ferreting

[Parabuteos lad 878]

i am a great lover of lurchers and if i didnt have a brittany for my hawking i would have a lurcher for my ferreting. but anyway, yesterday, when fishing 3 lads turned up with four lurchers and were ferreting on the other bank, four lurchers on one rabbit?

i fly hawks and my falcon as i feel the quarry has a great chance of escaping therefore making it fair (even though my hawks and falcon dont miss much, lol)

so how many do you run on a single rabbit? there was no hedges etc to separate the dogs, just four on one rabbit. am i right in feeling four is OTT?

i must admit though, one of the dogs was an excellent looking bullx, possibly the best looking bullx i've ever seen.

they also had a terrier

[Malt 379]

If you're ferreting with loose dogs, you haven't got as much control over the number of them you use on a rabbit. For some lads they use the lurcher's as a sort of last line of defence in case a rabbit bolts from an unseen bolt hole or slips free from a net.

[Parabuteos lad 878]

these lads were not using nets and dogs were'nt on leads

[Ideation 8,217]

Maybe they just wanted the rabbits in the bag?

 

Whats the difference between that, and bushing with a few terriers and a number of lurchers, whatever bolts is getting run by everything.

 

Also, how do you know only one rabbit was going to bolt at any one time?

[Parabuteos lad 878]

ok fair enough. but the way i see it, hunting is a sport, therfore we should be sporting and surely, four lurchers chasing one rabbit is not fair. as for your othr point, never have i had 2 rabbits bolt at the same time even if one bolts 1 second later the dogs reaction speed will surely mean they are already reacting to the first rabbit?

[mighty celt 996]

ok fair enough. but the way i see it, hunting is a sport, therfore we should be sporting and surely, four lurchers chasing one rabbit is not fair. as for your othr point, never have i had 2 rabbits bolt at the same time even if one bolts 1 second later the dogs reaction speed will surely mean they are already reacting to the first rabbit?

they are being sporting in a way there not useing nets which i hate 2 see and would never use them as its not sporting in anyway.i agree 4 dogs is 2 much they should have 2 on slips and give them goes in relays.we ferret alot of high ditches me and my dog one side me pal and his dog the other side 3 ferrets in no nets every rabbit has a sporting chance of geting away and we get good numbers .

[carp man 1 219]

thats what u have slip leads 4 and take it in turns with the dogs u got more chance to hurt one off the dogs doing it there way but some poeple dont care

[Rabbiting man 1,192]

Two lurchers or lurcher & terrier is plenty for ferreting I only use a lurcher & terrier for bushing and ferreting that give me full control of my dogs cuz you dont see 4 lurchers coursing an hare do you

[ftm 3,357]

it seems a bit over the top but sometimes the rules get broken in all the excitement if they were young lads im sure in time they will come to realise that 4 dogs is over the top ,but personally speaking i wouldnt lose any sleep over it mate atb billy