Ideation 8,217 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 We've had some nice weather recently, clear skys, sunshine but still cold, so with the days getting a bit longer i've been out most days after work doing a bit and on my days off. As a result i've taken the pup and ferrets out nearly everyday this week and taken some decent bags here and there. Anyway, with the usual dawn till dusk trip planned for tomorrow with johnnyboy68 and our young (13) apprentice 'Young Tom' i decided today would be a day of rest - check over all the animals, relax and definitely no ferreting! The gods however had other plans. After waking the dogs and having a cup of tea i slunk back off to bed for a kip. I woke up at about 10 to a knocking on the door - which is weird if you live where i live and the terrier kicking off.. Opened the door to be greeted by an old man and his grandson. I had totally forgot that i had promised to take the young lad out for his first ever ferreting trip (never even touched a ferret). Another cup of tea and a bit of a scramble later and a bleary eyed me, the young lad, the pup and two of the seasoned jills were on the road, a huge 5 min trip to some horse paddocks that have always held well over the season - but between shooting, ferreting and lamping we have reduced the population pretty well. Mixi has also been lurking about lately, so i wasn't hopeful! All i needed was one or two bunnys in the bag, a happy kid and i could be off home back to my bed! We parked up and scouted the first paddock, dog didn't find anything so we carried on, next paddock, dog hit some nice scent up a well burrowed hedge but nothing at home. . . ."Oi what are you doing" comes a shout from the top of the field. Now we have permission here but from the woman who rents it not from the owner who lives away, but has decided to come and walk her dog here today. Quick bit of charm later and we now have permission from her as well! Score! After a natter we moved into some scrubby woodland and got our first mark. The kid who had been pointing out every fresh well used hole, and in fact every piece of rabbit shit, only to look crestfallen when we sailed straight past, was a bit dubious about the 8 shaby, leaf covered holes the dog was marking. Nets on, ferret in and bang first rabbit in the bag. Kid looked like he had just got laid for the first time. Two mins later pup marks another large set of about 20 + holes spread throughout the scrubby pine wood. The kid did a good job helping net up and i allocated him some holes to watch and gave him a bunny grabbing tutorial. As i went to grab the ferret i noticed a bolt hole i hadn't netted and just dumped my net bag on it, thinking it was a stupid idea. Ferret entered and nothing. Out of the cornor of my eye i saw the net bag shake. Crept over and put my hand on it and could feel something digging into it. called the kid over slip my hand under the bag (he didnt know there was a hole) and whipped the bag off as i grabbed the bolting rabbit! So now i'm the ferreting god! Anyway, second rabbit bolts the far side and pup grabs it. Get over and start untangling just as rabbit number 3 bolts the far side of the very spread out warren, pup thankfully notices and leaves the rabbit im untangling and shoots over to pin the new bolter. Job done. 4 rabbits in the bag in rapid succession, none missed Back into the horse paddocks and kid is walking on air and dog is off putting pheasants out of the hedges. We come across three random girls messing about on the ice thats frozen on a field who have a poke of the rabbits and stroke pup. Then pup hits a scent and follows it to the nearest hedge and we get another mark Half a dozen nets down, ferret in, rabbit out! It's shaping up to be a text book day! We mooch over into a little wooded strip, very thick cover, we stumble over a victorian bath Pup gives a good strong mark under a brush pile, so we net up the 15 holes surrounding it and i clamber into the pile to dodgily net up a few in there. The set is right on the edge of the wood, with a two strand wire fence running past it with a nice field the other side (an important detail for later ). I position the kid topside and leave him to watch the holes there and drop both ferrets in the bottom side hoping for some quick bolts, with the dodgy wood pile. First rabbit is out in mins, with the dog grabbing it and drawing it out of the wood pile. Then nothing for ages, a pile of bumping under the woodpile, no ferrets and then ominus silence for 15 mins. I decide to get the disco carrot out but the pup is getting in the way clambering on/into the woodpile with me, so assuming rabbit is going no where fast i walked pup back into the woods, stuck the shovel in the ground and tied his lead to it, clipping him on. Back to the woodpile, i climb on top, just as the f*****g rabbit bolts under neath, no one can get there and the net snags, rabbits gets out and makes off along the fence line, with me swearing at having the pup tied up like an idiot, pup clocks the rabbit and lunges at the lead but is tied fast, with a second mighty lunge he rips the shovel from the ground and tears off through the wood at an angle to the dissapearing rabbit who is still running down the fence along the edge of the wood. I can hear pup and his attached shovel smashing the cover aside and i'm starting to picture a strangled dog, to be honest i'm surprised he can even run with it attached. Suddenly pup crashed out the wood just ahead of the rabbit and it turns off across the field, last thing i see is pup, lead and shovel go banging up and through the two barbed wire strands., then silence. Then the kid pipes up a couple of seconds later. . .. 'ummmmmmm jai......finns ummmmmmm, well he's caught it'. Now i didn't believe him and figured he meant he'd run it to ground and just had his head in a bush/hole, but after a clamber i looked out across the field to see pup, still with his attachment, looking please as punch with an unhappy bunny in his gob. And back he came, rabbit, shovel and all. I still can't work out who was more chuffed, me, pup or the kid. So an unexpected but decent couple of hours, where everything went way more smoothly than i deserved. And another kid who now thinks ferreting is the best thing EVER Quote Link to post
The one 8,594 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Keep at it mate the more there out the more they learn . Quote Link to post
Ideation 8,217 Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Keep at it mate the more there out the more they learn . Is that the kid or the pup? The kid is a convert, never touched a ferret before today or seen a running dog. The pup is coming a long great, he's a little f****r and very hard headed, but at 9 month he's doing well enough for me, and i think with time will make a solid ferreting partner Quote Link to post
The one 8,594 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 The pup mate they learn f*ck all shut in a kennel Quote Link to post
albert64 1,882 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 perhaps he took the shovel to dig it out jai its great when it all starts coming together with a pup Quote Link to post
KittleRox 2,147 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Enjoyed that write up Quote Link to post
darbo 4,779 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 so did i. Quote Link to post
skycat 6,174 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 :thumbs:Brilliant write up! Cracking read: what a pup! Quote Link to post
auld salmon 28 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 nice one great read well done Quote Link to post
Moe 108 Posted January 22, 2011 Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 good report that mate,glad the dog didnt hurt itself,and another convert Quote Link to post
Ideation 8,217 Posted January 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2011 Cheers everyone! It was a good couple of hours, couldn't really have gone better Quote Link to post
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