another hat trick

declan1980

i got a call today from the club secretary, his father in law had 11 hens and 6 duck taken last night:eek:. 4 foxes had been seen in the area earlier today, so he wanted them taken care of.
we went out around 11 and tried a few likely spots. i turned on the u-caller for a few minutes, and one fox appeared, but it seemed more interested in sniffing around than coming to the call, so i'm not sure if it came to the call or we were just lucky. i lip squeaked a few times and had a job to get its attention, eventually it stopped for a second, and after the crack of the rifle it didn't go anywhere. it was a handy sized vixen, about 120yards away, but a good start since we were only out about 20 minutes.
next we tried calling near a wood and after about 2 minutes a fox appeared about 200 yards away, it didn't look like it was coming any closer, so i went prone and dropped it. another vixen.
the next lad came in to the call and sat beside the ditch about 50 yards away. i dropped into a kneeling position and rested the rifle on the new shooting sticks i got for christmas. a v-max to the chest sorted this lad out, with absolutely no external damage.
he was as big a dog fox as the lad i shot on christmas eve, with a lovely red coat, and a nice white stripe running down his belly, so i think i finally have a fox worth stuffing:D. i'll show him to the father in the morning and see what he thinks. that makes 19 foxes shot this month, hopefully we should win the club vermin competition again next year
the connections on the lamp started playing up after that, so that finished our adventure for the night. i'll have to try and get them sorted tomorrow, because we'll be trying that area again before the weekend. i'll try and put up a pic of the lad i'm stuffing tomorrow

deerhunter1

declan1980 wrote: »

i got a call today from the club secretary, his father in law had 11 hens and 6 duck taken last night:eek:. 4 foxes had been seen in the area earlier today, so he wanted them taken care of.
we went out around 11 and tried a few likely spots. i turned on the u-caller for a few minutes, and one fox appeared, but it seemed more interested in sniffing around than coming to the call, so i'm not sure if it came to the call or we were just lucky. i lip squeaked a few times and had a job to get its attention, eventually it stopped for a second, and after the crack of the rifle it didn't go anywhere. it was a handy sized vixen, about 120yards away, but a good start since we were only out about 20 minutes.
next we tried calling near a wood and after about 2 minutes a fox appeared about 200 yards away, it didn't look like it was coming any closer, so i went prone and dropped it. another vixen.
the next lad came in to the call and sat beside the ditch about 50 yards away. i dropped into a kneeling position and rested the rifle on the new shooting sticks i got for christmas. a v-max to the chest sorted this lad out, with absolutely no external damage.
he was as big a dog fox as the lad i shot on christmas eve, with a lovely red coat, and a nice white stripe running down his belly, so i think i finally have a fox worth stuffing:D. i'll show him to the father in the morning and see what he thinks. that makes 19 foxes shot this month, hopefully we should win the club vermin competition again next year
the connections on the lamp started playing up after that, so that finished our adventure for the night. i'll have to try and get them sorted tomorrow, because we'll be trying that area again before the weekend. i'll try and put up a pic of the lad i'm stuffing tomorrow

Nice one

J.R.

If you're going to get him mounted / stuffed make sure you freeze him quickly. I wouldn't wait to show others before I'd freeze him...could be too late!

Foxes are notorious for hair slippage....it starts soon after death. Not as bad in cold weather but the temperatures are rising and decay on foxes can start quite quickly.

It begins soon after death on the back of the ears and spreads rapidly. Next place it hits is the belly, then the ribs, next sides of face etc. If you rub the back of the fox's ears between your fingers and hair comes away then it has started. When it starts it too late to rectify...there nothing you can do about it....pelt is useless.....all the hair will begin to fall out when placed in pickle bath to cure.

The trick is to freeze as soon as possible to avoid this.

The problem is not as bad with other species....it's particularily bad with the fox....has to do with the bacteria on the skin / fur.

Well done on the number of foxes shot.

declan1980

the father had a look at the fox this morning and said its legs were a bit short, so i'm not going to bother stuffing this lad, i'll be shooting plenty more over the next few months so i'll surely get another big lad.
i still wish i hadn't shot that lad on christmas eve in the head, he would really have been worth mounting

dev110

Nice shooting Dec!!
Love to see these type of posts. Great reading and makes you want to get out and do a bit yourself.

declan1980

dev110 wrote: »

Nice shooting Dec!!
Love to see these type of posts. Great reading and makes you want to get out and do a bit yourself.

i glad to see i've inspired you to head out and enjoy what nature has to offer.
as far as i'm concerned there is no better way to enjoy your free time (well at least with your clothes on that is), that is why i was out lamping last night instead of in a pub or night club pissing my money up against a wall and spending half of the next day dying

dev110

declan1980 wrote: »

i glad to see i've inspired you to head out and enjoy what nature has to offer.
as far as i'm concerned there is no better way to enjoy your free time (well at least with your clothes on that is), that is why i was out lamping last night instead of in a pub or night club pissing my money up against a wall and spending half of the next day dying

I couldn't agree more as any free time I have I'm shooting or out with my 5 month old springer.

Although I did go out last night but a sore head didn't stop me going out with my .22 and getting 2 rabbits.

Did regret the €50 I wasted though on nothing and now its €50 less towards my new .223

One shot on kill

Hi lads
I hope you don't mind me asking what do you do with your fox when you get them do u just leave them around or what's the crack

sc89

Nice shooting, those three red lads won't be bothering anymore chickens or ducks!

declan1980

One shot on kill wrote: »

Hi lads
I hope you don't mind me asking what do you do with your fox when you get them do u just leave them around or what's the crack

i skin the tail and throw the fox in the nearest ditch, nature takes care of the rest.
i'm still hoping to shoot a really god lad for mounting its gonna cost around €400 but it'll be worth it, because i'm gonna put it inside the front door at home and scare the sh1te out of anyone who comes in:D

One shot on kill

I was thinking thAt it's what I do anyway just wanted to make sure I shouldn't have been doin something a little bit more humane and when u say skin the tail what's that ENTAIL ha ha don't mind the pun I didn't mean

declan1980

One shot on kill wrote: »

I was thinking thAt it's what I do anyway just wanted to make sure I shouldn't have been doin something a little bit more humane and when u say skin the tail what's that ENTAIL ha ha don't mind the pun I didn't mean

you cut the skin around the tail near the foxes arse, dont cut into the bone, just expose the bit of flesh between the skin and the bone. then get a bit of baling twine and double it over, make a loop with the doubled end so you have two little loops of twine. put one on the bone just behind where you cut the skin, and the other on the fur in front of the cut.
put your foot on the foxes arse and pull the twine.
the tail will come off leaving the bone behind.
if you do it this way, the tail will never rot