The fox pages

[RoginaJack]

Very well done, too!

[Bent Arrow]

Always amazes me how much blood leaks out of hares. Good stuff on the foxes.

[AJB]

Great to see a few more redcoats out of action great job stix

[Bruiser64]

I spent Saturday evening participating in a local Red Card for foxes event. It was an all nighter from 6 until 6. The forecast was for a fine, clear and still night. It was a bit cool (for W.A). I feel the cold so I wore enough to be comfortable driving around on the back of the Ute. There were four of us in our team. Points were scored for different types of pests. 10 points for each feral cat, deer, or goat. 5 points for a fox and 2 points for a rabbit. Apparently there weren’t that many teams entered, so we gave ourselves a chance. Two of our team had their own farms. We also had another couple of properties to shoot on as well. One in particular has a shed load of bunnies. So we knew we could get a few points for those.

The night started ok as we saw several foxes in the first paddock on the first farm. We only managed to get one youngster though. We drove around quite a bit and saw a few foxes at a distance, but only one (a big dog fox) was silly enough to come into range. We got onto a few rabbits, but saw no more foxes. So we pushed onto the next farm with the tally at two foxes. Things picked up as we got a young fox almost immediately at the first paddock. Optimism kindled, but then dissipated as the pattern of the night continued. A few foxes spotted, but none would come into range.

Off to the third farm. This was our rabbit farm. This proved very productive and we got quite a few bunnies. I took out my Miroku u/o 12 gauge and that got a workout. I haven’t shot it for ages so it took a while to get used to it. Hell of a lot of fun though. Not a single Fox was seen at this farm though. As time was running out we headed back to the first farm. As Dockers coach Ross Lyons once said, the trend is your friend. So in keeping with the trend, We saw a couple of foxes, but none in range.

So it was off to the rendezvous point to see how we went. This is our result. Three foxes and forty one bunnies. No where near enough to win.

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Here are some of the other teams efforts. The winners got about 30 foxes and four feral goats. So congratulations to them.

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It was a very enjoyable evening. Obviously I still have a lot to learn about fox shooting. It would have been nice to get more, but some foxes is better than no foxes. I will definitely enter another Red Card event. I plan to continue getting out and knocking off as many foxes as I can. Its my goal to end the year with a tally somewhere north of 50.

[duncan61]

Good Night out.Its cooled off now might have to head north or east

[AJB]

was out walking the hills this morning whistled a few but they ran the other way saw this dog sitting in the sun squeaked him in by hand call missed first shot but he only ran a few meters then propped to look back his last mistake nailed him at about 100 yards had a very nice coat on him so I took it off

[Stix]

Poor little bugger...

Nice lookin fox AJB.. .

[AJB]

thanx stix its a damn hard walk up into the hills but is very rewarding every time I go up there I've either shot or seen the shifty little skulkers there is a lot of blackberries in patches all over the gully's I have 1000 acers to hunt on so plenty of room for them

[Bruiser64]

Nice effort AJB. Looks like beautiful country to shoot in.

[bigfellascott]

I got a call from the property owner the other day about a fox that's been stealing their chickens (I think they've lost 5 or so over the last few days or so, anyway I was out there cutting firewood yesterday so decided to put the 222 Howa in along with the spotlight and whistles etc, I cut a load of wood for the owners and myself and had a bit of a whistle for a bit but nothing seen, anyway it was almost dark by now so set the light up and got organised to throw the light about for a bit, no foxes seen and just about ready to head home I called in to drop the wood off and let them know how I went and I noticed a dead carcass not far from the woodshed so parked the ute in a position that I could have a shot at a fox if one was silly enough to be caught out munching on it when I returned to the ute, anyway put the light on and sure enough there was a fox - bang flop and it was sorted!

Hopefully it was the one giving the chooks a hard time - no doubt I will be out there again soon enough sorting out the next fox to move in and give em a hard time along with the new born lambs.

It was a Vixen so that helps keep the numbers down even more so which was a bonus too (she wasn't real interested in the whistles either, was real interested in some sort of scent on the ground going by the way she was sniffing the ground after running off once the light went on.

[Bruiser64]

Well done Scott. A dead vixen before breeding season is a real bonus.

[AJB]

Nice looking fox big fella keep up the good work my mate lost all his chickens Sunday nite I'm going for a look Friday nite hopefully take a few out

[bigfellascott]

Cheers Fellas, it's always a good day when you can cull a few foxes, helps keep the natives and livestock a little happier for sure.

Nice work on your efforts too, there are a lot of natives out there that are alive and healthy and thriving because of it.

[Stix]

Nice load of wood BFS...

Its weird how they do that sometimes---run away from you, then start following a scent they pick up & forget about you & act as if you're not there.

I had one earlier this year that did that & wouldnt come to the whistle...i had to sit & wait for 20 mins as she slowly worked her way back into range following a scent on the ground.

[bigfellascott]

Nice load of wood BFS...

Its weird how they do that sometimes---run away from you, then start following a scent they pick up & forget about you & act as if you're not there.

I had one earlier this year that did that & wouldnt come to the whistle...i had to sit & wait for 20 mins as she slowly worked her way back into range following a scent on the ground.

Yeah Stix they can be predictable and unpredictable at times, I had to wait a few mins for this one to come back out from behind some branches and logs before I could get a half decent shot on it (I wanted to make sure I got it and killed it and not just scare it or wound it as such, I got there but it was a bit frustrating waiting for it with the rain and cold winds etc, but I got it done so that's the main thing and hopefully it's the one that's been giving the chooks a flogging, I'll find out soon enough I guess.

[RoginaJack]

Well done, Bruiser64 and very well done to all that took part. Really great work.

[AJB]

This skin came up OK I'm still learning so the more foxes I skin the better I'll get at tanning them might as well use something from the little stinkers

[Stix]

Great stuff AJB...

Ive been skinning & tanning them for the last year now & still learning...

Im still taking up to half hour to skin & only just getting all tails off in one piece...& got fleshing down to half hour.

I lost 2 batches of skins over summer--bacteria got in to the pickle & fur didnt set.
I still did them, but cant fully break them or ill loose a lot of fur....this is one of them--still kinda look ok but some areas of fur are delicate.
(Nope--wont let me upload a pic--this site is silly sometimes)

Have you taken the cartilage out of the ears...?

[AJB]

Thanx stix and yes I cut out cartlidge there is a good video on YouTube how to skin a fox with grunge he is very quick and has a trick for the tails I use two small sticks and squeeze together to strip tail I've worked at an abattoir for the last 20 yrs but skinning a small animal was a bit tricky to start with I have to screen shot all my pics to get them to upload on this site for some reason

[bigfellascott]

Nice one AJB, I made a hat out of the last one I tanned, came up pretty good and keeps the head/ears nice and warm on a cold night out spotlighting/camping.

[AJB]

I also fill the tail with salt and salt skin as soon as you skin it helps heaps and stops hair from slipping I skin salt then flesh pin out on board then salt again leave for a day on board then wash skin put in pickle with salt for 3 days then wash again spin dry it let it dry a little then paint with lube let dry and then work skin a little by hand seems to work for me

[AJB]

A few goats I done came up really good

[AJB]

You have me thinking big fella hat looks great I think the next fox I get will be a hat for winter

[bigfellascott]

You have me thinking big fella hat looks great I think the next fox I get will be a hat for winter

They are perfect for cold nights out shooting foxes I can tell ya that much

What sort of salt are you using, I use Flossy Salt which I buy in 20kg bags I think it is, I get it from my local butcher who orders it in for me when he puts in his order for it.

[AJB]

I use Hyde salt I get it in a 20 kilo bag from work we use it for salting sheep skins it comes by pallet so I'm lucky

[TassieTiger]

We don’t have foxes in tassie - I’d be keen to buy a few pelts from someone as long as I’m not breaching any quarantine or import laws...?

[AJB]

I think you can get them from eBay I like to keep mine sort of a trophy and I can remember each one individually and were I shot it sometimes I just strip the tails if I don't want to stink for a few hours they have there own smell but I'm sort of used to it

[AJB]

Got this dog fox last nite he took a while to call in he tryed sneaking in threw the long grass got him at about 20 yrds

[bigfellascott]

:violin: Got this dog fox last nite he took a while to call in he tryed sneaking in threw the long grass got him at about 20 yrds

You should have shot him between the eyes at that distance mate, saves putting a hole in anything of value

Well done.

[AJB]

I could see his tail wasn't right so I hit him in chest he had that mainge in his coat so I didn't touch him just lifted his leg with a stick to see if dog or vixen