Quercus

Soviet Bazaar are advertising a "reconditioned" 3rd gen sight in this months Gun Mart for £1780

Thanks for the info :( I think I am going to get myself one for next season.

Any one used one seriously? Are they any good? I have to say that they look like a bit of a toy and not really up to serious work.

Reynard, no problem using recorded sounds on foxes, at least south of the border. What sounds are you using? Recently had some success using territorial calls on the MP3 player egnwt, sounds like it would work a treat

Winchester 70 :(

At the start of last season my better half :love: bought a Barbour Berwick Endurance. Not cheap :what: but comfortable warm, waterproof and smart. I was going to get one myself for next season, until I saw what happend after the first drive that she wore it. The outer shell had plucked badly in two places :thumbs: =( The sportcheif coats sound interesting, couldn't find any prices on their site though, are they easy to get hold of in the UK? I have to say that swanndri are brilliant :( :thumbs: I live in mine. It's just doesn't really look smart enough for shoot days.

Wildlife and Countryside Act section 5(1) (d) It is an offence to use as a decoy to kill or take any wild bird, any sound recording or a live bird or animal which is tethered, secured, blind, maimed or injured. I see an unexploited niche in the decoy market for a battery operated dancing ferret flock coated of course

Early in incubation an egg will fatally chill in a matter of five minutes or so. As incubation progresses the chick is able to generate its own body heat in the same way that an adult does and is less vulnerable to chilling. I would suggest that you try and keep the adults off the nest for at least an hour on a cold night.

No licence needed, pieons are not classed as game under any legislation. I assume from your post that your police authority thinks differently? :( :(

I too have heard the one about disturbing a rookery on a cold night to chill the eggs, sounds like it could work. You would have to keep them off the nest for some time though to be sure of success as it is surprising how long an egg remains viable, especially in the later stages of incubation. If it works it would be better than actually destroying the eggs as there would be little chance of a second clutch being laid. I've never been able to test this in practice as our local rookery is in the middle of the village :what: As pest species rook and crow nests and eggs may legally be destroyed :thumbs:

Are we talking carrion crows here or rooks? A lot of very experienced sportsmen struggle to tell the difference. Certainly in the South it is unusual to see large flocks of crows feeding together, although sometimes in the autumn they will come together in loose flocks. Our crows have been paired up for some time and are starting to become territorial, it will soon be time to break out the larsens again :thumbs: As for the rooks our old maize game crops are black with them, struggling to shoot a decent number though, one shot and they all move on What calls are you guys using?

Go for it :o Perfect lamping nights are few and far between and if you only go out when conditions are spot on you'll be spending a lot of time indoors. The only time I don't go out are those really still nights with a full moon :C Just remember that without the wind any noise you make will carry further. Quiet nights can be a good time to park up in a good spot and just call for half an hour. Even on a "still" night there is still usually a little bit of air movement so don't forget to give some thought to where your scent is going, it may not be as obvious as on a windy night. So get out there and cut 'em down and good luck Let us know how you get on.

If nobody here can help you might want to try asking at Accurate Reloading somebody there is bound to know. :(

Cranfield, most of the time a white light is a disadvantage when lamping foxes, unless they are young or naive. The eyes of animals that have good night vision are not very sensitive to light at the red end of the spectrum. So by using a red light you are a lot less likely to spook your fox. Sometimes it is necessary to go to a white light to take the shot, if the fox is at extreme range or in cover or to confirm that it is a fox you are looking at.

The only problem I've found using blue or green filters is that the eyes don't seem to shine back as well, so on the odd times that we need them we lamp with a white light and only put the filter on when we have spotted a fox. Normally we use a red or amber filter all of the time. Lately we have been using a dimmer on our main lamp. It's surprising just how little light you need to be able to see eyes, great for anything that is at all lamp shy :(

I've used the clock trick before , it works well Its a good idea to tie fox bait down, I use old snares. This makes your fox stay in the area longer, rather than taking the bait off to eat somewhere else or feed to cubs.