rosspti
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Everything posted by rosspti
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It would be awesome to attach an infra red camera to a ferret and get a live, ferret's eye view of what's going on down there! -
Stealthy - that's a good idea! I would NOT consider that this would in any way replace a locator. I have a MK3 and although expensive, I wouldn't be without it. I know some people have had problems with it, but I much prefer it to the MK1 and find it dead simple to use. The reason for my interest in the Listening Stick is that A) I like the idea of hearing better what's going on down there!! I think it could help build a picture of how many rabbits are down there, or whether the ferrets are chasing any around, etc. We all love to hear the thump of a rabbit about to bolt!!
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Hi Just to confirm... the one I used could hear the hissing pipe from about 20 yards away across the fields. I think the knocking and crunching of ferrets and bunnies at play together should be quite easy to hear. Think I will get one just for fun.
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My work involves some Estate Management and a year or two back I was walking some land with a chap from the Water company as we thought that there was a burst pipe / leak somewhere underground. He had a tool called a Listening Stick, like these.. http://www.msfengineering.co.uk/proddetail.asp?prod=MSF05 http://www.lowflo.ie/products/leak-detecti...istening-sticks You poke the end spike in the ground, and then put your ear to the wooden knob. You can year the hissing of a tiny water leak to help find the pipe, and you can even hear water just flowing through the pipes from a fair
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Ferrets are bascially domesticated polecats, just like dogs are domesticated wolves. I don't think we should deny ferrets natural foods - even if just as a bit of variety now and then, with kibbles as the main food. Domestication of dogs probably means they don't suffer as a result of being fed on pet foods as they are not as active, etc. as wolves, but hard working hunting dogs (such as foxhounds) are best fed on meat. Too much protein (meat) can make dogs hyperactive if they don't get to do enough work - so maybe feeding kibbles in the summer and meat in the winter is a good idea fo
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Hi Joe Great news! Never mind about the size. My family has a smallholding of about 60 acres, and I have access to around 1000+ acres for shooting, ferretting, etc. However, one particular patch of a friend's farm is 11 acres in size, in 5 fields. We bag about 150 rabbits a year from that area. Last winter we had over fifty from one 3 acre field - ferretting 3 of the hedges over 3 days. We didn't do the fourth hedge. In the summer since then we have probably shot 20 or 30 in there too. And there are still more. Some land is just "rabbity" land, and will always provide. W
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Hi Snakes. The important thing you will need is the ability to learn as you go, and NOT to give up when things go wrong. Have pride in what you do and do it properly. Buying equipment is secondary to having the right attitude and outlook. If you can, then try ferretting with someone who already does it, that way you can see if you like it enough BEFORE buying ferrets and committing time and money to it. Start small with a couple of ferrets, nets, a carry box, and a good shovel. Dont buy anything until you know you have some land to go ferretting on. Find some sets and then you will know
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Trust me! I am Cornish - and there is no way you could get away with selling ferrets down here for £100, unless to some rich townie who had moved here from London or something, and wanted a handbag-ferret like a trendy version of a chihuahua. Mind you, us Cornish could sell clothes-pegs to gypsies, and if we spotted someone looking to part with some cash - then I am sure our "pedigree, organic, free range, local Cornish ferrets" would be worth every penny of £100, infact that would probably be a steal!! especially as they would "open the door to a fantastic rural world of traditional, eco
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Yeah, there's quite a few rabbits around down here - but no more than average I reckon... dunno - haven't done a UK rabbit survey!!! But horse fields have lovely short grass that the rabbits love, and no wire netting - so they can get in and out of the hedges. In Cornwall we have special hedges around our fields called "Cornish Hedges". They are about 6 - 8 foot wide and about 5 foot high - big walls build of stone and earth - so there are practically no ground sets down here - they all live in the hedges. Then on top of those you get all the thorn bushes, etc. Also, down here the r
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Had a 2 hour session this afternoon with a friend and my .177 Falcon airrifle. We just rested the airrifle on the wing-mirror and took it in turns to shoot as I drove around the fields. Kept on driving around 3 horse fields (8 acres all togethr) that were full of rabbits. Shot 45 rabbits in 2 hours, broad daylight - and mostly full grown bunnies too - only a few small ones, an no signs of mixy. Good lot of head shots. In one spot I hit 5 rabbits one after the other, gun so quiet the others didn't move - and good head shots so no kicking/squeeking to frighten the others away. Also s
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Was supposed to be having a go ferretting a hedge yesterday that is JAM PACKED with rabbits, but my buddy was too busy lambing so he pointed me to a hot tip for some decoying. A field of "emerald rape" which has now been completely grazed off by sheep that have now been moved on to pastures new. It was basically mud with little rape stubbles 2 or 3 inches high. He said he had seen a lot of rooks around the field lately so I trudged off to have a look. When I arrived, a black swarm of corvids launched off the field - which I thought was promising. I set up and then from about 11:00 t
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Went out lamping last night. I had a fox with the browning 12bore using AlphaMax BBs. Best mate had this dog fox with his 0.22-250 had to have been at least 250 yards, taken from the back of the landrover. To make things easier on the night we have recorded hand-squeeking on to the mobile phone and then play it back on a continuous loop. Saw this fox a few feilds away about 400 yards. Played the squeek until it got to about 250yards where he had to take it as we were looking down from an old disused railway embankment that we had driven on to. If it had come closer it would have been ou
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Thanks for the posts so far. I use crow decoys to get started - then obviously nothing beats dead birds. I also use wire cradles to stand the dead ones off the ground and make them much more visible - and also use an "acme" crow call. Below is a highly artistic impression of a good day that a friend and I had. It was about June time. There were 2 fields of growing barley which had quite large flat patches that the wind and rooks had laid and the rooks were mobbing this field to get at the grain. We and our decoys would have been lost in there and also running all over the corn
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Actually, the only time we ever came across 2 foxes together the driver had stopped the Landrover, got out, opened the gate, driven through, stopped, got out, closed the gate, got back in, turned on the light.... and there were 2 foxes about 50 yards out in the field. Luckily there were 2 of us shooting, both with shotguns at that particular time.... Obviously as we were so close and having just meddled with gates, etc., the foxes had heard us and were wary. The driver started to head in their direction but we soon shot the first one. Of course the second then began to give it f**k but
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Just thought I'd post up this pic of my bag from today. Finished up with 3 pigeons, 6 rooks, 34 jackdaws, & 1 cock pheasant (not pictured). 44 birds for 79 cartridges. I use Eley VIP 32 gram 6s in fibre wad. There's not really a special place on this site dedicated to corvid decoying, so if you wanna post up your stories here please feel free. Id like to know the record corvid bag - mine is 54 between 2 of us (all rooks).
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Lampshy isn't really a problem for us - you see the fox has to associate being frightened whilst the lamp is on in order for it to become wary when it sees the lamp next time... In ten years I could probably count on one hand the number of foxes that have been fired at and not killed using this method. Drive in to the field - there's the fox 100 yards away.. foot down, catch it up, shoot it at less than 40 yards. If you miss - well the landrover is more than capable of cutting off the fox so it can't leave the field. We still squeek up quite a few to the rifle too and they show no si
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All points noted Wag et al. We have been lamping this way for about ten years. The owner of the land or his son do the driving and they know every inch of the land. We are all experienced and very responsible. As I said before, the speed feels a lot faster than it is in practice - but it is far more smooth to slow down to take the shot rather than stop altogether which causes jolting. We never exceed 2nd gear - we're talking small Cornish fields here - max is about 15 acres, most 5 - 10. High hedges of earth and stone. The cage is constructed in such a way that there isn't enough room t
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Hi Jamie G A perfectly legitimate question! But I can assure you that safety is a priority. We have a metal cage around us almost to shoulder height which is made by securing sheep hurdles around the back of the Landrover. We shoot straight ahead out over the bonnet. Guns are only ever loaded at appropriate times, etc. The method can be seen on Andre Georgescu's foxing video. Our record for one night is 70 rabbits and 4 foxes shot this way - over 400 acres.
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Just thought I'd post up a pic of 2 lovely foxes shot recently down here in Kernow. We lamp on a mixed beef/sheep farm near the North Cornish Coast. Our method of lamping is to stand on an open backed landrover. The driver concentrates on the driving whilst one of us on the back holds the lamp, the other shoots. We use shotguns and a 0.22-250. When we're rabbitting we both use shotguns and basically we shoot standing whilst the landrover is chasing the rabbits. We enter the field, the driver goes like f**k to shoot as many rabbits as possible before they all get to the hedges. It
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Went off for a day's ferreting on Sunday.. Drove 15 miles to land on Bodmin Moor where I have permission... The rain came in thick and after sittin in the car with my mate and his ferret for an hour looking out at the crap weather and having a yarn, we decided to head home. I remembered seeing quite a few rooks out on our home area the day before when out watching a gun-pack foxing (legally) and so we decided to give it a go... After checking it out with the 2 relevent farmers we got the ok and so had about 1000 acres to choose from. Most of that is grass of course, but there are quite a
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Hi Ferretlove This is a really interesting question. We all know that rabbits are a huge agricultural pest which cost British agriculture millions in eaten/damaged crops, demolished hedgerows, etc. Damage to trees. Holes which cattle and horses can break legs in, and ultimately have to be destroyed. Eating veg and plants in residential gardens. The list goes on... However, I think most ferreters would still think it a privelage to be allowed to go on to land and catch rabbits for landowners. It might seem a strange situation - but from a land manager's point of view you have to co
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Actually - you are wrong. Cornwall has its own language & its own flag and the Duke of Cornwall (Prince Charles) has the power of sovereignty over our Duchy - NOT THE QUEEN. Historically all of Cornwalls taxes went to the Duke, not the Crown. Cornwall used to have its own parliament with powers to veto the English government's laws - but they were gradually robbed from us due to English tyrrany and the passage of time. At one time Cornwall was the wealthiest region in the UK because ofthe vast mineral wealth that was produced here. The people of Cornwall are campaigning for our
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Thanks - yep I do knit my own purse nets, just interested to know how cheaply (!) I can get hold of them. Spun nylon is the best I have found, prefer it to nylon and hemp (see above). Not tried spun poly -although it has been recommended to me on this board. Is it much different to spun nylon?
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Can people recommend any names for the netmakers I should try?
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I love this website! I have learned loads - and its great to see that our sports are all being enjoyed! Just wandered how many Cornish people are out there, and how many people would approve of this site having an option under the Profile section for us Cornish to use our own flag. Cornwall is, of course, part of the UK and so we are covered by the Union Jack - but all you English, Welsh & Scottish get to use your own flags as an alternative - whereas we don't. Would be fab to see Cornwall given a little voice here. Kernow bis vyken - Kernewek onen hag oll (Cornwall for ever -