October Foxing

[JohnGalway]

Saturday October 6th

 

No real story to this guy. I hear the sighs of relief already... I was making my way around an old quarry out where some of my sheep graze when they're not on my fenced land. I spotted a bright pair of eyes half way up a hillock. Found a very nice (and dry for a change!) spot to shoot from. I settled down and took a look through the Nightforce, yep it's foxy, no mistake. He was mooching around, generally going from right to left but up and down the hillock too. I watched him for a minute, the lamp wasn't spooking him at all. He made the mistake of stopping, as I'd find out later, to have a dump. Now I know it was very rude of me to interrupt but from the way he crumpled when introduced to the 50 grain Federal I don't think he minded. 160 yards out, pleased enough with the shot placement, maybe a tiny bit low? But did the job very well!

 

Dog fox 160 yards

 

 

Tuesday October 16th

 

Myself and Conor were out tonight for a shine around his place. After been out a while we had seen nothing, then decided to try a particular spot in a valley that's yielded plenty of foxes in the past. It's a pretty steep valley, an awful lot of rock and bog. Easy enough to spot a fox in but hard in places to keep track if you know what I mean. I can't remember which of us spotted him first. Conor was lamping and I had a large brain fart and rendered my own rifle unshootable (not damaged) for a couple of minutes so I grabbed Conor's VSSF II and got myself set up. Foxy was out a piece slightly uphill moving left to right at walking pace. I picked him up in the scope and just before he reached a real messy out cropping of rocks where we'd surely have lost him I gave a whistle like you would calling a dog. He stopped for a second, not knowing there was a Nightforce crosshairs planted firmly just behind his right shoulder. One muffled shot later and we had out first fox of the night, a dog fox at 141 yards in real sheep country. We spotted a couple more foxes further up the valley but they were intent on moving up the mountain (bloody vertical) where neither of us were going to pursue them so they'll live to fight another day.

 

I was in kind of bad humour so neglected to take a photo of this one.

 

Dog fox 141 yards.

 

Wednesday October 17th

 

OK, so I haven't been able to stop foxing for a month like I said I would, bad me... It's a disease ok... Lol. I am solo tonight and decide I'll try the hill above the village which is adjoining a small field of my own and not far from where dad has a good few sheep also. I arrive and park the car in the sheep pen, plugging in the Nightguard car lamp to have a quick scan around before I get out, jam doughnut me there's a fox up in the hill over my field. I know he's got the steal on me and I won't reach the top of the field in time to ambush him. I get geared up quick and head off up the field towards the hill fence. I have a bit of a call around the top fence but no fox, he's moved around the corner of the hill. I'd seen this fella a few times during the summer and he'd always managed to evade me, looks like tonight will be no different. I had forgotten he was there until tonight. I head up the hill and around the corner into a valley between two hills and I walk well out into it. There he is again! Well off 300+ yards, hard to see in the brown mountain grass this time of year. He takes off towards the bigger hill as soon as the light hits him. I head off out the valley further to try and pick him up but I've taken the wrong option and he's gotten away, again. Not impressed by my choices so far but it's early lot of ground to cover yet. I decide I'll head back towards the fields and in high around the second hill (an almost mountain 984 feet or so, lol). I'm in on the side of the hill, very boggy and rocky as most of Connemara is, and just by chance I shine the lamp down at a marshy spot. Bright eyes!!! Which disappear the very second the lamp meets them! Luckily, very luckily, I'm right beside an ideal shooting hillock. I slide the Striker onto the scope and get down fast chambering a round. Can't see foxy, very frustrating. I give a few whistles to see if I'll rise an eye, a bit risky warning him but no choice I know he's heading away from me at speed. I'm prone but looking over the top of the scope for that flicker and I get it! I now have him in the scope. He's getting smaller, a lot smaller, at a worrying rate. I'm not a long distance shooter, I much prefer up close and personal. I watch him hopping between small furze (gorse) bushes and jumping a stream, going directly away from me. For some reason I'll never know he stops facing away from me, giving a good view from the back of his head, along his back to the tail. I take the opportunity and squeeze the trigger. Boooommmmmm off down the valley. The rifle has flipped up so I'm not 100% sure what's happened. I take a minute to look around where the fox was for landmarks, everywhere looks the same at night. I spot a lovely rock that's covered in a white moss real close by foxy. I range where I last saw the fox... It's 207 yards to the spot where I find my nice dog fox deader than the proverbial doornail! My longest shot so far! Shot placement was off a bit further than I would have liked but the fox died on the spot which let me off that hook. The entrance wound was quite large and no exit, I can only assume a fragment travelled through the back and into something vital to drop him.

 

Dog fox 207 yards

 

 

Friday October 19th

 

I'm just on my way out to go for a shine around where my sheep are wintering at the moment when the phone rings. It's my friend Niall who's visiting nearby and would like to go out as well since he's around. No problem, he'll be to me in 10 minutes. So 40 minutes later he arrives... Lol. Me sitting in the car engine running, lol. We head off out after the usual banter (abuse) and make our way to the chosen spot. We're out a while, and have seen nothing. Then we spot a fox up on a hillock lying down, he'd have been a handy shot if he'd hung around for a few seconds but not interested and went over the hillock and vanished. Oh well, no worries it's early. We're making our way along the usual route when all of a sudden there's a fox 20 yards off, he sees us before we see him and makes for some cover in the shape of tall grass. I can't see him in the scope and he's gone too. I had flirted with bringing the shotgun, why didn't I. On we go and we see two more not so far away, after a bit of farting around some hillocks we can't get one to settle for a shot. I don't know why but they're very spooky tonight. We try to come around them from another spot but loose them completely then. Four nil to the foxes at the moment, not happy!

 

On the way home we decide to check a spot and low and behold there's a fox a couple of hundred yards out sitting on a rock. Must get my eyes checked as I think it's a cat for a while... Until he gets up and moves into the tall grass and makes his way to about 300 yards out, lol. Niall is lamper/caller and I'm the rifleman. He does a great job of keeping the light on or near the fox for the duration, much of which he couldn't see the fox at all. I was a bit higher up and could see the fox and kept telling him he's walking in slowly, keep the lamp where it is and stick to the way you're calling as it's working. The foxes attitude changed a bit as he approached the second fence out from us, I got a bad feeling, so, since he was in range, I took him down with a 50 grain Federal to the chest. Down like a sack of spuds, good team effort to get that fella! Waited until the next day to pick him up as we'd no bag, went for a swim for my troubles...

 

Vixen 146 yards

 

 

Second fox of the night was a real surprise. We were on the way back to the car when he appeared through a gate and made the fatal error of heading for a shoreline over which I had a perfect field of fire. Worse for him he was actually heading towards us! How dumb is this fox?! I chambered a round, bipod legs out, both of us are a bit excited (no, not like that!) at the fast action. Foxy is walking the waterline and as he hops up onto a big rock I whistle at him, he looks and BOOMSPLASH! He was all of 15 yards away I'd say, an alright dog fox that completely surprised us! In all the excitement I shot low but it was an instant kill.

 

Dog fox 15 yards

 

 

Sometime in between the previous and next... (that's what happens when I don't write them that night...)

 

I've forgotten most of this night as I was completely disgusted with it. Myself and Conor were out up his way and we saw maybe 6-7 foxes that night I think. I took a shot at a fox that was too far away, and missed. Then I knocked over a nice and handy dog fox around 88 yards out. A bit further up the valley from that fella we saw three foxes in one spot. One faffed around and ****** me off no end. If I had ANYWHERE to shoot from I could have nailed him handy to make up for my silly miss but the ground just didn't suit. So, picked out another fox, made our way over to a nice little spot for shooting from. I got set up, lying down in the wet with no waterproofs for the second time this night. He was lying down around 190-200 yards away, nice and quiet, to be honest a bread and butter shot for the rest I had. What did I go and do but shoot over him. Ever have one of those nights.... The third fox was making good his escape, down through a flat swampy spot so no chance to make up for my mistakes. Yours well and truly disgusted.

 

Dog fox 88 yards.

 

 

Tuesday October 30th

 

I wasn't going to go out tonight. I haven't been out since the last report above I think. Had a couple of shots out of my .223 to make sure it wasn't off, it isn't which is good.

 

If bad luck were on my side the last night I had the opposite tonight. I thought I'd check out a spot I'd seen a fox earlier this month. This fox was smart, running from the light but not lamp shy if you know the type I mean. Foxy would only glance at the lamp the odd time any time I'd seen it before. I spotted foxy around 150 yards out and for once kind of content. Got down and was just setting up... BEEP! BEEP! goes the mobile... Flipping text message LOL. Foxy had taken off after the beeps. Great, so I head off up to a nearby hillock hoping I'll spot eyes again. Yeah there's a flash. Off to my left and heading to the right and away from me. Stay in the same spot and see nothing then for 5-10 minutes. After trying a couple of calls I start to get fed up and head off. Give my usual flick back and bingo! Eyes about 250 yards out, looking right at me. The place is flat enough so I pick out another hillock closer to the fox and make for it. In all fairness foxy gave me lots of time, she was lying down on a rock 175 yards away quite content with herself... Until a 50 grain Federal hollow point went through her neck. To be fair that would ruin anyone's day...

 

Vixen 175 yards

 

 

I was heading for the car and home when I round a hillock and see another set of eyes! Lying down again. I flip down the bipod a bit quick and get that springy noise that Harris can make. The eyes vanish, I think maybe this ones took to it's heels. Check through the scope and nope, foxy is still there lying down looking straight ahead at something else. I don't need to be asked twice and again put a 50 grain hollow point through it's neck. I have to round a swamp made from grown in cut away bog. Eventually get to foxy after quite a detour and find she's been looking into a hole that's been dug out of a brink, maybe watching a rat?

 

Vixen 75 yards

 

[6mmBR]

An excellent and entertaining write up John.

At least you gave that first one some instant relief with that 50gn laxative

Glad to see you've been busy keep up the good work and let us know you results.

Cheers

Dave

[JohnGalway]

Thanks Dave, I don't let them hog the loo You know what they say **** or get shot off the pot! Usually keep pics and tales for the end of each month.

[6mmBR]

I like that saying

Nice work John and thanks for taking the time to put such an interesting and well thought out post together.

It just seemed to have gone a bit quiet in this section of the forum for the last couple of days with few new posts. Yours has certainly got it going again.

Cheers

Dave

[Guest varmartin]

Hi John....

 

Good account of your foxing exploits, and well done on bagging them.

 

Not been out myself in a while, as just finished 7 x11hr shifts at work. Got a couple of days off now so if the truck passes the MOT in the morning i will be out, if it dont pass....then its `shanks Pony` for me.

 

Martin

[JohnGalway]

I'm happy you enjoyed the read Dave, I do drone on a bit There's nearly always a bit of a story in getting a fox, if you've seen it before or it's outsmarted ya or taking lambs or fowl. I like to have a little something to write along with the picture. I'd actually seen that post about it being quiet so I said I'd stick it up here too, glad I did now.

 

Thanks Martin, I don't get too many of them, not got a huge area of permission and it's mostly very poor ground but I'd be happy to get eight every month! I hope your truck passes, my own car is sick ATM, I'm grand unless I have to go uphill slowly in first worse when it happens out the back of some mountain on a track in the middle of nowhere

[6mmBR]

Your right every fox forms one challenge or another.

I hope to get out again Friday and see if I can mop up some of those foxes that took my mates geese.

Cheers

Dave

[charly hunter]

Good read John, is it the photo or are the foxes short fat buggers? You say that you don't have much ground but it sounds as though you make the most of it and it holds plenty of foxes. Look forward to reading next months installment.

[JohnGalway]

Dave, I'm hoping for good foxing weather for you Friday night

 

Charly Hunter, They could indeed be short and fat I only have more of the same to compare them too. There's one photo with my remmy in it for scale, I'll put it into more photos to provide a bit of a comparison. I've only really been foxing since last November but have put a dent in the local population since then. Seems when they get a bit scarce, give them a break of two weeks or so and more have moved in to replace them. That's encouraging for the future of my foxing as I'm bordered by the Atlantic on at least one side if not a bit more of the area in which I live. Hopefully there'll be a few more foxes up and a decent story or two around the end of the month, all going well

[Guest 308Panther]

Hi John,

Good Reads...Nice work on the Foxes.

and that Thumbhole Stock aint bad lookin either.

 

308Panther

[JohnGalway]

Thanks 308Panther, she sure is a looker Only problem is it's scratchable

[Guest 308Panther]

Thanks 308Panther, she sure is a looker Only problem is it's scratchable

 

The only thing ya can do then is handle with care.....and be sure to include it in other pics

 

308Panther

[Guest northernchris]

Looks like you have been busy John

[JohnGalway]

I do try Got a bit of a rub on a rock underneath the pistol grip (I'm sure that's not it's right name but you know where I mean), this place is full of them. Problem is they make such good shooting platforms compared to bog and heather

 

Here are a few pics of her from earlier in the year just out of interests sake, including one where she became a sawn-off .223

 

That last photo was taken on her very first night out, we got four in total that night with two different .223's.

 

 

 

 

[v-max]

Nice read john keep it up hows the remmy for you now?.

[JohnGalway]

I actually wasn't out too many nights last month all told, probably be less again this month!

 

V-Max, the Remmy is going well thanks. When I stock up on ammo again I'll probably do a bit more paper work. Have precious few rounds left ATM, oh wish I could handload!

[foxshot]

A very good writeup john worthy of one of the varminting mags