lamping tonight. lamp shy foxes

garv123

got a call again tonight to head out for a few hours. threw the phone on charge for half a hour while i got ready hoping id get a few pics.

we went into the first field and i turned on the lamp. 3 deer were right infront of us. one fella was huge with some massive antler on him, missing the other one.
they trotted off into the wood and off we went
i spotted one red fella and he stopped and stared at the lamp from 80 yards. .243 dropped him on the spot. another headshot. went over to him and told him throw down the rifle for a quick photo. search pockets and then remember the phones still sitting at home charging:rolleyes: his camera wasn't worth a sh1te.

good start to our night one fox within 10 minutes.

heading on again to our next spot and spotted another fox. he was havin g none of it and bolted when the lamp hit him and didnt stop one for a look when we tried a squeak.
next fella we spotted was lying on a brow of a hill and the cute feck just lay there looking at us as if he knew we couldnt fire a shot and slowly moved off when we tried to flank him. he knew what a lamp was.
on we went and spotted two more who darted at the lamp. spotted a jeep lamping from the road too and lamped us and decided to keep the on us p***ck's. do human eyes light up like a fox:rolleyes: flashing the lamp back made them cop on.
saw another young looking fox and he stood staring at the lamp despite the noise we made and didnt move once. i held the lamp on him again whilst this time he dropped like a sack of spuds to a bullet of the .22mag to the head.

saw 2 more foxes again but none of them would cum to a call or ran off to the lamp.

its our first night lamping and i reckon fellas must be over lamping the area to say they bolt as soon as their hit with the beam.

disappointed that the foxes wern't playing ball tonight.
my hands got so cold at one stage when i forgot my gloves i'd to get one of the lads to turn off the lamp:rolleyes::rolleyes: wont be forgetting the gloves again.
any of ye find there are alot of call/lamp shy foxes around ye're areas?

sorry i forgot the camera:o:(

foxboy

garv123 wrote: »

got a call again tonight to head out for a few hours. threw the phone on charge for half a hour while i got ready hoping id get a few pics.

we went into the first field and i turned on the lamp. 3 deer were right infront of us. one fella was huge with some massive antler on him, missing the other one.
they trotted off into the wood and off we went
i spotted one red fella and he stopped and stared at the lamp from 80 yards. .243 dropped him on the spot. another headshot. went over to him and told him throw down the rifle for a quick photo. search pockets and then remember the phones still sitting at home charging:rolleyes: his camera wasn't worth a sh1te.

good start to our night one fox within 10 minutes.

heading on again to our next spot and spotted another fox. he was havin g none of it and bolted when the lamp hit him and didnt stop one for a look when we tried a squeak.
next fella we spotted was lying on a brow of a hill and the cute feck just lay there looking at us as if he knew we couldnt fire a shot and slowly moved off when we tried to flank him. he knew what a lamp was.
on we went and spotted two more who darted at the lamp. spotted a jeep lamping from the road too and lamped us and decided to keep the on us p***ck's. do human eyes light up like a fox:rolleyes: flashing the lamp back made them cop on.
saw another young looking fox and he stood staring at the lamp despite the noise we made and didnt move once. i held the lamp on him again whilst this time he dropped like a sack of spuds to a bullet of the .22mag to the head.

saw 2 more foxes again but none of them would cum to a call or ran off to the lamp.

its our first night lamping and i reckon fellas must be over lamping the area to say they bolt as soon as their hit with the beam.

disappointed that the foxes wern't playing ball tonight.
my hands got so cold at one stage when i forgot my gloves i'd to get one of the lads to turn off the lamp:rolleyes::rolleyes: wont be forgetting the gloves again.
any of ye find there are alot of call/lamp shy foxes around ye're areas?

sorry i forgot the camera:o:(

when you said you spotted a red fella I though you ment red deer
as for the human eyes I dont know if shine or not but heard some fella got shot by lampers in England

endasmail

was out myself tonight
had the woman on the lamp
fecking disaster,missed a shot on a fox ,rushed it
and only seen one more and he was gone as soon as the lamp hit him
called it a night after a couple hours
she was moaning bout the cold

everypenny

Saw 5 foxes within the four filds at teh back of my brothers house. Pitch black tonight, crossing a ditch and a small river at the field behind the house nearly killed me. Went to the top of the oposite field and scanned around only to see two foxes staring at us about 40 yards from my brothers house. The best place in the world to take the shot from would have been from his back garden next to the BBQ :-)
In relation to lamp shy, we had the oposite. Our fella, a BIIIIIIG dog fox, was looking at us for about 20 mins. We tried electronic and wham callers, back of the hand, vixen, the hole lot. No joy.
We even tried doing nothing for 10 minutes in case he was watching us from a distance waiting for us to move from a route he takes every night. Turned the lamp back on and he was still sitting there, on his hind legs, about the same height as a fence post in the squat.... BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG!
Crossed back over the ditch, again nearly dying, and tried to flank him. Snuck up on the far side of him, with him between us and the ditch we had crossed and thre on the lamp. I'd swear he actually ran across the fild with his eyes closed, like a ninja fox. He was gone.
Next time i saw him he was up by where we were standing when we saw him first.
Tomorrow night we're gonna tie a few rabbit we got tonight to a tree so they're hanging in the air, after we trail them through the field from a few directions to the tree.
Then we'll set up an OP from about 80 meters away (my brothers shed) where we can quite happily smoke fags and drink coffee waiting for him to show.
Fingers crossed.

johngalway

Human eyes won't shine. When lamped, return the favour, cures ignorance and solves curiosity as well as being a good safety measure.

Followed one lamp shy fox for a month before getting him, made one myself not long after :rolleyes: and know of two more.

Various things you can do depending on the level of shyness, from skulking off to setting land speed records.

Baiting, regularly, on their paths. Two ideas on this, a cheap PIR sensor and small battery mounted to a stake or tree covering the bait area, small LED bulb lights up when it's tripped. Or, same idea except use a NV spotter. Have rifle pointed in desired direction with lamp set up, switch on, bang.

Snaring them is a possibility, but only do if you know how to.

For them that are more lamp wary than shy, a coloured filter, or dimmed lamp may give you enough time for a shot, possibly longer range than normal, .243 should be well up for that though.

I only opt for persistent chasing when they're actively killing.

everypenny

foxboy wrote: »

when you said you spotted a red fella I though you ment red deer
as for the human eyes I dont know if shine or not but heard some fella got shot by lampers in England

Ya, it was one of two kids in a field, in somerset i think. They were bushing and saw the lights. They were sitting on the ground looking back at the lamp so they were only about 2-3 feet off the ground. They didn't move when they saw the light because they thought they would get in trouble for drinking.

garv123

everypenny wrote: »

Saw 5 foxes within the four filds at teh back of my brothers house. Pitch black tonight, crossing a ditch and a small river at the field behind the house nearly killed me. Went to the top of the oposite field and scanned around only to see two foxes staring at us about 40 yards from my brothers house. The best place in the world to take the shot from would have been from his back garden next to the BBQ :-)
In relation to lamp shy, we had the oposite. Our fella, a BIIIIIIG dog fox, was looking at us for about 20 mins. We tried electronic and wham callers, back of the hand, vixen, the hole lot. No joy.
We even tried doing nothing for 10 minutes in case he was watching us from a distance waiting for us to move from a route he takes every night. Turned the lamp back on and he was still sitting there, on his hind legs, about the same height as a fence post in the squat.... BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG!
Crossed back over the ditch, again nearly dying, and tried to flank him. Snuck up on the far side of him, with him between us and the ditch we had crossed and thre on the lamp. I'd swear he actually ran across the fild with his eyes closed, like a ninja fox. He was gone.
Next time i saw him he was up by where we were standing when we saw him first.
Tomorrow night we're gonna tie a few rabbit we got tonight to a tree so they're hanging in the air, after we trail them through the field from a few directions to the tree.
Then we'll set up an OP from about 80 meters away (my brothers shed) where we can quite happily smoke fags and drink coffee waiting for him to show.
Fingers crossed.

its annoying when the cute feckers stand unsafe spots and its as if they know we cant fire at them.

im disappointed we didnt get a shot at more since they took off like lightning when the lamp went on.
2 aint bad for the spin though

garv123

johngalway wrote: »

Human eyes won't shine. When lamped, return the favour, cures ignorance and solves curiosity as well as being a good safety measure.

Followed one lamp shy fox for a month before getting him, made one myself not long after :rolleyes: and know of two more.

Various things you can do depending on the level of shyness, from skulking off to setting land speed records.

Baiting, regularly, on their paths. Two ideas on this, a cheap PIR sensor and small battery mounted to a stake or tree covering the bait area, small LED bulb lights up when it's tripped. Or, same idea except use a NV spotter. Have rifle pointed in desired direction with lamp set up, switch on, bang.

Snaring them is a possibility, but only do if you know how to.

For them that are more lamp wary than shy, a coloured filter, or dimmed lamp may give you enough time for a shot, possibly longer range than normal, .243 should be well up for that though.

I only opt for persistent chasing when they're actively killing.

yeah we'l go after them again on different night and try coming from different directions. all part of the sport i suppose some have to get away.
i nearly have the mother convinced to let me get the .17 hmr. so i wont have to be stuck behind the lamp the whole time.
one of the lads rang a fella that got one, and supposedly his count is up to 31 in a few weeks. during the day with a caller.

i wouldnt put snares out because that eliminates the sport for us.
we go out to stalk and hunt and get the kill on the land we shoot. setting snares would be no enjoyment for me.

anyone recommended a good electric caller thats not too pricey?

One shot on kill

well garv

what distance was the lad you got with the 22mag

garv123

One shot on kill wrote: »

well garv

what distance was the lad you got with the 22mag

70 yards ish

One shot on kill

good going

just goes to show what we talkin about the other nite

well done

garv123

One shot on kill wrote: »

good going

just goes to show what we talkin about the other nite

well done

wasnt my shot but its a super gun

daithi55

if ya lamped deer thats probably what the lads lamping from the road were looking for

saw one deer dead in a field yesterday morning while out stalking was about 80 yards from the road and just left there what a waste tried ringing npws but no answer as its a bank holiday

someone had it removed this evening though

pheasant tail

Well lads i dont want to start a new thread for this but when out lamping your supose the leave the caller on for a minute or so and then turn it of for 3-4 minutes??
And while doing that are you suppose to be lamping constantly or just every 30 seconds or so?????????

garv123

pheasant tail wrote: »

Well lads i dont want to start a new thread for this but when out lamping your supose the leave the caller on for a minute or so and then turn it of for 3-4 minutes??
And while doing that are you suppose to be lamping constantly or just every 30 seconds or so?????????

il let one of the more experienced lads answer that as im still new to this too and id like to know about their techniques too

bazza888

This below is what happened!he saw the reflection off a birdwatchers binos and he shot at it!

A HUNTER who shot a wildlife expert after mistaking his night-vision binoculars for a fox's eyes has been cleared of assault.

Anthony Burns, 52, of Prestwood, Buckinghamshire, was out 'lamping' for foxes late one night in April last year when he shot journalist Trevor Lawson.

Lawson, 37, had been looking for barn owls near the village of Hyde Heath, Buckinghamshire, when he was shot in the chest.

There was no suggestion Burns had shot Lawson deliberately and prosecutor Neil Moore argued unsuccessfully that he had acted recklessly.

But the jury at Aylesbury Crown Court believed Burns when he said he had been sure that he had been shooting a fox.

Lawson spent two days in intensive care and also lost a lung.

'Lamping' is a form of night hunting using a red filtered light which is difficult for a fox to see.

johngalway

pheasant tail wrote: »

Well lads i dont want to start a new thread for this but when out lamping your supose the leave the caller on for a minute or so and then turn it of for 3-4 minutes??
And while doing that are you suppose to be lamping constantly or just every 30 seconds or so?????????

I don't turn my lamp off, I may dim it down, but it's never off.

johngalway

bazza888 wrote: »

This below ........... fox to see.

The hunter should have properly ID'd his fox by it's body and not recklessly shot at "eyes".

The "expert" should have made himself known once a lamp was shone at him.

garv123

johngalway wrote: »

I don't turn my lamp off, I may dim it down, but it's never off.

what kind of calling pattern do you do john?

everypenny

johngalway wrote: »

I don't turn my lamp off, I may dim it down, but it's never off.

Are you moving the lamp the whole time or do you keep it still when you're scanning. What about if you're stationary and calling? Do you turn it off then?

johngalway

garv123 wrote: »

what kind of calling pattern do you do john?

There's no set pattern when I'm out. Sometimes I'll give a quick squeal when I first arrive at a stand just to see if it'll raise an eye.

Rabbit distress is the first line of attack, maybe 2-4 minutes. Have a break then. Then another try after maybe 10 minutes. Important then to wait around for 15-20 minutes, especially since the fox can hear the call a long way off so may be traveling a long way.

In mating season it's a toss up whether I'll try the rabbit or vixen first. If I'm out early and the weathers been hard I'll usually try to appeal to their bellies first.

everypenny wrote: »

Are you moving the lamp the whole time or do you keep it still when you're scanning. What about if you're stationary and calling? Do you turn it off then?

Not sure what you mean by keeping the lamp still while scanning? When I'm walking from A to B, I'll dim the lamp down and see where I'm walking With the occasional sweep of the countryside, just in case.

When I'm on a stand, calling or not, the lamp is never turned off (remember I've 28amp and 33amp batteries so the duration is there). Not a huge amount of light is needed to pick out foxes eyes 3-400 yards away. So I can save battery power by turning the juice down with the dimmer. When I need light for the shot, turn it up. But, I never turn it off.

pheasant tail

John when you say maybe you see a fox 300 or for hundred yards away or whatever,,and you want him a lot closer to you,do you take the lamp of him or wil he stil keep coming with the light on him???
ive been out a bit the last couple of weeks but no joy but dont have the rifle yet as waiting on license so its very hard!

johngalway

pheasant tail wrote: »

John when you say maybe you see a fox 300 or for hundred yards away or whatever,,and you want him a lot closer to you,do you take the lamp of him or wil he stil keep coming with the light on him???
ive been out a bit the last couple of weeks but no joy but dont have the rifle yet as waiting on license so its very hard!

Dim it right down, or if you've no dimmer then raise it up/down or sideways. Once you or your lamp man is able to keep tabs of the fox, then that's plenty light. The important thing is not to spook the fox. The majority of them will come in just fine, you'll get ones then that have met a lamp before and may be a bit sus, then there's the call shy ones and the blink ---> GONE lampshy ones