day time foxes

dicky82

lads iv seen two foxes out during the day both yesterday and today. around two o'clock on both occasions. these were both big fat fellas. i thought that they were mostly nocturnal?

they didnt look skinny at all which doesnt lead me to think they were out due to the hunger.

i know this might sound a bit seamus heany but they looked quite impressive whith the snow as a back drop. amber coats and really stocky front quarters.

ayapatrick

Seen a couple myself aswel in te middle of the day aswel. Must be the hard weather. Monday morning i was back having a chat with a man back the road from us, was sitting in the kitchen and what landed to the patio door but a fox. We kept still so not to spook him.

daithi55

ya saw to myself today

fish slapped

Lot of foxes out during the day at the moment, I've taken 3 during the last 4 days.

dicky82

to where did ya take them??:D

jwshooter

dicky82 wrote: »

to where did ya take them??:D

to KFC of course

CJhaughey

I saw one in a field opposite a school a few mornings ago, just mooching around looking for grub I guess.

jap gt

had 3 in the field next to house yesterday, they managed 4 ducks and 2 hens today, so the lamp was charged for an attack later

fish slapped

To Mr. Ping's - home of fur coats and fine chineese cuisine

dicky82

actually had quite a wildlife filled day today, saw those foxes and three cock pheasants. none of them together and all while my gun was sitting snugly in the safe at home. . .

whitser

they'd be dog foxes out chasing vixens i'd say.

Glensman

Seen one during the day in roscommon last week, crossin the road infront of me. Seen another the next day in Tubbercurry in amongst sheep...

daithi55

Glensman wrote: »

Seen one during the day in roscommon last week, crossin the road infront of me. Seen another the next day in Tubbercurry in amongst sheep...

god the foxes are acting very strange there having curry with the sheep lol

No6

I seen a fox two days in a row last week in roughtly the same place at about the same time, missed him the first say and he stayed out of range the second!!! I'll get him yet though!!!

Chopperdog 2

Lads, it doesn't take a genius to realise that due to the hard weather that foxes are searching longer and further to get some food. Their prime sorce of food being grubs, worms and ground based items are now unaccessable to them. In light of wildfowl shooting being suspended and alot of sporting shooters enforcing a voluntary halt on quarry shooting, would you lads not consider giving foxy the same respect and leaving him alone until things everything gets back to normal? Ask yourself, are you a sportsman or just fulfilling a bloodlust? No further questions or replies needed.

mac80

Fox are classed as vermin, people shoot them to protect their Pheasents and livestock.
Their fair game no matter what the weather !

Mac

No6

When you see the damage they do to your ducks and chickens, no they dont deserve the same repect as the wildfowl, if they are out during the day the will happily take my birds when they are out so I personally dont have a problem shooting them at the moment. It does balance out a bit though as I havn't been able to get out lamping at night as the roads are so bad!!!

bunny shooter

Chopperdog 2 wrote: »

Lads, it doesn't take a genius to realise that due to the hard weather that foxes are searching longer and further to get some food. Their prime sorce of food being grubs, worms and ground based items are now unaccessable to them. In light of wildfowl shooting being suspended and alot of sporting shooters enforcing a voluntary halt on quarry shooting, would you lads not consider giving foxy the same respect and leaving him alone until things everything gets back to normal? Ask yourself, are you a sportsman or just fulfilling a bloodlust?.

I don't shoot them while they are rearing cubs other than that I shoot them no matter what the weather or what you think and I am not doing anything illegal, unsporting or satisfying any type of bloodlust. As the lads have said I do it to protect livestock as a favour to the farmers and to protect the pheasants and ducks that the local clubs, which I am a member of, pay for and release.

Even the Gardai tell us in the Commissioners Guidelines that fox shooting is not a sporting activity :P

Chopperdog 2 wrote: »

No further questions or replies needed.

Says who ? Your in the wrong forum if you want no replies :P

Very arrogant statement after your post :rolleyes:

johngalway

Don't feed the trolls lads, it only encourages them. Next we'll have an infestation and have to get the 1080 laced troll food out, again.

Chopperdog 2

Far from a troll john, I am surprised that you have stooped to label me a troll because maybe I hit a nerve with my last post. If you don't like what I said, then voice your counter arguement rather than just labelling me a troll. I stand by what I said in my earlier post. (Being a NARGC member and former Irish international shooter). I firmly believe that all of our quarry species deserve some modicum of respect. As a sportsman, I would would expect every other shooter to be as principled as I am. But maybe this is not the case.....

BELOWaverageIQ

Chopperdog 2 wrote: »

Far from a troll john, I am surprised that you have stooped to label me a troll because maybe I hit a nerve with my last post. If you don't like what I said, then voice your counter arguement rather than just labelling me a troll. I stand by what I said in my earlier post. (Being a NARGC member and former Irish international shooter). I firmly believe that all of our quarry species deserve some modicum of respect. As a sportsman, I would would expect every other shooter to be as principled as I am. But maybe this is not the case.....

I thought you said 'no further questions or replies needed'

johngalway

Using a word like "bloodlust" in this forum, you have labeled yourself I know many Nargc members, some of whom wouldn't stir off the couch to shoot a greycrow as they can't eat it, so being a member proves nothing really. Also know plenty of target shooters who're are completely against shooting animals, so that doesn't wash with me either.

As for striking a nerve, no, have to try harder with me really.

High horses are dangerous places to put yourself, especially in this weather

Happy New Year.

vermin hunter

good man john you hit the nail on the head with that fella.

bunny shooter

Ensuring a humane, pain free & quick death with a well placed bullet is not showing respect ?

fish slapped

BELOWaverageIQ wrote: »

I thought you said 'no further questions or replies needed'

Indeed he did, but it seems a little arrogant to me.

bunny shooter

johngalway wrote: »

Using a word like "bloodlust" in this forum, you have labeled yourself I know many Nargc members, some of whom wouldn't stir off the couch to shoot a greycrow as they can't eat it, so being a member proves nothing really. Also know plenty of target shooters who're are completely against shooting animals, so that doesn't wash with me either..........

I know these types too :eek:

jap gt

people around here have no problem killing foxes, just cause there is a ban on hunting doesnt mean the fox doesnt do as much and in this weather more damage than usual

touchyie

quite the opposite chooper, we should be using this cold spell to our advantage with vermin control. I know of 3 foxes who were lamp and call shy due to guys taking pot shots at them, however these have now been despatched, vermin is vermin no matter whether it is hot or cold or wet or dry, they will still do the same damage day in day out and are in fact more of a pest to farmers during this weather as they hunt out easier sources of food.
To be honest i dont find any sport in shooting an animal that will be left to rot in a ditch, but it is necessary to keep control of numbers.
It is also a good time to target foxes as they are starting to mate so by taken a vixen now could prevent 3 more to contend with in the coming months.

no further questions or replies needed...... hahahahahahahahahahahaha

BELOWaverageIQ

fish slapped wrote: »

Indeed he did, but it seems a little arrogant to me.

For sure, that was my point .

Vegeta

Chopperdog 2 wrote: »

Far from a troll john, I am surprised that you have stooped to label me a troll because maybe I hit a nerve with my last post. If you don't like what I said, then voice your counter arguement rather than just labelling me a troll. I stand by what I said in my earlier post. (Being a NARGC member and former Irish international shooter). I firmly believe that all of our quarry species deserve some modicum of respect. As a sportsman, I would would expect every other shooter to be as principled as I am. But maybe this is not the case.....

My take on it is this. Lamping foxes can be an enjoyable past time, out in the country side, often with a friend, requires decent rifle craft, knowledge of terrain and fox behaviours. It is a challenging but rewarding way of hunting them.

Some people here shoot fox as a means of protecting livestock and certain other species they may have a vested interest in, game birds etc.

Obviously others shoot foxes for "sport", these are generally the folk who "go easy on them in hard weather" or "don't shoot them when the cubs are young". Quite a mixed message to be sending don't you think. Imagine trying to explain that to some neutral who was neither for or against hunting.

Neutral: "So why do you shoot foxes?"
Sportsman: "Well it's to stop them killing sheep and pheasants"
Neutral: "But why are you stopping now in the cold weather, surely this is a great time to get an extra few foxes?"
Sportsman: "Well I don't want to reduce their numbers too much"
Neutral: "But I thought that was the whole point in shooting foxes, no?"
Sportsman: "Sher what would I shoot next month if I cull them this month"
Neutral: "So you're not really interested in controlling their numbers, you go easy on them so you'll have something to shoot at"
Sportsman: "Am.......am.........yeah"

I find it hard to see how someone who shoots anything for sport can claim the moral high ground over someone who is actually protecting his stock or his efforts in restocking local bird levels.

Lads can we judge each other a little less please.

dicky82

has anyone else noticed that fox related threads seem to spark the most conflicting opinions. . .??

on a side note, did you have any success skinning that last fox johngalway??

Half-cocked

dicky82 wrote: »

has anyone else noticed that fox related threads seem to spark the most conflicting opinions. . .??

Each to his/her own I say. As long as its legal of course.

Personaly I don't like shooting foxes. But when my game birds are being predated above what I consider an acceptable level, Mr.22/250 gets brought out of hibernation.

By the way, I have a vixen comes into my urban garden every night, ignores the dog food I put out for her, and eats all the peanuts put out for the birds. A vegatarian fox???:D

EPointer=Birdss

Vegeta wrote: »

My take on it is this. Lamping foxes can be an enjoyable past time, out in the country side, often with a friend, requires decent rifle craft, knowledge of terrain and fox behaviours. It is a challenging but rewarding way of hunting them.

Some people here shoot fox as a means of protecting livestock and certain other species they may have a vested interest in, game birds etc.

Obviously others shoot foxes for "sport", these are generally the folk who "go easy on them in hard weather" or "don't shoot them when the cubs are young". Quite a mixed message to be sending don't you think. Imagine trying to explain that to some neutral who was neither for or against hunting.

Neutral: "So why do you shoot foxes?"
Sportsman: "Well it's to stop them killing sheep and pheasants"
Neutral: "But why are you stopping now in the cold weather, surely this is a great time to get an extra few foxes?"
Sportsman: "Well I don't want to reduce their numbers too much"
Neutral: "But I thought that was the whole point in shooting foxes, no?"
Sportsman: "Sher what would I shoot next month if I cull them this month"
Neutral: "So you're not really interested in controlling their numbers, you go easy on them so you'll have something to shoot at"
Sportsman: "Am.......am.........yeah"

I find it hard to see how someone who shoots anything for sport can claim the moral high ground over someone who is actually protecting his stock or his efforts in restocking local bird levels.

Lads can we judge each other a little less please.

I have to agree & you have said it well. Contradiction & hypocracy by swithching rules & opinions is to me the signs of an unconvinced individual that feels guilt & remource when it suits them. Vermin give prey no rest bite in this weather or at breeding seasons, in fact they feed & kill more. The small numbers of areas reducing predators significantly will never damage their overall numbers as they always move back in from elsewhere. Case & point, johngalway seems to be knocking them for fun week after week & I bet if he stopped for a few months he'd be back to scratch!
You can't stand behind an arguement if you flip between opinions. If you believe vermin damage stock & game then they should be irradicated & done so at times where the best results will be gained with minimal effort. Of the 6 local clubs I can think of 2 that do any real work. They leave plenty of vermin around to wonder into neighbouring clubs & it makes no odds to the overall population if I spent every minute of the day working our grounds. With all the good intentions & time put in & a healthy population will always remain. Being soft or easy on them just undermines the requirement to reduce them & fuels the arguement to have legal off seasons or eliminate it altogether.

johngalway

Reckon it would take them 2-3 years to return to the numbers before I started shooting this area. Mainly because we have the sea on pretty much three sides of us, if I was inland I'd reckon no more than 18 months. But, at that time I remember John and myself shooting 13 foxes in 4-500 acres in one week. I also can say that the foxes then were a lot more scrawny light little things, frequently riddled with mange. Look at the last two foxes I've shot, big, heavy, well developed dog foxes that don't look like they've seen much hunger in their lives. I regret now not weighing each fox, I'm sure they are half again as heavy, going on the average fox now compared to then.

One thing that rarely fails to strike me as being particularly stupid are the claims of mother natures balance. Of course, there is a balance but what do we say that is with fox, mange? Starvation? In this cold snap I can see mangey foxes dying, but, during the winters we've had the last 3-4 years I say most if not all with mange survived. And at what cost, I'm sure that must be a debilitating condition which due to it's effects on the animaal leads to problems down the line. People moaning about the hunters bullet being cruel versus the natural course of things are deeply dug into cloud cuckoo land.

Farthing wood friends has a lot to answer for. I recommend everyone of the above mind go out and hug the nearest fox or greycrow they can find.

Don't come crying to me if ye loose an eye or contract mange though

deeksofdoom

johngalway wrote: »

Farthing wood friends has a lot to answer for. I recommend everyone of the above mind go out and hug the nearest fox or greycrow they can find.

John,

My daughter is 8 months do you reckon its safe for her watch Winnie the Pooh, he lives in the 100 Acre Wood, in fact I must confess I've been watching a fair bit of it myself.

Yours Sincerely

Deeks

johngalway

deeksofdoom wrote: »

John,

My daughter is 8 months do you reckon its safe for her watch Winnie the Pooh, he lives in the 100 Acre Wood, in fact I must confess I've been watching a fair bit of it myself.

Yours Sincerely

Deeks

Depends, do ye do much bear shootin or tigger trakkin down in the Peoples Republic?

Could have a bad influence at the wrong time like

dicky82

how'd you get on skinning that last fox john?

dicky82

deeksofdoom wrote: »

John,

My daughter is 8 months do you reckon its safe for her watch Winnie the Pooh, he lives in the 100 Acre Wood, in fact I must confess I've been watching a fair bit of it myself.

Yours Sincerely

Deeks

id say let her watch southpark that way you konw she'll turn out normal . . :D

johngalway

dicky82 wrote: »

how'd you get on skinning that last fox john?

Sorry Dicky, you asked me that earlier I believe.

I actually didn't, my fleshing knives haven't arrived as yet. I tried buying some on Egay and got a hissy fit message about contravening .ie and wait for this .co.uk knife laws, well, fcuk you too Egay.

Ordered some from the USA now, so it's a waiting game.

The skinning part is the easy bit :eek:

dicky82

let me know how you get on though, woud love to see the finshed result (for a first time effort)

i suppose if you skin a few of them you'll make yourself an auld costume to wear when your using those randy vixen calls hahaha;)

johngalway

Think I'll take a pass on that plan thanks LOL. Not so sure about the home tanning now, been reading up on it, there's a LOT to be done :eek:

westwicklow

johngalway wrote: »

Sorry Dicky, you asked me that earlier I believe.

I actually didn't, my fleshing knives haven't arrived as yet. I tried buying some on Egay and got a hissy fit message about contravening .ie and wait for this .co.uk knife laws, well, fcuk you too Egay.

Ordered some from the USA now, so it's a waiting game.

The skinning part is the easy bit :eek:

fleebay.ie... fleebay.co.uk...US of A.....

Why not get a quality locally (irish) made knife?

CJhaughey

westwicklow wrote: »

fleebay.ie... fleebay.co.uk...US of A.....

Why not get a quality locally (irish) made knife?

Is there a fleshing knife made locally at a reasonable price?

johngalway

westwicklow wrote: »

fleebay.ie... fleebay.co.uk...US of A.....

Why not get a quality locally (irish) made knife?

Where in Ireland makes a fleshing knife then? And on the very long chance someone does, I bet it costs 3 times what I paid. Them enough reasons for ya

westwicklow

johngalway wrote: »

Where in Ireland makes a fleshing knife then? And on the very long chance someone does, I bet it costs 3 times what I paid. Them enough reasons for ya

Ah johngalway, it's not my fault if you don't know where to get quality Irish made equipment. Plus, isn't it better to pay for a quality product made locally that will outlast inferior products, which can, if required, be modified and/or repaired locally?

johngalway

You haven't answered the question.

westwicklow

Without wishing to promote any individual or product, may I suggest you do a quick search on here. The results will delight you JG particularty with a certain top notch knife maker over towards the west.

johngalway

I'm sure he'll be delighted for your business

fish slapped

I think WW may be refering to Davey Moore :

http://www.eiromedia.com/about.html

but I do think custom made knifes are expencive and that is J.G.'s point, if you want something in this country options are very limited which means they are also expencive.

westwicklow

Yes, FS, Davey does great work. Maybe it's expensive but it's a lifetime job.

"you get what you pay for"

johngalway

westwicklow wrote: »

Yes, FS, Davey does great work. Maybe it's expensive but it's a lifetime job.

"you get what you pay for"

:rolleyes:

And exactly when did you see the receipt for what I bought, or for that matter the brand or description of those items.

It's my business what I buy, so jog on like a good man.