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very considered look at fox shooting ( fieldsports.)


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. Are you killing foxes because they are killing poultry,game birds,lambs or just for a nights shooting? If you shoot anything in big numbers it definitely want multiply

 

Fox shooting has no major impact on fox numbers at all , for every arce of land being shot over there are perhaps 100s that are not .

There will be more foxes killed on the roads in a year than shot , on any commercial shoot fox control is almost a full time job , its not just a case of shooting whats there and that it done with , new foxes soon move into the territory .

 

Fox shooting has been going on for 100s of years and we have not run out or seen a significant drop in numbers .

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Foxes have been persecuted by hunting by any means for centuries, whether that persecution is just or not is for those persuing them to decide.

They get a lot of bad press from some landowners but not all, and personally I've never known one to take and kill a new born lamb but have known corvids to cripple them to the extent they have had to be destroyed.

People mention a foxes evil intent by simply wiping out every chicken in the coup when only one would suffice, but the fox doesn't behead the rest out of spite, it does it because that is the way it is wired; it is a wild animal acting on instinctive impulse handed down through millennia, surrounded by dozens of screaming chickens. It is just doing what a fox does and can't be blamed for that anymore than a cat can be blamed for doing what it does. My Border terrier, though not wild, is controlled to some extent by those same primitive instincts and will do (and has) exactly the same given the right circumstances.

Some of the landowners around here raise chickens on quite large scales, but you can't build a huge shed on the edges of a wood, fill it with chickens and not expect foxes to come visit.

I quite like foxes and the only time we shoot them is after they have bred, and just last month we killed 11 cubs in the space of two hours or so without having to move more than 100 yards. We probably wont shoot anymore now unless birds start showing up dead, but a lot of that is down to Badgers also, and there's not a lot we can do about that.

Fox shooting is now a 'sport' in its own right, with those involved shooting them not because they're causing problems, but simply because they can. It's not that long ago that anyone mentioning they had spent this amount and that amount on the latest fox shooting technology would have been thought an idiot, but it is now the norm and quite an industry has evolved just around fox shooting. It's entirely up to them.

I have no idea what impact shooters have on the fox population today anymore than I have an idea of the impact of hunting with hounds had prior to the ban, but modern technology moves on relentlessly and even with the advent of NV etc I can't see their numbers being decimated.

Not many foxes live to a ripe old age, and none live to retire. If they avoid the shooter and road traffic they can look forward to disease and an uncomfortable and possibly painful demise, and if they survive that they can look forward to starving to death when they're too old to hunt for food. It's not pleasant out there despite what anyone tells you.

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Clad someone on here thinks like me that modern day shooting of foxes is classed as a sporting day/night out killing foxes not because of need but because of sport, I've got no problem with someone going out after foxes but when they cover half the country trying to kill aimlessly that doesn't sit nice with me but we are all different.still think the posters thread makes more sense to fox shooting to me anyways.

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Clad someone on here thinks like me that modern day shooting of foxes is classed as a sporting day/night out killing foxes not because of need but because of sport, I've got no problem with someone going out after foxes but when they cover half the country trying to kill aimlessly that doesn't sit nice with me but we are all different.still think the posters thread makes more sense to fox shooting to me anyways.

When I've been fox shooting in the past I have done so knowing full well that any fox I kill will never be able to take game again. I have no problem killing foxes for sport, too. This is the same for pigeons as far as i'm concerned - I don't do it because i'm particularly concerned about a farmer's profit.

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When I've been fox shooting in the past I have done so knowing full well that any fox I kill will never be able to take game again. I have no problem killing foxes for sport, too. This is the same for pigeons as far as i'm concerned - I don't do it because i'm particularly concerned about a farmer's profit.

. That's totally up to you,
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I do it because I LOVE IT , however it just so happens as a by product im doing mates and land owners I shoot for a good turn .

+1 not to mention all the wildlife that benefits as well. Plenty lapwings and curlews up here even though they are in decline elsewhere.

 

Fox shooting is definitely a sport in its own right , just look at all the equipment now associated with outwitting this wily adversary.

 

Fox numbers are increasing even though NV , Thermals , Digital callers are employed every day/night , so I think foxes are here to stay...

 

.

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+1 not to mention all the wildlife that benefits as well. Plenty lapwings and curlews up here even though they are in decline elsewhere.

 

Fox shooting is definitely a sport in its own right , just look at all the equipment now associated with outwitting this wily adversary.

 

Fox numbers are increasing even though NV , Thermals , Digital callers are employed every day/night , so I think foxes are here to stay...

 

.

it's a shame that foxes are being hunting in the name of sport in my opinion but we are all different but how do you know that's fox number are increasing?
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it's a shame that foxes are being hunting in the name of sport in my opinion but we are all different but how do you know that's fox number are increasing?

Why? All the quarry species are shot for sport, primarily.

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I'm not sure if some of the contributors to this post have been involved in game management or are aware of how destructive foxes can be to ground nesting birds, poultry farms or young lambs.

If they were, they would know that the second you pull the trigger on a fox, it is replaced by the next one. I have the utmost respect for Mr Foxy as a wild, cunning opportunist. However, I've seen too many lambs killed to have any sentiment towards him. Has anyone any evidence of fox numbers being depleted?

I think not.

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I'm not sure if some of the contributors to this post have been involved in game management or are aware of how destructive foxes can be to ground nesting birds, poultry farms or young lambs.

If they were, they would know that the second you pull the trigger on a fox, it is replaced by the next one. I have the utmost respect for Mr Foxy as a wild, cunning opportunist. However, I've seen too many lambs killed to have any sentiment towards him. Has anyone any evidence of fox numbers being depleted?

I think not.

well said ;-) no shooters out there can cover all ground on uk soil, end of

fox numbers will never decrease, i pity the grouse keepers as those lads do have there work cut out

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Why? All the quarry species are shot for sport, primarily.

. Seems to me that every time I post a reply I get 3-4 people kicking me because I don't believe in killing foxes for sport like I said it's not for me if you feel the need to hunt foxes in big numbers then good luck to you, I see killing 4-5 foxes a night as madness for sport you see this as a good day/nights shooting that's just two people looking at shooting differently, so twice you've asked me WHY it's simple it's my opinion on shooting not yours, good hunting
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. Seems to me that every time I post a reply I get 3-4 people kicking me because I don't believe in killing foxes for sport like I said it's not for me if you feel the need to hunt foxes in big numbers then good luck to you, I see killing 4-5 foxes a night as madness for sport you see this as a good day/nights shooting that's just two people looking at shooting differently, so twice you've asked me WHY it's simple it's my opinion on shooting not yours, good hunting

Ok, i'll put it slightly differently. Do you shoot any live quarry? If so, why? By the way, i'm not having a pop, just genuinely interested.

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Yes like I said on a earlier post I've got to get rib of a fox or foxes that's had a duck of mine, I can't do anything at the moment I'm in florida keys till 17th but as soon as I'm home I'll be set up with my nite site to sort him out just hope it's only one by the time I'm home, I've got ducks and chickens on my land and shot 2 foxes last year looking for chicken dinner or duck soup, I love decoy shooting Motty and yes I hit big numbers of them not as much as I would like and I thing I know what's coming next but I crop total for farmers and will shoot foxes if asked. Like I said I've got no problem with you or anybody shooting foxes for sport but it's just not my cup of tea shooting every fox I see.good hunting

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I shoot foxes from September/October through the end of March, mostly on just two fields. While they have Cubs I leave them alone, UNLESS one is particularly troublesome taking l,mans, chickens, ducks, turkeys etc, then that goes.

Last season I got 51, the season before, 56, the season before that, 43, and the season before that 74.

I manage numbers, I don't shoot them for "sport"

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An average of 50 seems to be about the manageable number around here.

That said, the first year I had a southern Irish fox charity come over the border and dump foxes between a chicken farm and lamb farm, and hence the large number that year. After hanging 20+ foxes on the gate, he stopped dumping them on my permissions :)

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A while ago I started a thread on here what was along the lines of "what if we all stop shooting foxes?" This may not be word perfect and I am on a train WIFI which is awful so maybe some kind person might find is and post a link up....? Please

 

It had some good comments from some sound members on here

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