Would you take this shot?

[MG5150]

Hi All

I received some criticism on my recent video about leaving a fox to suffer too long before the follow-up shot. That feedback is fair and well deserved — I felt terrible about it at the time.

For context, the person who took me out that night was extremely cautious about the potential risks of hitting the farmer’s cows in the neighbouring paddock or shooting in the direction of a road that runs along the back of the property (about 450m away). You can hear him telling me not to take a second shot in the video. He’s also the one who shot the other fox that got away after being hit, because he didn’t want to follow up with another round.

I want to be clear — I’m grateful to have been invited out, and I completely agree that caution and situational awareness are critical for safe shooting. But it was frustrating being told “it's too far away” or “be careful what's behind it” nearly every time we saw a fox in the distance — even after I explained I wouldn’t shoot unless it got to a certain spot and I had a completely clear backdrop (just open paddock and grass, no skyline).

So here’s my question to the group: Would you have taken this shot? Or at least considered it safe to take?
(Tripod-mounted .223)

To give you a rough visual:
The tree line in the image is where the road is (highlighted red) — about 400m from the fence line. We’re positioned roughly 50m on our side of the fence, and the fox is probably another 50-70m on the other side of it. It’s hard to judge exact distances with thermal, but there are no other heat signatures in frame, and the backstop is nothing but paddock grass.

I’d also love any further thoughts or advice on shooting over paddocks and general .223 ballistics.

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePGI9cIC7eU

[bladeracer]

I'd prefer to be there on the ground, but based on the limited info I probably wouldn't. If the paddock were full of lambing ewes I would certainly have to consider it though. You couldn't set up closer to the road so you were shooting away from it? The thing about roads, especially at night, is that there could be somebody out taking a stroll with their dog that you might not be aware of...until you see the news the next day. I think it's better just not to shoot toward them if possible.

I spent a very frustrating couple months trying to drop some deer on a friend's small property where every time I had a potential shot I couldn't take it because of what was, or was not, behind the target. One of the neighbours was dropping deer there, and explained to me about the only spot that he had found viable, but it meant shooting too close to the direction of a neighbour's house only 150m behind the dam (the neighbour was happy with us shooting the deer). He was confident any shot would hit the dam and couldn't deflect up to the house behind, but it was too risky for me to take such a shot, especially just to remove a feral pest. If they were lambing and it were a fox I might be more inclined to take the shot with the .204 or .223 but I would still consider it marginal.

Screenshot 2025-06-30 092117.jpg (499.93 KiB) Viewed 2286 times

He would sneak in from the east before dawn, up the back of the hill and position himself in the trees on the hill crest giving him line of fire to the dam in the valley, 120m away, a very easy shot with good visibility to see the deer as they walk up the valley from the south to drink. The firing position is about 14m above the dam, the sheds about 2m above, and the house is about 5m above the dam. 99.99% of the time a bullet, whether it misses or drives through an animal, is simply going to bury itself in the dam walls or the hillside behind. That .01% chance of one finding its way to the house put me off this shot. I just don't value removing a feral pest that highly that I'm going to take the slightest risks doing it. The deer attended this dam every morning, and most evenings, and I would find them laying in the ground cover along the southern edge of this paddock in the early mornings. But that is the crest of the paddock, where it then drops very steeply down to the creek, and behind the deer relaxing on that crest is a neighbour's property - so no shooting in that direction.

The coloured lines plot all the visits I made. The white lines are 10m contours.

[bigrich]

Hi All

I received some criticism on my recent video about leaving a fox to suffer too long before the follow-up shot. That feedback is fair and well deserved — I felt terrible about it at the time.

For context, the person who took me out that night was extremely cautious about the potential risks of hitting the farmer’s cows in the neighbouring paddock or shooting in the direction of a road that runs along the back of the property (about 450m away). You can hear him telling me not to take a second shot in the video. He’s also the one who shot the other fox that got away after being hit, because he didn’t want to follow up with another round.

I want to be clear — I’m grateful to have been invited out, and I completely agree that caution and situational awareness are critical for safe shooting. But it was frustrating being told “it's too far away” or “be careful what's behind it” nearly every time we saw a fox in the distance — even after I explained I wouldn’t shoot unless it got to a certain spot and I had a completely clear backdrop (just open paddock and grass, no skyline).

So here’s my question to the group: Would you have taken this shot? Or at least considered it safe to take?
(Tripod-mounted .223)

To give you a rough visual:
The tree line in the image is where the road is (highlighted red) — about 400m from the fence line. We’re positioned roughly 50m on our side of the fence, and the fox is probably another 50-70m on the other side of it. It’s hard to judge exact distances with thermal, but there are no other heat signatures in frame, and the backstop is nothing but paddock grass.

I’d also love any further thoughts or advice on shooting over paddocks and general .223 ballistics.

Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePGI9cIC7eU

you had mostly good hits, some not so much . what projectile were you using ? try as we might , sometimes things don't go to plan and we learn and improve from these failures. best advice of all is don't film and post hunting on the internet. animal welfare activists can use this stuff against hunter's. you seemed well aware of where you were , i can't say anything negative except for the few runners . with experience your shot placement will improve. i suspect projectile performance was lacking at times as well . a few less foxes is a good thing

[GQshayne]

From what I can see mate, I would not be firing towards the road. The reason why, is purely because sometimes stuff happens, and you need to allow for that.

A while back I was hunting on a small property, directed to a good looking spot by the property owner. I was walking along this gully, lined with trees and grass etc, me on one side and my dad on the other. Then I see the house in the neighbours place, far enough away to be safe, but close enough for me not to like it. I stopped walking, and look to get dads attention. He had already stopped and was sitting on a log. We turned back. Always best to err on the side of caution I reckon.

[MG5150]

what projectile were you using ? ... i suspect projectile performance was lacking at times as well . a few less foxes is a good thing

I was using ADI Blitzkings 55gr. I got 3 through the same hole at 50m and an even closer grouping at 100m without the thermal clip-on scope attached.

I'd chalk most of it up to lack of experience - both shooting at foxes and using thermal gear. Being a clip-on scope It has it;s own zero. Might be worth mentioning that I zerod the rifle using bipods and a rowed up towel as a backrest, firing off the back of the ute whereas in the field I was firing from a tripod, so there will be some discrepency.

Where is the best place to aim on a fox?

[brinny]

Where is the best place to aim on a fox?[/quote]

If your in Victoria, and you collect scalps....Engine room...(chest region)....pretty hard to skin a scalp when its been head shot with a 223

[bigrich]

what projectile were you using ? ... i suspect projectile performance was lacking at times as well . a few less foxes is a good thing

I was using ADI Blitzkings 55gr. I got 3 through the same hole at 50m and an even closer grouping at 100m without the thermal clip-on scope attached.

I'd chalk most of it up to lack of experience - both shooting at foxes and using thermal gear. Being a clip-on scope It has it;s own zero. Might be worth mentioning that I zerod the rifle using bipods and a rowed up towel as a backrest, firing off the back of the ute whereas in the field I was firing from a tripod, so there will be some discrepency.

Where is the best place to aim on a fox?

for culling , chest shot . bigger target than a head shot . as you've already alluded to , check your zero, shooting off a different rest for your rifle . maybe try a different projectile , 60 vmax. i'm sure other will chime in with more experience than myself

[Blr243]

Not read this topic all properly but safety is the reason I will never use fmj bullets or big guns. I prefer smallish sensible calibres with v max so the bullet breaks up quickly on the ground in the event of a miss And I like bullets that blow up inside chests with no exits. No chance for the bullet to hit unseen stock lying down in long grass after the bullet exits the game im shooting

[Billo]

Rule No 1 don't publish or upload anything that brings our past time down. I would go as far to say delete your video

[MG5150]

Rule No 1 don't publish or upload anything that brings our past time down. I would go as far to say delete your video

That's fair. I can easily edit out those two parts and re upload it.

[straightshooter]

Something that is not well understood by most shooters is that a modern spin stabilised projectile is likely to ricochet if it approaches the ground, even soft dirt, at a shallower angle than 5 degrees. By rough calculation the 223 projectile would have been approaching the ground at an angle of about 0.3 degrees if fired standing off hand. A ricochet would thus be guaranteed if the target was missed.
When undertaking the kind of shooting the OP has described, the public road in the backdrop and any unknown buildings or structures beyond the road would present a real safety issue.
A concise daytime understanding of the location of all those things is a must before shooting at night.

[womble]

Good advice straightshooter.

Ideally you’d want a greater angle.

[MG5150]

Something that is not well understood by most shooters is that a modern spin stabilised projectile is likely to ricochet if it approaches the ground, even soft dirt, at a shallower angle than 5 degrees. By rough calculation the 223 projectile would have been approaching the ground at an angle of about 0.3 degrees if fired standing off hand. A ricochet would thus be guaranteed if the target was missed.
When undertaking the kind of shooting the OP has described, the public road in the backdrop and any unknown buildings or structures beyond the road would present a real safety issue.
A concise daytime understanding of the location of all those things is a must before shooting at night.

the first paddock is 400m long, dirt road through center of property, identical paddock 400m long. Map says there is another road at the end but there isn't. Then another paddock which is 400m long that belongs to the neighbour. It's 2.3km in a straight line before there is another house.

During the day you can see everything in front of you.

At night, you can see any stock through the thermal and any person or vehicle on the road would be lit up too.

[bigrich]

Something that is not well understood by most shooters is that a modern spin stabilised projectile is likely to ricochet if it approaches the ground, even soft dirt, at a shallower angle than 5 degrees. By rough calculation the 223 projectile would have been approaching the ground at an angle of about 0.3 degrees if fired standing off hand. A ricochet would thus be guaranteed if the target was missed.
When undertaking the kind of shooting the OP has described, the public road in the backdrop and any unknown buildings or structures beyond the road would present a real safety issue.
A concise daytime understanding of the location of all those things is a must before shooting at night.

the first paddock is 400m long, dirt road through center of property, identical paddock 400m long. Map says there is another road at the end but there isn't. Then another paddock which is 400m long that belongs to the neighbour. It's 2.3km in a straight line before there is another house.

During the day you can see everything in front of you.

At night, you can see any stock through the thermal and any person or vehicle on the road would be lit up too.

it's a can of worms asking for opinions on forums sometimes mate . you were there, first person .it's hard for someone to assess having not actually being there . common sense in your situation seems to have been applied . the fact you care enough to make sure your doing the right thing by asking questions is commendable . we all have to start somewhere in anything we do or are learning , nobody's born a expert . although i've met some people in life who think they are
keep at it , best wishes