Lamping the Night Away February/March 2009

[JohnGalway]

February 2009 “The Lost Month”

 

Alrighty, I confess, I’ve been all over the place this February and I’ve not quite kept tabs on all that’s been going on or when it’s gone on. Still, I’ll take Q-tip in hand, poke a few grey cells and try and remember what actually happened, which wasn‘t much as it happens...

 

Tuesday 3rd.

 

John & I spotted this fox coming from the hill into the top of my farm. It’s awkward ground up top, lots of bumps and hollows as well as the odd rush or three and that’s not even mentioning all the stone walls. We were up on a high spot right next to my boundary wall with my neighbour. I tracked the fox through the scope as he made his way down through the farm. He didn’t present a clear shot and I tried to stop him a couple of times but he wasn’t having any of it.

 

After a bit of this I think he copped something was up. He went behind a wall and we didn’t see him for a few minutes. Then we caught sight of him in the gorse bushes, the sheep were all accounted for and I know there’s a bank behind him in those bushes. I could just see the top of his chest so I put the crosshairs on him and gently squeezed the trigger, I heard a muffled thump through the Peltors and John confirmed he heard the shot connect with our fox.

 

My camera had upped and ran out of power so I took the photo the next morning. A gorgeous dog fox, we’re both sorry now that we didn’t get him to a taxidermist someplace as he’s the best example of a fox either of us had ever seen.

 

In the gorse...

 

 

A better shot in the open...

 

 

March 2009.

 

Monday 2nd.

 

I texted my mate John to see if he'd like to come out for a nights lamping, we lamp a lot of the same ground and it's more fun together than alone. His girlfriend was to be out late that night so he was in for the night minding the kids.

 

I haven't shot a fox for a few weeks due to various things, lambing time in approaching quickly now though. In fact Dad has already had his first lamb of the season, though the identity of it's father is proving to be both a bit of a mystery and source of small annoyance.

 

Tonight I'll be covering my own farm and the neighbours fields back towards the village and then down under the road near the roiling Atlantic. While it often limits fox numbers, one of the many great things about the sea when it's stirred up is the noise it makes, very handy when you're out after Charlie.

 

The wind isn't great for me tonight, I'm walking along with it rather than across or into it. But I don't have much of a choice until I get to the land around Johns house then I can travel down across the road and turn back into the wind. The moon is about one third full, pretty bright for what's showing. There's intermittent cloud cover and a few overly enthusiastic sleet showers knocking about. Maybe John had the right idea.

 

I started off by covering my own farm, due to the hilly terrain I will head for high points on the land to get a better vantage point. The best one is a high hill on the edge of my farm. I can see more of my land from here than anywhere else on my own land. I was there for a while but besides the ewes nothing was stirring.

 

I crossed the wall and fence into the neighbours land. As soon as I'd done that I spied a red eye wandering about in the gorse on my own farm. Further investigation proved my suspect to be Mr Brock out to do some more rotovating for me, so after watching him through the scope for a little bit I leave him to his business and go on my way.

 

Through the various neighbouring fields I pause in a few different spots for a while, all the time scanning around, my lamp on low power enough to light up a foxes eyes a fair ways out but not at a level that's going to melt the back of his eyeballs. I only use the caller twice during the night, both times were one single quick rabbit squeal just to see if it'd raise an inquisitive eye, neither did.

 

I got as far as the land by Johns house, and after sheltering from a particularly nasty shower I unloaded the rifle and made my way across the road into the fields bordered by the sea. When I was back on the land I reloaded the magazine and set off towards another good vantage point, this time a large rock with a good view into the wind. I'm dressed lighter tonight, due to sweating bullets the last time I was out. The wind is cutting through me a bit, I was eager to spy a pair of eyes. Still though only the ewes are showing, and a few cattle a fair distance off.

 

Taking my usual course through this part of the world I go from high point to high point. Always taking my background into consideration where I stop to search with the lamp, no point in sticking out like a sore thumb.

 

I took my time, using the dimmer control I had plenty of battery power available. No eyes showed for me though, so I decided I'd head back to my own farm. I could've walked along the road with the rifle sleeved and unloaded but decided against that, instead I'd cross the road into a field a couple of fields over from my own farm and make my way back along part of my original route.

 

With my rifle unloaded I crossed the road, a gate and a fence. Reloaded again (the magazine, not the chamber) and made my way uphill. There's a narrow strip of land before the main body of this field, it divides in half, down a gully or up onto a high rock. Naturally I picked the high rock.

 

As soon as I reached the top I saw a bright pair of eyes about 85 yards away in the next field over. I went back behind the rock and chambered a round. Back onto the rock and look through the scope, he's lying down on a rock looking around. I aimed for his neck and squeezed off a 55grain which connected with a satisfying thump. Fox fell off the rock and rolled onto the grass without a twitch. One less lamb eater on the prowl.

 

Thursday 5th.

 

I received a text the night before last that two hens had been killed over in Jurassic Park as John had christened the farm last Spring. Yesterday I'd been fencing all day and was a bit beat, but I texted John, my lamping buddy and a great shotgunner to see if he was interested in going for a look. He had already arranged to play darts that night so I said I'd leave it as well until tonight.

 

John collected me from my house as my car had been in for a service, timing belt needed doing as well. It was a calm cold night, not too useful for shotguns but great for the rifle so as long as we spotted our culprit we'd a good chance of bringing him to book.

 

There are only two or three really good spots to stake out. The problem is too many small gullies, trees and gorse. This worked in favour of the foxes when we were new to this farm but we're continuing to figure out their runs and we've the most of the sussed at this stage. We first set up in a spot I like, I shot three foxes here from it last Autumn. After an hour or so of nothing showing we moved farther up the hill near the top of the farm.

 

It took another while but we eventually spotted an eye far out on the hill. Our fox was moving left to right across the hill and we observed it's movement for a while. I zapped it with the Leica and got six hundred yards returned.

 

Seeing as it was a quiet and pretty bright night we had a quick chat and decided to use John's hare in distress call. He gave a few quick squeals and boy did we have an interested fox. It left the hill like a fighter plane on afterburner and I am not kidding but I've never seen a fox cover distance as quick.

 

The odd time I'm prone to a bit of "fox fever", so thankfully there was a bit of a dip between the bottom of the hill and the rise nearest us where we planed to knock the fox. Now as I said there wasn't much wind, but strangely the fox arrived upwind of us not downwind. That worked better for us anyway as there were more trees etc. downwind. I picked up the fox in the scope, gave a quick shout, and squeezed off a 55grain Hornady Vmax into it's shoulder.

 

Boom, thump and one chicken thief accounted for.

 

 

I realise for some, fox shooting at this time of year is controversial. Where I live most farms will be lambing in April due to the bad quality land here, which needs time and some heat in the sun to grow any decent grass for the lambs to thrive. This vixen we shot had four pups still inside of her. Ideally it would be great to let her have them and rear them for next year, for my own shooting. From a farming and fox control point of view that would be a disaster. She was already killing hens and I can guarantee that a few tasty lambs would go down well too. The good thing is we’ve not seen a mangy or thin fox in quite a while. This was the same farm that lost (I forget exactly, it's in previous posts) something like 16-18 lambs in one week, to one fox, last Spring when we were initially called in. In my view, it's a job well done.

Monday 9th.

 

John & I had been recommended to another farmer by the owner of Jurassic Park to solve a fox problem, more hens being killed. With the weather, work, and other things we didn't get around to going there until tonight. I'd just come from spending the weekend in Galway and the weather was nothing short of shocking, persistent rain! Around six pm or so I got a text off John and we agreed if there was a break we'd head out and if not then postpone for another night. Around eight there seemed to be a decent break and we were away. The wind was quite variable windy in places and calming out in others with occasional showers, mild and very bright when the moon was out.

 

As soon as we arrived at the farmhouse we spotted a fox about four hundred yards away with the wind perfectly in our favour. As we were getting our gear together to have a go at him the farmer let the nosiest bloody dog on the planet out the door which then went ape you know what and proceeded to scare our fox off. We headed off out the land to see if we'd pick that fox up again but after a bit of a search no eye showed to us in that direction.

 

We circled back towards the farmhouse, lamping from different points and trying the odd call here and there. As we had the farmhouse in sight John spotted a fox two hundred and fifty yards off above a field of rushes. We got to one hundred and eighty yards and the fox had moved into the rushes and slightly behind a tree. We waited and he walked out into what I'd very loosely describe as "the open". I was in a nice shooting position and sent a Vmax on it's way to do the deed. It hit him slightly back and John blood tracked the fox quickly into some trees where he finished him with the shotgun. A very well fed dog fox.

 

 

We went back to the farmhouse with our fox and the farmer explained about the dog expecting us only to have come up for a chat tonight but was delighted with the fox we got and would keep the dog in in future. We were told then about two other places where the lambs will be arriving soon. One nearby and one I will really need to see in the day as it's sounding a challenge. So we headed off on foot to the first place to have a look and only found ewes, though it'd be nice ground for foxing all the same.

 

After that we headed back to the car and travelled to another farm as we were nearby and it's on our way home. We were there for a good while not seeing anything until we came to the river. I spotted a fox on some raised bog from the small bridge about 300 yards away but I couldn't tell which side of the river it was on. We headed up the right bank on very soggy ground, the noise from the river covering our squelching. We made our way up towards where I'd last seen the fox, carefully lamping in case Charlie would pop out of a drain or some rushes.

 

We stopped and looked about and what had happened was the fox had been on the other bank and had passed us down, the wind was coming from the foxes bank to ours. I picked up the eyes about four hundred yards behind us. I used the Callmaster's rabbit in distress and our fox started running towards us at a rate of knots. I backed up to where John was and just said "shotgun". The river is at best twelve to fifteen yards wide, not too deep but quite fast flowing.

 

John pointed to a large stand of rushes on our bank and we ran to it as quick as we could to hunch down in so the fox wouldn't spot us out on the open ground illuminated by the moon. We were crouched down as the fox barrelled towards us at forty five degrees to the river bank. It ran up a brink, paused, looked, ran back down only to appear about five yards farther up it's own bank where it was rudely greeted side on by a barrel of BB's. She got covered by the pattern, fell but got up again and got another barrel, again getting covered. Tough old bird headed through a fence and settled into some rushes, I'd no clear shot for the rifle.

 

Now, we're on one side of the river, fox on the other, but in fairness going nowhere. I say we should walk back to the bridge and up the far bank. Nope, we look for a crossing point, a few rapids and rocks. Not deep as I say but at night in a lonely spot deep enough for me and fast flowing. I decide for the bridge and as I'm on my way I hear splash, splash, splash, splash! And fully expect to see a lad in a donkey jacket float down by me. John's only gone and sprinted across with the shotgun and his lamp and battery lol.

 

I'd a bit of trouble hearing over the noise of the river but I'm sure I heard "I'm wet!"

 

I kept my spot on where the fox was and he walked up to her and a third BB cartridge done the deed. Two foxes accounted for this night, neither of us entirely happy they didn't drop on the spot but the end result that we actually did pick both up very quickly was a consolation.

 

 

On the way home in the car, without thinking as usual, I commented on how lucky we were with the weather. That for the few hours out we'd not really gotten wet (by rain/showers). Hmmm, did we not get wet? Says John. We just both burst out laughing.

 

I'm bringing waders and a lifejacket the next night!

Wednesday 11th.

 

John and I had arranged to meet at the bottom of his road around nine pm, the days earlier rain had eased off nicely and there were only a few drops left against a clearing sky. He had already seen a clever fox we've gotten to know over the past month or so. We tried to move around him into a shooting position, he was within range but there was no place I could shoot from and as you'd expect our fox didn't hang around. This guys is getting on John's nerves, but he'll make a mistake sooner or later and will get lead, just wondering whether it'll be copper jacketed or in pellet form.

 

We moved off to another spot to wait for a fox John had seen last night, I stayed in due to a long day working. All that was to be seen for a while were ewes, hares and a ginger cat. We thought we had cleared this area of foxes for the time being but we know of at least three operating here again. After a while John spotted eyes travelling towards us along the shore, if the fox continued on it's course it'd pass below us on the shoreline about two hundred yards away.

 

I found a lovely big flat rock to plonk myself down on. We waited and the fox presented herself nicely at one hundred and eighty eight yards. The problem was, she was behind a sheep wire fence so I didn't take that shot. I watched her through the scope and thought she might pass through the fence and up into the field to be taken out. But no, instead she moved to the left and disappeared down a little crevice in the rocks.

 

John took off to my left to head her off with the side by side. I stayed put on my shooting rock keeping a watch out. I was also keeping tabs on John moving down towards the sea shore. When he got near there he started moving right to either get a shot or push the fox up into the field. I saw him emerge from a little hollow and cast the light to the right across the shore, it was then I saw the fox taking to it's toes and turning on the speed. This was odd as the wind was in John's favour, he'd his back against higher ground and the noise of the sea being so close would surely mask any foot falls. The only explanation I have it the fox was caught unawares by the beam and bolted.

 

Instead of her backtracking her original course she started zig zagging through rocks, hollows, walls and small gorse bushes up towards me and to my right. She came from two hundred yards into sixty, I lost her temporarily behind a wall but she turned at the end of it, scampered up a hill into full view in my crosshairs. I gave a soft bark which stopped her in her tracks, at sixty yards I sent a Hornady Vmax into her head. The result was too graphic by far to show but most definitely one of the most humane shots I've ever taken. A vixen in pups.

 

 

The field I shot her in, as well as those neighbouring, plus the ones above the road bordering the hill will all be full of young lambs soon. No place for a hungry fox.

 

Afterwards John & I moved farther along those plots and a bit higher up. He tried his hare call and after a few minutes we saw a fox come running from the direction of my own farm, rather worryingly. This fox was on a sprint, we believed she'd go to our right and try to cross the road to "wind" us. However, she stopped behind some trees and proved to be a difficult customer. I think myself we possibly stood out against the sea a little and she may have seen us but John disagrees. Either way she decided that heading away from us to the hill was the best thing to do. My lamp was dying at that stage anyway so I'd no intention of following (pretty happy, it's a tough haul up there). We'll meet again next week!

[nemasis243]

One hell of a right up there John

Nice to be gettong out ,down this way every night we are having fog and its a pain , got loads of farmers on the phone,just waiting for a break to get out and sort things out.

All the best Andy

[JohnGalway]

Hi Andy, we've been getting our fair share of the fog as well. It's a proper pain at this time of year as everyone around thinks they've got a fox about to eat them and their families, and then when you shoot a fox they're convinced they've ten more

[6mmBR]

Nice going John, good to see a picture of a shotty on this site for a change.

As Nem said I think we've all been battling the weather recently and with lambing underway it gets a bit frustrating.

Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing.

Dave

[JohnGalway]

Thanks Dave, my mates use that shotgun for the past 17 years or so. I'd safely say it's accounted for a hell of a lot of foxes in that time. Hopefully next week I'll get a chance for a bit of shotgunning myself due to a new wooded permission, I just have to remember this time to keep swinging when I fire and not stop like I did the last time !!

[cooperman223]

Good shooting as usual john, glad to see someone`s getting some trigger time in.

john.

[Guest varmartin]

I do enjoy reading about your foxing John......Very nice of you to take the time ...

 

Do you save every time you write a tale ?? as i think it would make a good book one day.

[clivej]

Great report as usual John, your story's keep me going.

I have one to tell you at long last so I've posted my story here as well.

Clive

[JohnGalway]

Thanks guys I very much appreciate the comments

 

Martin, I've all my tales saved alright, I've got them here online as well as on my computer so there's little chance of losing them. I've had a few people come to me with ideas, I'll admit to doing a little bit of thinking about some of them alright. We'll see how the recession goes LOL.

 

Hi Clive, I'm off to find your post now mate

[JohnGalway]

Monday 16th March.

 

I had texted John on Saturday that we might head out earlier tonight to see if we could outsmart our slippery fox, weather permitting. After a changeable day it started getting a bit misty and we ended up heading out around nine pm. I met John at the bottom of his road and we headed off into the fields by the sea to a particular rock which offers a commanding view of several fields and a couple of fox trails. We stayed a while but didn't spot any eyes.

 

Then we decided to head to a place I'd not been before. Before that we headed up the valley opposite my farm to have a shine into my place. John turned on his hare call and all of a sudden two bright eyes started zooming towards us from the opposite end of my farm. What tiny bit of wind there was was in our favour but the ground was awful. We were in a wooded area, couldn't see the bottom of the valley, couldn't see half way up the other side either due to trees. As you'd expect we soon lost sight of this fox and hope of spotting him again. By the way, this was the same fox we'd called in the last night with the hare call but had taken to the hill on us.

 

After ten minutes or so we decided to move, but as I did I spotted the fox again near a new wire fence that divides my farm in two. I had visions of my bullet breaking a strand in the fence and me missing the fox, nothing like having a positive attitude when foxing! I lost sight of him again but John picked him up in the same field and talked me onto him.

 

He started off mooching along the fence line, looking for worms perhaps or other snacks disturbed by the recent work. He crossed through it and headed to my left down behind a stone wall. John tried the hare call again but the fox didn't seem to interested, except that it brought him my side of the wall so he could continue mooching.

 

I had settled myself on a nice "matured" pile of rubble, a quality rest for these here parts. I knew he was a ways out so I aimed slightly higher than normal and steadied up the crosshairs. I could see the fox quartering away from me so I stopped him with a bark and squeezed the trigger dropping him beside a small stand of rushes. I used the Leica to find the range and got back two hundred yards on the nose. Not a bad effort. He was a very well fed fox, like a fat little barrel.

 

 

We moved on then to a new place John wanted to show me. We had a bit of a walk ahead of us to get there. Up hill, down dale, through tight paths in the tangled gorse and over muck, rock and withered bracken. Just as we were about to make for the final hill John spotted a fox off out to our right. I spied a lovely rock for shooting from and moved forward onto it. Through the scope I could see the fox lying down looking around herself. First impressions, that's a big fox. I thought about taking a head shot, but she was quite interested in her surroundings so it was on a constant swivel. I settled for a neck shot and sent Mr Hornday's bullet to do it's work. She was indeed a big, well fed, fox and was heavily pregnant.

 

 

After that we moved out to our next position but saw no eyes. The consolation is that when we do spy foxes there it'll be some great shooting. There's a few nice high cliffs that afford a great view over an area known for dens between two lakes. It's pretty rough ground but we'll be above all the action so spotting and culling should be handy enough, when we find Reynard at home that is!

[JohnGalway]

Wednesday 18th March.

 

It's turning out to be a bumper month for fox control around here after the drought of February the Connemara foxes are out and about in numbers. Today I had been spraying low gorse, or ground furze as we call them here. I'm fed up looking at them for the last while so I declared war on them this spring. I ran out of spray in the afternoon so I made the trip to a local town to purchase more. On my way I met a few local men dosing ewes and injecting them against ticks and the like. We got to talking about foxes and I mentioned how there were none to be had in that particular area. One of the men said his area was completely different and asked if John and myself would go to his that night to have a look around. We're pretty stretched at the moment time wise but he's a good bloke so I rang John and we all agreed a time to meet.

 

That evening we got to the farm, I had been there before in daylight and sort of knew what to expect so I hadn't mentioned it to John as, well, it's worse than Jurassic Park! The place has completely grown wild with an abundance of rushes, gorse, brambles, bushes and anything else you can think of. And I do mean an abundance. Good ground for shotguns on a stormy night but bad for the way I shoot my rifle. It didn't help that it was a particularly quiet night either, though the wind did pick up a small bit in places.

 

We headed off down the track, farmer in tow - talking. We lamped from a couple of spots but didn't see anything which surprised us a bit. Lamping about we could see what looked like a promising high point out behind the fields on the commonage. Off we headed, by the by this place is sodden with water too. There were plenty of hares to be seen and we'd a close call with a snipe, amazing where they can live! We reached our high point and John tried his hare call for a bit, nothing to be seen. We gave it a break and lamped about without the call then I tried my vixen squeal, which drove the farmers horses bonkers but they were a good four to five hundred yards distant so they'll get over it. Whether it was the hare or vixen call a pair of foxy eyes appeared over the brow of the hill. To our right was a lake, in front of us was a flat marsh that rose up the farther to the left you looked, backed by the ridge/hill the fox was on. The horses startled our fox and we didn't see the eyes for a few more minutes. Then they reappeared in front of us about four hundred and thirty yards away, just a little bit far for me.

 

The small breeze there was blew from the fox to us, John tried the hare again and the eyes showed interest. I expected our fox to come relatively straight into us, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the other eyes make off slowly to our left and try to circle us! This fox was using it's brain. I settled on the hill with the rifle and I could see the fox clearly a few times but it was too far off to shoot. As it kept circling it was at times no more than one hundred and fifty yards away but the ground was rising and there was high mountain grass to contend with, when I could see anything all I could see was grass and eyes!

 

I'd say the fox had come over two hundred degrees around us, it was getting real close to the point where we'd be found out. I had to move several times and I wasn't at all happy. All the time I was moving lower too due to heather and gorse blocking my view. All of a sudden our fox jumped up on a peat bank. No bark, no shout, just BOOOOmmmm..... THUD! Lovely stuff! Now we just had to pick the bugger up, so I said to John to keep his lamp on where the fox dropped and myself and the farmer would go pick it up. I'd not been to this part of the area before, so I followed the farmer assuming he knew where he was going, right? Yeah. We went through marsh, very dodgy mud flats, through swamp, over bottomless bog drains, #### me. We finally got to near where I thought I'd dropped the fox, farmer kept going on full speed lol. I shone the light back on the bank where I thought the fox would be and hey presto! A nice vixen one hundred and ninety yards that'd been rearing cubs, in fact she'd just been sucked. The farmer has terriers himself so he'll go looking for the den in the morning. One in the bag. John took the tail and threw her into a bog hole and as she was in mid air asked "You did take a picture didn't you?" I had, but thanks for asking lol!

 

 

We headed back to the farmers house and he wanted us to check another spot he'd sheep in. You could hide a herd of pink elephants in the place and sleep safe in the knowledge no one would ever lay eyes on them. We spotted one fox later on but it didn't hang around so we decided to hop in the car and head off to one of our newest permissions to give it a quick once over.

 

We weren't there long at all when John spotted a fox mooching, nothing wrong with that mans eyesight. Charlie was across a lake from us but at a shootable one hundred seventy eight yards. He stood out on a nice hillock, I flicked off the safety and squeezed. Nothing happened, I'd only gone and left the frigging bolt up again! The fox walked slowly left to right towards the lake edge as I remedied my problem. This time I shouted "Hey!" once he was in the clear. It had the desired effect as the fox stood statue still and looked across the lake at the bright shiny thing talking to it. Squeeze, Booooom! Thud! "That's the way ya do it!". I actually enjoyed that shot, for some reason it was quite satisfying. Our fox dropped on the spot without a twitch. We made our way in around the lake to take the tail and bring the fox to this particular farmers house. I got a text this morning thanking us. A nice dog fox, one hundred seventy eight yards across a lake, two in the bag I'm happy!

 

 

We weren't in a hanging around humour, I think it was because we spent so much time out on that commonage earlier in the night. So we headed off to another farm, the one John had jumped in the river. I'd forgotten the lifejackets this time too. I thought I saw a glint behind a small mound of earth early on, we did a bit of calling and nothing showed, just as we started talking a foxes eyes lit up - duh. John tried his hare call again and the fox started circling slowly but a ways below us. I had a nice comfy rest and as the fox showed me his chest at one hundred and fifty four yards I had a shot at him and bloody well missed him. It's not good when you don't hear that thud. Well, I wasn't quite so happy now but these things happen from time to time.

 

Farther on into the farm John spotted a huge fox lying in a field. I'd a quick look through the scope standing and yep it's a fox for sure. By the time I'd got settled in a nice shooting position he'd started to move right to left behind some trees. I waited a minute then an opportunity presented itself, shoot over a wall, under some branches and over a fence. A yap stopped the fox, I squeezed the trigger and immediately after the rifles report I heard a satisfying thud. Apparently I can only hit the ones over one hundred and sixty yards tonight, should have given that last fella a chance to run! We took a walk over and found a large dog fox laying dead where he'd been hit, one hundred and ninety yards away again, the funny exit wound was due to the funny entry! Three nice foxes in the bag and I'm kinda happy again.

 

 

We saw two more foxes after that on two other farms. The first seemed to be wise to the lamp and didn't want to know, I had it clearly in the scope but couldn't stop it. While the other we spotted a good six hundred yards off but it kept on heading out to the hill and didn't look back, and neither of us had the heart to follow it at that hour of the morning! So not too bad of a night, three hits and one poor miss on my part, unfortunately John had no opportunity with the shotgun but the next windy night he'll have a go. We spotted a few more so there's a bit of work left to be done yet.

[grasshopper]

Well done John,some good results there,especially on that "challenging" land of yours remember it well (i,ll stick to the roads)

[JohnGalway]

Saturday 21st March

 

Ireland have just won the Grand Slam today! It was a very hard game to watch, Eighty minutes of nerve wracking action for both the Welsh and Irish. I gave my lamping buddy John a ring to see if he was heading out foxing tonight, but he was in the local town and intended to stay on there to watch Bernard Dunne's fight. Which also turned our to be a great Irish victory!

 

I decided I'd go on my own tonight, we're getting lots of calls from farmers convinced foxes are about to dig under their front doors and raid their fridges to build themselves up not only to take lambs next month but most likely the ewes too. Though I understand all that, it can be a nervous time of year coupling all that work with the threat of a fox decimating a field of clueless lambs. Been there done that.

 

First stop of my night was Jurassic Park. We'd not been there for a little while so I though I stood a chance of seeing something. It was very very calm and quiet, but dry thankfully. I spent over ninety minutes there, I used various calls from a good vantage point for the first hour, then just waited in silence flicking the lamp about for the next thirty minutes. I didn't think there was any point in calling for the last half hour only to bring a fox in after I'd left. No eyes to be seen here tonight.

 

I headed off to the next farm where John had done his best impression of Jesus walking on water - although he's got to perfect actually walking on the surface a little yet. I saw the fox I missed the last time, blink and gone, great. On a good note I didn't see any other fox there so maybe he's not yet clued in to the delicious taste of Spring lamb.

 

My next port of call is another newish permission. I decided I'd do a big circle around the place instead of being stationary and calling, I was getting a bit cold doing that. I've never seen as many hares around as this year, the population seems to be very healthy around the areas we lamp. I rose a few ground nesting birds along my route.

 

As I was walking I noticed a twinkle of an eye near a stack of turf. That's no sheep. I slowly and quietly made my way to a nearby hillock where I thought I'd have a better chance of seeing the eyes owner. When I got there I turned my lamp out, got down with the rifle and attached the lamp to the scope, easy to do when you practice. I turned on the rabbit distress call and saw a pair of bright eyes light up far to the left of the turf stack and the other side of a small stream. "Beautiful" I thought, "You just stay in that spot now", I didn't need to range her, she was well under two hundred yards. I went for a head shot and gently squeezed the trigger. Immediately after the rifles report there was a satisfying "Thwok!", The bullet had connected with my fox and made quite a mess, but gave her a humane and instant exit from this world. I ranged her then and got one hundred and sixty yards, a vixen with cubs.

 

 

Next spot was to call into our other farmer, the one who asked us to his place for the first time just last week. It was getting kind of late so I decided to make this a quick visit, basically just chancing my arm that I'd see an eye somewhere. I was walking along the shoreline when I saw an eye coming towards me a fair piece along the shore. As most of the "fields" are totally covered in brush and scrub junk the shore is the best option for a clear shot. I shone the lamp around and tried to figure out where my fox would appear from. I saw a nice little point jutting out into the sea and suspected that to be the place. I found myself a rock to set up on and played my caller. A couple of minutes later the eyes appeared over the point and stopped in what was the only green clear-ish spot on that point! Not only that but the fox stopped there standing looking at me. "That'll do fox", I put my crosshairs on it's neck, facing me, and squeezed. The fox dropped on the spot and never twitched, another vixen again rearing cubs. I ranged the shot at one hundred and twenty yards.

 

 

I'd a long piece to walk to collect my fox and make it back to the car. I removed the tail and due to the wound left the fox on the boot lid of the car. I drove down the little road and left the fox at the farmers gate. Thinking I'd stop before home and wipe the pool of blood off.... Never thought of it and it was still there as people were passing my car walking to mass today... Ooops. Farmer rang in the morning and was happy though.

 

I spotted another fox that night but he didn't hang around for a shot either. This farmer works his terrier so I've told him about both of tonight's foxes.

 

 

Sunday 22nd March.

 

A neighbours hogget died near my dads farm and told me the carcass had been partially eaten by a fox that night. Not good news as I thought that area was clear. I headed in early on my own as John was off playing darts, but we agreed to meet up later on in the night. As I was walking along the path I saw my fox early off, he walked away from me into real foul ground for rifle shooting. I thought I'd be smart and make a beeline for the carcass and wait for my fox. Shouldn't take him long, plus the wind was in my favour. After an hour waiting over the carcass I'm figuring the fox may be a little smarter than me, maybe he's been already? Either way even after doing a search of the farm and using the caller I don't see him again, this night anyway.

 

I picked John up from the village, we checked the local hill for a while and saw nothing. Then we decided to head off to a field a lady farmer had asked us to visit. We phoned to say we were going and asked for more precise directions. When we arrived we didn't like what greeted us, way too much cover, trees, banks, walls, high grass. The fox would no sooner see you here than he'd be away behind a bit of cover and gone. It was a lovely bit of sheep ground as the grass was good and there was abundant shelter but I'd hate to have stock there if there was a dog fox killing in it to feed cubs. I've a couple of ideas for it but I don't know if we'll have any success there or not to be honest. Either way we saw nothing there after calling a while.

 

We headed off to a nearby farm who's owner had asked John a while back if he'd pay it a visit. There was a few lovely open green fields which would be great for rifle shooting but by God were the wire fences high! We took account of the wind and made off for a point jutting out into the lake, John turned on his hare in distress call and we waited. I turned to check the only spot we hadn't looked in to see a bleeding fox looking back at me from sixty yards at the end of a tree line. No sooner had I turned than he was gone racing back the way he came but behind lots of trees!

 

With no time for subtly we both raced off on foot after our fox. We reached a wall and John spotted our fox in the next field, if he'd had a stone to stand on he could've shot the fox then and there but without that stone the wall was too high. We went through a sheep pen, about five noisy tin sheeted gates! And into the field. This field had plenty of tall gorse in it so John was ahead with the shotgun. He saw the fox again by some gorse near the slope down to the lake, but the fox was gone before he could level the gun at him. We walked farther into the field, now drowned in sweat from the chase and I saw the lamp outstretched and the shotgun go up in the air, a sure sign there's a fox real real close in now.

 

The shotgun barrels came down on Johns left forearm and line up with the light, BOOOoooommmmmmm. John took off running so I followed quick as I could now. The field opened out a bit and the SxS was levelled again, he caught the fox side on with the next volley of BB's and hit it real hard. It dropped but to my utter disgust rose and went wobbling down a dip. That second shot should have dropped any fox anywhere.

 

We paused on the top of the dip. There's a wall in front of us, the ground rises to the left and drops away sharply to our right. Behind the wall is a long stretch of bog land. The fox couldn't have gone left without being seen, John's reloaded and is gone off to my right checking along our side of the wall. I'm stood where I am watching that bog land because I think that's where she's at heading away from us. John returns, no fox and heads off to check the left, when he's a piece out from me I see eyes in the bog and flick the light on John to let him know. I drop with the rifle and get the fox in the scope. It's not running but going as fast as it can, quartering away from me to the left, I aim slightly ahead of it and squeeze and stop the fox in it's tracks. I hit it behind but given the circumstances the fox needed to be gotten, from what I could see it did not move at all after the bullet struck, I had tried to stop it but after two BB carts I think the element of surprise was lost somewhat. I ranged the shot at one hundred twenty yards. Johns first BB was thirty five yards into rushes, the second shot about thirty yards side on, how that didn't finish her I'll never know. Yet another vixen.

 

 

We saw two more foxes during the night but both of them led us on a bit of a merry dance.

[JohnGalway]

Monday 23rd March.

 

I had a dentists appointment earlier today and I'm cutting things fine before meeting John at 8pm to go find that hogget muncher near Dads farm. Funny thing happened, the chair in the surgery was broken, there was quite a fuss over it with people going to and fro looking for screwdrivers and other implements. I got a bit fed up, pulled off the bib and asked exactly what the problem was. All that needed doing was two hex head screws to be put back in, naturally they didn't have one, but I did. Five minutes later it's all fixed and I get my nasty little filling in place. Out to reception to pay and she says, "No, he said no charge for fixing the chair, it's been driving him mad all day!" Don't despair, the world is still full of very nice people and I'm seventy Euro better off, it's nice to be nice.

 

I picked up John from his place and we set off for the island. We lamped on the way in out of curiosity and saw no eyes at all. I parked up well away from the area we wanted to cover, doors banging, accidental horns being blown whilst gear is taken from the vehicle etc just doesn't help. We set off back the path from which I'd seen my fox, I had two runs picked out to snare tomorrow if we didn't catch up with this guy tonight, it's just too close to lambing now to be messing around. Not far back the path we spotted eyes on the ridge just off to our left. The fox was slowly moving along it to the right towards the carcass four hundred and thirty yards out. The wind was only marginally in our favour, one small change to the right and we'd be undone. The path is the only way to make a quiet approach, either side is thick low gorse or swamp.

 

I turned out my lamp and attached it to the rifle scope. John walked ahead of me and I done my best to follow without making much noise. We have to walk single file so I didn't want the second lamp to frame the first man for our fox to see. We slowly closed the distance, our fox had reached the dead hogget, turned away from us and started munching away for it's dinner. The closest shooting spot was one hundred and sixty four yards from the fox, that'll do. I set up on the rock, switched on the light house on top of my scope and found the fox laying down on a rock quartered away from us to our right. I pick my spot, in though the ribs on the right hand side of the fox and on towards the vital heart & lung area. There was a nice thump after I squeezed the trigger, I'd been quite nervous as it's so close to our own farm but that noise told me the job was complete. A nice big dog fox tucking into it's dinner, not a bad way to go I reckon myself.

 

 

We saw a few more foxes tonight but got the run around by them.

[JohnGalway]

Well done John,some good results there,especially on that "challenging" land of yours remember it well (i,ll stick to the roads)

 

Cheers GH I know what you mean, wish we'd a few more roads and some driveable land, you lot are spoilt rotten!

[JohnGalway]

Friday 27th March.

 

I'd warned him. I said it often enough. I was getting fed up lugging my rifle about. I'd not fired my shotgun in anger since the second fox I got in Jurassic Park last Spring! If I didn't use it soon it'd sieze up and be a paperweight evermore. So tonight the .223 stays in the safe and I dusted the cobwebs off my Baikal MP-153 and it's new choke.

 

Last night I'd done a solo stint out where I shot the fox munching on the hogget. Since I'd shot that fox the hogget has been turned inside out and dragged about eight feet from where it had been, over that terrain it's not something I think winged vermin alone could achieve. So I was out in the gales on fox watch. I stayed a couple of hours there and endured a few showers that seemed to "falling", alright "driving" horizontally. I soon got fed up and ventured elsewhere, not an eye to be seen.

 

That is until I pulled into one of our sheep pens. I used to lamp this spot regularly with some decent results but I'd not been for a while now. I saw two sets of eyes by an old shed, suitably confused as one belonged to a ewe and the other to a fox, both animals side by side two hundred and something odd yards away. I couldn't make out my fox in the scope and in that wind it was too far a shot for me. Long story short he walked right to left across the top of the fields through two fences that I snared the next day. I, stupidly, played the caller in a bad spot and he successfully circled and winded me. Major duh.

 

Tonight was a much worse night. The flags in the village were nearly being torn off the poles and the showers were back in force. John was out, I know as he texted me, I complained about the weather and sat in watching some Western starring Steve McQueen & Karl Malden, very enjoyable it was too. John was complaining of the cold, I replied that's because you're outside... I was comfy sat in. As the time got nearer to when I saw my fox last night I started checking out the window more frequently. It started to dry up around 11p.m. Around 11.45pm I geared up, with the shotgun and AAA's and BB's. I'd not used AAA carts before, though I've had them long enough I always stuck with my tried and tested BB's.

 

A suitable amount of abuse flowed back and forth when I met John, about him being out and me staying in. All in good humour, though I did get called some colourful names when I told him how good the film really had been and he should watch it sometime, he'd been out since 9pm on the side of a hill in some hostile weather.

 

We were at the bottom of a series of long narrow fields which rise up to the hill commonage. It's a good spot as foxes like to travel back and forth above the top fence and we'd also get to see most eyes in the fields themselves, although they're horribly overgrown with rushes and gorse making it impossible rifle ground unless you're up in the hill or at the very top of certain fields. After lamping one particularly exposed hillside John announced he was going home. "What, so early?"................. I can't print what he said.

 

We got back to my car and I turned on the heater a while. From the car I could still shine the lamp across the front of the hill while we both thawed out. It was between 12.20-12.30a.m. and I knew my fox would be along any minute. And as soon as we spotted him John lost interest in going home!

 

Both armed with 12ga's we made up the field towards the hill. With the noise of the wind and seeing as the fox was a long way off yet we could move quickly through the rushes and hopefully close the gap. This fox wasn't going to make it easy though. He started moving away from us in the hill. We got over the top fence and split up about one hundred yards apart. If the fox tried to get down into the fields John might have a crack at him, if he tried to go with the wind along the path they use I might get a shot. He did neither and kept travelling away from us, looking back occassionally.

 

I nearly got the drop on him at one stage and John at another, I was foiled by a bunch of sheep that I didn't want to spook and he turned and ran from John before the gun was raised. I'm half way up the hill and John is down at the top of the fields, he looses sight of the fox but I see him once more before losing him myself.

 

We continued on walking for another few minutes with no more sightings. John had headed for the gate to go back to the car, we met up there after I walked down the hill. Just before I arrived John had spotted our fox above us on a relatively flat area, up wind of us. I turned on the called and we both moved about eighty yards away from it hoping the fox would try to "wind" the rabbit and run into one or the other of us. Again our fox isn't taking the bait.

 

John moved off out the old bog track and headed uphill again. I went back to collect the caller, I was going to follow in his tracks but then decided to head up from where I was to meet up again. I was not aware of it at this stage but John was hot on the foxs' heels. I rose up on one particular ridge and saw a pair of fox eyes looking down at me sixty yards away around a little hill. I froze on the spot, when the eyes turned away I moved to my left putting the hill between me and the fox. I ran uphill as fast as ever I could, almost losing my dinner on the run. I'd my shotgun up and levelled with the lamp when I got to the top of the hill. There was my fox but just before I could bring the gun onto him he turned and ran.

 

I don't normally shoot foxes travelling away from me with the shotgun. About fifty five yards out he turned fully side on. I decided to take the shot dropping him with the second AAA cartridge.

 

 

John had headed upwind of the fox to drive him back towards me, thinking I'd already seen the fox, which I hadn't! "I heard the barrage from the other side of the hillock, and hoped to **** you got him!"

 

Compared to the foxes we've been shooting lately he was a scrawny enough article. But he was quite smart, as he led us on a bit of a trek. John commented it was the most "work" he's had to do to get a fox in a long while.

 

Now, I can put the shotgun away for another year... not!