A good day shooting foxes

declan1980

I was out with the gun club shooting foxes today. We met in town and had a talk about safety before we went out to the first drive. One of the lads had organised a guy with a few hounds for the day, to do some big drives, so we had about 20 guns lined up.
On the first drive 3 foxes were shot. I didn't even see a fox on this drive, but I could hear the dogs barking in the cover and it wasn't long before a shot rang out and we had the first fox of the day. The dogs kept on hunting and two more foxes were shot before the first drive was finished.
The dogs were put in the van, and we headed off to the next drive.
The next drive started off the same, the guns were lined up, and the dogs set off into the cover, it wasn't long before we heard the dogs and a few shots were fired. I was positioned at the end of a ditch so I had a view of either side. My buddy was at the other end of the ditch, and I heard a shot from him, then another, and another. Bad sign, so I kept an eye out on my right hand side, and lo and behold a big fox comes running across the field about 30 yards out. I put up the gun and gave him about a foot of lead and BOOM, I dropped him with a Remington 50g 0. We heard a few more shots and the final tally for this drive was 4. So that's 7 so far, and that meant it was time for tea. As we were having the tea one of the lads mentioned that there was a burrow nearby, so 4 of us went over and let in 3 terriers into the burrow. It was a matter of a few seconds before a big fox bolted from the burrow with the terriers hot on his heels. My buddy put up his gun and BOOM, he made up for his earlier miss.
We did another drive, but it produced nothing, so we went on to another spot.
It wasn't long befor the dogs were off and a couple of foxes bolted from cover, unfortunately we didn't have enough guns to cover this area and only one of these was shot, and one of the beaters shot a fox in a clear spot in the cover.
After this we decided to call it a day as the light was fading fast.
The total for the day was 10 foxes, and a great day was had by all.
Despite the safety talk in the morning, there were a couple of no no's. The first one was that ther was two lads who wouldn't stay in position, and were constantly moving. This was dangerous because it made it impossible to know where they are and it was possible to fire in their direction without knowing they were there. Another no no was one lad fired up the line at a fox running from him towards another lad further up the line. These guys were experienced shooter too, so they had no excuse for their mistakes, but even with these feck ups it was a good day

Sika98k

If guns wont behave on a driven hunt like that,ie moving from their post or shooting up the line send them home.
There is no excuse for their stupidity in endangering themselves and/or others.
BTW,congratulations on getting 10 foxes for the day,thats a good bag !

declan1980

Sika98k wrote: »

If guns wont behave on a driven hunt like that,ie moving from their post or shooting up the line send them home.
There is no excuse for their stupidity in endangering themselves and/or others.
BTW,congratulations on getting 10 foxes for the day,thats a good bag

We were lucky enough that those two lads (a father and son I might add, so maybe it's some thing in the family) fecked off home after that drive. Thanks, it was one of the best days that was had for a few years.

sean raff

good report there,unfortunatly there are ginates everywhere.the scary bit is these guys had guns

best craic i ever had was this type of shooting. its a great day out. used to tag along with a mate of mine who then fell out with the guys running the shoot. great sport your shot seems to steady up too with plenty slagging for a miss!

declan1980

sean raff wrote: »

good report there,unfortunatly there are ginates everywhere.the scary bit is these guys had guns

There's a few in every club unfortunately. The crazy thing I s that these guys are shooting about 20 years lingers than I am

declan1980

Deleted User wrote: »

best craic i ever had was this type of shooting. its a great day out. used to tag along with a mate of mine who then fell out with the guys running the shoot. great sport your shot seems to steady up too with plenty slagging for a miss!

Sure a bit of slagging is part and parcel for these kind of days. You just don't want to be too thin skinned

thats for sure i really enjoyed it. mayo is perfect for it lot of small plantations

beretta686s

were out doing the same last weekend in our club tis good crack esp when the hounds come howling in ur direction our tally was 8 for the day and had a few runners as well

noise of the hounds coming your way is good alright

Birdnuts

Good stuff - foxing is always more enjoyable(I find) when your working with the dogs too, to get a good result like this:)

marknjb

we were out yesterday as well got a total of 6 for the day
we go every sunday from stephans day to the start of march
we got 7 last sunday i love this shooting nothing like standing on the line with the dogs coming yelping towards u and the slagging u get if u miss
were north tipp aswell

lee70

Well done declan sounds like a cracker of a day. Myself and a few other lads shoot covers most weekends great fun. I got 2 foxes sunday myself and can't wait for this sunday too do it all over again. We do most of our shooting in KK.

kildare.17hmr

Sounds like a great day lad good report

declan1980

Was out again today. We only had 6 guns today, and we were using 3 terriers, 1 foot beagle, and a sheepdog/springer cross to beat the cover.
Since we only had 6 lads we thought it was best to do all small beats.
We started off at a small plantation with some furze at the end of it. The dogs were through it fairly quickly, and I heard a shot at the far side, that gave us our first fox.
The next beat didn't produce anything, so we didn't hang around.
After that we decided to head up the hills. I was cover ing a ditch, and I thought if I stood on top of a pile of rocks in the middle I'd have a good view of both sides. As soon as I was on the rocks, I looked back only to see a big red fox running off up the hill. If I had stopped about 50yards further back I would have had him, so I was fecking kicking myself for that.
I stayed put in the hopes of seeing another lad. I heard another shot which gave us number 2, and after a couple of minutes the lads were roaring at me to come over to the ditch they were on. The hound had run a fox to ground and the terriers were in the burrow giving him stick. I stood back a few feet from the ditch in case the fox bolted, but this didn't happen, because the terriers had killed him in the burrow, so it was only a matter of a bit of digging to get him out.
We went on to another small beat, let off the dogs, and within minutes a couple of shot were fired and we had number 4.
We went to another spot that produced nothing, so we moved on again.
The next spot was just a small bit of furze. We lined up and waited for the dogs. It wasn't long before the dogs started barking, I heard a bit of noise in the ditch and a fox burst out tearing down the hill, I put up the gun and flattened him with one of my favourite fox cartridges (no prizes for guessing what that is, I go on about it enough), that was number 5 and since it was getting a bit late we decided to call it a day.
All in all it was a good day, 5 foxes inst bad for a small group of lads

patdahat

another good day by ye and a good read fair play.

pheasntstalker

nice one lad;):D sounds like a savage day, i wouldnt mind having a days shooting foxes with terriers/hounds,i dont know any lads round my neck of the woods that shoot with terriers/hounds:( ive never done it before wouldnt mind a day out like that, well done and keep up the good work on charlie;):D:D

declan1980

pheasntstalker wrote: »

nice one lad;):D sounds like a savage day, i wouldnt mind having a days shooting foxes with terriers/hounds,i dont know any lads round my neck of the woods that shoot with terriers/hounds:( ive never done it before wouldnt mind a day out like that, well done and keep up the good work on charlie;):D:D

It's deadly craic alright. I love any kind of foxing, be it lamping them, calling them on summer evenings or driving them with dogs. They are definitely one of my favourite animals to hunt, because they're so crafty.
I'm sure there's someone in your area doin a bit of this kind of hunting. If you ask someone in your local gun club I'm sure they'd know who's at it.

marknjb

we only got three today and we got them out off the first beat

lee70

declan1980 wrote: »

It's deadly craic alright. I love any kind of foxing, be it lamping them, calling them on summer evenings or driving them with dogs. They are definitely one of my favourite animals to hunt, because they're so crafty.
I'm sure there's someone in your area doin a bit of this kind of hunting. If you ask someone in your local gun club I'm sure they'd know who's at it.

We got 5 today all dog foxes. I got the first one of the day got some pics so I'll try and stick them up tomorrow.

robbie mars

Well done:D:D

declan1980

Well it's that time of the week again, so I thought I'd do my report.
We started from the town hall as usual, and headed off to the first drive. Off went the dogs, and very quickly a couple of shots were fired, one of the lads got a double. A few minutes later another shot went off and we had a third.
The next drive was only a few fields over, so the guns headed over and the beaters followed as soon as the last gun rang back to say he was in place.
The dogs weren't long about rising a fox, but he ran to ground, so muggins here had to run back to the jeep to get the tools. When I got back we tore into digging, and man was that burrow deep, we had to dig about 4 foot down, but it was worth it, because the terriers had 2 foxes killed inside in it. It was after 2 at this stage, and we were bollixed from digging, so we stopped for the tea.
The next beat was near enough to my place, so I was really hoping to get a couple because we'll be releasing a few birds soon. I found a very good spot outside the furze we were going to beat. I was standing in front of a bush, and with the balaclava on I was well camoflaged. Soon enough the dogs started barking and I saw one of the lads put up his gun, but he never fired, instead he signalled me to say the fox was coming to me. I heard something moving in the bushes in front of me, so I put up the gun to be ready, and a fox strolled out towards me. He didn't even see me, so I just let him keep coming and when he was about 15 yards away I dropped him with the usual cartridge.
After that drive we tried two more, but they produced nothing, and since it was 5 o'clock we decided to call it a day.
6 foxes altogether, so I wasn't a bad day.
The hounds are coming next week, so I should have another good report then

sean raff

Man your fairly knockin the crap outa them foxes good on ye

declan1980

sean raff wrote: »

Man your fairly knockin the crap outa them foxes good on ye

Cheers, but as far as I can see, fox numbers are limitless, because this kind of hunting has been going on for years, along with a couple of hundred being lamped every year. Imagine what kind of numbers would be around if no foxes were ever shot

lee70

declan1980 wrote: »

Cheers, but as far as I can see, fox numbers are limitless, because this kind of hunting has been going on for years, along with a couple of hundred being lamped every year. Imagine what kind of numbers would be around if no foxes were ever shot

Our drive was cancelled this week boo hoo:(:(:(

EastTyrone

heading out on my first fox drive next sunday cannot waitn:D:D:D:D:D

declan1980

EastTyrone wrote: »

heading out on my first fox drive next sunday cannot waitn:D:D:D:D:D

Well the best of luck to you. Shoot safe, and have a good time

EastTyrone

declan1980 wrote: »

Well the best of luck to you. Shoot safe, and have a good time

As far as I know I will be working the dogs and helping to drive the foxes, what does this entail?

marknjb

EastTyrone wrote: »

As far as I know I will be working the dogs and helping to drive the foxes, what does this entail?

pleanty of thorns

declan1980

marknjb wrote: »

pleanty of thorns

+1

marknjb

what part are u hunting declan we are in the roscrea area

EastTyrone

marknjb wrote: »

pleanty of thorns

take it its me vs alot of whin bushes then?:cool:

declan1980

marknjb wrote: »

what part are u hunting declan we are in the roscrea area

We hunt in the templemore area

declan1980

We were out again today, it wasn't great. The first drive produced nothing. The second drive was better. My father pulled off an excellent shot on a fox going at full speed. I was delighted for him, because he was out nearly every day and hadn't got a shot at a fox. The third drive produced two foxes, and I had to head off after that, so I don't know how they got on after that. One thing is for certain though, the foxes are getting scarce, so we must be doing a good job.

marknjb

we got three today ourselves we got one in the first beat a dog fox with a stump of a tail .next two beats were small ones with nothing in them
the next beat i got a spot on a ditch where someone had cut a tree off beside another one i stood up on the stump with my back to the other tree i got two one each side off the ditch i was delighted the two of them were moving well. that brought my tally to 5 we did one more beat but got nothing one got away . we packed it in then because most of the lads wanted to go see the rugby . i think we are finished now because lads recon most of the bitches are carrying pups
anyway heres to stephens day and another start

sean raff

Well done guys on both reports kinda look forward to a sunday eve to get a
Good read

The Big Fella

Hoping to nail a few with the shotgun myself over the next few weeks.:D

round tower huntsman

declan1980 wrote: »

I As we were having the tea one of the lads mentioned that there was a burrow nearby, so 4 of us went over and let in 3 terriers into the burrow. It was a matter of a few seconds before a big fox bolted from the burrow with the terriers hot on his heels.

:eek::mad::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: 3 terriers into same hole. thats asking for trouble lad. if your terriers cant work single handed then you got the wrong stuff tbh.
shooting foxes like that is an excellent day out. we often bring our pack to covers for gun clubs they always bag a few foxes.

declan1980

round tower huntsman wrote: »

:eek::mad::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: 3 terriers into same hole. thats asking for trouble lad. if your terriers cant work single handed then you got the wrong stuff tbh.
shooting foxes like that is an excellent day out. we often bring our pack to covers for gun clubs they always bag a few foxes.

Since the terriers are used to drive the foxes, they often just tear into the burrows themselves. Tbh I know feck all about working terriers, and have only ever seen the ones that my friend owns working.

declan1980

We were out again yesterday, we got 4, 3 were driven, and I shot one bolting from a burrow. Next week will be the last week, because the foxes will start having the cubs soon, and we leave them alone to rear the cubs after that

marknjb

a few of us said we would go out beating for a hour or two this morning firsst beat four hares came out off it
when we went on to the next one the dogs started going mad they put out three foxes two were missed the one we got though was a special one
my 11 year old son shot his first fox cool as a breeze first shot at a fox .

he has been going after foxes since he was knee high he has shot at targets and a few crows before and had proved he was safe with the gun he stands near me on the line and is only allowed to line when there is only a few of us at it in case any one is going to give out
he also asked one off the boys who missed did they want another look at the fox they missed
bye from one happy dad

LIFFY FISHING

Out yesterday morning, great morning, hounds worked great, worked a field with lots of cover & 3 foxes broke, despite been on lots of drives & shooting foxes by the rifle I shot my first fox with the shotgun yesterday, a good size dog fox.
My shooting buddy shot & stumbled the second one who made it to cover & never got it.
A local lad from the club we were with fired 4 shots! Hit old Reynard with at least 3, the crack & slagging was great, the dogs & terriers followed it to its earth & recovered it from its hole.
If I can offer some small advise, lads unless foxy is at 20 yards ur not going to get a clean kill with 5or 6's, buy a box of Remington 7 0' or 00's, I know a box is about a tenner, but if your out foxing or on a drive you wont be wasting them, & your quarry wont be running away if you hit him, safe shooting pals.

rugerman

lads if any of ye have room for extra gun i be delighted to go and in return could bring ye to my club which is un hunted and un lamped i got 13 in one night im in south kk

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73190643@N06/7982149679/

LIFFY FISHING

rugerman wrote: »

lads if any of ye have room for extra gun i be delighted to go and in return could bring ye to my club which is un hunted and un lamped i got 13 in one night im in south

kkhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/73190643@N06/7982149679/in/photostream/lightbox/

Where u based

declan1980

LIFFY FISHING wrote: »

Out yesterday morning, great morning, hounds worked great, worked a field with lots of cover & 3 foxes broke, despite been on lots of drives & shooting foxes by the rifle I shot my first fox with the shotgun yesterday, a good size dog fox.
My shooting buddy shot & stumbled the second one who made it to cover & never got it.
A local lad from the club we were with fired 4 shots! Hit old Reynard with at least 3, the crack & slagging was great, the dogs & terriers followed it to its earth & recovered it from its hole.
If I can offer some small advise, lads unless foxy is at 20 yards ur not going to get a clean kill with 5or 6's, buy a box of Remington 7 0' or 00's, I know a box is about a tenner, but if your out foxing or on a drive you wont be wasting them, & your quarry wont be running away if you hit him, safe shooting pals.

That's good advice there. They might be expensive, but for the amount of the you'll fire in a year they're not that bad. I bought 2 boxes of Remington 50g 0's, (10 in a box) last year and I still have around 11 left

rugerman

LIFFY FISHING wrote: »

Where u based

south kk 5 mins from Waterford ten mins from Carrick on suir I'm a big shootin man but nobody hunts or shoots down my way full of foxes AMD its hard to keep em controlled I hunt and lamp on my own as nobody is into the foxes

Invincible

LIFFY FISHING wrote: »

Where u based

Said he was South Kilkenny.

.223forme

we never get these numbers when fox shooting,,too few guns and too much messing plus the hounds are always very hard to gather up in big beats

marknjb

too many hounds are trouble as half the day will go gathering them up we have about three hounds and 10 terriers + springers

.223forme

marknjb wrote: »

too many hounds are trouble as half the day will go gathering them up we have about three hounds and 10 terriers + springers

and what sort of results do yee get??

marknjb

best day was 10 so far this year the worst was 4