Twins
Posted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 4:22 pm
I got a phonecall last night from a farmer that i do a lot of fox control for.He`d had his pheasant poults deliverd the day before,and had allready lost one!Seems like it had got it`s head caught in the wire,and something had bitten it off!
To be honest,i wasn`t too pleased about having to go to this farm again as i was only there last friday and we had got a cub then,so i had already made arangements to go somewhere else.Still,as it is my very best farms for foxes i decided to put in an apperance.
I arrived at 10.30 and as usual had to go in the house for a cuppa before starting (not a bad thing as it was still quite light).Due to my job in a slaughterhouse,and the fact i drive for an agricultural contractor in my spare time we can normaly find something to talk about.Anyway by the time we left the house it was 11.15.
We decided to go round the back of the farmyard first where i shot the cub the week before,and i had now shot 8 foxes in this field in the last year.It is actually the same field i have posted about before so here is a picture looking back down towards the buildings.
The pheasant pen is at the top of the woods,to the top right of the photo.
Anyway we went out the back of the buildings and shone the light towards where the above photo was taken from,and straight away saw two foxes trotting up the bank.
I got the sticks set up,and gave one quick squeak to stop the nearest fox,and a 32gr V-MAX at 4000fps did the rest.
The other fox disappeared over the top of the bank and after a few minutes squeaking with no success we walked up and picked up the victim.There was a huge hole where her chest had been,so i dont think there was any suffering .
Next thing we jumped in the Land Rover to do some more land with the plan we would have a look back in the same field when we got back,just to see if the other fox came back looking for it`s pal.
We drove round for about an hour checking the silage fields,and then went to a field where a cow had calved earlier as the farmer says he often sees foxes hanging round after a calving,waiting for the afterbirth,and also according to him because foxes go wild for the newborn calves first crap,as it is supposidly full of protein.To be honest if anyone else told me that i wouldn`t believe them,but this farmer is the chairman of the local hunt,and has forgoten more about foxes than i know! Still we drew a blank,so at about 1.15 decided to head home.
When we got back to the farm,i took the lamp and we drove round to the back of the farm to have a look.
As soon as we got passed the buildings i had a quick skan with the lightforce and saw a set of eyes not far from where the previous victim had met his maker.Straight away i flicked the light off and we stopped the landy.The farmer took the lamp and i got the 204 out.
I put the bipod down and rested on the bonnet of the Land Rover,and whispered to turn the light on.
The fox was moving through the thistles and didn`t seem disturbed by the light,so not wanting to spook him i just followed him through the scope.
Eventually he stopped to smell something and as there were no thistles in the way i squeezed the trigger.The fox dropped on the spot and didn`t even roll on it`s side,just collapsing in a heap.
When we walked up to it,it was 110yds.Not a huge shot but still quite satisfying.We picked him up and carried him to the other one for the photo.
I would be very supprised if they were not litter mates,though there is quite a difference in colouring.Still i finished the night with a very happy farmer regardless.And here`s the vixens!
Sorry about the long post,and if anyone has lost the will to live after reading this,my apologies.
To be honest,i wasn`t too pleased about having to go to this farm again as i was only there last friday and we had got a cub then,so i had already made arangements to go somewhere else.Still,as it is my very best farms for foxes i decided to put in an apperance.
I arrived at 10.30 and as usual had to go in the house for a cuppa before starting (not a bad thing as it was still quite light).Due to my job in a slaughterhouse,and the fact i drive for an agricultural contractor in my spare time we can normaly find something to talk about.Anyway by the time we left the house it was 11.15.
We decided to go round the back of the farmyard first where i shot the cub the week before,and i had now shot 8 foxes in this field in the last year.It is actually the same field i have posted about before so here is a picture looking back down towards the buildings.
The pheasant pen is at the top of the woods,to the top right of the photo.
Anyway we went out the back of the buildings and shone the light towards where the above photo was taken from,and straight away saw two foxes trotting up the bank.
I got the sticks set up,and gave one quick squeak to stop the nearest fox,and a 32gr V-MAX at 4000fps did the rest.
The other fox disappeared over the top of the bank and after a few minutes squeaking with no success we walked up and picked up the victim.There was a huge hole where her chest had been,so i dont think there was any suffering .
Next thing we jumped in the Land Rover to do some more land with the plan we would have a look back in the same field when we got back,just to see if the other fox came back looking for it`s pal.
We drove round for about an hour checking the silage fields,and then went to a field where a cow had calved earlier as the farmer says he often sees foxes hanging round after a calving,waiting for the afterbirth,and also according to him because foxes go wild for the newborn calves first crap,as it is supposidly full of protein.To be honest if anyone else told me that i wouldn`t believe them,but this farmer is the chairman of the local hunt,and has forgoten more about foxes than i know! Still we drew a blank,so at about 1.15 decided to head home.
When we got back to the farm,i took the lamp and we drove round to the back of the farm to have a look.
As soon as we got passed the buildings i had a quick skan with the lightforce and saw a set of eyes not far from where the previous victim had met his maker.Straight away i flicked the light off and we stopped the landy.The farmer took the lamp and i got the 204 out.
I put the bipod down and rested on the bonnet of the Land Rover,and whispered to turn the light on.
The fox was moving through the thistles and didn`t seem disturbed by the light,so not wanting to spook him i just followed him through the scope.
Eventually he stopped to smell something and as there were no thistles in the way i squeezed the trigger.The fox dropped on the spot and didn`t even roll on it`s side,just collapsing in a heap.
When we walked up to it,it was 110yds.Not a huge shot but still quite satisfying.We picked him up and carried him to the other one for the photo.
I would be very supprised if they were not litter mates,though there is quite a difference in colouring.Still i finished the night with a very happy farmer regardless.And here`s the vixens!
Sorry about the long post,and if anyone has lost the will to live after reading this,my apologies.