Hunting Cotton Tails using a ferret, gunny sacks and a shovel?

Geographic location, as well as age is a factor. My wife hunted ferrets in Australia with her father as a kid, he kept ferrets for this purpose. Some funny stories right there. Myself, growing up in rural Ontario have not seen it.
T
 
My experience worganized jack rabbit ell during WW2. There was one family on the edge of town who kept ferrets. The Bush, mostly was scrub brush, the soil heavy. We would find a hole and the other exits to watch and send down the ferret. As after as not, the ferret if not we'll fed, would catch the rabbit, eat and go to sleep. Then the "fun" would begin with the spade and hatchet as the holes were mixed up with roots. As often as not, I would beg off a d go home, dirty, tired and hungry.

In those days there were stocked ring necks to hunt anb Bobwhite.

As I only had my father's 12 gage Winchester, full chocked 32 " barrel, I borrowed a neighbour's big heavy European smooth bore, about 14 gage needing top hat caps which were unobtainable but black powder and shot was. I would cut the white head on a kitchen match and glue it over the nipple vent . It worked pretty good except follow through was important.

There were also organized jack rabbit drives covering 1 X 2 mile country farm blocks when 100s were killed and sold to US hunters.For that, my father's M12 worked well.
 
Yep. Last time was in the early 1960's. No sack, though. In those days, we caught them by hand, as the ferret pushed them out of the hole. Plenty of excitement, and even a few bunnies in the pot by day's end. Those were the good old days.
 
Yup, back in my teenage years. We shot them though.

I have thought about get another one but the bunny population hasn't been that great recently so I prefer to leave them for seed stock. Having a Native Status card gets me around all the provincial rules silliness.
 
Many years ago in Ontario, hunting with my BIL and some buddies. Almost got caught with the ferret. :) Did get a ticket for hunting rabbits without a license, bit of a Funny for an Alberta boy. :redface:

Grizz
 
No. But I've seen some pretty awesome ferreting and minkery videos on the youtubes that are current. Ferrets in the UK for rabbits and minkery in the southern states for muskrats.
 
Years ago I went to Britain to visit relatives. I went hunting rabbits with my cousin using his ferret. It was easy. Find a rabbit hole and block off exits with a net. He had several small round nets that had noose around them, like a snare, then tied off to a peg that you stick in the ground. We got 3 rabbits and that was a slow day. He told me on a good day he could get 12. He would sell the rabbits at the local pub. He also told me that if the ferret caught a rabbit, you could be in for a long day trying to get the ferret back.
 
My mother went ferreting with a fellow when she was young in the UK. He had ferrets and a Bedlington Terrier. Ferreting was a pretty common event in Surrey...she recalls being very fond of the Bedlington Terrier...I don't remember seeing those dogs over here ..but apparently were pretty popular in the UK and very smart.
 
AP said:
My mother went ferreting with a fellow when she was young in the UK. He had ferrets and a Bedlington Terrier. Ferreting was a pretty common event in Surrey...she recalls being very fond of the Bedlington Terrier...I don't remember seeing those dogs over here ..but apparently were pretty popular in the UK and very smart.
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Thats funny, that's the same county I was at, Surrey. lol.
 
Got to do it a few times when I was 10 or twelve with the old man. He was one that insisted on the catching by hand which was not that hard until the ferret was the first one out on an empty hole and got mean from being grabbed. When we had a ferret hole up we just plugged the holes and came back in 2 or 3 days and they were waiting. The old man was always saying "don't tell". Then again we would ride double on an old skidoo and shoot jackrabbits with a 455 Webley in those days and nobody blinked an eye.
 
AP said:
Mother was brought up in Farnham... I went to school there as well for a while. Surrey is very pretty ... and also the home of Bisley!!
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Catterham is where my Grandparents lived. My cousin lived in Tandridge, not sure if I spelt that right, its not far from Oxsted.
If you know Catterham and the Hair And Hounds pub, thats where I knocked back a lot of pints. lol
 
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