Old black fox ain't what he used to be

johngalway · 24-11-2010 9:22pm #1

A farmer I shoot for rang me earlier in the week, she's got a fox sniffing about her hen house and want's rid of it. I was busy up until tonight, so couldn't do a lot about it before now.

John was supposed to come along but at the last minute rang me, he's on child herding duties! I suggest wrapping them up warm and bringing them along, though the suggestion wasn't received as the well thought plan intended :pac:

The trees planted in front of my favourite shooting stand are growing a bit each year, much to my dismay. Give them another few years and that spot will no longer be of use... Unless there's an accident with a chainsaw... We need a whistling innocently smiley on Boards

I'm flashing about with the lightforce set very dim, only want to pick up eyes not blind the owner when I find the farmers cat :rolleyes: Cats annoy me, when out they always seem to hang about somewhere that makes me look at them twice. This time the bugger is sat in behind a bunch of rushes, so all I'm getting is a pair of eyes popping up now and then. We had a ginger one back near my farm, always used to pick him up three or four hundred yards away coming down the foxes path, he's gone to the big fur ball in the sky now, happily

(car got him before anyone jumps to conclusions

).

Second fence out from the cat there's a pair of eyes bouncing down the gorse littered hill. Now that's no cat. Up to the right, down to the left, sniffs, up to the right. My fox obviously doesn't trust this fence. After a few minutes farting about it passes through the fence and heads down for the trees :rolleyes:

At this point I regret not taking a long shot, but after a few short minutes up it pops about 50 yards down from the farm cat (here's hoping...). I should mention I'm sat on rather a high hill, with the sky behind me. The rifle is on the top but I'm sat on a rock a piece below the brow of the hill, just right for this night. If there had been a flat spot where I was I'd not go near the top at all but it's not always the cast.

Find myself developing the habit of crawling about on my hands and knees after foxes now, as that's how I'm sneaking in behind my rifle. On goes the lamp and time to watch the scene unfold.

Zzzzzzzommmmmmmmmmmmm goes the cat, who's by now spotted our fox, who's not all that interested it turns out. The hen shed is below me in the trees, and our fox about 200 yards from where I'm laid up. I'm not taking the chance of the fox finding it's way below my line of sigh again so I take aim and squeeze gently, cloud of smoke (OK my fault too much WD40), and thwap!

Old dog fox, lots of black in him.

Not fond of dental hygiene.