ferret finders

[BenjaminCadd 109]

i dont use one mate too much money your ferrets will come out within an hour or so if you just wait thats what i do havent had to dig yet and they have lay up once or twice

Atb Rory

See that you value your ferrets there mate....too much money....unfeckingbeliveable

Just because you dont have a ferret finder you donty value your ferrets? What do you think they did before them? My old man and his mates got on fine without them, Nothing has changed it is Still: Rabbit, Burrow, Ferret, Net and Poss Dog! Yeah they are an advantage but not a MUST HAVE! A rabbit will lie up weather you ferret has a collar on or not! And if you have a good dog Start digging where the dog is Marking!

[rob190364 2,594]

funny how many of the old boys say they wouldn't go ferreting without a locator....did none of you go before the locator was invented? There will be loads of young lads who read these posts and are a bit pissed off that they haven't got the money for a locator but still want to go ferreting and see all these people saying it's essential.

 

Wouldn't it have been better to put up a few tips on how to use a liner hob? that'd be a bit more helpful to the young lads rather than just saying that you wouldn't go without one.

 

If you haven't got a locator, work your ferret as normal and if she lays up you enter the hob in the area where you think the jill has killed (dog comes in hand here!), attached to the hob is a line with markers every foot along it, so when the hob stops the line will show you how far into the burrow the jill is lying....and that's where you start digging. More long winded process than using a locator but it's how all these people that say how essential a locator is would have been doing it not that long ago If anyone's got anything to add about using a liner then please add to help people out, I've not done it that many times so am not exactly an expert!

[BenjaminCadd 109]

funny how many of the old boys say they wouldn't go ferreting without a locator....did none of you go before the locator was invented? There will be loads of young lads who read these posts and are a bit pissed off that they haven't got the money for a locator but still want to go ferreting and see all these people saying it's essential.

 

Wouldn't it have been better to put up a few tips on how to use a liner hob? that'd be a bit more helpful to the young lads rather than just saying that you wouldn't go without one.

 

If you haven't got a locator, work your ferret as normal and if she lays up you enter the hob in the area where you think the jill has killed (dog comes in hand here!), attached to the hob is a line with markers every foot along it, so when the hob stops the line will show you how far into the burrow the jill is lying....and that's where you start digging. More long winded process than using a locator but it's how all these people that say how essential a locator is would have been doing it not that long ago If anyone's got anything to add about using a liner then please add to help people out, I've not done it that many times so am not exactly an expert!

Yeah i have done the same thing you tie a knot every foot count it in and follow the line, 9 times out of ten the dog will be marking the nearest hole, then just dig along the line, Aniother lad told me you can also put some kitten collars on with bells so you hear them working away then obviously if it stops you have some idea where it was last, and also if the ferret is abouve ground you will hear it wondering off down the hedge row! Or if your lucky to have a big old hob that will go under and drag out the rabbit!

[darbo 4,776]

how would you know where the ferret has killed in.? i would love a dog that marks underground kills not saying they dont exist just never seen one that does it regular to date. using a kitten collar with a bell what happens when working underground when it becomes clogged with dirt etc. does anyone still use a liner ferret today.if so it would be a education if someone could put up a article how to use one properly based on practical experience. that would be intresting.

Edited October 24, 2011 by darbo

[Country Joe 1,411]

I had a Whippet X Bedlington the best marker I have had and a well known working Dog, but she would not mark a rabbit underground with the ferret lying up,

A liner is hopeless in a big Warren, and as Simon Whitehead has illustrated in his book, with a liner going in a good length, then the tunnel turns and the liner and rabbit could end up below your feet.

If anyone out there wishes to Ferret without a finder, then I would just enter the ferrets the way they are,and hope you get bolters, but then be prepared to wait till the Fert appears if you get a stick up, you will get a mark to dig, by listening on stoney ground, but no good for me, as a lot of the burys are deep in sandy soil, where sound is muffled

I realise they are expensive, but lots of sports are the same, Golf, Shooting, and Fishing. you can pick up a mark 1 with collar on ebay for £ or cheaper if you are lucky.

[rob190364 2,594]

I had a Whippet X Bedlington the best marker I have had and a well known working Dog, but she would not mark a rabbit underground with the ferret lying up,

A liner is hopeless in a big Warren, and as Simon Whitehead has illustrated in his book, with a liner going in a good length, then the tunnel turns and the liner and rabbit could end up below your feet.

If anyone out there wishes to Ferret without a finder, then I would just enter the ferrets the way they are,and hope you get bolters, but then be prepared to wait till the Fert appears if you get a stick up, you will get a mark to dig, by listening on stoney ground, but no good for me, as a lot of the burys are deep in sandy soil, where sound is muffled

I realise they are expensive, but lots of sports are the same, Golf, Shooting, and Fishing. you can pick up a mark 1 with collar on ebay for £ or cheaper if you are lucky.

fair enough with all of this....the point I was trying to make though is they're not essential. They just eliminate the frustration of either sitting and waiting, or potentially having trouble locating your ferret with a liner. If you ferret smallish warrens liners work OK wouldn't you agree? Obviously on a 12 foot deep one you're going to have a problem but on a lot of warrens it'd be OK.

[DKGPestControl 22]

I have used a liner hob before, I can help you get you jill back but you end up making one hell of a mess with miss digs. Its easy to find out how far in the tunnel the jill is but the rabbit tunnels are not straight lines so all you can get from the liner is how far from the entrance to the hole your jill is. You get no idea what direction its in, hence usually digging a few holes. I have ferreted without a finder and usually find that hanging a rabbit with gut open over a hole up wind of the hold up quite often works. If all else fails, fill all the rabbit holes with soil and place a couple of bag fulls of hay in the entrace of a couple of the holes, cover with soil and check them every few hours. This has saved a couple of my ferrets before now. As some times collars stop working.

[BenjaminCadd 109]

Yeah dont get me wrong i have collars and use them! but someone saying if you dont use collars you dont value your ferrets is a bit steep, end of the day its not about valueing a ferret, collars are just easier and staight to the point but its not the end of the world without one, just more digging and alot of Luck! Im not saying my terrier marks where they are laying up, but 9 times out of 10 it marks the closest hole to a rabbit underground which would be a good indication of where to start diggign.

[rob190364 2,594]

I've heard people say that if you get one of those irritating squeaky dog toys and squeak at the entrance they usually come out aswell, has anyone tried this? I keep meaning to but keep forgetting to get one!

[stealthy1 3,964]

I've heard people say that if you get one of those irritating squeaky dog toys and squeak at the entrance they usually come out aswell, has anyone tried this? I keep meaning to but keep forgetting to get one!

 

 

Daft as it seems the noise may work, if you use the same noise everytime, as more than a few times one of my jills has surfaced to the noise of a locator before I have had time to finish digging, and sat watching as I reach the rabbit, or maybe she's worried about being smacked on the head with a spade

[darbo 4,776]

i have seen all sorts used. noises,dead rabbits not so handy if your ferret kills early on and you dont have one. slapping a spade on top of a warren. i have seen them work. waiting for hours on end.i have known people who dont use them and have not lost a ferret, and also people who have lost ferrets. its up to the individual what they do. for me i use a locator. i would hate for a ferret to be trapped underground and i cant get to it.

[Country Joe 1,411]

I purchased my Mark 1 when they first came out, think it was about thirty years ago, and I have had the first breakdown this year, now that's not bad, sent it to Mick Dadd, who will be sending it back this week, working and fully serviced for £20, so it has cost me twenty pounds in thirty years, cant complain.

[THE GRIFF 8]

I have a mk3 with 6 collars, to be honest last season I didn't use them much but have used them every time I have been out this season up to now. The ferrets do get caught in the purse nets more often when wearing a collar and this can be a pain in the arse but knowing where the ferret is to dig outways the ferret getting tangled in my opinion and being able to retrieve killed rabbits. Saying that there lots of warrens we simply couldn't dig, under stone Walls ect, but it's still nice to know when your ferret has gone missing for an hour what depth it is and it's not sneaked into thick cover and wondered off.

A couple of tricks we use when not using a collaris when I feed them at home I do a certain whistle, this sometimes gets them out. I also thump the ground near a hole to imitate a rabbit kicking, this also works sometimes. A trick I tried earlier in the summer was to use a fox whissle at one of the holes, one ferret came out straight away thinking it was a rabbit but the other one stopped down for another half an hour.

 

[Rake aboot 4,936]

I suppose I`m one of the old boys who now won`t go out without a coller ! Like I said, if the techs there ,,use it

 

As for youngsters not being able to get out cause it`s to expensive to get a coller and we all advise it etc etc,,

 

A Mk3M costs less than a third fo the price of an Ipad2 , or half an xbox360 fekin whizzbang doodah! yet they can manage to get all them,,

 

Prioritise

[The one 8,513]

Im old enough to remember ferreting with out locators and i can remember ever weekend being out on a estate my uncle worked on snares down on a Friday night and ferret all day Saturday and Sunday then the rabbits went to the game dealers on the Monday . Four of us ferreting and if a ferret stuck i was left till it surfaced and caught up . My old man gave me a new thing called a locator and two collars for my birthday Best thing since sliced bread no more waiting at burrows and more rabbits in the bag .Sure you can ferret without a locator but i know where the wise money is