Fox club

[WelshMike]

2 hours ago, Hammo said:

Happy new year all!!

Last night out for me was New Years Eve, and I was chuffed to beans to drop a wily old Dog that had been giving me the runaround for three weeks. He was spotted lurking around a big sheep field on one of my trickier perms -  the Farmer is not keen on 'wiping out the wildlife' but usually changes tack when a Fox is seen. Its a lovely bit of ground, and I have all the surrounding Farms, there is one field in particular that is the highest point for miles around, I would sell my house to own it. Maybe I will ask him one day.....

I dropped a vixen also just one field away but its a neighbouring Farm, possibly thats the pair? who knows. Having had a crazy itch for a change, I sold my Mauser M12 .243 in November; and bought a lovely Schultz+Larsen Victory in the same cal. with a spare Barrel in 8x57JS. The variation took a lot longer than anticipated, and it was a month before it came through. The 8x57JS Barrel is being shipped over from Denmark this month, so hope to collect it Feb after proofing.These were my first two Fox with the new Rifle.

This year will be a bit of a new start for me, youngest Daughter will be 18 in May - so weekends with Dad are now a rarity. I can begin to plan some trips/holidays away and fulfil some long held ambitions. Definitely want to get out with the 8x57, and have a bash at some Boar and bigger Deer. Any recommendations on trips already experienced most welcome. I expect Grant is going to be the fount of all knowledge!

Nicely done mate, lovely looking rifle. Grant is the man when it comes to shooting trips. 

[bumpy22]

Another dog fox of the chicken unit. Called one in earlier on the other part. Came in perfectly and my mate managed to miss. Then after trying a few more spots with no sign i managed to get the dog fox. Which was near to the gate we were scanning. Trotted up the field and made his mistake by stopping halfway across

[dazb1967]

Another dog fox tonight, came running in to the caller from around 600 yds, stopped at about 40yds 

[oowee]

Nice one Daz. I just dropped another at the back here but it can wait till morning 🙂

[Strongman]

Was going to go out last night but saw two foxes in the field above my baiting area behind the house. Decided to stay in and sort them out. Anyway, after hours of them appearing, moving towards my boundary then disappearing I called it a night at about 11!

Checked with the thermal early tonight but saw nothing, thought I would have a quick peek at about 9 and there was a fox on the field above mine. Decided to stalk up the hedge and call him down rather that wait as I usually do as he seemed to be mousing. Thermal makes spotting so much easier and I kept a good sight of him as I crept up the hedge. In position I cave him a call and down he came, easy I thought. There was one small branch hanging down from the tree I was under that I was getting glare back from so where does he head! Lost him for about 5 minutes, don’t know how close he came to me but thermal picked him up and I called him down again. 60 yard simple shot. Young dog.

Put a bit more effort into the picture taking, can you tell!! 😞

[oowee]

3 minutes ago, Strongman said:

 

4 minutes ago, Strongman said:

 

Put a bit more effort into the picture taking, can you tell!! 😞

 

[WelshMike]

11 hours ago, dazb1967 said:

Another dog fox tonight, came running in to the caller from around 600 yds, stopped at about 40yds 

 

11 hours ago, Strongman said:

Was going to go out last night but saw two foxes in the field above my baiting area behind the house. Decided to stay in and sort them out. Anyway, after hours of them appearing, moving towards my boundary then disappearing I called it a night at about 11!

Checked with the thermal early tonight but saw nothing, thought I would have a quick peek at about 9 and there was a fox on the field above mine. Decided to stalk up the hedge and call him down rather that wait as I usually do as he seemed to be mousing. Thermal makes spotting so much easier and I kept a good sight of him as I crept up the hedge. In position I cave him a call and down he came, easy I thought. There was one small branch hanging down from the tree I was under that I was getting glare back from so where does he head! Lost him for about 5 minutes, don’t know how close he came to me but thermal picked him up and I called him down again. 60 yard simple shot. Young dog.

Put a bit more effort into the picture taking, can you tell!! 😞

Nicely done gents 

[Hammo]

On 07/01/2019 at 15:27, oowee said:

Hammo get over to Africa with us we go end of April for the start of the geese and ducks. You can bag a few beasts with your new rifle. 🙂 

I would love to, but not sure I will have the spare funds for a big trip yet.

[WelshMike]

16 minutes ago, Hammo said:

I would love to, but not sure I will have the spare funds for a big trip yet.

Best get saving mate 

Still letting the side down gents....dogs calling, never seen and wouldnt come to the call  

I am going for a fox shooting lesson tonight so hopefully I can learn something 

[FOXHUNTER1]

Decided to head out to a farm that I have had permission on for a year but never shot a fox off it yet , seen them but they always scarper . I am not the only person shooting the ground and also somebody runs lurchers there too so not an easy task.

1st fox I saw duly scarpered as per the script. I carried on regardless and spotted this dog fox curled up on a muck heap

Bumpy the pic is as he fell ......

 

[oowee]

1 hour ago, FOXHUNTER1 said:

 

Bumpy the pic is as he fell ......

Yeah yeah but what about the lighting 😉

[FOXHUNTER1]

54 minutes ago, oowee said:

Yeah yeah but what about the lighting 😉

Its a Sony Cybershot , I think it takes great pics.

Love my pics mate , must have about 2500 of all different quarry.

Something to look back on when Im too old to get out ...

[oowee]

Just now, FOXHUNTER1 said:

Its a Sony Cybershot , I think it takes great pics.

Love my pics mate , must have about 2500 of all different quarry.

Something to look back on when Im too old to get out ...

Mine started blocking the phone up so deleted loads. My phone gallery still looks like a countryside morgue. 🙂

I had a great day out today. Went early to try and bag a munty in the woods, it's very challenging to get on them. Managed to get one early on, then went after the Roe and managed one and nearly a second. With one more on tues evening and a fox Tues night the stuff soon adds up 😞 

 

[FOXHUNTER1]

3 minutes ago, oowee said:

Mine started blocking the phone up so deleted loads. My phone gallery still looks like a countryside morgue. 🙂

I had a great day out today. Went early to try and bag a munty in the woods, it's very challenging to get on them. Managed to get one early on, then went after the Roe and managed one and nearly a second. With one more on tues evening and a fox Tues night the stuff soon adds up 😞 

 

Lucky guy having munties around , wish I had some up North.

Many fallow around you ?

[racing snake]

Nice work on that one Mark. You do well to get one if someone's running the dogs on them.

A bit of a nice change for me tonight. Not my usual lonesome self but had the exceptional company of Fox Club's very own Mr Welsh Mike! He'd mentioned about probably going for a thermal in the near future so we arranged a night out so he could have a go with mine to see how he found it. Very graciously offered to drive up to mine, so tonight was the night. As always you're never quite sure how someone is going to be 'in the flesh' compared to posts on social media, but can confirm Mike is every bit the top man he comes across as, and I was delighted to have his company for the night.

Night started off as it should do - pint and a bite to eat at the local pub. Great to catch up and have a chat with someone who does what we all do. I don't shoot with anyone else so was great to have a conversation and share tips and stories from someone else who does the same.

After a bit to eat we headed up to the quarry and the big hill permissions (they're right next door to each other). From the outset we both agreed that getting a fox wasn't really that important tonight, it was more to enjoy the company and for Mike to get the hang of the thermal, so no pressure as far as noise and this, that or the other. Mike kindly agreed to do the donkey work of scanning and spotting, I had the easy bit of dropping them. Headed to the quarry first. This was the area I was least expecting to get a fox because I'd put a fair bit of pressure on it and there's a river that separates it from the big hill, so they don't tend to reestablish themselves as quickly as they do on the hill. And so it proved - nothing seen.

A quick dash over to the second permission and we stopped at a known hotspot and Mike gave a quick scan - nothing about. I gave a few calls with the mouth caller and within seconds Mike directs me onto a fox that appeared from the back of the old mill. Got her in the scope and let one go. Pretty sure I hit her but she did run into the next field but decidely wobbly on her feet. Quickly picked her up again and put down and out with the second shot. Picked her up and could see the blood trail up to her, so first shot did connect but second shot needed to finish the job. Fox number one in the bag.

 

Headed along the track and then had to tackle a bit of a punishing climb (for me at least) up to the next spot where I'd planned to run the caller). Nothing about as we climbed the hill, but set up the caller at the top of climb, below us on a fence post and got settled. Ten minutes of vixen calling didn't produce anything, so I switched over to distressed rabbit and after a few minutes Mike spots a fox heading up the hill and directed me straight onto it. Got him in the scope as he headed up to about 150 yards away, and thought I'd let him come in a bit more but he got a bit jittery and dropped headed back down. Got the caller back on which made him stop about 170 yards down the hill, didn't think he'd come any closer so put the crosshair on the top of his back and let one go. Heard the round strike home, had a bit of a run down the field then dropped. Number 2 in the bag. A further 5 minutes of calling and Mike again spots a fox coming up the field. Straight and clear directions of where he was made the job of picking him up in the scope a breeze, and dropped him about about 120 yards, dead on the spot. Fox number 3 in the bag. 

 

Happy with the night's work, and with Mike having a fair old drive back home, we decided to head back after another ten minutes of calling. Headed back down the hill and onto the track and Mike spots another fox sat in the field by the farm. Bread and butter shot off the gate post and number 4 (another dog) was down for the night.

 

 

Decided to call it a night after that and headed back to the vehicles. Was an absolute pleasure to have Mike's company for the evening, only sorry it was a work day tomorrow or we could have easily carried on. After shooting for so long on my own there was always a concern that shooting with someone else probably wouldn't be as productive, but as Mike's shown, when you've got someone who knows what they're doing straight out of the gate it can actually increase your productivity. I genuinely hope I'll get more chances to shoot with Mike, one of those guys it's impossible not to like, very knowledgeable and knows what he's doing. Sadly he didn't bring the man bag, which was the only blight on the evening, as I was really looking forward to ripping the ****.

Cheers Mike.

 

[oowee]

RS, That was a well planned evening and all those release pens did there job  Well done boys 👍

 

PS Which bag did Mike bring? 

[WelshMike]

8 hours ago, racing snake said:

Nice work on that one Mark. You do well to get one if someone's running the dogs on them.

A bit of a nice change for me tonight. Not my usual lonesome self but had the exceptional company of Fox Club's very own Mr Welsh Mike! He'd mentioned about probably going for a thermal in the near future so we arranged a night out so he could have a go with mine to see how he found it. Very graciously offered to drive up to mine, so tonight was the night. As always you're never quite sure how someone is going to be 'in the flesh' compared to posts on social media, but can confirm Mike is every bit the top man he comes across as, and I was delighted to have his company for the night.

Night started off as it should do - pint and a bite to eat at the local pub. Great to catch up and have a chat with someone who does what we all do. I don't shoot with anyone else so was great to have a conversation and share tips and stories from someone else who does the same.

After a bit to eat we headed up to the quarry and the big hill permissions (they're right next door to each other). From the outset we both agreed that getting a fox wasn't really that important tonight, it was more to enjoy the company and for Mike to get the hang of the thermal, so no pressure as far as noise and this, that or the other. Mike kindly agreed to do the donkey work of scanning and spotting, I had the easy bit of dropping them. Headed to the quarry first. This was the area I was least expecting to get a fox because I'd put a fair bit of pressure on it and there's a river that separates it from the big hill, so they don't tend to reestablish themselves as quickly as they do on the hill. And so it proved - nothing seen.

A quick dash over to the second permission and we stopped at a known hotspot and Mike gave a quick scan - nothing about. I gave a few calls with the mouth caller and within seconds Mike directs me onto a fox that appeared from the back of the old mill. Got her in the scope and let one go. Pretty sure I hit her but she did run into the next field but decidely wobbly on her feet. Quickly picked her up again and put down and out with the second shot. Picked her up and could see the blood trail up to her, so first shot did connect but second shot needed to finish the job. Fox number one in the bag.

 

Headed along the track and then had to tackle a bit of a punishing climb (for me at least) up to the next spot where I'd planned to run the caller). Nothing about as we climbed the hill, but set up the caller at the top of climb, below us on a fence post and got settled. Ten minutes of vixen calling didn't produce anything, so I switched over to distressed rabbit and after a few minutes Mike spots a fox heading up the hill and directed me straight onto it. Got him in the scope as he headed up to about 150 yards away, and thought I'd let him come in a bit more but he got a bit jittery and dropped headed back down. Got the caller back on which made him stop about 170 yards down the hill, didn't think he'd come any closer so put the crosshair on the top of his back and let one go. Heard the round strike home, had a bit of a run down the field then dropped. Number 2 in the bag. A further 5 minutes of calling and Mike again spots a fox coming up the field. Straight and clear directions of where he was made the job of picking him up in the scope a breeze, and dropped him about about 120 yards, dead on the spot. Fox number 3 in the bag. 

 

Happy with the night's work, and with Mike having a fair old drive back home, we decided to head back after another ten minutes of calling. Headed back down the hill and onto the track and Mike spots another fox sat in the field by the farm. Bread and butter shot off the gate post and number 4 (another dog) was down for the night.

 

 

Decided to call it a night after that and headed back to the vehicles. Was an absolute pleasure to have Mike's company for the evening, only sorry it was a work day tomorrow or we could have easily carried on. After shooting for so long on my own there was always a concern that shooting with someone else probably wouldn't be as productive, but as Mike's shown, when you've got someone who knows what they're doing straight out of the gate it can actually increase your productivity. I genuinely hope I'll get more chances to shoot with Mike, one of those guys it's impossible not to like, very knowledgeable and knows what he's doing. Sadly he didn't bring the man bag, which was the only blight on the evening, as I was really looking forward to ripping the ****.

Cheers Mike.

 

What can I add to the above really...

Well ... as mentioned above the fear about meeting somebody you havent met before was quickly dispelled when I met up with Stu, a top bloke. As can be seen by the very nice comments above I was on my best behaviour  though I lost points for not taking a man bag. There was so much disappointment in the air I had to try and do my best with the spotter. 

The thermal is great and I quickly got used to it after I got a perspective of the ground and range. I got a little confused by a heat signature in amongst some tress...the tress turned out to be very small trees and it was a rabbit lol. As we headed out to the first spot I was like a ninja getting over a fence...a big fat clumsy ninja so no wonder we didnt see anything

After fox no 1 I was marched up to the top of the mountain....steep is an understatement and I am reasonably fit. The ground is stunning and the crisp night made it a great night to be out and about. 

All in all a cracking night, great company and 4 foxes down, cant ask for more then that. Stu was a great laugh and a good shot..an absolute top bloke. CHEERS BUDDY  

[prem1234]

well done guys.... although i'm not active and posting on 'fox club' I always look forward to reading your posts 👍

[WelshMike]

1 hour ago, prem1234 said:

well done guys.... although i'm not active and posting on 'fox club' I always look forward to reading your posts 👍

always glad to hear that we are keeping people interested. There is a lot of bullying that goes on within Foxclub that is becoming a real issue...well an issue for me as its all directed my way  ...jealousy I reckon 

16 hours ago, FOXHUNTER1 said:

Decided to head out to a farm that I have had permission on for a year but never shot a fox off it yet , seen them but they always scarper . I am not the only person shooting the ground and also somebody runs lurchers there too so not an easy task.

1st fox I saw duly scarpered as per the script. I carried on regardless and spotted this dog fox curled up on a muck heap

Bumpy the pic is as he fell ......

 

Nice one Mark, good start to 2019 for you mate 

[walshie]

We went out for a couple of hours last night. By heck it was cold. So cold the heat of my eye was making the XQ38 fog up. 😰

Within 5 minutes of getting there, this big old dog succumbed to a boiler room shot with my 223.

There were a few about, but deep in the undergrowth. About half an hour later I spotted another fox through the thermal. It was the other side of a hedge and walking parallel with us. When he cleared the hedge and saw us, he casually walked away, occasionally looking over his shoulder at us. I had the lamp on him and my mate was waiting for him to turn so as not take a "Texas heart shot." A bit of squeaking and a few "ois" and he finally turned broadside and that was his end. He only had half a tail but otherwise in decent nick like the first one. Mine was nicer though. 

We pressed on but only saw 2 more foxes in the open. As soon as they saw us, one exited stage left and the other stage right. Time to get back to the van and get the heater going on my feet. 

[bumpy22]

Well done gentlemen. Great reports just not so sure about the nice comments about mike😉. If we can all get back to normal now😂.

Might try for one tonight if i can finish all jobs at home

[WelshMike]

40 minutes ago, walshie said:

We went out for a couple of hours last night. By heck it was cold. So cold the heat of my eye was making the XQ38 fog up. 😰

Within 5 minutes of getting there, this big old dog succumbed to a boiler room shot with my 223.

There were a few about, but deep in the undergrowth. About half an hour later I spotted another fox through the thermal. It was the other side of a hedge and walking parallel with us. When he cleared the hedge and saw us, he casually walked away, occasionally looking over his shoulder at us. I had the lamp on him and my mate was waiting for him to turn so as not take a "Texas heart shot." A bit of squeaking and a few "ois" and he finally turned broadside and that was his end. He only had half a tail but otherwise in decent nick like the first one. Mine was nicer though. 

We pressed on but only saw 2 more foxes in the open. As soon as they saw us, one exited stage left and the other stage right. Time to get back to the van and get the heater going on my feet. 

Nicely done mate. 

Just now, bumpy22 said:

Well done gentlemen. Great reports just not so sure about the nice comments about mike😉. If we can all get back to normal now😂.

Might try for one tonight if i can finish all jobs at home

 Cheers buddy. Racing snake failed to mention that I bribed him to be nice..he mentioned something about me being a feral inbred who lived in a cave...couldnt disagree 

[racing snake]

8 hours ago, oowee said:

RS, That was a well planned evening and all those release pens did there job  Well done boys 👍

 

PS Which bag did Mike bring? 

Got on the bat phone to RSPCA the night before and said I had a guest coming so would appreciate a top-up.

Alas the bag of Mike didn't make an appearance. The disappointment was overwhelming.

Nice work on that one Walshie. A bit of a tip when using the thermal on really cold nights when the front eyepeice starts fogging up, just pull it away from your eye a centimetere or two, keep an air gap between you and it. It helps quite a bit.

Edited January 10, 2019 by racing snake

[oowee]

2 minutes ago, racing snake said:

Got on the bat phone to RSPCA the night before and said I had a guest coming so would appreciate a top-up.

Alas the bag of Mike didn't make an appearance. The disappointment was overwhelming.

🤣

[WelshMike]

37 minutes ago, racing snake said:

Got on the bat phone to RSPCA the night before and said I had a guest coming so would appreciate a top-up.

Alas the bag of Mike didn't make an appearance. The disappointment was overwhelming.

Nice work on that one Walshie. A bit of a tip when using the thermal on really cold nights when the front eyepeice starts fogging up, just pull it away from your eye a centimetere or two, keep an air gap between you and it. It helps quite a bit.

Dont you start 

You forgot to mention fox 4. No 4 had a nasty would across his forehead. This was healing well but had made a bit of a mess....but no RSPCA releases as far as I could see. I was only spotting so no credit is due to me for the demise of the 4. 

I spotted some suspect thermal through an old tree as well..turned out to be a heron perching in the tree, it must have had a shock when fox no 1 copped a couple of rounds lol