Ideation 8,217 Posted October 30, 2011 Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 So, today was Sunday, and as usual, a day for ferreting. I woke up early and headed off to collect Johnnyboy68 and his dogs and ferrets, and then headed back to mine, where we were met by young Tom. Loaded the dogs, ferrets, and ourselves into the car and headed off. Got to the first spot and immediatly the dogs put up and ran a rabbit, but unfortunatly lost it over the boundry into some gardens. We headed up the hill and started checking warrens, but nothing at home, despite there being obvious scent about, looks like we had just missed them. Finn disappeared for a bit, and when i found him, he was in the process of pushing a rabbit to ground, so we had our first mark. Whilst i went to get the other, he made a grab at a cock pheasant, crashing into some cover after it, but unfortunatly only came away with a mouth full of tail feathers. The bloody pheasant sat in a tree above us and gave me and the dog the finger (typical. . . left the bloody catapault at home!). Anyway, got johnnyboy and tom, and netted the set up, entered johns old jill and after a couple of minuites the days first rabbit hit a net and was snatched up by Luna and Finn. Nets off. We continued through the paddock, but it was pretty dead. Until we got a good mark from Finn, on a gorse bush, with what turned out to be a rabbit sat very very tight. All three dogs started circling the bush, which was located on a banking, at the top of an 8 foot + wall, next to a serious of glass tubes (with lights in i think). Not an ideal place as you can see. Just as we had decided that it may actually be a hole under there, rather than a rabbit in the cover, out flew the bunny, timing it perfectly, as Luna and Finn were inside the gorse bush and only Gem stood in it's path. It went up and over the glass tubes, followed by the old bitch, who lost her footing on the wet glass, and did a painful looking face plant off them and over the edge of the wall It looked very painful! Anyway, back to the car and on to the next spot, and again, a fair bit of scent about, lots of cover, but nothing to ground. Got a mark under a fence, that again, turned out to be a rabbit tucked up tight, that sprinted between the dogs, through the dumped fencing, bits of wood and metal and other debris that were strewn inside a little pine wood. Despite the best efforts of the dogs, it was a ninja bunny and simply dissapeared Onwards we went, with Finn eventually marking another one above ground in some cover and as it bolted out the far side, Luna blocked it off and forced it to drop into a nearby set. We netted up and gave young tom the chance to run one of the kits we gave him through the set. It went down well and after a couple of mins, banged the rabbit out well, into a waiting net. We continued around the rest of these paddocks, but again, we kept getting lots of scent and the kind of interest around warrens that tell you that you have just missed the little buggers! We also ran into the owner who told us that she had noticed a massive improvement in the rabbit numbers (as in a massive reduction) since she had given us permission So that was nice to hear We had a nice long tea break in the sun at this point, feeling fairly demorilized, with the cover, and lack of rabbits to ground! In desperation we decided to head to a part of a nearby farm, a gully that in the past has always coughed well for us, but to be honest it's a little too early to do at the moment, as the surrounding maize is still standing, and that's where all the rabbits spend their days! Anyway, we dropped in one end and let the dogs work it, sending pheasants up everywhere! Toward the top end, we got a decent mark on a fairly large set, netted up and ran through my hard working silver jill and the other of young toms kits. The dogs had marked a couple of spots so we guessed there might be a brace in there. It turned out to be right as both quickly came thundering out, one, perfectly predicted by Gem, who pulled it out before it even had chance to hit the net. As i had to work this eve, we had to call it a day early, so started to head out of the gully, on the way out Finn did a bit of wandering, and came up trumps again, i watched him work a scent line down the banking, pause, scrape some leaves away with his paws and reveal a hole, which he promptly shoved his nose in and gave his customery, "there's a rabbit here boss" snort. So nets on once again, on the almost verticle, muddy, slope, and i entered the young jill i had taken, who rapidly bolted the days final rabbit into a net, and Me, Finn, Luna and Gem all went for it an once and ended up piled in a heap at the bottom of the slope on top of one very dead rabbit Luckily i had three dogs to cusshion my fall! So, a funny kind of day, with lots of scent, but few rabbits and even less to ground, the dogs being forced to work hard to provide us with what we had. But as usual, good company and good excercise. Quote Link to post
rob190364 2,594 Posted October 30, 2011 Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 nice write up and pics bud, you had a better day than me that's for sure Quote Link to post
stealthy1 3,964 Posted October 30, 2011 Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 You can only nab whats there Quote Link to post
Ideation 8,217 Posted October 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 Cheers guys! stealthy1 - that's the annoying thing at the moment mate, there are definatly a lot more rabbits there than we are hitting, there is scent about and the warrens are being used, but they just ain't staying to ground for any length of time, with the warm weather and cover. Roll on the frosts! Quote Link to post
muddy210 34 Posted October 30, 2011 Report Share Posted October 30, 2011 good write up fella Quote Link to post
Malt 379 Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 Nice write up and pictures as usual! PS. Empty your inbox Jai, I tried messaging you the other day! Quote Link to post
stealthy1 3,964 Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 Cheers guys! stealthy1 - that's the annoying thing at the moment mate, there are definatly a lot more rabbits there than we are hitting, there is scent about and the warrens are being used, but they just ain't staying to ground for any length of time, with the warm weather and cover. Roll on the frosts! Look on the bright side mate, Malt's got his first cold of the season, so the cold weather is on its way 1 Quote Link to post
KittleRox 2,147 Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 I can,t see no pics, sounds like an interesting day though Quote Link to post
skycat 6,174 Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 Nice to hear about a day which sounds like a bit more hard work than some which go out and bolt dozens of rabbits all day long. On a lot of our land we are lucky to get into double figures. Dogs look well: love the hairy one: what's the breeding? Quote Link to post
Guest long-tail Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 But as usual, good company and good excercise. says it all for me mate,good pics Quote Link to post
Ideation 8,217 Posted October 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 Cheers everyone! Skycat - The hairy one is 'Gem' (or the crocodile ), Johnnyboy68's dog. She is 5/8 grey 3/8 collie (a mix of border and beardie). She will be 8 next year. I have to say that she is the best 'ferreting dog' i have ever had the pleasure to watch work. She does all the usual, marking, respecting ferrets, nets, etc that you would expect of a ferreting dog, but her steadiness and intelligence sets her apart from others. Once a rabbit is found to ground, she will patiently wait for the nets to be placed, and as soon as she sees a ferret come out of the box, she then chooses where she is going to stand, positioning herself to cover an area of the set where she thinks the rabbits will bolt, even using cover to hide herself from the mouth of the hole, you can watch her listen intently to the action below and creep about accordingly, and 9/10 she is on the rabbit as it starts to bolt, timing her lightening strike to perfection, never missing and never going too soon and driving them back down. I'd say she gets to the majority of the rabbits before any other man or dog, and once they are in her crocodile jaws, they are going no where! Once the action is over and the ferrets boxed up, she will go and lie down and wait until we set off again, before starting to hunt up once more. Malt - should be empty ish now mate! Quote Link to post
simonrocco 175 Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 good write up again pal its always good to here off the landowner that your doing a good job. i bet young toms pleased about his kit working well. atb pal Quote Link to post
max abell 198 Posted October 31, 2011 Report Share Posted October 31, 2011 great post and pics ideation well done Quote Link to post
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