Ferret finders

[Corky(amateur) 0]

Hi everyone,

Am new to ferreting and hope to start this year(is 13-14 wees old old enough?) and was wondering wether or not a ferret finder was essential as i am 16 and on a 'budget' if you like. many problems have arrisen in my mind such as if a ferret was to slip the collar or come out a hole and bug*r off. Just any help and advise on this or ferreting as a whole would be greatly appreciated as i am eager to learn and easily taught.

thanks

Corky

[Guest Frank]

Most land owners that give you ferreting permission, would like to see you with a locator, as they dont want left ferrets about the place, especially, if they have fowl ect.

Its worth investing in one, plenty of stuff about locators ect on here, just do a search.

Good luck.

[ferretman 0]

hi corky a ferret finder is essential for the job. 13/14 weeks is that the age of your ferrets if so i would not work them at that age i would leave them till about 16 weeks but then i would not give them a lot of work. mate and good hunting to ye.

[Guest Magwitch]

yes

[stubby 175]

hi mate, you have answered the question yourelf;

 

quote; a ferret finder was essential

then go onto say if a fert slips a collar and buggers off, so that shows your already thought of that scenario, a propelly fitted collar wont come off, then if the fert wanders off, you can still use the ferret finder above ground to locate it

[Ricky-N.p.p 0]

ferret finders are not"essential"....handy tool none the less but far from essential !

 

i verry rarely use a ferret finder when ferreting and i have a good success rate, my ferrets verry rarely lay up mind, and i have neverlost a ferret.

 

happy hunting !

[Guest SJM]

I prefer to work without one, allthough you will get more rabbits when you use one, as you can dig down to the ones bottled up in stop ends, and sometimes there will be several all sardined up against each other, but my ideal ferreting scenario is a small, shallow warren thats been marked by the dog(s) and just walk quietly up, pop the ferret(s) in and then sit back with a dog next to me, or one either side of the warren, no nets, and let the dogs catch the bolters. You may not get as many bunnies this way but you do get much better sport. A few years back when I kept ferrets I got one of those locator boxes and 2 collars and me and my mate used to net the warrens and dig to the rabbits and just kept a dog with us for marking and catching any possible escapees, we did become a bit reliant on the box tbh, whereas before we would have relied on the dog to tell us what was going on underground and maybe sat and waited and had some quiet craic whilst waiting for the ferret to reappear, instead we were digging holes and grafting and it was more of a chore than sport. My advice would be to learn the craft first, then get the fancy gear, compare the old fashioned way to the modern and see which way you prefer. If your ferreting for pest control rather than sport and your working large, deep warrens and are happy to dig, then get yourself a second hand one or put a wanted ad on here, that will help your budget situation

[kurgan 5]

I've never used a finder then again the only warrens round here have a max of 15 holes as i only ferret for fun im in no rush and tend to use a liner and a fat hob does the same just takes a little longer .If your only learning stick to smaller warrens and you shouldnt have a problem keep the ferrets well fed and i cant see them lieing up for long.

[Corky(amateur) 0]

Hey everyone,

just wanted to thank you all for all the help you've provided. i'm very greatful and am sure all the information will come in hady. I'm sure you'll probably be hearing from me again soon either with a question or a result. lol

Thanks again

Kind regards and happy hunting to all

Corky

[john hubery 9]

Corky I wish you the very best of luck with your hunting, but I hope your next post isnt to tell us you lost your ferret, when I first started ferreting far to long ago to want to remember, I never used a bleeper, didnt have the money for one and no one to tell me better.Spent a lot of time sitting waiting for my ferret to come out and banging a spade on the ground trying to get my ferret out, why? because some one told me that was the way to get your ferret to come out, no it dosnt work, hope you can put together the money or wait a little longer till you can get hold of a ferret finder, like folk have told you there not essential, but they make it a lot easyer and when your just starting out with little experience a lot less frustrating. Good luck and good hunting

[Abbo 0]

Corky I wish you the very best of luck with your hunting, but I hope your next post isnt to tell us you lost your ferret, when I first started ferreting far to long ago to want to remember, I never used a bleeper, didnt have the money for one and no one to tell me better.Spent a lot of time sitting waiting for my ferret to come out and banging a spade on the ground trying to get my ferret out, why? because some one told me that was the way to get your ferret to come out, no it dosnt work, hope you can put together the money or wait a little longer till you can get hold of a ferret finder, like folk have told you there not essential, but they make it a lot easyer and when your just starting out with little experience a lot less frustrating. Good luck and good hunting

A locator isnt essential but it does makes life alot easier! i use a hob in the same way you would a a line ferret but with a collar instead of a line. That way if one does decide to lay up you just slip the hob in and follow him to the rabbit, also means the other ferrets can pass through nets without a collar getting snagged. A collar will also save you from waiting in the rain for a ferret that has decided to lye up! My ferrets rarely lye up but i am not ashamed to say that they have done, most will! If they dont lye up most will kill under and without a collar you will be wasting rabbits!

[john hubery 9]

abbo same here, good man, the big dog ferret I have also kills and moves on very quickly so I use him in shallow sets and when he spots mark the spot will a stone and follow him on while my mate diggs out the dead rabbit we get a lot of rabbits this way, but only out of shallow sets mainly in sheep fields on the fell