Peekaboo, I see you!

johngalway

Last night was windy and overcast, yet still strangely bright. It was after midnight yet I wanted to be out, I'd bring the shotgun & torch and leave the extra weight at home. So I called from my usual spot in the neighbours field near my farm, nothing showed. I moved with the wind upwards towards higher ground, both to get a better view over the land below and to keep the wind in my favour.

After crossing a fence into another neighbours land I spied a foxy pair of eyes well down the fence line from me. Time is 00.50. Looking down towards him I don't want to move along the fence as I'd be well out in the open, with the strong wind I don't want to call either as he can wind me easy enough. To my left there's a boulder field that'll afford me some cover on my descent.

In the mean time my fox was ascending the hill and as I swept my torch left to right I spot him again not very far away looking right at me... Never good. I could only see his upper chest and above. No sooner had I thought about bringing up the gun than he was away like a flash.

I know what he's going to do, so I flick on the rabbit distress call and leave the caller on a rock. Then I'm puffing and panting up a steep hill towards a specific hill I reckon my fox will round to wind me. Problem is when I get there he's just beat me to it, a pair of eyes and ears looking back at me from all of ten yards for just an instant, then gone. I had hoped the caller would have curbed his circle a little and I'd get the drop on him, worked before but not to be this time. Anyway, he's vanished and next time I see him he's a good 100 yards off heading away, uphill with the wind in the neighbours. Give chase? Ya must be kidding, see you again.

I spent most of the evening deciding would I or wouldn't I go out tonight. Prepared the backpack and all the bits and pieces early to hasten the decision later on. Same set up initially, except now I've got a 33amp battery and a .223! It's a lot brighter and a lot calmer out tonight. John was out too, heading towards me on foot from his place.

00.22 and I see a fox in the marshy area next door. He's a nice ways off but I'm sat up on a hillock, with a big rock at my back and another smaller rock I can shoot off to my right. Checking through the scope I can confirm by the body it's a fox, and looks distinctly like my fox from last night. He's not coming to the call and starts moving out of the marshy area, I lose sight of him for a moment or two.

Next time I see him he's higher up out of the marsh at the bottom of a hill that leads out to the mountain proper. I've my rear bean bag tucked in under the butt of the rifle to steady up, and then something that's killed so many foxes in the past happens...

He stops for a final look back.

Psssssshhhhtttt.....Thwap!

250 yards and a nice sized dog fox.

djflawless

Well fair dues to ya mate.many of the foxes i experience would never be seen again after getting whisht of a human being.dont know wether its coz all lampin in my area is generally done within the same square mile area.sure it just proves a bit of determination and a small hint of lady luck can be in your favor.1 less fecker prowlin the place anyway

Tackleberrywho

I was out lamping last night at around the same time and all I saw was a couple of very lamp shy rabbits.

The Foxes mus have been listening to Cromwell and are all in Connaught

Vegeta

250 is tough under a lamp, nice shot John.

Tackleberrywho

Vegeta wrote: »

250 is tough under a lamp, nice shot John.

I have noticed far less Glare since I started using the ASE S5 rather than the Reflex on the .308.

However the P7 would not strech that far except on 5.5x

I tried calling agian last night.
No joy.

I think I will have to revert to aeroboard and spit :D

Or Buy a U-Caller.

Guys, Would you think if Bunnies do a leggar the minute the lamp is shone that the area is being lamped by someone else?

Over the Christmas I met 2 guys with a serious lamping set up out on my patch

Vegeta

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

I think I will have to revert to aeroboard and spit :D

Guys, Would you think if Bunnies do a leggar the minute the lamp is shone that the area is being lamped by someone else?

What are you using as a caller?

How long were you calling for Tack and how long did you give them to get to you. I usually wait 20 minutes for them. If they haven't shown interest in 20 minutes then they probably are not interested.

On the rabbits front, I don't have very much experience lamping them and the handful of times I have they were extremely placid. Are you shining the full light into their eyes or holding the main part of the beam off them and just spotting the eyes?

I have noticed if you put the full brunt of these powerful lamps and torches into the eyes of a fox they will turn and walk away. I don't have a dimmer so have found that If I hold the main beam of the light off them and use just enough to illuminate the eyes then they are much less likely to turn away.

declan1980

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

I have noticed far less Glare since I started using the ASE S5 rather than the Reflex on the .308.

However the P7 would not strech that far except on 5.5x

I tried calling agian last night.
No joy.

I think I will have to revert to aeroboard and spit :D

Or Buy a U-Caller.

Guys, Would you think if Bunnies do a leggar the minute the lamp is shone that the area is being lamped by someone else?

Over the Christmas I met 2 guys with a serious lamping set up out on my patch

if they're runnin from the lamp, then they've definitely been lamped before. i saw the same thing before when myself and the father went lamping rabbits. the first few nights they didn't know what was going on but they copped on soon enough.
i was in a place recently where there are loads of rabbits, and i put the lamp on them at close range and they didn't even budge, so a bright light has nothing to do with it

One shot on kill

very good read thanks

good determination aswell and a fair bit of knowledge came into play there

johngalway

The first night he certainly made me. But I didn't frighten him like if I'd shot and missed. If I had had the rifle that night there were probably three separate times I could have shot him two of those after he saw & winded me.

I've a few 250-300 yard foxes under my belt at this stage. Getting a bit more comfortable with that range now, though I don't take them shots for granted. Probably means I'll miss a 40 yard sitter soon :pac:

Tackleberrywho

Vegeta wrote: »

What are you using as a caller?

How long were you calling for Tack and how long did you give them to get to you. I usually wait 20 minutes for them. If they haven't shown interest in 20 minutes then they probably are not interested.

On the rabbits front, I don't have very much experience lamping them and the handful of times I have they were extremely placid. Are you shining the full light into their eyes or holding the main part of the beam off them and just spotting the eyes?

I have noticed if you put the full brunt of these powerful lamps and torches into the eyes of a fox they will turn and walk away. I don't have a dimmer so have found that If I hold the main beam of the light off them and use just enough to illuminate the eyes then they are much less likely to turn away.

Last night I reverted to Aeroboard, prior to that I was using an Acme Caller and prior to that a Wham.

20mins max waiting.

Last night was very bright out. I could clearly see ~100 yards through the scope with moonlight alone.

I'm suspicious that the boys I met at christmas have lamped the Shi*e out of the place, lamping bunnies used to be far easier.

I saw a U-caller Remote for €100 in a shop yest. I was sorely tempted

garv123

johngalway wrote: »

Checking through the scope I can confirm by the body it's a fox, and looks distinctly like my fox from last night. He's not coming to the call and starts moving out of the marshy area, I lose sight of him for a moment or two.



250 yards and a nice sized dog fox.

you could make out his body under the lamp at 250 yards?:eek: what in gods name were you using as a lamp?

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Last night I reverted to Aeroboard, prior to that I was using an Acme Caller and prior to that a Wham.

20mins max waiting.

Last night was very bright out. I could clearly see ~100 yards through the scope with moonlight alone.

I'm suspicious that the boys I met at christmas have lamped the Shi*e out of the place, lamping bunnies used to be far easier.

I saw a U-caller Remote for €100 in a shop yest. I was sorely tempted

we're not having much look with callers either
it was crazy how bright it was last night under the full moon. spotted two foxes without the lamp on. just the outline running across the field

dwighet

johngalway wrote: »

The first night he certainly made me. But I didn't frighten him like if I'd shot and missed. If I had had the rifle that night there were probably three separate times I could have shot him two of those after he saw & winded me.

I've a few 250-300 yard foxes under my belt at this stage. Getting a bit more comfortable with that range now, though I don't take them shots for granted. Probably means I'll miss a 40 yard sitter soon :pac:

Never:D

johngalway

garv123 wrote: »

you could make out his body under the lamp at 250 yards?:eek: what in gods name were you using as a lamp?

LF 170 scope mounted, 100W bulb, 33amp battery pack, 5.5-22x56 NF NXS. I've observed foxes quite clearly with the same set up to 350 yards to date, and once with my Blitz at over 400 yards

dwighet wrote: »

Never:D

Feck & Off :pac: I never preform well with an audience :pac:

dwighet

johngalway wrote: »

LF 170 scope mounted, 100W bulb, 33amp battery pack, 5.5-22x56 NF NXS. I've observed foxes quite clearly with the same set up to 350 yards to date, and once with my Blitz at over 400 yards



Feck & Off :pac: I never preform well with an audience :pac:

:p:p

garv123

johngalway wrote: »

LF 170 scope mounted, 100W bulb, 33amp battery pack, 5.5-22x56 NF NXS. I've observed foxes quite clearly with the same set up to 350 yards to date, and once with my Blitz at over 400 yards



Feck & Off :pac: I never preform well with an audience :pac:

sounds like a nice set up. how much did the lamp set you back?

johngalway

Tell the truth Garv, I can't honestly remember. Island Sports in Castlebar were doing good deals on them the end of last year. I believe I bought mine from the UK as that was a lot cheaper at the time. I also sourced a 100W bulb there, the vertical filament bulbs are a lot better to make a spot than the horizontal filament bulbs which make an oval.

Double Barrel

Hey John, there are foxes still left in Galway ??? :confused :D:D:D

johngalway

Double Barrel wrote: »

Hey John, there are foxes still left in Galway ??? :confused :D:D:D

Plenty of them DB, nothing but people talking about seeing foxces and their tracks through the cold weather. That lad above is the first fox I've shot since then, then there'll be the usual influx for lambing, so lots left to do yet this year

clivej

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Last night I reverted to Aeroboard, prior to that I was using an Acme Caller and prior to that a Wham.

20mins max waiting.

Last night was very bright out. I could clearly see ~100 yards through the scope with moonlight alone.

I'm suspicious that the boys I met at christmas have lamped the Shi*e out of the place, lamping bunnies used to be far easier.

I saw a U-caller Remote for €100 in a shop yest. I was sorely tempted

Get it for €88 in the UK. With 50 extra calls free

whistlingwings

I'm here listening to ABBA on it loaded it as call number 8

garv123

clivej wrote: »

Get it for €88 in the UK. With 50 extra calls free

whistlingwings

I'm here listening to ABBA on it loaded it as call number 8

haha i'd aload of calls on my phone that we were trying out and the following night down the pub when i was working i'd my phone playing music threw the jukebox and i forgot about the calls in the middle of all the songs. god i got some strange looks :rolleyes:

dwighet

clivej wrote: »

Get it for €88 in the UK. With 50 extra calls free

whistlingwings

I'm here listening to ABBA on it loaded it as call number 8

ABBA!!!!!!! mamma mia:rolleyes:

clivej

dwighet wrote: »

ABBA!!!!!!! mamma mia:rolleyes:

And yes indded it is mamma mia, don't all you oz's listen to them. :rolleyes:

Remmie 223

Ah lads
Don't talk to me about the calls on the phone . The wifes niece
Was visiting over christmas. All she wanted to do was feck
Around with my i phone, then told grandad uncle john has
Some very strange things on his phone

garv123

Remmie 223 wrote: »

Ah lads
Don't talk to me about the calls on the phone . The wifes niece
Was visiting over christmas. All she wanted to do was feck
Around with my i phone, then told grandad uncle john has
Some very strange things on his phone

love how i-phone owners never call it a phone
its always wheres my i-phone. il ring him on my i-phone la lal la :rolleyes::rolleyes:

and she really found your porn stash

Remmie 223

Guilty garv
How do you know someone has an i phone? Because the tell you

Tackleberrywho

clivej wrote: »

Get it for €88 in the UK. With 50 extra calls free

whistlingwings

I'm here listening to ABBA on it loaded it as call number 8

It's £88 on the the website, one in Athlone €100

How much €€€ delivered,as if it's close to the price i'll shop local

clivej

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

It's £88 on the the website, one in Athlone €100

How much €€€ delivered,as if it's close to the price i'll shop local

That price is in through the front door to ya, free P&P.

But you have to play smart. They deduct the VAT if you fill in the correct box and that's €16.50/£14 off the price.
So I'm not saying to get a VAT number off a company's letter head and use that but.................................that would be dishonest :rolleyes:

Tackleberrywho

clivej wrote: »

That price is in through the front door to ya, free P&P.

But you have to play smart. They deduct the VAT if you fill in the correct box and that's €16.50/£14 off the price.
So I'm not saying to get a VAT number off a company's letter head and use that but.................................that would be dishonest :rolleyes:

I BELIEVE it or NOT am extremely honest!

I'll prob buy it in Athlone TBH.€12 extra, but if it breaks it costs nothing to bring it back!