Well I think that's the last one of the season...

[03milesR 6]

I usually finish just before Christmas, but after doing a bit of research (obviously in the wrong places) I carried on ferreting all the way till now. And if it wasn’t till this (see picture below) I would have carried on till end of February, maybe even March with the advice I was given!

 

It was on the Saturday, the 4th of Feb, when I thought we'd have a day’s ferreting. But with the ground being so hard we could not get the nets into the ground, so we sat quietly over the holes with a couple of shotguns. After a couple of hours and about 4 sets we had yourself about 4-5 rabbits, could of had more but you all know how quick them little b*stards are! Coming up to a big set we chucked the ferrets down and like clockwork the rabbits bolted out of every other hole that we didn’t have our eyes on! About 2 or 3 had bolted and after a quick reaction from my friend we had a rabbit to add to the pot. Grabbing the ferrets and sticking them in the box i decided to gut a few of the rabbits. After grabbing a couple bits of liver for the ferrets I came across something which I’ve I have never seen before and quite frankly made me feel a little guilty. I love ferreting and I am trying to kill them off to save the farmers crops and I DID'NT do this intently. Has anyone had this before?

 

 

Rikki

Edited February 6, 2012 by 03milesR

[fieldsportsman 107]

it was a good day mate, cheers to you and con for having me up

[03milesR 6]

more then welcome mate! gotta do something again soon buddy!

[The one 8,401]

you can stop just now if your ferreting for pleasure but ferreting for rabbit control you have to continue till as late as you can its no nice killing wee rabbits or pregnant does but if you don't the rabbits will be a bigger pest than they are now . You must have a understanding land owner if you stop at xmas . We usually stop at the end of April and got straight on to traps and snares to thin out the bits we couldn't ferret

[stevethefish 80]

Got to agree with the one.. We have to continue around here until we have no choice to stop because of vegetation or too many kills in. There are so many rabbits around here if we left them unattended they would destroy all the crops. You can tell with the numbers we get there are plenty, and these areas get done year in year out. I can feel your guilt at killing pregnant does and young ones, especially if there are not too many rabbits in your area, I would probably be the same then. No one wants to kill off their own sport us included, but if we were not to do it they would just get someone else in and they might not be as careful to rotate the areas so as not to eradicate them totally.

The way to look at it is rabbits are vermin to the farms, they want them gone. It's much the same with rats, if you had them in your house you wouldn't think twice of killing them in or with young, sorry to put it like that but that's the situation the farmers are in.

Rabbits are now increasingly breeding more throughout the year, this in turn would make the season shorter and shorter as the years go on. We have had young in nests as early as October/November and although it's not nice we carry on regardless.

Edited February 7, 2012 by stevethefish

[Guest vin]

agree with Steve and The One.. If its got to be done.

 

The seasons are all wrong now and theres no time of year that they are not breeding..its getting to the point where its just open season on bunnies..they never stop !

[derbylad1 293]

Have i had this before, you ask? yep every weekend for the last month, same as last year and the year before that. Its just the way it is now, you cant really predict when they'll be carrying young, as they're shagging all year round now. They'll carry them, but if the cold snap comes in (like now) then the young will die in the burrows, my jill came out the hole with a cold one last weekend. You'll need to keep going as long as possible, otherwise you'll lose your permission. I've got permission from landowners after i said i do it all summer, do i f**k.

[Guest cookiemonsterandmerlin]

I cant see the diffrents in killing a coney with young inside or without in terms of morales a lif is life be it young old or bearing young.

 

The only thing that I stop for is when the cover gets too think or plain only too hot for the ferrets.

 

Yes if numbers are naturally low then some could argue that you need to keep a few on for future havest.

 

But despite mixy vhd ferretting shooting etc the numbers are still good in most places despite sob stories of some of us over hunting etc.

 

ATB Cookie crack on I say until the end of march for most espeically if the cold weather keeps the nettles low.

[patterdalejoel 669]

would probably of aborted or dies in the nest in this recent cold snap we have had and the snow may of meant litte food around to support mum

[stevethefish 80]

It's surprising how they survive, it's so much warmer underground you would not believe the difference in temperature. Most of the young will survive until they come out of the burrows, then it's rats crows magpies stoats weasels and dogs and not forgetting the cars. We only play a small part in their demise, so don't feel too bad about it, we can of course re-introduce them in wiped out areas, if you know what I mean, as I say on my reports one in the dogs cage