steve_b_wales Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 The land owner of one of my permissions, told me yesterday, that 'lots of fox cubs' have been seen running about on his land. So I contacted my mate, Mark (the poacher) and we went there last night. We got to the farm at around 20.45, and checked out the land. We decided to try by a steep embankment that leads down to a woodland and quarry. I set my Foxpro out at around 20 yards (only approx 30 yards to the fence line) and Mark set up with his shotgun behind some trees. I set up with my .243 around 60 yards to his left. After about 15 minutes, Mark gestured to me that he could see a fox, but I couldn't see it. Then shortly after, a young cub came up the bank, but as I raised the rifle, it saw me and ran back into the trees. Nothing showed after that, and Mark told me that he watched a fox about 20 yards to my left, which was sitting and just looking at the Foxpro. As it was now getting dark, we went further into the fields, and Mark soon spotted a fox. I used the Foxpro to call it in closer, and when it was around 60 yards, I could see it's head and chest. I aimed, fired, and missed! I don't know why though. Soon after, another young fox presented itself, and another head/chest shot was missed again my me! I was getting worried now, because I knew that my rifle was zeroed okay. Further into the fields, we spotted two cubs at first, then three, then a larger fox, which could have been the Vixen. All four started coming slowly towards us, but one by one, they vanished into the woods. Then Mark spotted a cub down by the fenceline. I looked at it through the scope, and I could see its head and chest. It was around 40 yards away, and as I had a good backstop, decided to take the shot. Yes, I missed once more. Why this happened again, for the third time, I don't know. Last time I used the rifle for a bit of target shooting, it was spot on at 120 yards. Walking across the fields, we saw another 2-3 cubs, but they didn't present a safe shot. Mark spotted another one again, and it was walking across the field towards us. I waited until the shot was safe, and at around 60 yards, took it. At last, I hit it side on. Through the scope, it looked to be a fair size, but when we went to pick it up, it was very small, and could be a runt of the litter. All the other cubs were at least twice the size of this one. The shot was perfect, just below the shoulder, and making a large exit wound at the back of it's neck. I was just pleased that I managed to shoot one. I can't explain why I missed the first three. This one was a lot smaller, which presented a smaller target area compared to the others. All in all, we reckoned that we saw at least 9 foxes, and that there was at least two litters down on the embankment. Despite me missing 3 of them, we had a great night, and a further one is planned soon. We may even go up first light and bait an area. My thanks to Mark for an enjoyable night, and also my apologies for my poor shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the poacher Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Apologies accepted Steve lol ...like Steve said a lot of foxes on this ground ,there used to be plenty of rabbits here but now we can see why they gone , we shall have a few more outings to sort these out as there's way too many here ....a good night out Steve look forward to another visit ....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Oh ! dear Steve b, That's just dreadfull missing like that. Have you checked it today, ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted July 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Oh ! dear Steve b, That's just dreadfull missing like that. Have you checked it today, ? No, not yet. I really can't understand why I missed. I can blame 'human error' of course, but the cub that I shot, was hit exactly where I aimed. And with the one before that, I aimed square on it's chest, but I didn't even come close to it. The last time I used the rifle was when I was target shooting, and it was spot on every shot. It hasn't been bumped or knocked. If I get chance, I'll pop up the farm tomorrow morning to try it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browning123 Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Good write-up Steve, better luck next time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted July 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Good write-up Steve, better luck next time! Thanks. I wanted to be honest and admit to missing three of them. I have been going through it in my mind, as to how I did miss, and I cannot come up with an answer. The first one I missed was an 'awkward' shot, but the other two should have been hit. It won't happen again, that's for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
browning123 Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thanks. I wanted to be honest and admit to missing three of them. I have been going through it in my mind, as to how I did miss, and I cannot come up with an answer. The first one I missed was an 'awkward' shot, but the other two should have been hit. It won't happen again, that's for sure. Been there myself numerous times - move on to the next time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruity Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Brush it off Steve and make sure you nail them next time lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted July 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Brush it off Steve and make sure you nail them next time lol Will do mate, and I'll be back on them with a vengeance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruity Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Will do mate, and I'll be back on them with a vengeance! I missed one the other night , God knows how, i waited nearly 2 hrs but i knew he would show. I shouted f@@@ it as he ran down the field flat out , I'll get him lol Frustrating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonker Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Steve, were you using home loads. I missed a couple recently I put it down to the cases. loaded some in newer cases and bob was your uncle again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted July 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Steve, were you using home loads. I missed a couple recently I put it down to the cases. loaded some in newer cases and bob was your uncle again. Yes, I was using home loads, but these were from the same batch that I used recently for target shooting, and they were perfect. It's baffling me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted July 22, 2015 Report Share Posted July 22, 2015 Put it down to the poacher. It was his fault. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dessyb Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 have you heard of speck savers teheee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetter Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 Same thing happened to me last night Steve but on the bunnies with the air rifle. Went to my new permission at work to bash some and had checked the rifle zero earlier that evening so it was spot on. Shot at three and missed all three despite two on them being smack on the primary zero range. I am going to check Zero again tonight but I think it was pilot error, I cant work out why though as I was shooting from a steady position out of the car. Still scratching my head about it this morning, I share your pain as it bugs the hell out of me when things like this happen even though I should let it go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_b_wales Posted July 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 Same thing happened to me last night Steve but on the bunnies with the air rifle. Went to my new permission at work to bash some and had checked the rifle zero earlier that evening so it was spot on. Shot at three and missed all three despite two on them being smack on the primary zero range. I am going to check Zero again tonight but I think it was pilot error, I cant work out why though as I was shooting from a steady position out of the car. Still scratching my head about it this morning, I share your pain as it bugs the hell out of me when things like this happen even though I should let it go. The only difference between shooting at targets two weeks ago, and fox cubs the other night, was that I had my NS800 attached to my scope, which added a little bit of extra weight to the rifle/scope/moderator/bipod configuration. I would not have thought that this would effect the zero, but who knows. I intend to try the rifle with the NS800 both on and off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 I had this problem the other week when I missed twice one at 150 and there other at 180 yards,up until that point I had only missed one, It turned out to be the crown of the gun was pitted and on a cold clean barrel it was off by 4 in to the right at 110 yards. Had the end of the barrel off and recrowned and know it's back sub haft inch . Young ice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zetter Posted July 23, 2015 Report Share Posted July 23, 2015 The only difference between shooting at targets two weeks ago, and fox cubs the other night, was that I had my NS800 attached to my scope, which added a little bit of extra weight to the rifle/scope/moderator/bipod configuration. I would not have thought that this would effect the zero, but who knows. I intend to try the rifle with the NS800 both on and off. In the end I went back to basics gave the barrel a good clean and saw if the pellets were grouping well. I wasn't happy about the number of fliers that there were so tried out some bisley mags instead. Massive improvement along with the clean and two bunnies smacked at 30 yards without much of a twitch. I did miss one and to be honest I think it was poor head position on the scope when shooting from the car. I do wonder if a few of my other recent misses are down to poor shooting position forcing my head position away from good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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