Couple of irate texts from farmers......

[re'M'ington]

I had a couple of text messages and I can say that they were short and sweet......Get these BLOODY foxes!!

 

So I gave my mate a call,and he popped over with his rifle,and I was going to be lamp man for the night,we first head over to the Market garden as there was a chance of a Buck of the Muntjac variety,as well as Charlie.I took the .22 as the farmer has been on about a sharp rise in rabbits(he is getting it from all angles),and I have put a highseat in the area that is getting a bit of attention,it has been left to weeds for a short while and the rabbits have moved in very quickly.Here is a view from the seat now I have added the newly fabricated top part(care of Deep Diver....thanks mate it is fantastic).....

 

And a view of the seat itself,it was a Sportsman special(£99)job,but the rifle rest was useless,so Andy fabbed me up this impressive alternative....what a bloke!

Good job eh?

Anyway,I digress as we entered through the gate the farmer was coming down over the track on the tractor with the spray on the back,and he had just sprayed the top field,so I didn't expect many bunnies to appear(and I was right),but,I wanted to spend some time up the seat anyway to see what Deer are about.The plan was for my mate to go alongf to the other end of the farm to a place he likes to lay ambush to Charlie(there seems to be no end of them over here)whilst still keeping an eye out for a Munty Buck(I don't shoot Does at all,trying to keep the numbers up a bit...rightly or wrongly).

I was in the seat for no more than 1/2 hr when a Roe doe(last years)slipped under the barbed wire fence and into the neighbours horse paddock,I watched her for a while when another Doe(maybe her sister)came into the open in the top field to my left and started nibbling at the xmas trees...Mmmm! Then over to my right,but maybe 300yds away I heard a squeeking followed by a Crack! I Charlie in the bag,the farmer would be very happy as he has recently lost 8 of his chickens.One of these chickens was totally eaten where it lay leaving just the two legs still joined together by a bit of skin,which was a right puzzler for me and my mate.The farmer said that none of the dead chickens were taken at all,and although there was a couple of feathers on the ground the rest had been eaten??? Any ideas anyone?

It was starting to get a bit dark now and my mate came wandering along the track to my right with a short whistle which is our early warning system,so we headed off to a piece of land that I haven't been on for a good while,but they had just cut the grass,so,I was expecting a good head of foxes to be about,as it is right next to a SSSI that is a purpose built nature reserve,our expectations were high to be honest,but I won't drag it out,as it was a complete blow out,not one Charlie appeared....go figure! As it was still fairly early we went over to the stables that I shoot over that had lost some chickens(the other text) and there was a healthy rabbit population as usual(they will be thinned out asap)and we got straight down to business flicking the light about where I expected there to be sets of eyes reflecting back,but no,this is starting to concern me,but,then BINGO,a set of eyes were right in the long grass on the fenceline,but,it wasn't going to play the game,and I did try.It pottered off on the neighbouring land,and we went through to the next paddock.The grass was very high apart from a few areas,but we had a go anyway,the field drops away down towards the main road,so shots would be resricted,and as luck would have it the first set of eyes was right down by the road,and he wasn't coming in anytime soon either.But,as often happens while coaxing one fox in another had crept up behind us,my mate was on it like a shot(no pun intended)N0.2 in the bag.We had another 3 foxes in that field and even though at least two of them were cubs they just wouldn't come out of the long grass.We went back through the gateway on our way back to the truck and there was the a set of eyes back on the other side of the fenceline again,I gave a little squeek and it came in like a puppy dog for a treat,then it got interesting as another was trying to beat it in,and he got it first...N0.3 in the bag.Another squeek soon had the other one back into view and he was also dropped,so,what at first seemed like it might be a bit of a washout turned into a much better evening,and what might lead to a bit of paid foxing in the future....fingers crossed.

End of evening pic.........

 

Martin

[Gandy]

Cracking nights foxing!

[Sausage Warrior]

Nice write-up! Am liking that high-seat too.

[Barrelsniffer]

Well done martin nice area too..and smashing job on high seat.

 

Mick

[foxing2night]

Well done martin nice area too..and smashing job on high seat.

 

Mick

Nice one matey,, well done

 

Darrel

[bangbang]

we could something like that on our high seat the bar is far to low. well done on the foxes and good luck getting the rest

[camo304]

Good shooting there -

[foxshot]

Great write up Martin and a good result to keep the farmer pleased

[nemasis243]

Having fun again I see

That deepdiver is a clever chap ,well done him, lol

all the best NEMASIS ,lol

 

High seat looks better than I thought it would Martin, at least it works ,

[Bobbo]

Great story & high seat.