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Lamping on your own


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Good morning, just been given sole responsibility of shooting the foxes on the estate I get my free pigeon shooting for so I need to do a good job. But I've only ever been lamping at night with mates but I'm not allowed any one on this permission. So I'm wondering what's the best method of lamping on your own I've been looking at a second hand quad but there rather expensive but would come in handy pigeoning. I've also been looking at a jimmy but is it hard to lamp shoot and drive all on your own? Any ideas would be much appreciated! Thanks

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Did it for years on my own from Jimnys.Once you know your land and know what your doing (foxes habits ext) it's fine.Get a roof mounted lamp for spotting or a big T67.Once spotted switch to rifle (an off set T torch on the rifle is great as you a good set up so your not getting the fox in centre beam).Or make it even easier with a caller and NV spotter and NV set up on the rifle.I had a NV spotter (360) on the roof coupled to a T67 IR.Seven inch monitor in the cab for spotting perfect for lamp shy.NV on the rifle,tried Pulsar N750a and the Photon but went back to simple home made add on.

Forgot to add 'make sure you let someone know where you are'

Edited by Davyo
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I had a quad for a number of years with a full frame overhead back to front and the lamp mounted in the roof. Shot a truck load off of that. These days I do almost all of my fox shooting from high seats. Get to know the regular beats of foxes and set the seat in a handy spot. I have a red hand lamp for spotting and amber on the rifle. Works very well. A quad with a front rack/ shooting table, lamp mounted on the edge of the table also works very well. Really unless the area you are shooting is very boggy, you don't need 4x4, just a small quad would do and less fuel of course. 30yrs ago we used to walk and carry a car battery in a basket !!!!

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As Davyo says, a 4wd car makes life a lot easier and an automatic is even easier for solo lamping with the lamp being held out the window. I pull the brake light switch connector off so they don't give me away while on site.

 

A variation of lamping is roof mounted NV spotter lamping, like this, but you need to know the land fairly well:

 

 

There will be some decent enough moonlit nights when you won't need the illuminator for the spotter.

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I have a very cheap Rav 4 for sale . Tyres and engine good, body and exhaust not so good. Has two removable roof panels. Will be going for scrap when the MOT runs out on the 4th August so it would be cheap!. Offered as a genuine solution rather than just being opportunist.

 

 

GH

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  • 1 month later...

Why do you need a vehicle of any sort for? For many years I have shot on foot. Backpack battery, lamp, homemade standing night bipod. You don't need to drive over every inch of the estate every night. Even if you did chances are that you can drive round half an hour later and you will say where was that one when we came round and. Been at all of these points before both on foot and with vehicle. As long as you show your face and knock a few over your doing your duty.

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To be effective with a vehicle ideally you really need 3 people. Driver, lamper and gunman. It can be done with less but it is not as good. You can do foot patrol on your own but there are safety issues involved from simply falling down to getting personally attacked by bullocks or the odd nutty anti. In the past I have had someone come out into the fields trying to find me by using a small torch. I knew the ground and just moved out of the area rather than confronting an unknown person and unknown agenda. I used my field skills to avoid them and carry on doing what I was doing. As far as they were concerned I had gone away. This has happened several times over the years.

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I have not got a lamping partner since my mate gave up,we had it down to an art.Have now bought add on nv and just trying to figure out how to lamp on your own,so am liking this thread.

Was it a thread on here where someone had converted a ride on lawnmower to a shooting rig !

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 months later...

I’ve lamped a hell of a lot of rabbits on my own on foot. Lightforce 170 in one hand, bike battery in a bag, pair of bipod sticks.

It’s not easy and you certainly shoot more when there are two of you.

Never shot from the roof of a car so couldn’t comment.

i would setup in a vantage point with a caller. 

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I do all mine on foot, I have a hand held spotter and nv add on for my scope. Nowadays I tend to target where we are having a problem, or go to where they are likely to be. Sitting and waiting generally works better for me, plus you usually get to learn more about their nocturnal habits. If you are shooting anywhere near houses etc they don’t know you are there unless you take a shot, so it’s less likely to get any complaints from the antis living near by.

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On 20/07/2017 at 22:55, Walker570 said:

I had a quad for a number of years with a full frame overhead back to front and the lamp mounted in the roof. Shot a truck load off of that. These days I do almost all of my fox shooting from high seats. Get to know the regular beats of foxes and set the seat in a handy spot. I have a red hand lamp for spotting and amber on the rifle. Works very well. A quad with a front rack/ shooting table, lamp mounted on the edge of the table also works very well. Really unless the area you are shooting is very boggy, you don't need 4x4, just a small quad would do and less fuel of course. 30yrs ago we used to walk and carry a car battery in a basket !!!!

Like many I've done the walking around bit carrying god knows what. Can't do it now and the farmer is not too keen on us driving around tearing up his main crop so I use a mobile semi high seat. As quoted, once you know the regular beats life becomes easier. I shoot through the 4x4 sunroof having driven to where I want to be and have parked up. In the summer evenings I'll use a remotely placed caller with an attractor (Mother's 'at). In the darker months, just the caller with a NV spotter and amber or white lamp. The one big advantage is that you're virtually bench rest shooting and I've not had a lamp shy fox for many years as they all fall down. Clinical.. Yep, you may get fewer per outing - although I'm not too sure about that - but in the long run the result is the same. If they have to go then I'm all in favour of making the job as easy as possible.

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I’ve stopped lamping now as I got fed up with bouncing around the Fells at all manner of god forsaken hours. We built a purpose built high seat come shed which is large enough to seat five. The lads who use it just bait at designated ranges. Seems to work ok. 

I never minded lamping on my own as it meant I didn’t have to consult with anyone about what we were going to do; I just got on with it. 

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  • 1 month later...

You might be better off by baiting up, we pegged a dead hare down & the foxes came every night. Had a trail cam setup & a buzzard was visiting daily to the same spot. In the past I put rabbit guts etc with some veg oil in a sealed bucket for a few days. Poured a trail across a field with a safe back drop & waited. Worked well enough sitting in a vehicle. 

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