Some nights are just a hard slog

johngalway

Wednesday April 7th.

I got called out to a lamb problem tonight, local man who surprised me by asking as they have guns themselves. All the gear and... How does that go again Clive? Myself and John arrived over to their farm around nine thirty. A few nights ago I had seen a fox in this area at three in the a.m. I was really hoping that wasn't going to be the fox.

PJ kept saying that foxes usually appear on their farm around eleven. I like to be in place as it's getting dark because you just don't know what's going to be about. While the farm is local to me, this is the first time we'd shot over most of it. After a time we decided to split up, that turned out to be a bad move. The plan was John & PJ stay down near the sea where the lamb was taken Monday night, from there they had a long view out over plenty of bog where we expected the fox to come from. Noel and myself would set up shop across the road, out the back of his house, so we could watch in case anything came in from the hill, there's a river out there that foxes have a run along. We would be out of direct line of sight, but the signal was to be flicking the lamp up and down on the horizon, which has worked well for us before.

Noel and myself only saw sheep. Sure enough, five minutes past eleven there was a frantic flashing of a lamp in our direction. We ran back to the other two lads who had spotted a fox coming in off the bog along the shoreline opposite. There's a small bay, some of which dries at low tide. The lads had expected the fox to walk across the shore and into their land. The fox had other ideas.

We headed down off the cliff to the bottom of the farm. I was hoping to take a shot across the narrow bay, something over two hundred yards. But, our fox was just that much ahead of us, and we were also hamstrung as we'd not had time to recce the place in daylight to get the lay of the land. Myself and John headed back along our shoreline, hoping to snipe the fox at some stage. We left the two boys on the farm as they were ever so slightly LOUD.

I had to swallow a laugh when John took a shortcut along the top of a very old wall, trying to avoid quicksand crap on one side, and deep smelly rotted seaweed and mud on the other side. He done his best to take me with him when his foot found a loose stone... PLOP!

I gave him my torch as his connections had come loose in the bag, plus he had to stall for a few minutes to wipe all the ****e off himself. Carrying on I managed to get up onto some type of walk-able land, there's my fox sixty yards in front of me, just as I see him, turn and he's gone into gorse bushes. This place is a nightmare of a jungle. If John had been there we'd have bagged that one.

I gave chase, and maybe ten minutes later spotted my fox again in rushes. Absolutely no where to rest a rifle. I spied a hillock and made for it, evicting a hogget from his bed I sat against the wall and propped the rifle on my knees. Couldn't see a stem, as there was a bush reflecting light into the scope. Moved a bit and I was just seeing my fox vanish behind a hillock when I got lamped. John shone his lamp on a fox, I put on the caller and it ran for me. Took a quick shot off my knees and de-throated the fox.



Meanwhile, the fox that I had been watching had bolted. Jungle in every bloody direction. John thought the fox may have tried to circle below us, and head along the shore to the farm. I figured it'd head up, cross the road and be out the back along that river. We headed back along the road to the two lads, guess who we spotted out the back from the road! "Bet they shout at us before we get to them" I say. Sure enough the two lads start roaring from thirty yards off...

To make a long(er) story slightly shorter, fox gave us the run around for an hour. Each time I settled for a shot, it would be gone. It stayed looking right at John one hundred fifty yards from him for 5-7 minutes, soon as I reached him and got down... Away it went! Anyway, that one has annoyed me now, but I won't be able to do anything about it until Monday night at the earliest.

EastTyrone

stop writing on boards man!!!! go out and get a publisher to read your writings, another brilliant read!!!!!

johngalway

EastTyrone wrote: »

stop writing on boards man!!!! go out and get a publisher to read your writings, another brilliant read!!!!!

Thanks for that ET All I do is write down what happens, no special trick to it.

EastTyrone

johngalway wrote: »

Thanks for that ET All I do is write down what happens, no special trick to it.

haha, you'l get that other fox yet :P

kay 9

Again John, good readin, takes the boredom out of boards waitin for new stuff to appear;) Keep it comin buddy...

clivej

WHO has the fox farm near you ???????

magotch07

great read man the description of the land/farm sounds great makes ya feel like we were on the stalk with you ha ha