How many foxes on your estate per year

[gixer1]

I was wondering if people could tell me -

 

A ) How many Acres of ground does the estate cover

 

B ) how many foxes are shot and if possible what gender and age.

 

I am trying to get an average of the foxes per acre.

 

Thanks,

 

Garry.

Edited July 8, 2008 by gixer1

[bob300w]

It may well be worth you contacting The Game Conservancy Trust, they did a country-wide survey in the early 2000's of shot foxes. We used to send in annual reports of foxes killed, area covered, condition etc.

They even supplied scalpels to remove internal parts to send in, I don't remember the exact parts, the uterus was one part that they required. 'er indoors drew the line at having bits of fox puds in the freezer with the prawns and ice cream, so I gave this bit a miss. I assume that the findings were published, we received a letter at some point in later years saying that records were no longer required.

[Highlander]

Surely an impossible equation and even if possible like pretty much all statistics, useless!

 

On a well managed/keepered estate like here (3500 acres) most of the time there's hardly a fox but on others where there's no shooting or in towns etc the population can be dozens in a small area. Total killed here so far this year 5 whilst on a 150 acre farm down the road 34... go figure!

[gixer1]

Bob,

 

Thanks, i may do that...

 

Highlander,

 

Actually not useless at all as it is for my own interest, as you have stated it can vary and with 107 shot last year on one 2600 acre estate and then the counts so far this year on the same estate being around 25 I think it can show how tough these little beasties are.

 

Anyone with any info please still contribute.

 

Thanks

 

Garry.

[AndyCM]

900 acres - 35-40 (last 3 years)

- 1 field, the only 1 with livestock and a river running along one side produces 8-10 a year, the local hot spot.

The land is disjointed and there are plenty of 'feeder' areas.

Cheers

AndyCM

[bob300w]

The following from a Game Conservancy Trust publication issued at the time may help;

 

"How NOT to judge the success of localised culling.

 

For any local fox control effort, success is often judged on the number killed. But the number removed often reflects the effort put in and the size of the background fox population much more than it reflects the number of foxes left."

 

 

We also had to record the number of foxes seen, but not shot, presumably to give an indication of the local population, and whether we were having any impact on it.

[gixer1]

Thanks Bob, that makes sense as i guess the more shot the more there are around.

 

It has amazed me in the last 4-5 weeks that in 1 particular high seat i seem to frequent we have collectively shot 8 foxes and they just keep coming as i have seen 2 different foxes in the last 2 nights (i could only tell this as one had very definitive black legs and the other didn't and there doesn't seem to be a particular pattern (like 1 vixen, some cubs and a dog) it has been 3 dogs all, 5 cubs, and 1 olderf vixen.

 

I know to some this may seem pointless but i like to study what is being shot to help better understand the quarry.

 

Regards,

 

garry.

[Blackbart]

Cant help you with gender but since we have been keeping a "proper" count in the last 8 years there has been 811 foxes shot on our shoot which covers 3400 acres.This includes ones shot on shoot days etc and a few off fox drives but the majority have been taken with a rifle between 3-4 people.And the overwelming majority of them were taken on the lamp.

[radio1ham]

i currently shoot on about 500 acres and as for foxes it warrented me to get a 243 rifle

so still a few about

and no doubt there will be more on neighbouring lands

so plenty more to be had id say

[Game rearer]

On our estate las year when i was at college we shot over a hundred foxes in one year we put down 13,000 duck 6,000 pheasant and 1000 partridge

[gixer1]

Thanks for the input so far people, it seems around an average of around 3 foxes per 100 acres are shot per year from what i can see from here and from talking to others around the country....please keep the info coming.

[Erik Hamburger]

I have always understood that you typically find 1 fox per square kilometer on average.

I shoot on a 350 acres mixed farm and always see a few, sometimes up to 5 or 6, when walking just a few fields.

And I don't know about the ones I don't see....

[gixer1]

That's probably correct Erik but it seems that there are 3 shot per 100 acre. and 100 acres works out at 0.4046859km2

Edited July 10, 2008 by gixer1

[larson]

i was lamping last week with a chap who has over 6000 acres. dont think he does it all but i do no he has had 21 so far this year

[iai4me]

450 acres and 3 foxes. Cant remember the genders, but we do have more fox than previous years.

[Danger Mouse]

On 550 acres non shot only seen 1, didn't present a safe shot! Wev'e run out!

[Rob G]

There is one less on the farm i shoot didnt like 58grn vmax.The thing with foxes is they will travel miles overnight to feed.For every one you shoot two will come to the funeral.One of the farms i shoot is close to a town,had 22 on one field two years ago they where coming off the industrial estate.Another farm i shoot is approx 10miles from a town nowhere near as many on here.I think you will find more on a housing estate than a farming estate

[thomasbeaton]

one last nite with 100grn hollowpoint .243

 

thomas

[M ROBSON]

We've been hard on the foxes over the years so the numbers have dropped from 15 years ago when we first took on our 1000 acre shoot. Now we get 8-10 a year but back at the start it was 15-20. The same can be said for the Carrion Crows, a huge decline thanks to constant work with the 17hmr and a load of larsen traps.

I've got about 40 snares out in total around our poults pen, ex-layers pen and the duck drive ponds and I've only had 2 so far in the last 4 weeks.

 

Mark.

[dodeer]

On my 800 acre water meadow duck shoot we have shoot 45 this year already. Just maize fields, hedges, meadows and river and ponds.

 

On my 1200 arable farm where we shoot a syndicate of 80 bird days with lots of cover I only tend to shoot 10 a year.

[Robby22]

approx 1000 acres anywhere between 35 an 50 per year

[gixer1]

I'm seeing a bit of a pattern of 1 fox per 20 acres....

[bjlfishing]

i was on a cumbrian 6000 acre estate that wasnt surrounded by any other shoots just foresty and i one plantation alone i snared 120 foxes in just over 12 months and between the 3 of us we had almost 250 in 12 months mainly all in wires we only managed to shoot one in the lamp due to the terrain but brash rides and stink pits did the trick