Elusive Charlie

[Jarvis 277]

Well done mate. We had our first shoot on Tuesday. Had a similar thing but it was the first drive. Sent some beaters off around a lake with a belt off trees and the rest of us bringing up a field and cover crop only to hear Charlie!! I was gutted!! The chap is a bit of a joker and knows how hard I’ve been hitting them. Really thought I was getting on top of them! Anyway to cut a long story short I’ve shot 9 in under a week up the shoot now so hopefully that will have gone some way to soaring my blushes! They are defo pairing up. I shot one pair last night, moved up into the next field and saw another pair together but could only get onto one of them. This is my third season doing the shoot part time and the first year I’ve had the NV and thermal and god does it make a difference. First year shot 25 second year 30, this year so far 61. 

[shovel leaner 7,650]

Just been feeding and went to dump the body , had a look at its teeth and I’d say there was a bit of age to the vixen . It was eating a pigeon. We have got Beech woods here and we have thousands of pigeons on the Beech mast . A lot are dying of sour crop , and Charlie and the Buzzards are clearing them up 

Edited November 6, 2018 by shovel leaner

[shovel leaner 7,650]

1 hour ago, Jarvis said:

Well done mate. We had our first shoot on Tuesday. Had a similar thing but it was the first drive. Sent some beaters off around a lake with a belt off trees and the rest of us bringing up a field and cover crop only to hear Charlie!! I was gutted!! The chap is a bit of a joker and knows how hard I’ve been hitting them. Really thought I was getting on top of them! Anyway to cut a long story short I’ve shot 9 in under a week up the shoot now so hopefully that will have gone some way to soaring my blushes! They are defo pairing up. I shot one pair last night, moved up into the next field and saw another pair together but could only get onto one of them. This is my third season doing the shoot part time and the first year I’ve had the NV and thermal and god does it make a difference. First year shot 25 second year 30, this year so far 61. 

61 !!! That’s good going . There is an old saying “ kill a fox and 2 come to the funeral “ there is a lot of truth in the old sayings . All you can hope to do is keep the numbers down , anyone who thinks they don’t have a fox on their shoot is probably mistaken. I’m around all the time and I know I’ve got foxes here . Our paths will cross no doubt . The thing is they aren’t really causing a great deal of harm now , but they can sure be an embarrassment on shoot day , not to mention ruining a drive which guests pay a lot of money for . I heard a fox calling about a week ago , but haven’t heard or seen anything since but it’s that time now when they will be pairing up . 

[Jarvis 277]

1 hour ago, shovel leaner said:

61 !!! That’s good going . There is an old saying “ kill a fox and 2 come to the funeral “ there is a lot of truth in the old sayings . All you can hope to do is keep the numbers down , anyone who thinks they don’t have a fox on their shoot is probably mistaken. I’m around all the time and I know I’ve got foxes here . Our paths will cross no doubt . The thing is they aren’t really causing a great deal of harm now , but they can sure be an embarrassment on shoot day , not to mention ruining a drive which guests pay a lot of money for . I heard a fox calling about a week ago , but haven’t heard or seen anything since but it’s that time now when they will be pairing up . 

I think where I am shoot one and 5 come to the funeral!! Yes defo pairing up! I’ll be using the mating call again I think but baiting up areas is working at the moment. 

[Underdog 2,337]

Never ending job!

[Stavross 15,511]

They are definitely pairing up around here, they have been calling for a few weeks now, I think the cold weather and snow has set them away, I’m out on the sheep farm at the weekend and will be taking the digital caller with me, try them mating call

[David.evans 5,323]

A determined man will always succeed, knew you would do it

And U is right give them head lamps a wipe , lol 

atb 

 

[Meece 1,957]

I thought it was a bit early but when I put dog out on lawn the night before last, there were 3 vixen calling at different places in the distance.  One year I had a very elusive one. It took about two  months to get it. One night all I saw was the smallest eye flash that could have been mistaken for a moth flash near a small square wood.  When I  got there the dog decided that it wasn't going to let this continue. It just disappeared into the wood. I carried on walking around the wood and when at the top the dog came back. When we walked round the end and into the  next field there was charlie out in the middle.  One shot and GTB.  The dog went over to it and the BST wasn't finished. It bit the dog in the leg up the shin. It took  months and a lot of treatment for that wound to heal. Needless to say there was a fair bit of retribution on the dogs behalf.

[Meece 1,957]

14 hours ago, shovel leaner said:

Just been feeding and went to dump the body , had a look at its teeth and I’d say there was a bit of age to the vixen . It was eating a pigeon. We have got Beech woods here and we have thousands of pigeons on the Beech mast . A lot are dying of sour crop , and Charlie and the Buzzards are clearing them up 

And it's teeth were worn down like that. Old and experienced. Still they all  make one mistake.

[ianm 2,594]

On 06/11/2018 at 08:31, shovel leaner said:

61 !!! That’s good going . There is an old saying “ kill a fox and 2 come to the funeral “ there is a lot of truth in the old sayings . All you can hope to do is keep the numbers down , anyone who thinks they don’t have a fox on their shoot is probably mistaken. I’m around all the time and I know I’ve got foxes here . Our paths will cross no doubt . The thing is they aren’t really causing a great deal of harm now , but they can sure be an embarrassment on shoot day , not to mention ruining a drive which guests pay a lot of money for . I heard a fox calling about a week ago , but haven’t heard or seen anything since but it’s that time now when they will be pairing up . 

I know there are no foxes on the small syndicate shoot i am in because i have six cameras out all the time in the fox hotspots and baited. I shot one on Monday night that turned up saturday night for the first time. I like to kill them as they turn up. Last year was the first year ever there were no cubs about on the shoot, because i killed every fox that turned up in Jan, Feb  and March. 

The big keepered shoot i shoot foxes on is a different kettle of fish though. It is 8,000 acres and surrounded by unkeepered land, so foxes continually filter in. I shot three big dogs on Friday night using the vixen in heat call on that shoot and i will shoot more on there this week no doubt. 

 

 

 

[shovel leaner 7,650]

8 minutes ago, ianm said:

I know there are no foxes on the small syndicate shoot i am in because i have six cameras out all the time in the fox hotspots and baited. I shot one on Monday night that turned up saturday night for the first time. I like to kill them as they turn up. Last year was the first year ever there were no cubs about on the shoot, because i killed every fox that turned up in Jan, Feb  and March. 

The big keepered shoot i shoot foxes on is a different kettle of fish though. It is 8,000 acres and surrounded by unkeepered land, so foxes continually filter in. I shot three big dogs on Friday night using the vixen in heat call on that shoot and i will shoot more on there this week no doubt. 

 

 

 

Fair play mate , you are doing a good job . But if you weren’t as proactive, you would soon find a few moved in . I’m going to keep at them this year and see if it makes a difference in the shoots returns . I have always left them alone from now on because I like my terrier work , but I am sure I will still find some to ground in the forestry when the weather gets colder. I will let you know how I get on , early February when I do my report. 

[Born Hunter 17,763]

On 05/11/2018 at 22:41, shovel leaner said:

But the reality is that I drove into a field near the scene of his crime and there it was eating something. I’d spotted it with my thermal and this time it hung around long enough to get set up for a shot . And that was it . 

Gotta love opportunism!

About this time last year I nailed a lamp shy fox that I had seen multiple times and even walked up out of set aside twice. I was having a mooch around the boundary when a hell of a racket was kicking off across the other side of the field. Gulls were playing hell and then I noticed what with, that fox. It came pelting down the field from >300 yards away right to me!  I crouched down in the margin with the dog and rolled him without even seeing me. It was hard to believe tbh. Got the whole thing on video too! 

[ianm 2,594]

25 minutes ago, shovel leaner said:

Fair play mate , you are doing a good job . But if you weren’t as proactive, you would soon find a few moved in . I’m going to keep at them this year and see if it makes a difference in the shoots returns . I have always left them alone from now on because I like my terrier work , but I am sure I will still find some to ground in the forestry when the weather gets colder. I will let you know how I get on , early February when I do my report. 

Oh i know only to well how many there would be if i didn't hammer them relentlesly. The lad that runs our shoot and one of his mates used to walk round with a lamp every now and then, or try to react to seeing pheasants, partridge or ducks that had been eaten. When i joined the syndicate he asked me to have a go at them because he knew i used different methods and to be frank i have more time than him. As you know using a thermal spotter and a decent n/v scope, plus the intelligence you gather from trail cams is a far more productive method than wandering about with a lamp. 

I used to love the terrier work when i was younger but i am a bit too old to be digging 8,10,12 foot holes now. No i rely on the rifle these days, as the keeper says you can shoot ten while you're digging one and he see's every dead fox as a good thing.  

[Underdog 2,337]

32 minutes ago, ianm said:

Oh i know only to well how many there would be if i didn't hammer them relentlesly. The lad that runs our shoot and one of his mates used to walk round with a lamp every now and then, or try to react to seeing pheasants, partridge or ducks that had been eaten. When i joined the syndicate he asked me to have a go at them because he knew i used different methods and to be frank i have more time than him. As you know using a thermal spotter and a decent n/v scope, plus the intelligence you gather from trail cams is a far more productive method than wandering about with a lamp. 

I used to love the terrier work when i was younger but i am a bit too old to be digging 8,10,12 foot holes now. No i rely on the rifle these days, as the keeper says you can shoot ten while you're digging one and he see's every dead fox as a good thing.  

Ok, good points but the intelligence has to be very good or all the latest kit will still miss something!

I use my daytime walks and knowledge of the land to look for sign and listen to the pheasants. They will tell you if a fox is about. Wrens too will tell you if a predator is in thick cover.

A fresh turd, a pheasants wing or two.

Put a brick or stone on favorite runs, they love to mark them etc.

So when I go for a "wonder" with a lamp I have a good idea where to hang around.

I do fancy a trail camera though!

 

U.

[ianm 2,594]

2 hours ago, Underdog said:

Ok, good points but the intelligence has to be very good or all the latest kit will still miss something!

I use my daytime walks and knowledge of the land to look for sign and listen to the pheasants. They will tell you if a fox is about. Wrens too will tell you if a predator is in thick cover.

A fresh turd, a pheasants wing or two.

Put a brick or stone on favorite runs, they love to mark them etc.

So when I go for a "wonder" with a lamp I have a good idea where to hang around.

I do fancy a trail camera though!

 

U.

The intelligence gathered from trail cams is absolutely the best. It is a recording of what has actually happened with a date and time stamp. A fresh turd or whatever will tell you if a fox has been in the area but not when, a trail cam will. If you have several cams out and the fox is captured on more than one, as will be the case if you have sited them correctly they will also tell you which direction they have come from aswell. I like to kill them before we get to the pheasants wings laying about stage.