al4x Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 Last night we had a fairly comical episode, out lamping rabbits and got a cracking pair of eyes from by the side of a large oak tree about 150 yards off. Squeaked and every squeak they would reappear but wouldn't come roung the tree. Had binoculars trying to ID it couldn't get a firm id tried the scope still couldn't, so drove a bit closer and you could make out the right colouring right shape ears but just didn't look quite right. Then it moved slightly more and lo and behold a ginger cat. Must have used up one of its lives as it was very close to being on the receiving end of the .223, its the closest I've come to shooting something I didn't intend to and I guess a gentle reminder to be absolutely certain. Round us the foxes are usually on their toes very fast so you don't have long to make up your mind with this both of us were 99% certain it was a fox it was just the lack of seeing the rest of its body to be certain that meant I didn't shoot it So what else has nearly caught people out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 We get a claim or two every year on the BASC policy from people not identifying their target at night - sheep, cows, bird watchers, cars have all been on the wrong end in the past. In this case Al4x did exactly the right thing and did NOT shoot at a pair of eyes but took the time to properly identify the target - nice one! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted April 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 Its a funny thing and the main reason for the post was not quite the lack of ID more that everything looked right to be fox from the colour, to the ears and the shape of the ears etc. Farm animals are pretty easy to ID and if you shoot one you really deserve to loose your FAC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchieboy Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 This really goes to show exactly how important POSITIVE ID is for the shoorer, especially when "on the lamp"! Well done al4x for holding back on the shot!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David BASC Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 I agree that it should be easy to spot a cow from a fox...but problems come along when people shoot at eyes rather than identifying their target!. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allthegearandnoidea Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 I'd have thought it would be difficult to mistake a car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul1966 Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 talking of lucky escapes,just read this . it does not say if the camper had permission to be there or not A MAN who was shot in Stanford-on-Soar had set up camp in a known hunting area. Police are appealing for anyone who was hunting in or around woodland near Shaws Park Farm and Stanford Hall between 3pm and 4pm on Sunday to contact them. They say it is possible whoever fired the gun did not realise they had hit the 33-year-old. He was shot as he camped in woods off Leake Lane. He was taken by air ambulance to Royal Derby Hospital in a critical but stable condition after suffering shoulder injuries. His condition was described yesterday as stable. Villagers were shocked when around eight police cars turned up at a row of houses on Sunday afternoon. It is believed the man walked from his camp to a nearby house to raise the alarm. Residents said the area was quiet but many people in the area had guns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albob Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 (edited) I'd have thought it would be difficult to mistake a car! not the shape that may get some but,the reflection off,say a rear light or frontlight,so as the others say about id before you shoot. very wise thing to do alex and well done. i seen eyes in some bushes and i squeaked,it looked up and interested,so i asked mate,can you id it(as i had lamp,gun and was calling it in). this thing kept creeping through the bushes and peeking and eventually it came out enough to be identified..a ginger cat..must be a thing in ginger cats eh,alex.. this next one is winter shooting and i had not got into the right angle to get the below answer before. another one was when i got into foxing and was out on my own(been out with mate who had shown me the ropes first)and i spotted a bright eyes some 250yrds away.well i got into the prone postiion and squeaked,well this thing never moved,so tried to squeak again,still no go,not even a blink..i did this for a short while and then,eventually thought,what the heck is it,so i wander over and i was so red faced and felt stupid but,i laughed my head off when the shock had sunk in. it was one of those mirrors the are used for hidden entrances,so when exiting,they can see if traffic is coming and it removes the blind spot.. i laugh when i see it now and i usually say fox to people who i take on,till they cotton on or i tell them the above story,which tells them to make sure you know what it is. al.. Edited April 7, 2010 by albob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyboots Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 was out a couple of years ago with the lurcher lamping , was standing in a gateway and gave a few squeaks when i saw a pair of eyes starting to come at me full pelt there was a dip in the field and i got ready to let the lurcher go as soon as the eyes appeared over the dip , just as the eyes appeared over the dip they let out a bleat it was a ******* goat that was a close shave as my lurcher at that time was a killing machine he would of had it killed before i could of got to him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 (edited) Last night we had a fairly comical episode, out lamping rabbits and got a cracking pair of eyes from by the side of a large oak tree about 150 yards off. Squeaked and every squeak they would reappear but wouldn't come roung the tree. Had binoculars trying to ID it couldn't get a firm id tried the scope still couldn't, so drove a bit closer and you could make out the right colouring right shape ears but just didn't look quite right. Then it moved slightly more and lo and behold a ginger cat. Must have used up one of its lives as it was very close to being on the receiving end of the .223, its the closest I've come to shooting something I didn't intend to and I guess a gentle reminder to be absolutely certain. Round us the foxes are usually on their toes very fast so you don't have long to make up your mind with this both of us were 99% certain it was a fox it was just the lack of seeing the rest of its body to be certain that meant I didn't shoot it So what else has nearly caught people out? I had a black cat in the crosshairs on Sunday night, just before I shot a fox. We didn't have the lamp on, as I was on the phone to the farmer about something and as soon as I put the phone down I saw a silhouette run across a concrete path, just illuminated by some street lamps. Couldn't ID it from the car, so an unloaded rifle was used to ID it and it was a black cat. I do hate cats, so I'd have been happy to shoot it if it were legal to Edited April 7, 2010 by harfordwmj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted April 7, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 they do squeak pretty well which is not a good thing if you're trying not to shoot them, this one just popped its head up each time I squeaked just wouldn't come out from behind this tree. The reflectors comment brings back comical memories of spending ages trying to squeak a trailer out of the corner of a wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy. Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 they do squeak pretty well which is not a good thing if you're trying not to shoot them, this one just popped its head up each time I squeaked just wouldn't come out from behind this tree. The reflectors comment brings back comical memories of spending ages trying to squeak a trailer out of the corner of a wood I've squeaked a traffic cone before. Some idiot plonked it in the middle of a field Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colster Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 One farm I shoot on has an adjacent bit of land which a guy bought from the farmer a few years back to fly his microlite from and laid out are a number of stones to mark the landing strip. It's a rare occasion that my mate doesn't lamp them and I start getting ready to bag one of them. On another farm there is a resident cat that often shines back at us from the hedgerow under the lamp but I never shoot anything that I can't see all of. On one night we were driving alongside a freshly ploughed field and could see a shape about 70 yards out, I checked it through the scope just as it stood up from whatever it was eating and swiveled it's head round to face me... always pays to check as I really wouldn't want to shoot an owl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeksofdoom Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 I had a similar experience with a ginger cat except I shot him dead! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beretta28g Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 Did the cat get a .223 in the end? its feral so legit. When asked what is the definition of feral cat the answer was any cat outside its owners garden. I asked my wep keeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixer1 Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 I was once out with my friend who is the local keeper and we lamped a fox which was called in and shot, in this same group of fields one night we had seen 4 foxes squeeling and making that noise they make and jumping around playing with each other...anyway after shooting this fox my friend moved the lamp and low and behold another set of eyes running towards where the first fox was.....I was waiting to get the nod and had the rifle at the ready when my friend laughed and said..."better not shoot that...it's the labrador from the farm over there"..... at the time I learned a valuable lesson... at 150 yards you'd be surprised how much like a fox a lab can look Gixer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3jackwhite3 Posted April 7, 2010 Report Share Posted April 7, 2010 a gamekeeper i know told me about a story when he was out lamping with the head keeper when he was the under keeper, they picked up what they thought was a fox and the head keeper shot it and it turned out to be a ginger cat, he shot both the front legs off it with his .243 but as the headkeeper knew whos cat it was he went around and dropped it off at the owners house and said he was sorry and payed for the damage. it just goes to show you have to be very carefull and make a possitive ID of what your shooting at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colster Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Did the cat get a .223 in the end? its feral so legit.When asked what is the definition of feral cat the answer was any cat outside its owners garden. I asked my wep keeper. Have to love forums for inciteful wisdom like this, ******* muppet. A feral cat is one bought up with NO human contact, Cats nearly always roam outside their own garden, doesn't make them all prey for lazy ***** like you who can't be ***** to ID their quarry properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixer1 Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Have to love forums for inciteful wisdom like this, ******* muppet. A feral cat is one bought up with NO human contact, Cats nearly always roam outside their own garden, doesn't make them all prey for lazy ***** like you who can't be ***** to ID their quarry properly. Although I agree with you're feral cat description it does make me wonder why owners allow them to wander round pens and come and **** in other peoples gardens, how would they like it if i let my 2 labs wander free and lay a log in thier gardens?? i'm not condoning the the shooting of cats but if you were a keeper and it was you're livelyhood would you want a cat in a pen with poults? Gixer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
454697819 Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 Have to love forums for inciteful wisdom like this, ******* muppet. A feral cat is one bought up with NO human contact, Cats nearly always roam outside their own garden, doesn't make them all prey for lazy ***** like you who can't be ***** to ID their quarry properly. Agreed My cat wanders if sum half wit shot him because of failing to ID he would be on the receiving end of my fists and his FAC or air rifle shoved up his ****... sideways. I love my cats btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeksofdoom Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 a gamekeeper i know told me about a story when he was out lamping with the head keeper when he was the under keeper, they picked up what they thought was a fox and the head keeper shot it and it turned out to be a ginger cat, he shot both the front legs off it with his .243 but as the headkeeper knew whos cat it was he went around and dropped it off at the owners house and said he was sorry and payed for the damage. it just goes to show you have to be very carefull and make a possitive ID of what your shooting at. How did he pay for the damage? was it just the 2 front legs he paid for or was it the entire cat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abiteachuck Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 I'd have thought it would be difficult to mistake a car! not them smart cars with the fog lamps on :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchieboy Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 I've squeaked a traffic cone before. Some idiot plonked it in the middle of a field Is it legal to lamp, squeek or shoot Traffic Cones after the hours of darkness???? :blink: :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3jackwhite3 Posted April 8, 2010 Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 How did he pay for the damage? was it just the 2 front legs he paid for or was it the entire cat? im not sure i think he bought a new cat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted April 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2010 does beg a possible new thread whats the longest you've sat trying to squeak something that either wasn't mobile or was totally the wrong species I must confess to having spent a fair while trying to squeak various Muntjacs out of hedges :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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