The fox pages

[mchughcb]

Only one speed. Flat out.

[mchughcb]

2 foxes down

[bladeracer]

2 foxes down

That's a terrific photo!

[Oldbloke]

Agree great pic.

[mchughcb]

2 foxes down

That's a terrific photo!

Foxes were a bit blurry but you can make them out. 2 dog foxes.

[mchughcb]

Only one speed. Flat out.

[NTSOG]

G'day mchughcb,

I enjoy your foxing videos on YT. I've been trying to understand the introductions you often give at the start of a drive, but either you are whispering too softly or your microphone is not coping with being out of doors. [My hearing is pretty stuffed too.] Is there any way you can increase the volume?

Jim

[mchughcb]

I'm whispering because there could be a fox or a deer only a few metres in front. I'm normally pointing out what ammo, where the wind is, where I expect the animals to run and who's covering the rest of the hunt.

[NTSOG]

I understand why you're whispering, but your microphone is not picking up your speech clearly perhaps because whispering is high pitched and such sound tends not to carry in contrast to deeper pitch sounds.

Jim

[mchughcb]

The wind also buffers the speech a bit too as I'd need a microphone cover which isn't practical.

[mchughcb]

They can be sneaky.

[bigpete]

Screenshot_20240928-131158_Gallery.jpg (351.51 KiB) Viewed 13243 times

Nailed this bloke at 200m last night as he was walking away,shooting my 22-250 left handed out the car window

[NTSOG]

G'day,

While hunting for foxes recently I noticed a ewe a long way off in a field in front of me. Shortly afterwards I noticed a fox coming from 400 yards away to my left. It disappeared behind some trees but shortly afterwards the ewe became restless. Looking through my rifle scope I realised she had twin lambs, one up and walking and one, just born, still not ready to stand and run. The fox can be seen a few feet away focused on the non-ambulant lamb. The ewe chased the fox away to the side, but the fox circled back trying to get to the sitting lamb. The ewe confronted the fox again so that it moved a few feet away, still focused on the new-born lamb. At that point I fired at a range of 266 yards as measured with the laser rangefinder, shooting from standing off a quad-stick rest. The fox dropped on the spot. [Rifle: Anschutz 1532 in .222 Rem with an old ATN 4K pro scope at 14X mag. Fiocchi ammunition. IR illuminator Black Sun Dark Engine Blade.] When I left about 8 minutes later the ewe was still standing over the sitting lamb staring at the dead fox. The video is a bit shaky at the beginning due to me adjusting my position so as to shoot.

As is to be expected the video image at such a range through an 'elderly' ATN scope is pretty fuzzy, but the BSDE Blade is helping extend the range.

https://youtu.be/JOzCUqmMxEw

Jim

[Oldbloke]

Great shot.

[NTSOG]

Thanks OB. My shooting is getting more accurate and more consistent. The reason I posted the video clip was that I ran into some clowns recently who told me that foxes don't kill lambs. They maintained that the foxes just cleaned up dead lambs. Now I know from when I and my wife ran Suffolk sheep three decades ago that we lost lambs to foxes at birth and foxes will also try for the tongues of calves just as they are being born. This video clearly demonstrates that the fox was going for the sitting lamb. A local farmer made the comment that the fox was likely an experienced hunter and was just waiting for the ewe to be distracted to then strike and take the newborn lamb.

Jim

[deye243]

Great stuff glad to see I'm not the only one that shoots around stock .
They get used to it I quite often get comments on me shooting over cows at long range and they carry on like I've shot cows even though the projectile is 20 odd feet above them .
Good shot BTW I have a great load for the 222 and the 40gbt for foxes but they have since sped 2207 up a smidgen since I used it but it works with the 40g vmax with today's 2207 .

Cheers

[NTSOG]

G'day deye243,

I shoot around our cattle and near our horses all the time. The cattle are a real pain if I'm shooting off my bench in their paddock as they come to see what I'm doing. The horses have become used to the noise. It's good training for them so they are not so easily spooked by sudden loud sounds when my wife takes them to competitions.

Jim

[bladeracer]

I shoot around our cows but avoid shooting over them, there's always the possibility of a squib load falling short.

Great stuff glad to see I'm not the only one that shoots around stock .
They get used to it I quite often get comments on me shooting over cows at long range and they carry on like I've shot cows even though the projectile is 20 odd feet above them .
Good shot BTW I have a great load for the 222 and the 40gbt for foxes but they have since sped 2207 up a smidgen since I used it but it works with the 40g vmax with today's 2207 .

Cheers

[animalpest]

Thanks OB. My shooting is getting more accurate and more consistent. The reason I posted the video clip was that I ran into some clowns recently who told me that foxes don't kill lambs. They maintained that the foxes just cleaned up dead lambs. Now I know from when I and my wife ran Suffolk sheep three decades ago that we lost lambs to foxes at birth and foxes will also try for the tongues of calves just as they are being born. This video clearly demonstrates that the fox was going for the sitting lamb. A local farmer made the comment that the fox was likely an experienced hunter and was just waiting for the ewe to be distracted to then strike and take the newborn lamb.

Jim

The opinion based on research 40 years ago was that lamb deaths attributed to foxes was an average of 3%. Studies since then have debunked that and lamb deaths can be very high in some circumstances.

Not every fox is a lamb killer (of healthy lambs) as if they were, there would be any lambs marked.

[Oldbloke]

A couple of farmers told me that foxes really only take the very weak lambs.

[bluehorse]

Now you are really talking . Shooting and also trapping foxes is a real art . Some learn tricks to trick the fox and some dont . Beware of potential accidents if u
shoot with someby else . The excitement can cause people to act without thinking of consequences .
For instance long ago my cousin was holding the light out of passenger window and I was shooting over the roof . We had a fox in the light but he must have closed his eyes . My cousin played the light to draw him to move into it while had rifle ready to go. I was looking thru the scope and it went black andmy cousin had got out of the car and stood inline with my barrel while he was attempting to get fox in the spotlight again. Thank providence that I reacted to black scope . Potentially it could have ended badly .
People get excited so choose shooting partners well and also mount your light where the shooter has control over it .
With said I have shot the odd fox . I had an anschutz K hornet that claimed quite a few .
One of the big tricks of brer fox is to lay down in the spotlight and close his eyes so note well where the beam is and play it a little either way while uhave rifle at ready because he will move into light and maybe run in a circle then look in the light for ashort time and thats when u need a finely tuned trigger and first sighting in scope once he looks u get maybe 10 seconds or less . I used to put crosshairs under tip of nose consequently there are no holes in skin because bullet i think will follow spine and of course brer fox puts his feet in the air . lol ..
A bloke who used to be a travelling salesman and gun supplies told me roo shooters out Mitchell way {Qld for all of the mexicans southof the border Hahahahha} told me he sold them 30 grainers to use in22 250s the owner of the roo works would buy for shooters said they whacked plenty of foxes {Mangey awfulthings too Ithink} because Ileft many Is hot not worth skinning . Anyway the cream of this yarn is MAX would askif the new rifles and scope outfit was boresighted then lay this outfit on the 44 drum at his shed door and tack weld the bridge to receiver . Of course the gun shop owner from Bundaberg was horrified the first time it happened . Shot into Max's depot for a few seasons , He was a great bloke ,full of knowledge ex drover too. Loved a good yarn . I thought he was buying 670winchester outfit for the shooters But the wife of the travelling vendor said he also bought tikka and gave them a tackweld also . He would grin and say to me when I watched him fix up a win 670 It wont Fing move now . He had been 100miles north of Mitchell and 2 rifles lost their zero. I happened tobe at his works next day and saw him do the job on 2 670 win.
But getting back to the fox stories I often drove with the spotlight pointing into the bush or on the cleared country . I was flabbergasted at the number of cats and foxes I saw. I used to do this too in rough country and same . unbelievable population of mangy cats and foxes . In mid wither foxes got a coat that was better but not the quality from southern states Possibly it was their diet of farmers ducks and chooks . I shot foxes frolicking with my useless dog about 1 am 1 morning . They were having a great old time and the i nailed 3 . If my dog had been the right color he would have been skinned too . You dont need domestic dogs mixed with fox .. There is definitely an art in getting a fox , Old mate used to put stichnine on the jaws of his dog traps too.Foxes would get away with the rabbit traps too when I was a boy and we set traps . Always tie rabbit trap to a log or drive a deeper stake in the ground or you find your trap gone and probably a fox turd where it was . My uncle used to say it gave fox a fright hence the turd . I had a great uncle out there too who told me tales about all sorts of things , foxes ,Koala bears etc They were fair game long ago. Poor old fellow died in mid 60s . he was 90odd . I was told he rode his pushbike to the local cemetary when .he was 91. He was a real character ex mounted police around 1900.
By all accounts times were very hard so koalas were fair game too Also crocs . If u get the opportunity to talk to ancient old farts like me quite often they can tell stories of old fellows they knew who had valuable experience in the country too., I met doggers out west who werent young but they were valued for their skils in trapping foxes and dogs . Both of those are very difficult to get when they are older and of course experinced at evading traps . One old bloke west of Quilpie was highly respected for his trapping skills on older dingoes causing havoc ..
If you have the opportunity to listen they can give hints on shooting riding bullock driving chasing sheilas . Hahahha They used to sell fox skins rooskins and collect dead wool long before the days of the dole . . Making a quid was normal for them and they used 22s too because it wasnt cheap to shoot then . The problem is finding the old ones who can recall what they did . They were knocking foxes every other night as part of country living protecting their poultry where as we skite about the odd fox we get .so they have a wealth of knowledge on how they did it . and worth listening to . .

[NTSOG]

Oldbloke: "A couple of farmers told me that foxes really only take the very weak lambs."

That would make sense for a fox. A weak lamb is an easier kill. The new-born and non-ambulant lamb in the video was the weaker lamb being newly dropped but may not have been 'weak' in the sense of its overall health and/or general vitality. It just needed time to sort itself out and stand up. It's clear that the fox in the video was after the 'weaker' lamb; it knew which lamb to target.

Jim

[Oldbloke]

Well, "weak" was intended to mean, in general terms, sick, vulnerable easy meat.

It makes sense to me any way.

[deye243]

G'day deye243,

I shoot around our cattle and near our horses all the time. The cattle are a real pain if I'm shooting off my bench in their paddock as they come to see what I'm doing. The horses have become used to the noise. It's good training for them so they are not so easily spooked by sudden loud sounds when my wife takes them to competitions.

Jim

Absolutely and I hear you on the cows you want a busted rear vision mirror just park your car in the paddock and leave it alone and it'll soon be covered in snot