handle ferrets, about ferreting and i can make purse nets but there is one thing i cant find.

 

Does a ferret needs to be trained before you can sent it down a warren?

 

Thanks.

No, it's the most natural thing in the world to them, never seen a ferret that won't go down a warren. How effectively they bolt rabbits is varied but 99% of ferrets will bolt rabbits to some extent.

[gerjan 7]

Thanks lads, i't only makes it easier to start

I'm going to buy a young ferret but there isn't a big chance that i can work it with an older ferret because there are no ferreters in my area.

Yesterday i saw a video online and the guy knocked on his ferret hutch when he fed them, he said that he does that so he can lure the ferret out of the warren by knocking on the ground, is that a good method to your opinions?

[The one 8,476]

You can get better odds of ending up with a working ferret by buying a kit from working parents mate .And if you cant start it with a older ferret start slow in small burrows

[gerjan 7]

We've only got small burrows in my area but i really want an kit.

I know a kit from working parents is better, in a nearby town there is an pet and poultry market every wensdaymorning and i've talked to an fellow there a few times who sales kits from working lines and equipment. I don't know if he still sells kits now.

[Ideation 8,216]

This is my reply to a similar question before -

 

 

Handle them a lot, get them used to you feet, the dogs, the nets, tubes, tunnels, the grass, going in the box, getting collars on.

 

Pick them up from the mouth of tubes gently and calmly, so they don't mind your hand reaching for them at the mouth of a hole.

 

Feed them and water them well, maybe introduce a whistle when you feed them.

 

Do not starve them, thats stupid, pointless and cruel, and do not throw them live bunnies, it's also pointless, cruel and just weird.

 

Enter them, in small, occupied warrens, maybe behind an experianced worker.

 

Now heres a thing i sometimes do that people will probably think is mad. When the young un is put in first time (i do it alone), and a rabbit bolts, i quickly neck it in the net and leave it by the hole for the ferret to come out and have a rag of, as a wee reward. . . .seems to (in my head) make them equate bolting as a good thing, rather than killing in. (maybe i'm mad, but last season we didn't have one, mid tube kill or dig).

[fcuktheban 140]

If the ferret keeps trying to come out you can rest your foot over the hole so it has to go inside. They get used to it soon after that.

[Ideation 8,216]

If the ferret keeps trying to come out you can rest your foot over the hole so it has to go inside. They get used to it soon after that.

 

 

Stupid thing to do in my opinion - if they are trying to come out, let them, they are either not ready, there is nowt home, or something nasty down there.

 

When a ferret is ready, and well bred, they should maybe sniff once or twice then fly down like a f*****g arrow.

[s.e.s.k.u 1,893]

If the ferret keeps trying to come out you can rest your foot over the hole so it has to go inside. They get used to it soon after that.

 

 

Stupid thing to do in my opinion - if they are trying to come out, let them, they are either not ready, there is nowt home, or something nasty down there.

 

When a ferret is ready, and well bred, they should maybe sniff once or twice then fly down like a f*****g arrow.

agreed! dont block the hole

[gerjan 7]

Thanks lads

I'm going to build a good hutch soon and trying to find a kit from working parents.

I won't block the holes for the ferret because their are a lot of wild polecats here and i've heard stories about ferrets that were bit in the neck and killed by polecats.

I think i will buy a hob first because i've read that jills have to be bred because they can die if they aren't bred. But jills are smaller so i have to convince my fokes that i really need 2 hutches

[KittleRox 2,147]

Good luck

[max abell 196]

One of my golden rules mate for a successfull days ferreting is when netting up be as quiet as possible

[gerjan 7]

Thanks.

Won't the rabbits bolt when they know you'r around?

[max abell 196]

Thanks.

Won't the rabbits bolt when they know you'r around?

They will if pressured enough by the ferrets but othertimes they wont budge and would rather face the ferret than bolt

so why give yourself grief for the sake of being quite as you can when netting up ie try not to talk dont smoke and be as light footed as you can on the burys

it all can help dramaticly to successfull bolting GOOD LUCK MATE