Foxing any general advice

[Outdoorsman]

Ive been telling the farmer for some time now about the number of foxs he has, but they were never a problem to him so he said not to shoot any, until Saturday when he lost a few lambs, so i went out as normal last night, tryed to call them and absolutely nothing showed i was out from 9 until 130 which i do normally go just after dark and have seen a few, i dont know weather to go even earlier tonight or go later and try cover the land from say 2 ish right through to day light. Are there any sort of feeding parterns, or guide lines to how they normally behave. I have shot a few a bit further up from this place but it just been a case of if there was not one out a few squeaks on the caller and one comes in. Im proper puzzled

[walshie]

They are creatures of habit and explore their territory in more or less the same pattern every night. If you've got or can borrow a trail cam it would give you an idea what time they are about.

[Outdoorsman]

I might look to see if theres any for sale, like i say I normally go up just as its gone dark and i do normally see somthing, i just dont want to go up early and see nothing like last night (but i would go earlier), or do i go up later and cover the rest of the night and just see if they all come out to play really late

[robbiep]

The problem with going up 'just to see' is that you can very quickly make them lamp-shy. Or are you on NV or thermal setup ?

 

Most of my foxing is with shotgun, and most of it is dawn/dusk.

In general, as walshie has said, they are creatures of habit. They will check their regular food sources at similar times, given the chance (i.e no disturbance).

So the ideal way of getting a fox is to find out when and where they are, and interpose yourself close to that. So tucked into a hedgerow, nice and quiet. Then, along comes charlie, and the first (and last) thing he knows of you being there is the shot. I've even had them a bit far out and squeaked them in to the shotgun.

 

It takes patience. Lots of patience.

[Outdoorsman]

Aww well i think ill go up early on friday i cant get up tonight due to fog, im on lamp and i have nv, ive never had to use the nv yet as i dont miss a great deal so nothing really associates the lamp with danger, how long do they normally go between feeds?

[WelshMike]

As robbiep says its a patience game though I adopt a different tactic. I have an NV equipped .243 which means I dont have to get up close and personal. I find that getting out at different times of the nights and getting out regularly will give you an idea of what is coming and going and where they are coming from. You could look at baiting them with a dead ewe as generally foxes will go for the easiest source of food possible. Calling is always hit and miss as foxes that have a belly full will not be interested in a dying rabbit call.

[superspark]

Foxes are chancers and unless you know their habbits its going to be a bit hit or miss. My friends and i have shot many foxes over the years using shotgun, 223 and 243 rifles. mostly night shooting with a lamp about a couple of hours after dark until the sun starts comming up. Field craft is a must unless you just want to take pot luck.our last outing we shot 7 in total.