Lamping The Night Away, May 2008

[Guest JohnGalway]

Morning folks,

 

I was a bit like an underworked sheepdog earlier, I was bored and getting destructive. The forecast was for heavy and persistant rain so earlier I'd phoned the farmer and said I wouldn't be going tonight. John, my lamping buddy is gone to a wedding so that's two down. So I'm sat here, bored and at my wits end. I've things I should be doing but I'm actively avoiding them, staying in wasn't an option. Right, I go online and check out the Met Eireann website. There's a rainfall radar that can be accessed on that site, I find it useful, it can be viewed as an animation so you can see where the rain's been over the past few hours. I look it over and judging the speed the rain is travelling and frequency of outbursts I make a half-assed guess that between 10.00pm and 11.30pm there's an excellent chance it'll be dry. I was almost right, between 10.00pm and 10.30pm I got wet but it's been bone dry since.

 

Change of plan tonight. What we'd been doing thus far was I would bring my .223 and John his SBS 12ga. I'd usually find a hill with some decent type of view and stand watch over the area I could see. Sometimes John would be there with me, sometimes he'd go for a stroll arounf the farm/jungle. With my rifle, there's not a lot of point in me strolling around, standing snap shots with a rifle aren't my thing. So tonight I'm leaving my Remington home to keep the Sako company. I'll bring my trusty Baikal MP-153 semi auto 12ga.

 

I arrive at the farm, tried ringing earlier, as the saying goes "The lights are on, but no one's home". Literally this time. I'm geared up for heavy weather, just incase, and you got it, it's raining... Just before I arrived I seriously considered turning around and heading home, it was that bad. Nahhhhhhhh, I'm going up!

 

I park the car at the house and set off going with the wind so I can get to a certain point then work my way across the farm heading into the wind. It's not even properly dark yet, I can actually see very well without a light. I had been thinking earlier that maybe we'd been going out a bit too late. I wasn't there ten minutes when I see a lovely set of bright eyes, 75 yards away across a gully and a fence. Damnation! Why didn't I bring my rifle? Because if I did, the fox wouldn't be here, that's why. To make matters worse, and me more nervous she stays on her hill the far side of the gully. Ok, I've got my plan worked out, I'll get to the bottom of the gully, and reach the fence then shoot foxy. I'm two paces from where I want to be and the eyes vanish...

 

I cross the fence, and as usual the trousers get caught on the barbed wire... Where you don't want them getting caught... I'm tall but obviously not tall enough! I cross the fence and get to the top of the hill. I shine around and see no eyes. Going against my better judgement I switch on the caller, rabbit squeal. About 130-140 yards away I see eyes, I let the caller gently drop onto a low gorse bush. I've the lamp in my left hand, shotgun in my right with the safety off, the fore-end is resting in the crook of my left elbow. The wind is blowing across us right to left. I get more than I had expected as the fox doesn't hesistate and starts running towards me fast. I figure that it's not long out hunting, and a dying rabbit sounds like a tasty morsel. Foxy comes through a fence and rounds a small hillock and stops for a moment about 45 yards out. Then heads to the left as I expect trying to pick up the scent of whatever this bright light is squealing about.

 

I wait until I figure foxy has come within 30 yards, I don't like the speed it's travelling at to be honest. I do half worry that it's twigged something isn't right and is unsure whether to keep going to wind me or take off and head for the hills. So I have the fore-end on my left wrist now and I have shotgun and lamp lined up, following the fox nicely. Time to rock & roll, Bang! When the bit of smoke has cleared and the shotgun has settled again I see the fox has reversed course and is wobbling away - nuts, out of range. I grab my caller and head off in hot pursuit.

 

I'm looking around for a few minutes and I can't pick that fox up, no movement, no eyes. This is very very rough ground, it's not an easy job, needs to be seen to be believed. Plus it's still lashing rain. I head out a piece into the rough ground where the two rams are kept, I lamp out across the bogland quite a piece, no sign. Time to back track. I head in towards the fence that seperates the better land from the bogland. I decide I'll slowly make my way back to where I first saw the fox, starting from where I saw the eyes that the caller rose.

 

I'm walking along a little rise, running parallel to it is an old stone wall, about 18 inches to two feet in height. Long and dead mountain grass the other side of it. I hear rustling and movement, that sounds way too big to be a bird! Safety is flicked off, there's my fox coming out of hiding beside the wall and making for the farm fence, about 15 yards out I shoot and down she goes. I knew I had hit her hard the first shot, but foxes are tough animals and should not be underestimated. Again and strangely there's no sign of cubs on her.

 

 

The farmer just rang, absolutely delighted. She had been losing 1+ lambs a night previous to last Saturday night when I also shot a vixen, she had lost one confirmed this week and was suspicious of another ewe who she thought had already lambed. Hopefully now we have taken out the killers. I know there is one and more likely two other foxes patrolling this farm, as long as they're not killing though they're no harm. This week should tell the full story as the ewes will be moved back to the other side of the farm which is indeed Jurassic Park!

[daz 0]

great shooting and a great story mate.

Edited May 4, 2008 by daz

[shottyscotty 3]

what cartridge you using?

Edited May 4, 2008 by shottyscotty

[SportingShooter 0]

An excellent read there John, theres nothing better than a few hours out with the gun to relieve anxiety and boredom, I did the same thing earlier, I didnt have as much luck as you though.

That caller is superbly effective for you, bringing a fox to 30 yards and the trusty Baikal did its job too.

Good Shooting

SS

[Guest Ditch_Shitter]

I'm catcing much of this, mate. Quietly drawing up my own plans .....

 

Harris BiPod? An essential to die for! I'll not consider myself fully 'Kitted' till I have one.

 

Better 'scope than my 'adaquette' - under adaquette conditions - Hawke 3 - 9 x 40? I think so. Dean O' has some 'next step up' x 50 model with illuminated reticule and raves about it.

 

Now ye've just drawn Me in with that damn Caller Truth is, couple of times now I've found myself trying to hold everything steady - sans bipod! - and have figured a squeak might help. But both hands were else where and busy working at other jobs ..... One second click of a switch has to be better than a two and a half second suck of a hand? Fraction of a seconds delay in squeezing that trigger and it's all gone wrong.

 

What ever lends us that edge, eh? More to think about.

 

 

Just off to check out that weather site. Sounds a blinder!

[Guest JohnGalway]

Thanks lads

 

Scotty,

I was using a 36gram BB load that a gunshop got branded for itself. Usually they drop the fox on the spot. I've not been shotgun shooting in a while and I think I screwed up slightly in stopping the barrel to shoot, most likely hit the fox futher back than intended on the first shot.

 

SS,

The same caller and same rabbit squeal brought a fox within 8 yards of me before. I whistled, barked, and shouted loudly twice to stop the fox coming in. a 50 grain hollow point (Federal at the time) was the only thing that stopped that fox running smack bang into me. If I'd had the shotgun that night I would have let it come all the way to me, but rifle shooting is a different story.

 

Ditch,

You need a bipod, you also need a good light gathering scope to properly shoot under the lamp out at any distance. There's no going around being able to see your target and what's behind it. I've never looked through Hawkes so I don't know what they're like. Illuminated reticles, in my opinion, are just a money spinning cod and get in the way. Caller I use is a Callmaster digital caller, got it for £165 from decoying.co.uk, recently I've discovered shoot.ie does a similar caller, the technoest, for 135Euro I think. I had a sneaky look at one the last day I was in, they're both "Mini Colibri" callers, they both use exactly the same chips