Fox Numbers!!

pestshooter7

Just wondering how many foxes are people shooting per anum on average?
And how often do you go out and what methods are people using, lamps etc?
Just trying to compare:):)

tiny-nioclas

i shoot aound fifteen to twenty a year doing the odd bit of lamping, maybe more, mostly around lambing time for the local farmers, i think their beautiful creatures im not too fond of shooting them, but farmers lambs are more important though...

cavan shooter

last year 33 by lamp, caller and 22 wmr. Another 5 on drives. 2 with the jeep, You know I felt really bad hitting them with the jeep (funny that) I will stop shooting mid march start up again in October, unless asked to do so. Most lamping friday nights

moose112

Have only got four this year but dont do any lamping.

Can anyone recommend a good caller my dad uses just his hand but it does'nt seem to work for me.

cavan shooter

I have a u caller and a predator hand caller which I blow into

tiny-nioclas

i use primos predator calls that i got from the states on e bay, they work very well, i was out earlier this evening hunting fallow deer and i must have seen 8 foxes in two hours,

foxshooter243

our 3 man team lamped and shot 73 foxes from end september till xmas-we stopped at xmas to let next years get a chance-best night was 9 and we only blanked once-but in fairness this was an exceptionally good season for spotting-previous best was 64 in a season. I also shot 3 foxes
during daylight just as they were leaving the forestry on late summer evenings.

moose112

cheers thanks guy will check them out

bunny shooter

2 x NARGC gun clubs, not in them myself, in south tipp claim they shot over 4000 foxes each ?

Any comments ?

foxshooter243

bunny shooter wrote: »

2 x NARGC gun clubs, not in them myself, in south tipp claim they shot over 4000 foxes each ?

Any comments ?

2 gun clubs shot 8000 foxes in one year

tiny-nioclas

if their shooting 4000 foxes a year then we'd better stop shooting them ourselves or we'l wipe them all out, id say its nonsence.

meathstevie

Yeah right, an average of more than 10/day:rolleyes: The must have shot 253227 pheasants as well. We have one man in particular here at them in our club and the lion share would be his and we submitted roughly 300 tails for the last county vermin count. This lad is a great shot with the rifle, knows how to lamp a fox and is out at least two nights a week I'd say and he doesn't even come up with 10% of the boyos mentioned above.

Terrier

In 2007 I shot 136

127 - Lamping
8 - Driven Shoots
1 - Jeep Bumper !

It's something I always wanted to see was the NARGC vermin returns but its seems to be a magical list which no one is allowed see ! I know my county body issue there vermin results at there AGM, surely someone on here must be in a Gun Club in South Tipp and should have access to some figures?

As a another note.. I had the pleasure of a days beating in South Tipp over two years ago now and on one drive over a 40 acre wood they managed 21 foxes!! But 4000 seems to be more high stool talk if you ask me! :eek:

foxshooter243

There is a pack of hounds being kept in our club for driven foxes on a sunday, they are also accompanied by a large number of shooters and
when notes are compared on numbers driven/killed and lamped/killed its
all much the same with driven foxes having a few "good" days of up to 12
foxes but also having their bad days of 1 or none due to their shooting area
being concentrated and if you hit a bad spot then tough luck...but 4000
foxes...jeez the driven days must be like the film "zulu":rolleyes:

bunny shooter

I am trying to get a verified copy of the returns but these figures were mentioned ot our club meeting. They are trying to get all the vermin money in South Tipp I reckon.

Ruger.220swift

I have 29 shot in the last two weeks, dont keep count but it would average about 5-8 per week so somewhere in the region of 250+

bunny shooter

This is 4000 for a club. Average 10 lads at it = 400 each ? per annum ?

Ruger.220swift

Not a chance... usually only a few people into vermin shooting in each club.

Terrier

Ruger.220swift wrote: »

Not a chance... usually only a few people into vermin shooting in each club.

Spot on .. 42 members in my Club 3 actively killing Vermin :mad:

Trojan911

The buddy & myself shot 84 last year by lamping at night. That is from Sept to the start of April.

Mellor

But thats your club, its would be a huge leap for a paticular club to have 10+ active members, some clubs are quite big.

basilbuster

the old shooting buddy and myself would take around 80 to 100 every year depending on weather and how well they bred. all taken by lamp and rifle. these are only taken in about a 10 mile radius of where we live. usually lamp one night a week if possible.

its a sin to miss them

pestshooter7

basilbuster wrote: »

the old shooting buddy and myself would take around 80 to 100 every year depending on weather and how well they bred. all taken by lamp and rifle. these are only taken in about a 10 mile radius of where we live. usually lamp one night a week if possible.

its a sin to miss them

Sure is a sin to miss then as you will never see them again unless you use a filter of some sort!;)

irish setter

I'm in south tipp myself and 4000 foxes in one year is taking the mick a bit. I find it hard to get lads on vermin control and i'd geuss 20 - 30 foxes would be the return for the year. Badly needs to be inproved

J.R.

4000 foxes is some feat!

From 1978 - 1982 three of us lamped, snared and shot by day. We would be out 3/4 nights a week for 4/5 hours. An average season at the time for us was 270 - 300 which we were delighted with.

At the time foxes skins were fetching £16 - £22 apiece. Quite a lot of money at the time - a pint of Guinness was 32p !

The bounty helped put me through college for three years!

ivanthehunter

don't see as many foxes these days.. i wonder if it the lads shooting 20 in a night are to blame must take a look at the photo section again.... the native American Indians used to say "let the first deer go free and there will alway be more"..:(

pestshooter7

Dont worry theres plenty of foxes!!
People used to trap them alot more one time but now shooting them has replaced it and its impossible to clear an area of foxes from experience!! theres always one to fill the gap!

cavan shooter

J.R. wrote: »

4000 foxes is some feat!

From 1978 - 1982 three of us lamped, snared and shot by day. We would be out 3/4 nights a week for 4/5 hours. An average season at the time for us was 270 - 300 which we were delighted with.

At the time foxes skins were fetching £16 - £22 apiece. Quite a lot of money at the time - a pint of Guinness was 32p !

The bounty helped put me through college for three years!

My Dad supplemented his income in the 40's and 50's shooting and trapping foxes. There was a bounty on the fox and the garda had to cut the tongue out. Once the tongue was gone the fox was normally handed back to the shooter to dispose of Dad and his brother would then sell the fox skins.

I actually hope that type of bounty never comes back, I hear talk about it for mags,greys and foxes. Every plucker with a gun would be out, My Father always said that it was only a few that would be at it, everything he shot that could be eaten was eaten

pestshooter7

we have shot 3 in the last 2 weeks so thats not bad!
As for the bounty it would be good for the crows alright but wont happen with the greens in government!

tiny-nioclas

irish setter what part of south tipp are you from?

stevoman

J.R. wrote: »

4000 foxes is some feat!

From 1978 - 1982 three of us lamped, snared and shot by day. We would be out 3/4 nights a week for 4/5 hours. An average season at the time for us was 270 - 300 which we were delighted with.

At the time foxes skins were fetching £16 - £22 apiece. Quite a lot of money at the time - a pint of Guinness was 32p !

The bounty helped put me through college for three years!

Thats insane how much they where willing to pay back in the early eighties. There was obviously a thriving market for skins back then.

Its almost as well though that there is no bounty these days though, although every gun club should be made show some interest in a vermin shoot each year. ours is a joke.

Mellor

Is there not a nargc bounty on them?

johngalway

Gun clubs run competitions. There are a lot of large ego's involved (same in anything, just part of life like). When I hear of big numbers, even see tails, I always think one thing. Roadkill. That's how they get a lot of tails. I went to pick up a gunsafe in Roscommon, travelled from near Clifden. I saw 30+ dead foxes that day alone on the road. Plenty of tricks in boosting numbers. I'm not in the local gunclub anymore but I give all my tails to another lad who is, lol.

tikkamark

Terrier wrote: »

Spot on .. 42 members in my Club 3 actively killing Vermin :mad:

Thats exactly the same as my club terrier 40ish members and i could name about 4 or 5 that give me the tails for the collection as for 4000 that has to be pure and utter b,s:rolleyes:
Last year we had 370 got with 2 rifles and a pack of terriers within a 10mile radius of the town this year personally i have got 51 since sept but have not being able to get out with the lamp and .223 as often as id like but the numbers i have seen on the nights i have been out and from info from the local farmers suggest a massive amount of foxes about this year again.