Chicken killer

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

One of my landowners phoned me recently and after a long chat about things in general ,he finally got round to mentioning that he'd lost 30 odd chickens in the week to a fox ! .I assured him i would have a look as i get the stalking free here on the back of the fox control .I know what your your thinking ,cant be doing a good job if the farmers lost that many chickens .Well those of you that know the game will also know that you cant be everywhere all the time so losses are bound to happen .The loss was in truth his fault as he never shut the chickens in that night and left it to a neighbour .Its a small free range shed of 40 odd birds that pays for itself well by all accounts ,or did do .Charlie had jumped an electric fence and killed 33 inside before making off with one . No pics of the carnage as it was cleaned up on the day and its now 3 days later ! This morning or rather last night it was playing on my mind so i got up at 2am and decided on a trip there with lamp and rifle .Very cold wind with icy rain and lumps of snow but as they say' he who dares'. The shed has been restocked so a good chance of him coming back and i set up in the prone position on a tarp ,wooley hat ,gloves and thick coat right next to the shed .Stuck the lamp in the ground to be on permanent and pointed it down hill to where i thought he would come from .Despite the cold ,i was now warm and i must have dozed a bit head on arm.Woke with a jolt and for a second wondered where the hell i was .A fox was at the far end of the beam but sat down .I squeaked once which was a mistake as he ran into a nearby hedge and was gone for all intents and purposes .I decided to wait it out longer and moved the lamp to cover the hedge but not directly on it.A long while went by, but was probably no more than 5 minutes, when i saw the glare of eyes in the hedge.Looking though the scope i could make out charlies head at about 70 yards .Nothing to lose so steadied and fired .The hedge has a ditch running along the bottem and is not so thick as id always thought ,not in this spot anyway and i found the fox ,a dog ,dead where i hit him ,shot through the head and just the other side the ditch.Hopefully this is the culprit but control will be ongoing here . A walk around the rest of the ground revealed nothing so home to bed at 3.3o am .

Edited February 21, 2010 by foxdropper

[Deker 3,478]

[Jkm 1]

nice charlie mate what cal you use??

[black lab 3]

Job well done hopefully that was the culprit and no more casualties for your farmer

[weejohn 3]

super result

[martin 332]

Fell asleep on the job.......haven't I taught you anything....LOL

You did well mate,but,don't get complacent cos I won't let you fall asleep on Tuesday night mind. ..........Martin

[Yokel Matt 918]

Good do mate – a worthwhile change in tactics for that bugger all-be-it a bit of a ball chiller

[langouroux 14]

good read mate, however you forgot a few essentials: pillow, cuddly toy, flask of hot chocolate!

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

good read mate, however you forgot a few essentials: pillow, cuddly toy, flask of hot chocolate!

I think if another vigil is called for ,the flask would maybe keep me awake longer .

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

nice charlie mate what cal you use??

.243 mate

[Night_Runner 0]

Good Shooting foxy always seem to be shooting plenty of foxes.

[speedystu 0]

another good read mate!!! well done..

[dave1372 83]

Nice write up and great pic. Hope the neighbour keeps on making mistakes so you can clear up the foxes lol!