How to make your own nets for ferreting

Many years ago I bought a net making kit from Arthur Carter Field Sports which came with enough twine to make 12 purse nets along with rings and instructions on how to make one. I soon picked up the knack and can now knit nets for any form of rabbit hunting.

The leaflet certainly gave me a sound and useful start but I was lucky enough to have met Mick Mansbridge (in my opinion one of the best rabbit netters this country has) and it was he who showed me the finer points of making a rabbit net that ensured capture.

There are books on the subject such as ‘Net Making for Sport’ by Howard Glynn which will teach you the “ropes” but I have differing views to the writer on best net and mesh sizes.

Mine are used daily and are made from hemp dyed in an oil-based wood preservative. I use a 2in mesh purse net which is 18 meshes wide (throughout) and 21 long. My long nets are 2.1/4in mesh from knot to knot and 12 meshes deep so that a 50 yard net consists of 110 yards of netting. If I use a trammel net the trammel is 9in square (not diamond) and its long net will have a 2in mesh.

If you make nets to this specification you won’t lose many bunnies but if you scrimp and save on twine, the tighter you are the more rabbits you will lose! Another good book on the subject is ‘The Art of Longnetting’ by Harold Wyman.