New permission in Cornwall

[lorelei0922 2]

So the OH and i have a lil permission about an hour from us down in Cornwall that we've been keen to try out for a while. We invited a friend and his son to come along who had never been out ferreting and it was nice to have some company!

 

So after arriving at the field we get out the nets etc...and give the friends a crash course on setting nets... ( NOTE TO SELF... never let people who dont understand the horror of hours untangling poorly retrieved nets... pull nets for you lol ) we covered about 1/4 of the hedge and ran into the people who owned the OTHER side of our permissions hedge.. now we had been told it wasn't a problem previously by the land owner .. but hadn't actually MET the people who own that side of the fence if ya know what i mean..

 

Not only were they happy to have us there.. they asked if we wanted to have a go at their land as well... SCORE!!! another large field with small orchard.. several small ground sets and a woodland that is currently being slowly cleared for charcoal burning... GORGEOUS ground sets there as well with a lil clearing of the bracken thats dying back nicely down there... Also permission to camp out on their land anytime for a ferreting/shooting weekend winter or summer.. LOVELY.. we left that day with written permission to that effect as well!

 

On to the hunt! ... down went the girls .. an albino jill in her second hunting season who is right on the money.. bolting anything at home... if she comes out without a rabbit .. there probably isn't one down there.. and a 5 month old sandy jill who is certainly getting the hang of things..

 

These hedges are old ... you can tell the rabbits have been here a while.. and within only minutes we had a bolt... ahems.. right into a newbie set net.. and out the side.. UGGG!! (ANOTHER NOTE TO SELF.. always double check nets set by newbies tagging along for the first time!) a few minutes later and the newbie redeemed himself by grabbing another rabbit that bolted directly and correctly into a net with a ferret on its backside lol.. well done!

 

I took the ferret off him and dispatched it with my priest... yeah i know its the sissy way of doin things.. but i believe that if you're going to kill something it should be humane and quick.. and i dont have the confidence or strength myself to be sure i am going to do that breaking the neck and a good wack gets the job done.

 

Two more rabbits bolted as we moved down the hedge ... a few laughs.. lots of climbing over stock fence in the way of me setting nets etc... a few more bolts ... and we decided to give one of the ground sets down in the woodland a go and let Sage my polecat hob have a go...

 

We netted up and posted the newbies at the top of the rise to watch incase he popped out somewhere we hadn't seen and entered the hob... 30 seconds tops.. and THUMP THUMP THUMP.. hehe someone's home.. quickly followed by a squeel and a rabbit nose sticking out of a bolt hole.. ...but the rabbit isn't come out.. its getting dragged back ... hmms.. guess Sage has caught that one lol

 

Eventually pulled rabbit and Sage from the hole where he absolutely refused to let go of the head of this rabbit.. carried him down the hill with his prize and eventually cut the head off and let him take it back to the box to share with the others ... They always get a treat of liver, kidney or heart or whatever from the days kill in the field ...nice to be able to reward their good work.. and i like to think they are appriciative as well..

 

No pics this time .. cause umm... someone was stupid and left the camera at home.. but we had a great day out...and a very successful hunt.. we brought 6 home for the freezer and gave the land owner of the new permission 2 as a thank you... and sent 3 home with the newbies ... i think everyone went home very happy!

[scothunter 12,609]

I enjoyed reading that.Glad to see you had a good day.Oh and good on you for taking the newbies

[stubby 175]

lucky sods on the new permission, good story too

[The one 8,512]

Nice one introducing newbies to the sport

[victor 10]

twas a good read, shame about no piucs, ah well, i dont take one, would if i copuld but eh.

[Sorley x 32]

Brilliant post, great writing style you have there, hope there will be more to come.