| Master Hunter ‘Fast Net’ |
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13 x 40in poles
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| 100-yard 6Z complete Fast Net system weights 7kg, price £235 + £10p&p |
| 100-yard 4Z complete Fast Net system weights 6kg, price £220 + £10p&p |
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Mesh size is 2½ knot to knot
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| Net is 14½ meshes deep |
| Frame is fabricated from 6mm tensile rod then nylon coated |
| Lines are 2mm round braided polypropylene anti-twist cord |
| Contact Alan Salmon at Master Hunter on (01980) 610366 |
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THE WARRENER
has been long-netting rabbits for years – but he’s never used anything like this before
Four of us and Sporting Shooter went up to a bury that’s stuffed with rabbits. One of the Fast Net’s main advantages is speed, so we decided we’d only give it two hours.
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We brought with us 12 ferrets, most of them this years and untried. We also had leggy terriers and a whippet.
The bury is in a hedge that runs for 400 yards north-south. We had 200 yards of Fast Net and 200 yards of my old net to try against.
We reckoned we’d have time to do the hedge in two sections, netting each side of it. The ferrets would do the legwork and the terriers and whippet could mop up any rabbits that managed to avoid the nets.
It takes about 1 ½ minutes to set 100 yards of the new net so we liked this system from the start.
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The bottom line is fixed 5in from the point on each pole. When set, the net is about 2ft from top line to bottom line in the middle of any two poles.
It was a bright morning but there had been a lot of rain recently and there was standing water in the fields around us. The wind was a gentle south-westerly.
The ferrets out for the first time took a while to get going. But then the rabbits they were after were mostly this year’s too, so bunnies were soon on the move.
To begin with, rabbits ran out and back in again. A few of them even bounced off the new net, despite its superior ”bagging”.
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Alan does not stint on his generosity of netting. Each 100-yard net has approx 100% loose net or “bag” to entangle the rabbits. We felt this behaviour by the rabbits had more to do with their reluctance to go into the wet fields.
Fast Net is pricier than other nets but it has the design advantage. The net itself is tough.
It is double knotted with a selvedge top and bottom. It has a white nylon cord top and bottom for good visibility in twilight. It is secured to the poles with double lopped elastic bands.
Best of all are the poles, which are 10 times better than the fibreglass or plastic poles most long nets have. |
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At the first bury I think we talked too much as we put out the nets. We had four rabbits out of it, so we set up the next section in silence.
Now we started to see some action. One more out into the new net and I run up top to get it. Meanwhile, my friend Pete’s running down to get another. We needn’t sweat too much, though. Once the rabbits are in the new net, they don’t get out. Soon, the dead rabbits outnumbered the ferrets - and the Fast net hasn’t let a single one through. |
They are thick at the top and rubber capped, which makes them easier to drive into even hard ground. They are lightweight tensile tube tapering from 5/16in, shod with stainless steel points.
Alan buys the tubes from America, brazes the points on to them and gets them powder coated.
Instead of the usual shrimpnet bag, Fast Net comes in lightweight nylon-coated bags, which don’t tear so easily when you walk through the brambles on top of a hedge. The bag has loops in the carrying wire for holding the poles instead of the usual system of twp pieces of rod welded to stick up and hold the poles against you. |
This means they feed out more easily than the other types of bag, where poles often catch on the rods-leading to the mesh ripping when you are running nets out in the dark. Alan says “I developed this method about 15 years ago. The net runs freely from the bag, as the frame has no snagging parts to catch on the net”.
Once we had set up the nets and stationed ourselves in strategic positions, our first attempt at the bury was slow to get going. I knew the rabbits were there and we saw several but it took 20 minutes for any to leave the hedgerow. We had all 12 ferrets out at the start. |
After a while I returned a few to their boxes because I didn’t want them catching rabbits underground and laying up. The ones I caught squabbled angrily once they’d been shut up.
The first rabbit the net took bolted like a bullet. It caught sight of the net too late and tried to jump it – but the net was the right height. The bunny missed and I’d soon dispatched it. First blood to the net. The good height of the net and its bagging remained a theme for the rest of the morning. Poor Roma the whippet had little work to do.
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It’s exciting sport and we’re sorry that our two hours were up far to soon. We tempt the last of the ferrets out of the bury. It takes just 5 minutes to pick up 100yards of Fast Net.
The last rabbit of the morning was pushed out by the last ferret we were trying to recover and it bolted out into the last bit of the net that I was in the process of gathering up. It, bounced off and straight into the jaws of Josie the terrier. That dog doesn’t miss many rabbits, either.
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