How Early

[fireman 10,864]

Just to go back to the dog fox helping bit,on wednesday i delt with a litter of big cubs and that night the vixen,a baren vixen and a dog fox were all shot within 50 yrds of the earth the cubs were in.The cubs were laid out and the vixen and the/a dog fox were shot on top of the earth right next to the cubs,the baren vixen was shot comming across the field towards the earth so was deffo on her way to it,so with this litter there were 3 adults helping out and like i say the cubs were big and due to the warmth weve been having i was amazed they were below ground still..

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

So just to recap there mate ,you dug the cubs and then laid up for any adults returning and they did indeed return to get to within 50 yards of the dug earth .

[howdeeposxxt 1,448]

I remember digging cubs as a teenager and while doing so the vixen was defo witin a hundred yards moving from right to left. I freaked a little bit kept digging it was a old stone wall type ditch very annoying and was there for quite a while she never came to close thank god. I tought she was going to attack me. I also remember not to long ago shooting a vixen the field out the back my garden and one buy one droped 4 cubs within 30 mins in the same field this was late june cubs where very hardy.

[howdeeposxxt 1,448]

Foxes are cheeky caught one also in the chicken coop with is only 30yards away from the kennels . I kicked the shit out of him lol .

Edited May 7, 2016 by howdeeposxxt

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

I remember digging cubs as a teenager and while doing so the vixen was defo witin a hundred yards moving from right to left. I freaked a little bit kept digging it was a old stone wall type ditch very annoying and was there for quite a while she never came to close thank god. I tought she was going to attack me. I also remember not to long ago shooting a vixen the field out the back my garden and one buy one droped 4 cubs within 30 mins in the same field this was late june cubs where very hardy.

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

Mothers instinct mate!!

[howdeeposxxt 1,448]

Fox rules or habbits seem to be not set in stone sorry for all the post but I'm just thinking back I remember digging two sets of cubs in the one field and both sets of cubs where definatly of different age ..huh what do ye think of that. I would not belive that myself if it didn't happen to me . Anyone come across that one

[fireman 10,864]

So just to recap there mate ,you dug the cubs and then laid up for any adults returning and they did indeed return to get to within 50 yards of the dug earth .

I dug the cubs and the keeper sat out,did the same yesterday on a different shoot and the keeper there was going to sit out last night with a cub call and 222.50,it how things are done round this way with all the keepers i know....

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Fair play mate but in my experience the vixen won't go anywhere near a disturbed earth ,just call all night from a distance .Different methods for different lads I guess .Got a vixen worrying lambs on a bit I do ,farmers daughter seen it shaking a half grown lamb while back but the bugger is extremely lamp shy .Farmer gets out there shouting at it with his handheld .

I have a high seat on the farm in the lower fields for deer and sat in it Friday evening ,I saw a buck sit down on a hedgerow about 150 yds away .Watched him hoping he would rise when a small fox ran down the hedge to him and only backed off when he rose .I think the fox had seen his ear twitch and was in hunt mode .Never shot either as fox was not having any squeaking and the buck trotted off through a gate .Her time will come but only then will I deal with cubs that are in a barn full of hay .

[Crosshair 77]

We used to deal with Cubs first then sit up that evening at my old place. It didn't always work but often it did.

 

It's all a big gamble and there's no hard and fast rule I think. The danger with trying to get the adults first is that you may end up disturbing them anyway and then the whole lot get moved. At least if you get the Cubs the killing stops and you've got no more foxes than you had before. It's easy to waste a week after adults only for them all to vanish anyway.

 

It also depends on the terrain. This time of year here around here a fox can get wherever it likes without ever leaving cover so can easily make a fool out of you!

[THE GENERAL 1,982]

About 15 years ago while out with my terriers on ground close to my home which I thought I knew inside out at the rear of a graveyard, a black bitch I had back then found a freshly opened up rabbit burrow under a tree. She squeezed her way in and within a few minutes made contact. I ran to the graveyard and got a spade and while digging to the bitch a vixen bolted. I broke into the bitch trying to dig past a large rock. Pulled her out and there in behind the rock was two fox cubs only a few days old. I bridged the dig and filled it in as careful as I could and while doing so noticed the vixen circling around me around the large hill at the top of the field. As I walked away and made sure she seen me leaving she kept circling and coming closer to the burrow. I left as quickly as I could. Went for a walk the next day to the same spot and as far as i could gather she had moved them on to somewhere safer.

[howdeeposxxt 1,448]

On another occassion we had come across a set of cubs decided to block in the hole with stone rocks best way we could we left my jacket their on a stick with cap on it to have a scarecrow type effect. So we set home for a terrier and tools took an hour to get back and we discovered clay beside the rocks was throw back towards the field and vixen had got in and cubs taken away still got her that eve a couple a fields away in a box shore that had been opened a few times.

[whitefeet4190 1,725]

That pic with the Cubs lined up if f***ing sad, I'd give the job up if it came to doing that shit

I don't like seeing them shot mate but sometimes needs must ?

[neil cooney 10,416]

Moving on a few weeks - but what a year for cubs. Two weeks ago one ran across the road in front of me the size of a small vixen. I got out and watched it for a while. A week later I watched a litter in the same small covert the size of small cats.

Been trying to find a chicken killing cub all week who's quiet big but while looking for it all I see are babies. Farmer's ringing me with a problem and I go out and look for the culprit and see very little sign.

I even had a call of a farmer less than two weeks ago who lost two lambs, I'd say that's the latest ever.

There are no rabbits at all around us this year and I reckon that foxes are travelling further than ever for food but so far it looks like they've been fairly prolific so far.

Pity about the lack of rabbits as it would keep the fox under the radar and leave more for the colder months.

[neil cooney 10,416]

That seems late.