HUNTING WITH FERRETS 



him by his tracks to the next hole, and his 

 fate is seldom uncertain. 



If a man, or two men, go out and shoot a 

 dozen rabbits in a day, using a ferret, and do 

 not keep up the sport day in and day out, but 

 take different localities and hunt about three 

 or four times in the season, they will not ex- 

 terminate the game. On a bright day and 

 not too cold it is first-rate and exciting shoot- 

 ing. A light twelve- or sixteen-gauge gun and 

 number six shot will answer for the rabbits. 

 A road-cart and a stout horse are extremely 

 important. The distances between favorable 

 places and the weight of a dozen or so rab- 

 bits will make a journey on foot a very un- 

 happy affair of it. 



In the short winter days you must use your 

 time in " drawing " the holes, and coaxing 

 out the ferret, and not in walking. My rab- 

 bit shooting has been in country where it was 

 mostly hilly, and the shooting was generally 

 up- or down-hill. The rabbits are darker- 

 colored than where they stay above ground, 

 and they are usually of good size and fat. 

 One of the knacks of this kind of shooting is 

 to find holes or burrows when the snow has 

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