Are they ready?

[_Lewis_ 23]

I have 2 hobs and they’re around 4 months old and I’ve bought 10 purse nets, a carrier,pegs, and a mk3 locator with the trackers and coolers but I was wondering if they look ready and is that all I need because I was thinking of going out this weekend, even though I live in the county and everything there’s not actually many rabbits around here so I’ll see how it goes.

[terryd 8,423]

Yea the hardest part of starting a young ferret is if you don't have a dog to mark. Constantly putting a ferret down empty holes at least a young one they just start messing. So do your best to find holes with some thing in assuming you don't have dog. Good luck and enjoy. Another thing that will happen if you don't have a dog after putting the ferret down numerous empty holes you will get sloppy with the nets or not even bother and that will be the time there is some thing at home lol

[_Lewis_ 23]

On 19/08/2021 at 16:36, Wideboy said:

 

Should I put them both down the holes or just one?

[Daniel cain 45,427]

Do you have a dog to mark or can maybe get out with someone who has? Would be more productive than trying every set of holes

[_Lewis_ 23]

6 hours ago, Daniel cain said:

Do you have a dog to mark or can maybe get out with someone who has? Would be more productive than trying every set of holes

I have a vizsla but I’m not sure if she’d mark, I don’t think my ferrets would get along with her and she’s not good with sheep 

[Daniel cain 45,427]

Do some work with the dog first amongst stock, introduce dog and ferrets while under close supervision..ATB

[Aussie Whip 4,099]

2 hours ago, _Lewis_ said:

I have a vizsla but I’m not sure if she’d mark, I don’t think my ferrets would get along with her and she’s not good with sheep 

Buy or borrow a shock collar for the dog, only need a couple of shocks on those breeds unlike my mate's patterdale that did backflips and kept chasing, lol. Once trained with stock and ferrets you'll have a good ferreting, marking companion for many years. It's worth a few weeks training to get a good team going. As for your ferts I'd wait until at least 5 months and just get them used to running through pipes and being with the dog.

Edited October 9, 2021 by Aussie Whip

[terryd 8,423]

You have the ideal dog if you can sort with ferrets and sheep and to be honest so long as it is not going nuts trying to get a ferret you can just work off a long line and tether to the side once you get some sort of indication. Let it check out the first netted dead rabbit and I think you would be on a winner. Plus on a long line you can work around sheep safely and sort that as well and get focus on rabbits.  

[Butler 396]

First couple of trips with young ferrets I don't bother using nets I just bolt for the dog.. Young ferrets can be a nightmare with nets and if they get really tangled it can make them hand shy..

[terryd 8,423]

Walk up a hedge into the wind with the dog and an indication can be very subtle.
This was mine this morning marking and he didn't even go near the hole and he was bang on.
His on a long line because there is dual carriageway hundred yard a way.

This is him telling me there is another one up the other end of the holes but it wasn't easy on my own so I left it.

 

If your on your own get some bells for the ferrets collar I would never go with out them. I locator I manage with out but not bells. Though the dog will tell me where the ferret is but tied up like this they are handy 

[_Lewis_ 23]

Thanks everyone so much, yesterday I tried them on some holes a couple of which looked like they might of been in use and some of them had holes outside where the rabbits had been digging and some lose dirt but I don’t think there was any rabbits in any of the holes I tried and I found some loose rabbit fur on this patch of mud and I tried the nearest holes to that still with no luck but I had a walk last night and outside a hole that I put the ferrets down there was fresh droppings still wet and I found some wet droppings outside a hole that I haven’t ferreted so I’ll keep trying and I’ll try to go somewhere better next weekend maybe.And I might see how my dog is on a long lead because a trained dog would help

[_Lewis_ 23]

On 11/10/2021 at 14:57, W. Katchum said:

Rabbit travel quite far on a night in some places, i ferret a farm where the rabbits live in a hedge on the road side, but will travel up a bank an across a field for a good 800 yards easy to feed, disturb them an they head for holes in the field, these holes always have fresh diggings an fresh shite outside but never have any rabbits in during the day, they are just a sort of safe haven for when the rabbits feel threatened on the field. Keep looking about pal, your doing everything right just keep at it, an try be quiet as possible when your putting ferrets in, might be best to leave the nets off first couple times so your sneaking up an slipping ferret in real quiet, a rabbit that knows you are there will most likely head deep or find a stop end an sit it out, so young ferrets just might not be finding them, keep us posted tho

I went out again earlier and as I was walking through a field I saw 2 rabbits, one went down a hole which was in the field and one ran down the hill into cover, so I put nets over all 3 of the holes that I could see in the field and put both my ferrets down and around 5 minutes later I heard the bells from one of the collars 20 yards away at a hedge line so I went there and I saw one of my ferrets out of the hole walking along and he came out of some rabbit holes that I had no idea linked with the one in the field because it looked like it was quite far away and I hadn’t netted the ones on the hedge line either so in the end I managed to grab my ferrets because if I was going to ferret those holes I feel like I’d need more people to keep watch and it was going dark soon.But another thing is there’s a couple badger holes amongst the rabbit holes and a lot of badger activity in the area so I wasn’t sure if it was safe,do badgers dig their own holes or do they open up already made rabbit holes so I’m not really sure.I could go there with more people one day and earlier on in the day but I’m not sure if it’s safe with the badgers