beginngers guide to hunting with ferrets! :O

hey guys.. i sometimes look through the user submitted guides and i havn't seen one yet about hunting or anything in that nature apart from fishing.. so i thought why not educate people on something i enjoy doing.. ferreting!.

Introduction

As most of you may know a ferret is a small, viscious looking animal that comes from the weasel family. Some people tend to refer to ferrets as a weasel. Ferrets have been used for centuries for hunting and is still very popular to do today. I bet your all wondering what you catch with ferrets - well you catch rabbits with them. You use the ferret to flush the rabbits from inside their warren and use one of the methods im going to explain below to successfully catch it.

Equipment

First off you obviously need a ferret, there are many differant types of ferrets but a certain type or gender is not really an issue. Size however can have a distinct advantage when working them.

A bigger ferret can scare the rabbit quicker making it 'bolt' from the warren quicker, where-as a lean, fast ferret can cover the warren quicker finding a rabbit quicker. From my personal experience i seem to bolt more with a small, fast jill(female).

You need a means of carrying the ferret, as you dont want to be handling the ferret the whole time your out. I find a small, ventilated box to be perfect. I have a special made box just for ferreting with a comfortable strap on, which is also extremely light and enough room so that the ferret does not get uncomfortable.



^ this is a perfect example of a decent ferreting box (image taken from http://www.thehuntinglife.com/images/ferretbox5.jpg)

You also need something to catch the rabbits with when they bolt which i will explain about now.

Purse nets - These are undoubtably the best means of catching the rabbit with, as when the rabbit runs out of the hole they hit the net at a high speed causing the net to purse therefore trapping the rabbit inside giving you enough time to grab it before it wriggles itself out of it. The peg on the net goes into the ground, as you don't want to lose a rabbit aswell as a net, do you.



^ this is a typical example of a standard purse net. (image taken from http://www.thehuntinglife.com/images/purse-net3.jpg)

Lurcher/whippet - this is the second best method used to catch rabbits when they have bolted, which makes the sport more enjoyable but reduces the chances of getting a rabbit. The rabbit would bolt from the hole and the lurcher would then chase the rabbit with the hope of catching it. Some downsides to this way are that the lurcher misses a rabbit, or sometimes the ferret comes up and mistakes the ferret for a rabbit, do i have to say what happens next?

Optional Equipment

Ferret locator - basically what this does is locate the ferret when it is in the warren. You put a collar on the ferret and you have a locator box above ground which alerts you where the ferret is if you need to know. These are perfect if the ferret has caught a rabbit inside the warren as you will know exactly where to dig. I tend not to use one of these for the cost of one is extremely high.

A spade/shovel - This is a big thing but i dont think it is neccessarily needed. Don't really want to go into alot of detail about this.


Ferreting the Warren

Here is the good part, you have all your equipment ready and are raring to go and catch some rabbits. You now have to find a warren that is being used by rabbits. I tend to check just outside of the holes on the warren for footprints and droppings to see if the warren is being used. I'm going to focus on ferreting with nets, as it is what i do mostly. Now you have found the warren you are going to work you need to net it up. Make sure to check over the area 2 or 3 times for hidden holes as a missed hole can cause a loss in a rabbit or the ferret coming out where you cannot see and escaping. I tend to stay away from covered warrens eg. warrens surrounded by heather or bushes as this can also cause loss in a ferret and/or missing holes.



^ this is a good example of how a warren should be netted, the net should cleanly cover the whole of the hole and the peg should be firmly in the ground, so the quick bolting rabbit cannot pull it out.(image from http://www.thehuntinglife.com/html/sections/articles/images/purse-nets.jpg)

Now you have the warren netted its time to put the ferret in - it does not make a differance what hole you put the ferret in, chose the one you think would be best. Now its a waiting game but be alert as when the rabbit bolts it is going to be doing anything to escape. When the rabbit has bolted you have to be really fast as you have to remove the rabbit from the net and get another net on the hole as fast as you can as another rabbit could bolt at any minute.

Now is the worst part. You want to put the rabbit out of its misery as fast as possible therefore need a fast way of killing the rabbit. The best way i find is to hold it by the neck and hold its back legs and give 2 slight tugs which should snap the rabbits neck causing it to die. You have now just successfully caught your first rabbit. Give yourself a pat on the back. A rabbit is a good source of food for the ferrets as a return for a job well done or you could cook the rabbit yourself and have a nice rabbit pie.


Thats basically it for the guide. I have the whole of this guide on personal experience, the only thing i havn't done myself is the pictures, which i will change the next time i go out ferreting.

This is my first guide so go easy on me..:embar:

feel free to ask any questions you feel are neccessary.


thanks for reading :love:

uk hybr1d

 

Not bad for a first guide Try useing a few more colours and spreading it out a bit more
Well for a first guide
7/10
Hope to see you improve in the future mate.

 

thanks mate yeah if i ever come to write more guides i will add more colours and stuff to make it look more appealing.. i only wrote this because i was bored and thought it would be something differant for a guide

 

8/10 very nice guide, interesting. I never knew you could do this

 

thanks i've done this kind of hunting for years now

 

are there any states that need permits to have a ferret?

 

i dont know as i live in the uk.. but i wouldn't think you would need a permit as a ferret is just an animal.. so wouldn't it be the same sa having a dog or cat?

 

Good guide mainly because of the pictures.

Can anything be substituted to ferrets? I can't find some at my place, I sure do want to train hunting IRL. :O

 

nope there isnt a substitute for ferrets :/

 

Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question, but do you have to buy a special ferret or something. And do you just let it go and it knows where to go or what, because wouldn't it j=| :embar: ust run away?

 

Things to improve:

• Add a Title.
• Put more color and uniqueness into the Guide.
• Fix the grammar mistakes.
• Hyperlink Web Addresses, rather than giving the entire link.
• Split the text up more. People usually don't enjoy reading blocks of text.

The most three important materials in any Guide are appearance, content, and grammar, in my opinion. If the Guide does not look appealing, most Users won't bother to read it. As for grammar, you're presenting a Guide. It should be written in a professional matter. In the aspect of content, I think your Guide pretty much has that covered.

7/10

 

nope you dont and no it wouldn't. A ferret has an instint to hunt which is given to them when they are born.. but a ferret shouldn't be worked until it has fully grown and matured a bit. When you find a rabbit warren and its all netted you simply put the ferret in a hole and it gets a scent of the rabbit and follows it around the warren to the rabbit. You should get a tame ferret that is used to being handled to avoid been bitten when retrieving the ferret when it comes back up.

 

alright thanks I might have to try my hand at that

 

hya iv just started out got me a ferret and nets but just cant seem to catch the rabbits in the warren. What is the best time of day to go out with the ferret?