Foxes, hides & baiting

[RyanMc]

Hi all,

 

Im after foxes at the moment, but - no rifle at the moment, funds, new cabinet needed etc... but i have been able to gert within est. 60yrds of them but wasnt comfortable taking a shot for not making them any shyer and risk of injury over a clean kill (46g 3s, 36 3" BBs and 00 buckshot available 3/4 choked).

Has anyone played around with baiting known runs, positioning early and setting up a hide arrangement downwind (along a river bank and hedge) to ambush them as such?

I do intend getting a rifle .223 or .22WMR is my thinking for now but i would also like to try some field craft for the sake of it too. Any tips are welcome, bait, bait type, placement, cartridge recommended from the above mentioned 12g rounds.

 

Thanks,

 

R Mc 

[robbiep]

Foxes are largely creatures of habit, unless something disturbs them, they will travel the same routes between likely food source areas, at roughly the same times of day (daylight would be a better term, if it's a light evening then they will usually be later than a dark overcast evening.

Knowing that, the biggest trick with foxing with a shotgun is knowing where they want to be - the routes they want to use, and when they like to use them - and putting yourself on that route.

If you've seen them then you already know where they are, and the direction of travel, and the rough time of day. Basically, position yourself in a hedgerow, preferably with the fox coming towards you and the hedge at your back. Drab clothing, minimum movement, and wait for the fox to come to you.

I've got 223, but I take far more foxes with the 12 bore, just by being where they want to be, when they want to be there.

You can, with patience and experience, get them to within 10-15 yards before they figure out something isn't quite right

EDIT : In terms of cartridges, I use 42g Eley Alphamax BB in one barrel (punchy but effective), and if the fox comes closer than I can select the other barrel, which usually has 28g of No 5 - which will comfortably drop a fox out to 30 yards or more.

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by robbiep

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Just to add to the above, watch the wind direction.

 

I have successfully shot foxes with BBs, SGs, 6 shot all depending upon oportunity.

One piece of rough ground we used to shoot would often produce a fox in poorer weather, I would always stand with the wind on my front facing the way I expected Charlie to be moving away from the moving guns. Often they would use the same track and get to within 40 feet before the shot was made.

Good luck.

Edited September 14, 2021 by TIGHTCHOKE

[RyanMc]

@robbiep thanks for the info. I've been watching and following trails/holes in hedges, sitting spots, remnants of carcasses. I've been leaving the odd crow or blown pigeon out in different spots. Going to set some dog food well tramped into the ground and see what they do.

I'm keen to use the 12g, looks to me it takes more thinking and craft to get close enough. Using a semi-auto so i'm stuck on the single barrel, 46g 3's up 1st followed by BB's would keep me right I imagine.

 

[RyanMc]

36 minutes ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Just to add to the above, watch the wind direction.

 

I have successfully shot foxes with BBs, SGs, 6 shot all depending upon oportunity.

One piece of rough ground we used to shoot would often produce a fox in poorer weather, I would always stand with the wind on my front facing the way I expected Charlie to be moving away from the moving guns. Often they would use the same track and get to within 40 feet before the shot was made.

Good luck.

That is one reason for hugging the river, a cut off for the fox and the wind generally crosses right to left towards the river leaving me downwind and with clear sight to the bottom of the field where they are hanging out, chicken farm above carrying scent down too to distract them. Thanks for the input!

[robbiep]

Trampling dog or cat food into the grass is good if you want the fox to stop in a location for more than a couple of seconds - for a rifle shot, for example. For a shotgun it's far less helpful.

Good positioning, drab clothing, the fox never even realises you were there until it's too late

[sam triple]

My hide when mr fox paid a visit to my squirrel feeder 

 

Edited September 14, 2021 by sam triple

[RyanMc]

That looks good for the cold/wet/windy nights... no option for semi fixed position unfortunately plus have 2 separate permissions about 1 mile apart. Will start with simple net hides setup earlier in the evening and i can move between them if I need to depending on results.

Did Mr Fox get to leave the squirrel feeding station? 

[sam triple]

54 minutes ago, RyanMc said:

That looks good for the cold/wet/windy nights... no option for semi fixed position unfortunately plus have 2 separate permissions about 1 mile apart. Will start with simple net hides setup earlier in the evening and i can move between them if I need to depending on results.

Did Mr Fox get to leave the squirrel feeding station? 

That one did as I only had my air rifle with me young vixen a few days later wasn’t so lucky though 36grm of no 3 steel shot was her undoing 

[RyanMc]

Nice. Had a run of 1st lately, hoping to get my 1st fox!

[RyanMc]

Update - not got my 1st fox yet, but have managed to get them to start calling in and gained another 100 acre of permissions to work over around free range hen houses. Saturday night, took a last walk down 1 field in stormy conditions, left the shotgun in the car about 100m away, thinking nothing about, too late (pm), house nearby etc. spotted a fox, gave a few mild squeaks by mouth, it closed in very fast and walked right up to us within 10yrds! Every other time i had been down i had the gun, nothing showed!

 

Could have taken it out by throwing the lamp at it! lol

 

Getting there, learn something every time I go out. Spotted 3 total, called x2 in, 1 was lamp shy and ran. The other as above and the 1st cam in to c.100yrds and melted away into the darkness.

Ryan

[FOXHUNTER1]

Dont call them in if you are not going to shoot them you are just educating them. 

 

[Ian willetts]

Let your pigeons sit in a bag or bin for a good while I have baited quite a few in with pigeons even rotted with maggots coming out the smellyer the better and if the carcass is decomposed it’s harder to take away so you can get a shot hope you catch up with him soon 

[RyanMc]

18 minutes ago, FOXHUNTER1 said:

Dont call them in if you are not going to shoot them you are just educating them. 

 

A few small mouth squeaks was all, not even sure it heard us over the wind. 15/20 mph face on, he walked downwind towards us. we never moved when we saw it coming and once close not a noise till it was gone. I won't get out this week or at weekend but def next week I'll be down waiting on it. I had been putting dog food out at several spots well tramped in to the ground to keep attract and keep the magpies off as much as I could. always cleared up over night.

If I get it to 40/50yrds he'll not need educating next time I'm out.

 

I do have an application in for a .17 HMR (grounds I'll be shooting on are all fields with lines of sight <100yrds with the exception of a very few areas) with a Pard NV007 in tow.

 

Ryan

 

[oowee]

Never call unless you are going to kill. 

Wind ditrection is everything but for every two that will come straight in one will try to come around. 

[Walker570]

All of my fox control these days is from high seats and yes I do in some way bait that area as I use the tree rats shot for that purpose. Favorite food of foxes and they will come back to check if there is more and you can always hang one in a bush or tree just out of reach but not for their nose. 

[RyanMc]

1 hour ago, oowee said:

Never call unless you are going to kill. 

Wind ditrection is everything but for every two that will come straight in one will try to come around. 

 

25 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

All of my fox control these days is from high seats and yes I do in some way bait that area as I use the tree rats shot for that purpose. Favorite food of foxes and they will come back to check if there is more and you can always hang one in a bush or tree just out of reach but not for their nose. 

Thanks for the reply. Have been calling but hard to get them in range. This was an extremely curious or tame fox or it didn't know we were even there. I had been using some of the pigeons shot for that purpose, they do seem more partial to the crows though. 

Have 3" BB'S at the ready for the next night I get down. 

[Walker570]

Many moons ago when we carried a 12v car battery in a basket and shot 12 gauge, we killed a lot of foxes. That was back in the sixties and early seventies when pelts where fetching £26-£30 a time.   Most of our shooting was around the southern boundaries of the City of Birmingham, one which is right alongside the M5, in fact both sides just south of Rbery we called fox canyon because of the number there. Happy days. Foxes have now become much much wary of a sqeaker other than young cubs, so we just put high seats close to known routes.  Even back then they got a bit wary and we changed to a 10 bore and BBs.

[RyanMc]

10 hours ago, Walker570 said:

Many moons ago when we carried a 12v car battery in a basket and shot 12 gauge, we killed a lot of foxes. That was back in the sixties and early seventies when pelts where fetching £26-£30 a time.   Most of our shooting was around the southern boundaries of the City of Birmingham, one which is right alongside the M5, in fact both sides just south of Rbery we called fox canyon because of the number there. Happy days. Foxes have now become much much wary of a sqeaker other than young cubs, so we just put high seats close to known routes.  Even back then they got a bit wary and we changed to a 10 bore and BBs.

Pity there isn't an outlet for pelts anymore. I'm keen to get the license back with the rifle on it and use the NV to clear up a few. Working around a couple of free range hen farms -meat and egg laying operations. I had thought of making a raised hide in one spot, a good 6' gap of dead ground between fences of neighbouring farm, view to the left forward and the hill on the right. I have spotted 3-4 a night in this one field, roughly 10pm-12pm every time i have went down.

The 10 bore def gave you a few extra pellets to work with 💥

[Walker570]

In those circumstances a high seat or raised facility is great.  Used to clear them up round a large deep litter/free range egg produing place and there was always a pile of roller bales overlooking the approach area.  gave a good view and a safer angle of shot.  Sometimes on those large production units they have feed bins at the end and access ladders to the top. Used those a few times as well.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Walker570

[RyanMc]

42 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

In those circumstances a high seat or raised facility is great.  Used to clear them up round a large deep litter/free range egg produing place and there was always a pile of roller bales overlooking the approach area.  gave a good view and a safer angle of shot.  Sometimes on those large production units they have feed bins at the end and access ladders to the top. Used those a few times as well.

The main entrance to the field & pens has at all times a few row of round bales, but this is by the road and 2 houses and also pushing the limit of the .17hmr I'd be fairly sure. A high seat would be good, a couple of modified apple boxes would work a treat. 

 

Thanks for the input.