Frenchieboy Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 I had arranged a night lamping foxes with Richie (Archie1234) for last night as one of my farmers had called me to say he had a problem with a fox taking a lamb on Wednesday night and possibly the same fox being seen on Thursday night "stalking" a lamb. I had seen a big almost black coloured for near there the other day but only had the shot gun with me so I left it as it was a bit "rangey" and I did not want to chance just wounding it. Anyway, Richie turned up as arranged at about 8:30 last night and after a cup of tea, a chat and a bit of light hearted banter off we went in my 4X4. Both of us had out .243 rifles with us with Richie was hoping to christen his nice new Howa (And a very nice rifle it is too) Richie had his Lightforce 140 mounted on his rifle with an amber filter fitted on his rifle (I now have that lamp and what a great bargain it was) and I had my home made scope mounted lamp fitted. We were hopeing to cover up to three farms I had arranged for us but only got to cover one - Never mind there is always another night! The night started very slow and by 10:30 I had a nasty feeling we were going to blank as we had not seen a single fox, but that was soon about to change. As we got to the field where the sheep were we spotted a pair of eyes peering up the beam of the lamp at us for a split second so I quickly turned my lamp off to allow us to get in to a good firing position.. This animal was huge and almost completely black in colour, certainly. Unfortunately when we turned the lamp back on it I made an error in judgement and asked Richie not to take the shot even though he had it square in his cross hairs as I believed that because of the colour it could in fact have been a badger as we were very close to a badger set that I knew was active! That was a big mistake because if I had not made that error we would have got the "rogue" that I believe was guilty of taking the lamb, and it was in fact heading down towards the lambs and ewes when we spotted it. Sorry for my error in judgement Richie! The fox decided (Quite wisely I might add) to high tail it out of the field and across to a field on the other side of the (Disused) road. We had another shine around a couple of minutes later and got another pair of foxey eyes but it was not a safe shot as it was right in line with some residential houses in the distance. Yet anothe fox to live another day! We then went up to the field where we thought the big black fox had headed for and walked up the track, stopping half way u the track to have a shine! Right enough there was a pair of foxes eyes looking at us from about 250 yards out! Off went the lamp and we tried a few short calls with Richie's "Fox Caller". We gave it a minute of so and had another shine. Sure enough the fox had come towards us a little but as soon as it saw the almp it closed it's eyes and ducked down in the reeds. This happened a second time which suggested that this fox had seen a lamp before. The third time it did it was it's last time! I put the lamp on it and sent it a call from my Mini Digital caller which encouraged it to keep it's head up to have a good look! Richie was ready with his Howa while I was acting as lamp man and caller for him. This seemed the ideal time for Richie to "christen" his Howa so I told him to take the shot! Within less than 3 seconds of the lamp going on and before the fox had another chance to drop down out of the beam a shot rang out from Richies Howa and we both watched the fox spin over. The range was estimated at between 175 and 200 yards and Richie produced an excellent shot with pin point precision, well done mate! I went and chatted to the farmer this morning and he has asked me to have a few more goes at the big black "rogue" fox, which I will happily do, and he also asked me to thank Richie for coming out to help me, so as requested "Thanks mate, you produced an excellent shot, you were great company and you are always welcome to accompany me whenever you want". Unfortunately there are no photos but Richie and I both have some great memories of a fantastic night lamping together and Richie's Howa has been well and trully christened! I look forward to many more nights spent in such good company! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie-fox Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 was a pleasure to shoot with you mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodentermite Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 always good to see these kind of posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Well done. Don't forget to add this to the PW talley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon123 Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Well done mate, Good shooting :good: Good read :good: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MM Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Top result. good shooting Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garygreengrass Posted April 23, 2011 Report Share Posted April 23, 2011 Good read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie-fox Posted April 24, 2011 Report Share Posted April 24, 2011 (edited) Top result. good shooting Rich [thanks mate hows the ferrit??] Edited April 24, 2011 by archie1234 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchieboy Posted April 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 (edited) Top result. good shooting Rich Good shooting is a bit of an understatement, even though I realise that your comment is meant as a true compliment to Richie (And quite rightly so)! I witnessed the shot while acting as "Lamp Man" for the Richie, and to be honest, because of the position of the fox, the range of the shot and the fact that the little bu**er kept ducking down in the long reeds every time I put the lamp on it the shot was extremely difficult to say the least. Charlie was only allowing Richie 2 or 3 seconds to aim and fire before he ducked down and went into hiding each time the lamp was turned on. To be quite honest I personally might not have had the confidence to have pulled that shot off myself - It was an EXCELLENT shot and one that I would not expect to see repeated successfully too many times! I have to raise my hat to Richie as it was as perfect a display of marksmanship and confidence as anyone could have ever wanted to see! Richie is a good friend and great company and is more than welcome to shoot with me any time he wants to, it is a real pleasure to see such a high degree of marksmanship! Edit: The farmer still has the huge great black fox (Richie will no doubt confirm that this is one of the biggest foxes that we have set eyes on and it is almost black in colour) running free so if I don't it get pretty soon I would welcome Richie to come out and help with ending it's marauding days quickly and efficiently! Edited April 25, 2011 by Frenchieboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonk Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 Well done chaps Good luck catching up with the "rogue" Frenchie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sako751sg Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 Good read and result folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archie-fox Posted April 25, 2011 Report Share Posted April 25, 2011 jusy give me a shout pete im free fri or sat night il lamp for you im even thinking if we are lucky to get it i may get it stuffed?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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