I Was Out Last Night

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Must've been around about 20:30 that I slipped out the gate and started probing the land around here with the beam. Conditions seemed about right to me. (Oh! And sorry; This was Saturday night - I think? Could've been Friday? I don't keep track of things that well. Anyway .....) It was surprisingly dark. Bit of a breeze and that touch of drizzle. Sort of night when, if I recognise it and haven't been 'too long in town', I just Need to get out there for fear of missing anything.

 

Maybe the first thing I didn't miss was the 'Anti Aircraft' effect of every other Tom, Dick and Harry for miles around apparrently sharing my sentiments. From every direction I glanced in I could see the night sky split by silvery shafts. Tonight I had my Hi Vis Vest on though, and a Head Lamp for the trickier moments of negotiation, so at least I felt more secure in that I wouldn't have any cross hairs centreing on me as I lurked about in the pitch darkness.

 

Turned at the top gate. Sensible move, actually. Otherwise I'd have walked straight into the next f*cking gate! And trod softly up the track. I was then vaguely aware that my friends from before were joining in tonights bonanza of light shows. I dimly registered that there was a 'fast' moving beam sweeping from the road, a mile away, down across the far edge of Pat's ground. It was my old mates; 'The Pick Up Crew'.

 

Now, wether or not these boys are going round in a pick up, christ alone knows. I've only ever seen their massively powerfull beam before - subject of an earlier Post. But then, as if to confirm it was indeed them, the beam shut off and I was once alone left to my dark solitude. This time they'd only looked at the first couple of fields and then had obviously passed over what they must recognise as a locals patch and had gone on down the road, as before.

 

Then I lamped the field to my right. And, as soon as I swept, there was a hare - getting out of town ..... The penny dropped very soon after that.

 

Here's me, just touched the ground barely three years ago. Had a lamp and a gun less than one year. And I've been wondering why the hell the hares - who I've been asked, by my neighbours, to respect - are so damn flighty when ever I put a beam on them. I've had them sitting on my home track. I've sat and admired them, through the 'scope, in daylight. Yet show one a beam? It's off on its toes. Yeppers. It sunk in last night.

 

So, it seems, those boys with the veritable Search Light and the, one imagines, .223 or even .243 to back it up with. have been here long before me. They have motorised transport and could crawl and burst between god knows where and god alone knows in one night, in search of a target. They needn't be local. They wouldn't likely have bothered to ask. They might have been prowling for miles around, for years now. Taking out what ever they found. Considering it a Service.

 

And that's probably why I just don't see any foxes on my ground. Why the hares are scared to death of a beam. Why, on the seemingly best of nights, I wander about scanning empty fields. I reckon I've washed up slap, bang in the middle of a local Gun Clubs hot spot! F*ckin place has long since been denuded of nocturnal, acceptable, quarry. Now they're still passing through making sure Only the badgers remain. And, maybe, dropping the odd hare ~ just to provide a bit of relief?

 

Really not sure what to do now

[woodga 170]

sell your gun and buy a fishing rod

[cúagusgiorraí 57]

Get out in the daytime and do some shooting. You will have alot more chances. If they are lamp shy then get out in the day. But I personally would never shoot a hare anyway. Each to there own, I guess....

[garyw 0]

DITCH.

i know someone who will sell you some cheap wool so you can start knitting on those long dark lonely nights.

[Guest JohnGalway]

Tonight I had my Hi Vis Vest on though

 

Getting rid of that would be a start Having a lamp is enough to be spotted miles away and not get shot, hate to think what high vis looks like to critters with good night sight

[SNAP SHOT 194]

I'd personally not give up hope as you have a far better chance of seeing a fox than they do, for the simple reason, they lamp the field and drive on if nothing shows, but we lamp a few dead end roads here and have got into the habbit of scanning the field up and down when coming back the same road.

As many a time we have taken foxes just crossing a ditch or boundry, that we never saw when traveling in one direction.

Start leaving a few scraps such as the odd rabbit or bird that you shoot. plus when you can afford to buy a digital caller, i bet you'll be surprised....how many foxes are around.......

[Guest JohnGalway]

plus when you can afford to buy a digital caller, i bet you'll be surprised....how many foxes are around.......

 

Mate of mine got one of these, I believe they use the same chip as in the Callmaster. I've heard it, it's good. I'll try one of my chips in it when I get the chance to see if thye're the same.

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Digital callers .lol.Ditch has only just mastered the art of dodging that second gate .Get some practice in with a propper squeak ,made by your voice mate before going down the 'lazy road'.Dont know if you do mate but heres some advice -Try varying the times you go out .These roadside poachers are probably stuck in a set time and set route ,if theve not been challeged and you want to get away from that .Foxes are very tuned to what we do .Their lives and indeed there survival ,depends on avoiding us to a certain extent and by changing your time to later ,much later in fact you will definately see a few and then its up to you whether or not you bag one or two ?.

Dont let other shooters put you off .Your fair share is out there waiting mate .

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Ok. 1. I do not shoot hares. As I said above, my neighbours have All asked me to Respect them. In a word? 'We' don't touch the hares round here. I was simply pointing out that one appeared in my beam and was already running like hell. In the day I've found them less stressed out. No running Dogs in my area. None welcome. But someone has taught our hares to fear the light. My guess is the 'Pick Up Boys'.

 

2. I'm out every day I can find the time, in daylight. Different menu

 

3. Hi Vis acts under light. Untill my lamp learns to bend itself and shine back onto me, I'm darkness. But should the PUBs find me nestled in a hedge? I'd appear like an electric lemon to them. I just pray they don't take pot shots at electric lemons as well as our hares!

 

4. Had fishing rods. Used to see so much vermin while sitting quietly over one I bought a rifle!

 

5. Calls? I have a mouth and two hands. Yes, a top set of teeth would enable me to make a longer call. But a fox galloping to 25 yards because of what I manage as I am is fine by me. And cheap as hell. Dean o' bought what I believe to be a " CallMaster" that last time we were at the gun shop. They are sweet! We were standing by my ditch gate when a maggie - 'my' maggie - came down the hedge, spotted us and back tracked. I told Dean to fetch his 12 bore from the motor and he hit the call. Within seconds, the pair appeared. Only they saw us and went wide. Ended up sat in a tree 150 yards away, discussing what the f*ck we'd just done.

 

150 yards at a maggie? I'm not about to try That shot! I'll trap them.

 

6. Having just now read Drops' in put; Man, I'm out every time between 18:00 and 04:00. I've tried every trick in the book to make material what simply isn't there.

 

 

Guys; I have the gray crows counted and defined to their seperate territories and trees here. I know where the badgers run and where they live. I know where they feed and shit. The hares I largely ignore. I'm old. I've been doing this shit all my life. Do you not think it even concievably possible that I might have a clue if there were foxes on my ground?

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

They are there and if i was closer i would show you where too .lol.

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

I was just waiting for that! Like, yeah, fine. I've lived here three years and am out there most days and many nights. No whiff of a fox. My neighbours, born and bred here all their lives, report we have no fox or rabbit in the area. The local Fox Hounds and the Fox Drive boys reckon we have no foxes on this ground. The idiot up the way kept chickens in flimsy pens for years - never once got visited by a fox. I can give anyone who comes here a guided tour of the badger setts, the badger runs. Where the hares pass. Where the Pine Marten travel. Where the mink get to. I know which territories how many gray crows command and from which trees they like to watch. It's my personal opinion that everyone else is right and we simply have no foxes on this ground.

 

But, of course, there's always someone behind a - sadly, just too distant and too busy - key board who knows better. And could prove it. 'But .....'.

 

Ok. What ever. I must've extended half a dozen invitations to people to come here and do something. I've never yet heard the crunch of their tyres on my track. Just the clatter of their key boards. I don't envisage much changing.

[joe w 1]

DITCH.good response there i know plenty of armchair fox men always telling you how to-when to-iv invited a few out with me and always get the same response too busy/working late/working early/its the wifes/girlfriends birthday/ill ring you back etc only one lad actually admitted not knowing the first thing about foxing and now he goes out regular as clockwork with me and hes very good[it must be the good coaching .

keep plugging away mate your day will come.

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Ditch mate -If its arm chair hunters and keyboard warriors that annoy you then dont look my way .I personally dont know you ,never met you so can only judge by what you post on here .Ive never, to my knowledge ,seen a post from you with a result attached to it .That maybe because you decide not to post pics of deceased critters but you will see from my history that im no messer .Ive visited people and places before that are meant to be devoid of certain critters and have found them on 99.9 % of my visits .I am in no way saying you are wrong as like i said ,i dont know you ,but sometimes we cant see for looking if you follow .Im a self emloyed builder who employs a small gang of blokes to do the work for me and apart from any fuckups on their behalf ,my time is my own and its in the countrside where i choose to spend that time with dog or gun .Any way ,cant stop as ive got more topics to search through .lol.

Good hunting to all

Foxdropper .

Edited to say that if an invite were to be issued and a place to stay were included ,then something WILL be arranged .

Edited March 6, 2008 by foxdropper

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

Drops; I'm not out to argue with Anyone on here - or anywhere else. I just don't do that. Nor do I - as ye rightly suggest - post pictures of dead stuff. In all honesty, I got over the " I; The Hunter " thing before I was out of my teens. No internet then. But I'd always go out of my way to get myself seen with my kills. I realised it did no one any favours, so stopped it. These days when I get something I shield it from the public. Put it in a nondescript bag or even hide it under my jacket. Have done for decades now. No reason to suddenly start popping up photo's of shit on here, of all places.

 

Bottom line on that count is that I don't care what fellow members think about me. I also refuse to feed the Anti's the easy pickings they come here for. Make the b*stards work for their stuff.

 

 

Regards ye coming over and looking for foxes? Sure. Great. I bear ye absolutely no animosity and would actually like to see ye working over my ground. Ye have a world more experience with rifles than I do and ye have far better kit to work with. I'd really like to tag along and watch some of the stuff you .223 and up guys get up to.

 

However, due to my one Dogs mental issues, I'm really unable to entertain people here at my cottage. To do so means locking my favourite Dog away and that stresses her out badly. It's not fair on her or me. However, there's a very nice Guest House in town. About 30 Euro's a night. Nice people and a great pub attached

 

Incidentally, as if to underline what I was saying in the central thrust of this whole Thread - that those boys in the pick up have cleaned my ground out long since, and scared what they haven't removed - here's a little up date:

 

I was out at the weekend. I was stretching the beam on one particular field, just out of curiosity. I found eyes. Only these eyes, I soon worked out, were a badgers. He was going left to right. Know what? Within the couple of seconds it took me to get his number, he forgot all about what he was doing. Turned round and scuttled straight back the other way and dissapeared down his sett. Oh, and I found him at 150 yards. I was on the road and he was down in the basin.

 

See? I'm really up against it here. Stuff I don't want to shoot is lamp shy as hell (hares and badgers). Stuff I'd gladly shoot - foxes - I've only ever seen the one. And that was at cub dispersal time. He kept going and I've never had a sign since.

 

Couple of miles down the road from here? Who knows? And there's some gorgeous looking ground there too. It's just my lot that I've washed up in this basin which those Gun Club boys have obviously worked to death since god knows when. And I don't have permission down the road. In the basin here I do. Ye welcome to come examine it for yeself.

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

.........................On the understanding that you make the trip to Wiltshire,where game and beasts of the chase are plentifull.