Back up at the shoot

[Stavross 15,608]

I’m glad I’m not the only one struggling with with foxes at the minute, I missed another one the other night, so I need to check the .223, in my defence it was a quite a long way off ( I know, excuses) We need to get ourselves sorted out, these are meant to be the easy ones

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

I know I'm at my wits end , I've never witnessed as many misses this year in all the 35 years I've been foxing  

These ones are far from easy and that's using  thermal and nv

I'm a bit disheartened to say the least , lost my mojo to get out for them

[Dervburner 2,549]

6 hours ago, FOXHUNTER said:

Announcement.....I'm giving up foxing as it's too stressful

Received a call from farmer yesterday that a fox is hanging  around the hen hut and stealing sweetcorn put out for the hens.

So rang my mate to come through with  his C50 and see what he could do as I didnt want to shoot after that miss the other night as haven't checked scope. 

Anyway saw 2 foxes but no shot on for either so moved to another field and called one in immediately to 70yds and my mate duly missed it ....I felt like crying

This is the same farm where Stav missed one so these foxes are living a charmed life. 

They are taking chickens and I need to get them but they are proving very tricky.

I've never had such tricky foxes to sort out I'm pulling my hair out...

 

Would it help if I stood in front of a target Mark?

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

9 minutes ago, Dervburner said:

Would it help if I stood in front of a target Mark?

Probably still miss

What makes it worse was I was going to shoot crows today but didn't bother and received a call from another shooter today who shot 101 in a few hours

Going at 1st light so hopefully still get a few

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

Out on the barley stubble this morning to thin out some corvids. Very quiet but the field was shot yesterday by another gun so expected.

I had a young roe buck stood amongst the decoys at one point only 10 yds away. 

Ended up on 46 but really pleased with my shooting this morning shooting very well pulling down some rangey crows

Red hot by mid morning with nothing moving so off home.

Shot this weird vulture looking jackdaw

[Stavross 15,608]

Well, seen as I’ve sacked work off because of the heat I decided to go up to the sheep farm because the farmer has just had the contractors in cutting the barley, I got there for just before 10pm and not having much luck or confidence in the.223 at the minute I went old school with the .243 and a lamp, obviously using the thermal for spotting. I tried a couple of spots on my way to the top fields but see nothing by the time I got to the two cut barley fields it was properly dark so I positioned myself in the gateway between the two cut fields and set the caller approximately 45 yards on top of a bail pointing down the field I thought it was more likely I’d see a fox in, after 30 minutes or so of various calls I hadn’t seen anything, when I was thinking of moving to the other side of the farm, I looked over towards the sheep field and could see the unmistakable heat signature of a fox that had just come into the field and was walking the edge of the hedge, I quickly turned the volume up on the caller and it duly showed no interest in it at all, I watched it for a few minutes through the thermal until  it was inline with me, still a fare distance and I couldn’t quite make it out with the lamp on it. I thought “sh*t or bust” and gave a couple of loud blasts on the mouth caller, it immediately stopped, a couple more quieter squeaks and it was trotting towards me when it became clear in the scope I stopped it with a little whistle, squeezing the trigger I heard the thud and seen it drop, I gave it another 15 minutes but nothing else showed. I went and collected the caller and set of to pick the fox, I thought, I know where it is but when I got into the field I couldn’t  see it with the thermal, I walked around in the area I thought it was and couldn’t find it, I was getting that sinking feeling of “ oh no, not again “ when I walked on 25/30 meters and there it was in a tyre rut, a small vixen cub, lovely colour, very dark, only down side is it now had a fist size hole in it from the 70gn BT Sako, on my way to dump it in the fire area I looked into next doors field with the horses and there’s another about 160 yards away, now this one came into the mouth caller up to about 75 yards and stopped because it realised I was there and try as I might it wouldn’t move, just laid down and looked at me,I’m convinced that it was another cub I could of shot it a 100 times over where it was, but it’s really not worth the risk been seen shooting in this field as my farmer really doesn’t get on with the owner of that field, so that will have to wait for another day, there’s two fields of rape to come off and then that’s the whole place clear, not a bad way to spend a warm summer evening and finishing it off sat in the back garden at 2am in my pants drinking a JD and coke

Edited July 19, 2022 by Stavross

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

I was thinking shall I look at the last pic or not ?

[ianm 2,594]

7 hours ago, Stavross said:

Well, seen as I’ve sacked work off because of the heat I decided to go up to the sheep farm because the farmer has just had the contractors in cutting the barley, I got there for just before 10pm and not having much luck or confidence in the.223 at the minute I went old school with the .243 and a lamp, obviously using the thermal for spotting. I tried a couple of spots on my way to the top fields but see nothing by the time I got to the two cut barley fields it was properly dark so I positioned myself in the gateway between the two cut fields and set the caller approximately 45 yards on top of a bail pointing down the field I thought it was more likely I’d see a fox in, after 30 minutes or so of various calls I hadn’t seen anything, when I was thinking of moving to the other side of the farm, I looked over towards the sheep field and could see the unmistakable heat signature of a fox that had just come into the field and was walking the edge of the hedge, I quickly turned the volume up on the caller and it duly showed no interest in it at all, I watched it for a few minutes through the thermal until  it was inline with me, still a fare distance and I couldn’t quite make it out with the lamp on it. I thought “sh*t or bust” and gave a couple of loud blasts on the mouth caller, it immediately stopped, a couple more quieter squeaks and it was trotting towards me when it became clear in the scope I stopped it with a little whistle, squeezing the trigger I heard the thud and seen it drop, I gave it another 15 minutes but nothing else showed. I went and collected the caller and set of to pick the fox, I thought, I know where it is but when I got into the field I couldn’t  see it with the thermal, I walked around in the area I thought it was and couldn’t find it, I was getting that sinking feeling of “ oh no, not again “ when I walked on 25/30 meters and there it was in a tyre rut, a small vixen cub, lovely colour, very dark, only down side is it now had a fist size hole in it from the 70gn BT Sako, on my way to dump it in the fire area I looked into next doors field with the horses and there’s another about 160 yards away, now this one came into the mouth caller up to about 75 yards and stopped because it realised I was there and try as I might it wouldn’t move, just laid down and looked at me,I’m convinced that it was another cub I could of shot it a 100 times over where it was, but it’s really not worth the risk been seen shooting in this field as my farmer really doesn’t get on with the owner of that field, so that will have to wait for another day, there’s two fields of rape to come off and then that’s the whole place clear, not a bad way to spend a warm summer evening and finishing it off sat in the back garden at 2am in my pants drinking a JD and coke

That table and bench look a bit dry, you might want to give them a coat or two of oil. 

[Stavross 15,608]

1 hour ago, ianm said:

That table and bench look a bit dry, you might want to give them a coat or two of oil. 

Cheers for the offer, but I’ll get round to it, I don’t want to take up to much of your time

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

9 hours ago, Stavross said:

Well, seen as I’ve sacked work off because of the heat I decided to go up to the sheep farm because the farmer has just had the contractors in cutting the barley, I got there for just before 10pm and not having much luck or confidence in the.223 at the minute I went old school with the .243 and a lamp, obviously using the thermal for spotting. I tried a couple of spots on my way to the top fields but see nothing by the time I got to the two cut barley fields it was properly dark so I positioned myself in the gateway between the two cut fields and set the caller approximately 45 yards on top of a bail pointing down the field I thought it was more likely I’d see a fox in, after 30 minutes or so of various calls I hadn’t seen anything, when I was thinking of moving to the other side of the farm, I looked over towards the sheep field and could see the unmistakable heat signature of a fox that had just come into the field and was walking the edge of the hedge, I quickly turned the volume up on the caller and it duly showed no interest in it at all, I watched it for a few minutes through the thermal until  it was inline with me, still a fare distance and I couldn’t quite make it out with the lamp on it. I thought “sh*t or bust” and gave a couple of loud blasts on the mouth caller, it immediately stopped, a couple more quieter squeaks and it was trotting towards me when it became clear in the scope I stopped it with a little whistle, squeezing the trigger I heard the thud and seen it drop, I gave it another 15 minutes but nothing else showed. I went and collected the caller and set of to pick the fox, I thought, I know where it is but when I got into the field I couldn’t  see it with the thermal, I walked around in the area I thought it was and couldn’t find it, I was getting that sinking feeling of “ oh no, not again “ when I walked on 25/30 meters and there it was in a tyre rut, a small vixen cub, lovely colour, very dark, only down side is it now had a fist size hole in it from the 70gn BT Sako, on my way to dump it in the fire area I looked into next doors field with the horses and there’s another about 160 yards away, now this one came into the mouth caller up to about 75 yards and stopped because it realised I was there and try as I might it wouldn’t move, just laid down and looked at me,I’m convinced that it was another cub I could of shot it a 100 times over where it was, but it’s really not worth the risk been seen shooting in this field as my farmer really doesn’t get on with the owner of that field, so that will have to wait for another day, there’s two fields of rape to come off and then that’s the whole place clear, not a bad way to spend a warm summer evening and finishing it off sat in the back garden at 2am in my pants drinking a JD and coke

The good old lamp , still works mate ,,,sack off the nv and you will hit more

[Stavross 15,608]

I still like using the lamp, it’s served me well for many years, one thing is for sure, I’d of shot it further away with nv and it gives you more opportunities once they wise up later in the year, saying all this I don’t think I’ll be retiring the lamp any time soon, it just good fun with a lamp and a mouth caller or lip squeak, I do sometimes wonder how I got on without a thermal spotter, that was a great investment, seeing things you would never see with a lamp or nv

[ianm 2,594]

5 hours ago, FOXHUNTER said:

The good old lamp , still works mate ,,,sack off the nv and you will hit more

And what do you base that statement on?

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

56 minutes ago, ianm said:

And what do you base that statement on?

Tongue in cheek mate

[Stavross 15,608]

So, I spoke to the pheasant man today, he said I won’t be getting the usual 800 but he has said we can have 500 around the 3rd week in August, so that’s what we are going for, there’s still a lot of small shoots that have been told they are getting nothing, I said unless we were getting half I wouldn’t bother and part of me would still like to give it a year off but I know the guns will want to shoot it once they know we have been told we can have 500, I don’t think they will be getting 8 days, maybe 6 and we’ll start later  maybe mid to late November, but we’ll see, I won’t count my flying chickens until they hatch ( or turn up ) I’d better get my finger out and sort the pens out and the other jobs that need doing that I didn’t bother with because I was 90% sure they weren’t coming

[FOXHUNTER 5,021]

500 is better than nowt plus what is already on the ground.