Lift Nets

[gollum 1]

In the process of rigging a lift net at the moment...

Hoping it will be more versatile than the drop net as it could be left layed flat behind a hedge without Jo public nicking or sabotageing it!

 

Having some fun deciding on the best method for lifting the net, got a 15 yard stop net lifting no problem but 50 yards is a bit more of a challenge. I can see a couple of ways of doing it, but wonder if anyone has a working rig or design I might adapt to what I am doing.

 

Has anyone used one in the field?

 

If so any snags, are the rabbits happy to walk over it etc etc.

 

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

HH all.

 

G.

[longnetter 32]

Brian Brinded used to make and sell a rig for lift nets - I THINK he still does

From what I'm told rabbits weren't happy crossing it unless you left it down for several days but I've never met anyone that I KNOW FOR CERTAIN who has used one

Good luck though hope it works out well, keep us posted

[gollum 1]

Brian Brinded used to make and sell a rig for lift nets - I THINK he still does

From what I'm told rabbits weren't happy crossing it unless you left it down for several days but I've never met anyone that I KNOW FOR CERTAIN who has used one

Good luck though hope it works out well, keep us posted

 

It was the Brinded site where I got the idea, pics on their not too informative but worked out approximately how to do it.

 

Did have my doubts about rabbits walking over it .....think I might nip out and lay 50 yards down in front of a hedge I know has bunnies in it and sit up in the truck with the night vis and see how cautious the rabbits are. I know drop nets can take several day if not more before they get over the fear, it'll be interesting to see how they react.

 

HH all.

 

G.

[Tiercel 6,986]

gollum,

 

I have never tried the lift net method, to be honest I have never known anyone who has heard of it. However, that said I really applaud your quest to find out if it will work. Off the top of my head I can think of several possible reasons why it will not work.

 

Some of the reasons pertain to the actual mechanics of raising 50 yards of net simultaneously, but my biggest concern is the willingness of the rabbits to pass over the net. As you well know a good killing net will need 100% bagging, slack, kill what ever you wish to call it. When the net is then laid flat that slack will cause pockets of slack netting on the prone net.

 

It is my thoughts that the slack netting will cause problems with the rabbits travelling over the net. I have recently made a few new long nets with the idea behind them being that the rabbits get caught by the feet instead of them putting their head through the meshes. Early indications are that the design of the net does near enough what I thought it would.

 

Anyone who has been scrammed by a rabbit will know that they have a fair set of claws on their feet, it is those claws that could be the downfall of the net lying on the floor. As the rabbits pass over the net I believe that the rabbits claws will catch in the net, therefore causing the rabbit distress and an aversion to passing over the net.

 

All that said, it is only my theory and I am quite willing to say it was wrong. I wish you good luck in your quest, and please keep us posted.

 

TC

[gollum 1]

Hi Tiercel,

 

Thanks for input mate, I tend to agree about the claws issue. It was only because I had seen the Brinded site that it seemed plausible. I am working on the premise that if someone is prepared to manufacture a rig to sell to the public then presumably it works... That said I am far from convinced.....

 

The mechanics of the lift are not as problematic as I thought they might be. Its extremely simple to do on a short run of 15 yards just using 3 guy lines and a couple of screw in eyes mounted in stakes. You can set it so the whole thing lies flat and then pops up rock solid at a beautiful tilt. Pretty much as good as if it were set by hand. It's just a question of creating a suitable pivot point at the base of the poles......

 

The longer run will need a couple more fixing points to raise it up and possibly the lifting action will have to come from above rather than the side as when I tested the 50 yarder, I raised the first panel at each end but the middle stayed flat! Part of the problem is that the nylon braid I used for header and footer line on the net has a degree of give/stretch and this has to be accounted for to get a smooth lift along the length.

 

Im going to just lay out 50 yards on the ground tonight, then sit back and watch. It's probably better to check if the little B's will pass over it before spending too much time on rigging the system for long drops.

 

I'll let you all know how it goes and if the bunnies are good....I'll rig the system then post a step by step how to do it on here.

 

HH all.

 

G.

 

Ps. I like the sound of your claw catching net....food for thought there mate. Any luck using it?

[ellir0305 9]

i have a suggestion that could help:

 

instead of looking at hinging the poles, have the poles permenant with the head line of the net running through a ring on each pole and tied at the oppisite end to which you will be when lifting and have that end guyed out securely

 

then in theory with the headline slack the net should lie flat on the floor but when you pull the head line quickly taught the headline will drag the net up to the top nicely. and with that then securely tied up the bunnies can be walked into the net and there you have it, hope that makes sense and isnt what you are already doing as my hands hurt from typing so much . if it doesnt make sense i will draw a picture

 

good luck

 

rob

[moley 115]

i have a suggestion that could help:

 

instead of looking at hinging the poles, have the poles permenant with the head line of the net running through a ring on each pole and tied at the oppisite end to which you will be when lifting and have that end guyed out securely

 

then in theory with the headline slack the net should lie flat on the floor but when you pull the head line quickly taught the headline will drag the net up to the top nicely. and with that then securely tied up the bunnies can be walked into the net and there you have it, hope that makes sense and isnt what you are already doing as my hands hurt from typing so much . if it doesnt make sense i will draw a picture

 

good luck

 

rob

 

i bought one of these setups many years ago , i can flip up 200 yds of net in one go with no problem, the 1st time i set it up was with a brand new net on fixed poles so as you can imagine , the net stank of newness and the rabbits ran over no bother , all 4 0f them, i havn,t tried it as much as i should have , but wasnt too eager to leave all that expensive kit laid in a field even tho it isn,t easily seen untill you are close to it , i might hunt it out and give it another try this winter

[gollum 1]

i have a suggestion that could help:

 

instead of looking at hinging the poles, have the poles permenant with the head line of the net running through a ring on each pole and tied at the oppisite end to which you will be when lifting and have that end guyed out securely

 

then in theory with the headline slack the net should lie flat on the floor but when you pull the head line quickly taught the headline will drag the net up to the top nicely. and with that then securely tied up the bunnies can be walked into the net and there you have it, hope that makes sense and isnt what you are already doing as my hands hurt from typing so much . if it doesnt make sense i will draw a picture

 

good luck

rob

 

 

 

i bought one of these setups many years ago , i can flip up 200 yds of net in one go with no problem, the 1st time i set it up was with a brand new net on fixed poles so as you can imagine , the net stank of newness and the rabbits ran over no bother , all 4 0f them, i havn,t tried it as much as i should have , but wasnt too eager to leave all that expensive kit laid in a field even tho it isn,t easily seen untill you are close to it , i might hunt it out and give it another try this winter

 

 

Thanks Rob, interesting idea. I'll have a look at that and see if it eases the lifting.

 

Moley, any chance you could post a pic or let me know how the actual flipping up bit works?

 

When you say only 4 rabs...... were there more to be had but only 4 passed over it, or was it just a small bury?

 

What's your view on the rabbits being spooked by the net? Concensus so far seem to be that it will make them very cautious and require a few days to get them passing confidently.

 

I still havent tried laying out a net on the ground due to torrential rain here yesterday....hopefully tonight.

 

All input appreciated.

 

HH all.

 

G.

Edited July 18, 2009 by gollum

[TOMO 24,843]

NEVER USED ONE SO CANT COMMENT,

 

BUT IT MAY BE A GOOD IDEA, TO JUST GO AND LAY A LONG NET ON THE GROUND IN FRONT OF THE AREA YOUR GOING TO DO FIRST, WITH OUT ACTUALY RIGGING IT ALL UP.

 

KEEP GOING BACK REGULAR AND SEE IF THE RABBITS ARE PASSING OVER IT

[R_Oldroyd 17]

Hi

 

I think if you have an area which warrents such a device it would usually have to have a high number of rabbits. If used during the summer i'm sure the rabbits would pass across it. My concern is that you might have to leave it there for sometime before they are confident to pass over the net.

 

I recon it get chewed up in no time if left. It sound like a device that is set while you are there and removed at the end of the session. I think is worth a go though. If the can be peg it to the ground and lifted the same device could it not be used on a fence line and dropped and this would be a better solution. I'm sure they have used something like this in oz to catch the rabbits.

 

Regards Roger

 

I recon if u did lay out an old crappy net the same length as the set as a sacrifice prop and once you know the rabbits are confident replace with your lift net.

 

Would be intresting to see the lift arms and now it is lifted as it would be less visiable to a drop net.

Edited July 18, 2009 by R_Oldroyd

[The one 8,395]

I wouldn't be happy leaving a net out it would get stolen for sure i'd be tempted to look at other methord's of control round here

[micky 3,325]

i have a suggestion that could help:

 

instead of looking at hinging the poles, have the poles permenant with the head line of the net running through a ring on each pole and tied at the oppisite end to which you will be when lifting and have that end guyed out securely

 

then in theory with the headline slack the net should lie flat on the floor but when you pull the head line quickly taught the headline will drag the net up to the top nicely. and with that then securely tied up the bunnies can be walked into the net and there you have it, hope that makes sense and isnt what you are already doing as my hands hurt from typing so much . if it doesnt make sense i will draw a picture

 

good luck

rob

 

 

 

i bought one of these setups many years ago , i can flip up 200 yds of net in one go with no problem, the 1st time i set it up was with a brand new net on fixed poles so as you can imagine , the net stank of newness and the rabbits ran over no bother , all 4 0f them, i havn,t tried it as much as i should have , but wasnt too eager to leave all that expensive kit laid in a field even tho it isn,t easily seen untill you are close to it , i might hunt it out and give it another try this winter

 

 

Thanks Rob, interesting idea. I'll have a look at that and see if it eases the lifting.

 

Moley, any chance you could post a pic or let me know how the actual flipping up bit works?

 

When you say only 4 rabs...... were there more to be had but only 4 passed over it, or was it just a small bury?

 

What's your view on the rabbits being spooked by the net? Concensus so far seem to be that it will make them very cautious and require a few days to get them passing confidently.

 

I still havent tried laying out a net on the ground due to torrential rain here yesterday....hopefully tonight.

 

All input appreciated.

 

HH all.

 

G.

Back in the in the 60s when the shooting times was a magazine,there was a series of articles dealing with nets, and there various setups .In one of them it gave detailed drawings of the nets you describe,in the letters page several people doubted this method would work,in response to this ,many keepers wrote in with several vertions of the same idea saying,that it was a tried and tested method,and the rabbits had no fear of crossing the net

[moley 115]

Moley, any chance you could post a pic or let me know how the actual flipping up bit works?

 

When you say only 4 rabs...... were there more to be had but only 4 passed over it, or was it just a small bury?

 

What's your view on the rabbits being spooked by the net? Concensus so far seem to be that it will make them very cautious and require a few days to get them passing confidently.

 

I still havent tried laying out a net on the ground due to torrential rain here yesterday....hopefully tonight.

 

All input appreciated.

 

HH all.

 

G.

 

 

i will try to find the gizmos and put a pic up , moved house a few months back and stuff gets misplaced

 

dunno if there were more rabbits out or not as i just set it up cos i wanted to try it , i don,t think rabbits wuld be to bothered on cropped grass as my set up was , but on higher grass the net is gonna be held up a bit by the tall grass , so that could make a difference, dunno about rabbits chewing the net , why would they just sit there ans chew for no good reason ?

[micky 3,325]

rabbits have no problem crossing hay ,or corn stubble before its bailed, so why should a bit of net bother them?

[gollum 1]

i will try to find the gizmos and put a pic up , moved house a few months back and stuff gets misplaced

 

 

Cheers Moley, appreciated mate.

 

G.