A successful half day session with dogs, nets and ferrets..

[Sirius 1,391]

Wednesday was a return visit to a piece of land that I control rabbits on which we have around 4 or 5 days a year. The session was due to be a short one as I had places to be so had to be finished up and on the way home for 1pm. I also only had 5 ferrets to work today and just my nets as my mate is lacking in ferrets and nets currently so we were only able to do the small/medium size warrens which are up to 50 odd hole places which didn’t need huge volumes of ferrets and nets.

We started at first light around 7.30 with both dogs marking a bigish place but it was easy enough to encircle with the longwebs and plenty of pursenets not enough purses to do the lot, but hey that’s what the dogs and longnets were for. I had my dog and his daughter which belongs to my mate. The bitch has had a fair amount of work for her second season, but is picking up the ferreting game well and is improving nicely, she has a great nose and quick off the mark. So 5 ferrets in and away we went with some steady bolts nothing to manic, a few hole hopped but a few were caught by the dogs or were bolted again until all the ferrets on top and moving of the warren. We took 10 from here which was a good start, all bolted cleanly too.

The wind started to pick up so it was decided to do a couple of places lower down on the bank which the dogs were interested in. These were smaller and out of the wind but after bolting 3 out of one place and just one from another we realised the rabbits just were not living in numbers in these places, easy to ferret but just not productive. I really wanted to carry on in a systematic manner doing each larger warren as we go, but without the kit and the wind getting worse, we opted for the best place out of the wind but it was huge. On the way to the warren the young dog marked a place on the edge of a larger warren which we were not going to do she stood stock still and focused on a hole and as if by magic a rabbit bolted in front of her and she picked up 20 yards from the hole! She must of just psyched that rabbit out and he committed suicide, oh well it won’t do that again.

So next up was a huge place, which in truth we need about 8-10 ferrets and more nets than we had for its very deep and sandy and is divided by a stone wall. I have worked this place before and we have bolted a lot of rabbits even a fox once, but it aint easy. One side of the wall is easy enough to net but the other side is still covered in dead nettles and brash and is a complete honeycomb of holes. The plan was to net up the easy side and then lay a few stop nets in the rough side , and try and lift the ferrets before they really got into that side of the warren. It was 11 o’clock and I had a vision of ferrets getting into the rough side and getting stuck in which would make me late and rabbits bolting all over with no hope of being caught in the few nets we had laid that side. Well 3 ferrets into the warren’s easy side and things started to happen, with a good steady flow of rabbits hitting nets and both dogs catching a few at the hole mouths or as they hole hopped. Within 45 minutes things slowed down a lot and it was time to lift the ferrets before they got stuck into the roughside. The ferrets I have at the moment hunt well and will keep hunting until the jobs done, so extracting them from a warren where there are obviously rabbits still there was not easy at all. They would show and then dive down another hole but we managed it much to the disgust of critters and to be honest myself, it just goes against the grain to stop working a warren half way through. But they will be there for next time when we will return with a full clip of ferrets and nets and a few extra people.
We ended at half 12.30 with 24 rabbits, no digs, one missed rabbit and I was on time! Nice when it all goes to plan as more often than not it never does.

Few snaps from the phone again today, no time to take proper pictures.

Good Hunting
Sirius

Edited November 5, 2013 by Sirius

[ferretville 69]

Good post there sirious and steady bag . Done plenty big warrens over the the last few years and they can be time consuming . But if done correctly you can achieve good bags if the rabbits are there . Some people shy away from big warrens but must admit iv had sum cracking days on massive warrens . Done sum up hexham way were they must be years old and all inter linked nearly 500 plus holes , section by section you can get em moving , but you never get them all no matter how many ferrets .Keep the posts coming

[max abell 196]

Nice enjoyable read there sirius well done

[The one 8,503]

Nice going mate had a look at a few places but theres still too much cover here

[Sirius 1,391]

Good post there sirious and steady bag . Done plenty big warrens over the the last few years and they can be time consuming . But if done correctly you can achieve good bags if the rabbits are there . Some people shy away from big warrens but must admit iv had sum cracking days on massive warrens . Done sum up hexham way were they must be years old and all inter linked nearly 500 plus holes , section by section you can get em moving , but you never get them all no matter how many ferrets .Keep the posts coming

 

I have found that the larger ones are often more productive, yes more preparation laying nets and only work well if you have enough nets and ferrets to really get the rabbits rattled.And fingers crossed for no deep digs

 

Nice going mate had a look at a few places but theres still too much cover here

Yeah the covers pretty beaten down now here now, well as good as it gets. But if you leave it much longer the nettles will be on there way up again ! Will start the hedges around christmas until the end of the season.

[netrigger 568]

Another good write up sirius, looks great ground you have there.

Regards.

[patterdalejoel 669]

looks a great day and what a beautiful brace of dogs. what are their breeding if you know?

[Brimmer 220]

A superb read once again mate, and a tally i'd be made up with for a full days graft!

Only five ferrets! thats going out tooled up with an army for us! And not even a dig Slick!

I take it the warrens are big open tubes down there, we have a few like that, but most are a bit tight, its been ages since I had a day with no digs and wonder if i'll ever get a dig free day again!

Keep at em and keep the reports coming, Brim.

[mhopton 807]

Good read n good pics well done mate

[paulf 820]

cracking read that fella ,good morning bunny bashing .

[takman511 42]

nice 1 well done lads

[markja 51]

decent pics and nice dogs atb