Changing tactics to tackle coneys
By Liam Wykes.
NOW the days are colder and shorter it’s time to change my tactics on how I control the
local rabbit population. During the spring and summer, I mainly use traps and the .22 rifle, while in the winter months I mainly use ferrets. Don’t get me wrong, the traps and gun are still used depending on the job, but I believe you get a better result with the ferrets.
I had a call from a local farmer to say rabbits are still causing him problems on his land. On this farm, the methods I use are shooting with the ri e in the summer months and ferreting all through winter.
After a walk around with Simon one Sunday morning we decided to ferret a small hedgerow that was about 30-foot long and two small warrens which were on a fence line in a grass field, mainly because the farmer’s wife has horses and the rabbits had holes all over the place.
We arrived the following Sunday; me, Simon and a local from my village called Joe. Joe has been ferreting before but hasn’t done it for many years. After a recent shooting trip we were talking about ferreting and I said I would take him out.
