The fox pages

[NTSOG]

Hares! I reckon they're harder to hit and kill than foxes. Their habit of almost sucking into the ground as they graze or hide makes it easy to shoot the ground in front of them. They're harder to see if there's any cover too. I've learned to wait until they raise the periscope, i.e. sit tall, to have a look around before shooting.

Jim

[bigpete]

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Smacked a fox from around 60m shooting offhand using subsonic CCI hollowpoint ammo in my old anschutz this arvo,then the missus helped skin it out to sell. Good girl

[bigpete]

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Called this stumpy tailed bugger in to 30m before putting a 225gn SGK through his boiler room

[mchughcb]

Couple of foxes

https://youtu.be/RJXqxElMgLg

[bigpete]

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Called this nice dog fox into 20m and dispatched him with a .350 prb over 60gn of 2f

[Blr243]

If there was a prize for doing everything with class and style big Pete is a strong contender

[bigpete]

If there was a prize for doing everything with class and style big Pete is a strong contender

Thanks,I'm all about class and style lol

[Oldbloke]

Hope this works. NFI where it is.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/6391868 ... 246621563/

[mchughcb]

Another one runs for it life

[Die Judicii]

I shot a big dog fox last night, and it would have to have been the dumbest fox I've ever come across in 55 years of hunting/shooting.
It was first seen 3 days ago when we had visitors, and as they were leaving they drove alongside of it 300 meters down the driveway from the house.
I got an sms saying that it just kept walking along, and wasn't the least bit frightened. That was mid afternoon.

Then at 4-30 pm I was having a cup of coffee when I heard the Guinea Fowl screeching and carrying on in the house paddock.
I walked outside to see what was going on,,, and there was the fox standing in the grass and surrounded by Guinea Fowl.
I ran back inside to get the shottie,,,,, but by the time I dealt with "John Howards" dilemma,,, of getting it from the safe, and getting outside again,,
the Guinea Fowl had chased it off in amongst the trees.
I tried whistling it back, but with no luck.

Then last night just on midnight I decided to go for a drive and maybe shoot a few pigs that have been making their presence known,, by rooting up an area a bit less that a football oval size in one of the front paddocks.
As I headed down the driveway,,,,, Lo and Behold,, there was Brer Fox in the same general area that the visitors first saw him.
But this time he was trotting/walking in amongst the cattle.
So I just parked and watched and waited,,,, till he headed out to my right along the front boundary fence and then disappeared into the knee high grass.
Fifteen minutes went by so I started driving along the front fence line, and sure enough there he was only 15 meters off from the ute in the drive lights.
I stopped, turned everything off and slid the rifle out, turned the scope on and had a look, half expecting him to have taken flight and be 200 meters away.

But no,,,, there he was less than 10 meters away walking straight toward the ute.
So I put his lights out with a .308 HP at point blank range.

Due to his strange behavior I was thinking he may have been blind, or near starved,,,,,,,,,, but no he was extremely healthy and not poor.
Certainly no hunting skill involved with putting that predator away.

[bigpete]

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Scored this nice young one today while doing bird control at work. 22-250 firing 40gn nosler ballistic tips at around 4200fps.

[Oldbloke]

Well, it's a while since anyone posted here. So, thought I wake it up from its slumber. I've been getting out a bit more lately and here's three I've bowled over last few trips. All just by catch whilst out walking.

BTW I've discovered the 30.06 is adequate for foxes.

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[bigpete]

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One I shot at work with my bushmeister

[gunderson]

aaah damn, I should have taken the phone the last few spotlighting shoots, we got 11 the other night in just 300 acres plus one cat... nice work people.

[Oldbloke]

Bigpete,

[Oldbloke]

Baiting foxes promotes cats.


https://theconversation.com/baiting-fox ... ows-223352

[gunderson]

even without baiting for foxes (most the new neighbors here dont bait..) there has been a steep uptick in cats in this area. we used to see maybe 2 or 3 cats a year when out spotlighting and catch a feral one near the house maybe every few years, this year since last july... I have shot 5 out in the paddocks and we have trapped another 5 near the house....

[animalpest]

Baiting foxes promotes cats.


https://theconversation.com/baiting-fox ... ows-223352

It can do in certain circumstances. And removing foxes can result in a decline of native species.
Mesopredator release - a much debated topic

[Oldbloke]

Baiting foxes promotes cats.


https://theconversation.com/baiting-fox ... ows-223352

It can do in certain circumstances. And removing foxes can result in a decline of native species.
Mesopredator release - a much debated topic

Just makes sense to me.

One population shrinks, the other, given the opportunity will fill the gap. Survival of the fittest.

[gunderson]

Ive never seen native animals come back after foxes and cats were removed

native animals as far as I can see spread slowly, breed slowly and seldom move to new areas.

years back they did extensive baiting here, you could go out at night and never see a fox or cat for a good 2 years, when the funding dried up and the sheep farmers moved off.. baiting ended, and the foxes and cats came back in droves.

I never once saw native marsupials or any small ground bird populations return except for quails

[animalpest]

Ive never seen native animals come back after foxes and cats were removed

native animals as far as I can see spread slowly, breed slowly and seldom move to new areas.

years back they did extensive baiting here, you could go out at night and never see a fox or cat for a good 2 years, when the funding dried up and the sheep farmers moved off.. baiting ended, and the foxes and cats came back in droves.

I never once saw native marsupials or any small ground bird populations return except for quails

I seen it on a number of occasions. Phascogales being seen around properties after foxes and cats reduced is one example. Very cool.
Brush tail possums becoming more prevalent thanks to removing foxes and cats.
And on one property where we were lucky to see a possum or anything else, they, along with bandicoots and woylies are almost a nightly occurrence.


Of course, if they are locally extinct, then they cant come back soon

[gunderson]

interesting thoughts, we have a resurgence of those too, but cat and fox numbers have never been so high as what I am seeing now.

[bigpete]

I stalked a fox the other night while it was chasing crickets in the paddock,then lip squeaked it into under 20m,then put an arrow between its feet,then managed to electrocute myself on the fence. Good times !

[mchughcb]

Training foxes to chase the red ball again.

[Jorlcrin]

Ive never seen native animals come back after foxes and cats were removed

native animals as far as I can see spread slowly, breed slowly and seldom move to new areas.

years back they did extensive baiting here, you could go out at night and never see a fox or cat for a good 2 years, when the funding dried up and the sheep farmers moved off.. baiting ended, and the foxes and cats came back in droves.

I never once saw native marsupials or any small ground bird populations return except for quails

[Western QLD] We see a huge return of native wildlife, whenever fox and cat numbers are vastly reduced.

Drought plays a big hand in what sorts of animals are making a living here, but controlling cats and foxes is a big boost for the locals to thrive.

"native animals as far as I can see spread slowly, breed slowly and seldom move to new areas."
My experience is that while some natives are slow breeders, there are plenty who arent.....
We are noticing that while the mix of natives has changed the past 25 years(mainly due to arrival of Cane Toads), there are other natives filling the slots vacated.
Case in point are 2 reptiles that apparently had a preference for frogs; King Brown/Mulga snakes, and Yellow-Spotted Goannas.
After the toads arrived in the mid-2000's, local populations of each of these reptiles crashed, and it's rare to see either in this area these days.
However, the number of Black-Headed Pythons, and Stimsons Pythons, has gone through the roof, and the other 2 types of goannas didnt seem affected(likely not partial to frogs on the menu).
We also assumed the arrival of the Cane Toads would kill off the local frog population, as toads produce about 10 times as many eggs in a season as the locals frogs do.
But from the sounds of it when the creeks are running, I'd guess we have about as many frogs(approx. 10 varieties) as we ever had.

Our populations of small furry animals like Dunnarts, Plannigales, Kultarrs, and even the odd Bandicoot, have wavxed and waned more with seasonal conditions, which might be a reason why they do tend to bounce back when the foxes and cats are under control.
We also have huge numbers of ground-nesting birds(Emus, Brolgas, Bustards, Pratincoles, Dotterals, Quails, Flock Bronzewings, etc etc), which also have waxed and waned more with drought, than they have from foxes and cats.

I'd be interested to know what the pastures are like in areas where locals dont return quickly.
Are the pastures still mostly original, or are they now new types of vegetation, and/or land use?
Are those pastures being managed well enough to allow the pastures time to regenerate each year?
[I guess my point is; were the locals struggling to stay in those areas BEFORE the cats/foxes hammered them into oblivion?]