Collar or no collar?

[B.P.R 2,798]

What's your opinions on using/ not using a locator and collar? I've only used or once and then the fecker stopped working so now I work without. Not had any problems not using one. I sometimes just take 1 ferrets and a few nets on a mooch and never had a problem(touch wood).

 

If I do go with the gang then i make sure im prepared to wait it out and I've got the time to do so. Longest I've waited was 60min with joe67 off here on a nice warm day.

 

Obviously I'd prefer to use one but when you look at the cost £100+ and then add on the extra cost of collars then a nice cheap sport turns into a money game same as everything else.

 

[Ideation 8,216]

It's going to be fine most of the time, but there will be that odd time or two when a locator will really save your ass.

[darbo 4,774]

always use one to be on the safe side if the jill gets stuck blocked in etc,also dont like leaving dead rabbits to ground.

[THE GRIFF 8]

Last season we hardly ever used finders but started using them this summer and have never looked back.

We used upto 7 ferrets at the same time last year on huge 500+ hole warrens and although we had a few kills down the holes that we couldn't retrieve we still got good numbers. The thing that was frustrating was not knowing where all the ferrets were when they had a kill and waiting half an hour or an hour for them to come back out. While you are waiting for them you can't stop thinking if they have sneaked out when you weren't looking and have wondered off, or if they have got stuck behind a kill and can't get out.

This year, although we have had kills down too deep to dig to at least when using the collars you know where the ferrets are and if they are moving around. It's also surprising how far the rabbits tunnel away from the holes and although they are 20 yards away from a 6 hole set they may have a kill only 2 or 3 feet down which can be dug to in a few minutes, not only do you get the rabbit you also get the ferret back sooner and can move onto the next warren.

The down side if using collars is the ferrets get caught in the purse nets more often, but we tend to run a longnet around the larger warrens anyway.

 

 

To sum up:

You can get good numbers with or without a ferret finder but you get more when using one in my opinion, this is because you aren't waiting around as much and get more ground covered.

It's also less stressful and more enjoyable knowing where your ferrets are at the flick of a switch and not being paranoid thinking they may have wondered off.

We now have 6 collars and always use them.

Saying all of that, we had well over 1000 rabbits last year without using a finder and never lost a ferret, although our ar5es were nipping a few times.

Edited December 8, 2011 by THE GRIFF

[TOMO 26,122]

What's your opinions on using/ not using a locator and collar? I've only used or once and then the fecker stopped working so now I work without. Not had any problems not using one. I sometimes just take 1 ferrets and a few nets on a mooch and never had a problem(touch wood).

 

If I do go with the gang then i make sure im prepared to wait it out and I've got the time to do so. Longest I've waited was 60min with joe67 off here on a nice warm day.

 

Obviously I'd prefer to use one but when you look at the cost £100+ and then add on the extra cost of collars then a nice cheap sport turns into a money game same as everything else.

 

you more than anyone should understand the value of good kit.... £100+ for good boots ect,,, i have 3 locators,, just had one of them serviced for the first time,,, had it well over 10 year..... see where im going with this..

 

dont get me wrong i somtimes have a wander, 1 ferret in the pocket, no locator.... or if im trying kits out ,,,, but your best off having one ,,, saves loads of time,, and adds rabbits to your bag.

 

also dont belive any crap about digging ruining sets,, i have seen rabbits resuse sets that have had multiple digs on

[tote 854]

 

 

If I do go with the gang then i make sure im prepared to wait it out and I've got the time to do so. Longest I've waited was 60min with joe67 off here on a nice warm day.

 

How long would you be prepared to wait? An hour? Two hours? Or maybe three days.

 

No doubt that they are dear but the time they save us is well worth it in the long run. I've wrote this before but here

goes again, a good few years ago I went to see an old mate of mine and his wife told me he'd just nipped out with the ferrets to get a couple of rabbits. Having a good idea of where he'd be I set off and found him, he told me he'd entered his jill into the 7 hole bury and she'd bolted a rabbit, appeared at the hole and headed back down and that was the last he'd seen of her and an hour had passed and as she didn't have a collar on all he could do was squeak into the bury and then wait.. To cut a long story short he waited 3 hours then filled in the holes leaving his carry box in the entrance to one of the holes. He checked that bury morning and night for three days and finally on the third day he found her lying in the box. In his opinion the jill had possibly got stuck on the wrong side of some rabbits in a stop end and obviously if she'd been collared he could've located her and dug her out in a matter of minutes.

 

I bought a mk1 box and 2 collars for £60 eleven years ago and it's still going strong, so it's cost me less than £6 a year don't think anyone can grumble about that.

[tegater 789]

To me it depends on how much you value your ferrets, and how long you want to wait around, in the hope that it/they may come out in daylight hours.

 

Personally I believe that you have a duty of care to your ferrets (and I dont mean in a modern health and safety way) to bring them back after a good day working for you. If you were working a terrier under ground, I am quite sure you would want to go home with it.

 

Veedublee, if I remember rightly you are an ex or serving soldier, and although there is no comparrison, a ferret is a hunter like a Brit soldier and I am sure you would not, or will not leave a comrade behind.

 

Although I am a great lover of tradition, and a bit of a romantic, (Mmm...) I like to think that a rock solid way of recovering a ferret is always there, and a Mk3 is brilliant, but a Mk anything will do if it assists the welfare of the ferret.

 

It breaks my heart when at this time of the year I catch half a dozen ferrets in fenn traps, because dicks cant be bothered with 100% commitment. You are not classed as one of these mate.

[BazB 37]

i use one, havnt had it long but i seen the benefit a friend with a mk2 had when he dug down and got 5 rabbits out followed by his hob so i bought a mk3.i wouldnt want to leave one of my ferrets behind either, the kids would go nuts with me ha ha

 

Barry

[bambey 12]

i would never go out with out one i value my ferrets to much but saying that evan if you do have one you sill lose out some times like last year i lost a hob out ferreting i had the locater then but that done me no good because it whent to deep so the locater box could not pick it up i waited about 4 to 5 houres for it to come out but there was still no movement from the ferret and i still could not pick it up on the locater so had to back fill the holes and go back the next day but there was still nothing so i lost a good ferret and a collar but it happens but to me ferret finders are a peice of kit i would not go with out

 

 

atb bambey

[Adam_Chuck 256]

Better to be safe than sorry, and I agree you may get better numbers with a locator, if you have a ferret that kills and moves on you could dig in the time is take to make the kill, retrieving both ferret and rabbit, and some times can be more than one rabbit in a block end. Not to mention the safety aspect of the ferret and again how much you value your ferret.

[Neal 1,866]

When I bought my first locator with just one collar, I spent the beginning of the season using the first ferret without a collar and intending to collar up the second as back up if needed. Fortunately, I had no mishaps and bought a second collar as soon as I could but I wouldn't try it again: it's not worth the risk.

Edited December 9, 2011 by Neal

[The one 8,476]

Aye its fine if you want to go out and mess about if anything happens your going to sit it out . wait till its pissing rain and blowing a gale and see how long you want to sit and wait . If your out three ,four times a week, working big burrows and new ground where anything can happen you need a locator ferret in spade out rabbit out and move on you cant spend all day sitting waiting at the first burrow .

 

Your digging away and the farmer comes over to see what your up to and you can pull a rabbit right out the ground you have a mate for life

What happened to the box and collar you beat me to ?.

[B.P.R 2,798]

Good points there. Ive not had any problems not using a locator but i guess my luck might run out at some point. I'm definitely not one of those people who disregard ferrets, each one of my

Hobs cost me £60 to get castrated and I've got 3 and a Jill who's spayed. I value my ferrets and wouldn't want to lose one. For me ferreting is a sport, a nice way to spend the day with the dog(soon as her legs better) and a mate out doing what I enjoy. Money just seems to be the main factor in most things now.

 

After your comments I've just

Posted my locator off to mick

Dadds to get fixed

[tegater 789]

Good points there. Ive not had any problems not using a locator but i guess my luck might run out at some point. I'm definitely not one of those people who disregard ferrets, each one of my

Hobs cost me £60 to get castrated and I've got 3 and a Jill who's spayed. I value my ferrets and wouldn't want to lose one. For me ferreting is a sport, a nice way to spend the day with the dog(soon as her legs better) and a mate out doing what I enjoy. Money just seems to be the main factor in most things now.

 

After your comments I've just

Posted my locator off to mick

Dadds to get fixed

Good decision, well done.

[Jamie m 668]

Well all I can say is , had thirteen rabbits today , if we had no locator would of been three as ten were dug out of stop ends , so it's a no brained to me , two digs produced four rabbits ,