Partners in crime

[JohnGalway 1,043]

Finished off a small bracket this evening for the Yukon Ranger to help ambushing lamp shy foxes. More on that in due course :cool:

 

Afterward I decided to check what's going on out on my own farm at night, not something I've done in a while. So I park at my sisters house, get mugged by ewe lambs used to being fed on the way up, talk about spoiled.

 

Usual route through the farm up a piece by the wood, cut across then up on the high hill close in to the stone boundary wall. There's a good frost tonight, no snow on the ground here like in other parts of the country.

 

As I'm almost at the top of the hill I see golden eyes set close together close to my water barrels I had for spraying earlier in the year. This has caught me off guard a bit as I don't get many foxes actually on my farm, they're smart like that.

 

While I'm going through the motions, getting prone, loading etc. I'm thinking all the time this fox is going to be gone by the time I'm ready here. But no, lovely and quiet lying down on a rock, I can only see the neck and head because of a low stone wall so I pick a nice safe neck shot and Pshhht! Thwap! Not out five minutes and it's JG 1 - 0 Foxy.

 

Thought it may be that dog fox John has been looking for but no, turned out to be a vixen, something like an 85 yard shot.

 

 

Onwards and upwards, literally, and I'm across into the neighbours place. Lovely big hill here which is great for these dark nights. I have, depending which way I'm turned :pac:, my sisters two houses and rough land sloping down to the sea one side, a flat-ish wet, rocky field extending away from me to the boundary wall then on to the hill which I can't see much of. On one side I have my farm, some of which obscured by rocky hillocks - the one weak side really. Finally I can see a large area as well, lots of rocks, low walls, and the usual other rubbish :pac: but very open and presents lots of good shots. All in all it's a good spot tonight.

 

The wind is light but blowing down towards the sea, when I turn on the rabbit squeal guess where the next set of eyes turn up? Yeah, right down wind of me.

 

He's well down the land but coming up fast below the sisters house. Rifle turned around on the rock I'm scanning around looking for him again and ready to clip the lamp to the scope quickly. If he's to come straight in, then he'll appear out of thick gorse through a spot in the wall about 90 yards from me. If he's liking the call too much that could be a problem, as he'll close the gap between where I can shoot him and where I can't in a second or two. Alternatively he may go into my farm, travel up along the wall and pop out anywhere on the weak side.

 

Which does he do? Neither

 

He's pulled a vanishing act :confused: Then after a while he reappears next door about 280 yards away, but he's not fond of the lamp and won't show when I'm behind the rifle. I see John is out behind the next hill shining, and try ringing him and texting but no reply :confused:

 

Ten or fifteen minutes pass. I try the rabbit call, nothing. Then I hear a bark, ah. You're looking for someone, aren't you. So I bark back with the vixen setting on the mini colibri, just very short bursts. And he replies each time!

 

So I can't see him, and he's answering the call but not shifting, but I know he's down in the rough land somewhere. Spotting a high rock down the bottom of the field I'm in I decide to make for it down a steep gorse bank.

 

We all know what happens next. (No, not me going arse over head).

 

In no mans land I spy a pair of bright eyes strolling up along a path through the creeping gorse. He's in open ground looking at me, I'm in a spot I can do absolutely nothing with the rifle looking back at him

 

He's had enough, and so have I. My fox turns tail back down the path and I make for the fence quick as I can. In the next field he's just my side of a big pile of dumped rocks. If he get's over that, he's gone.

 

The only post I can use in the fence is one with the point up, fence is built into the stone wall. The only thing I can do is take a standing shot, so palm down I cover the barb, then rest the 14lb rifle on the back of my hand - why do I do this again?

 

He won't stop. He's scrambling along the top of the rock pile and I've got one chance.

 

This is where knowing your land comes into play. Without thinking about it I know there's no stock in this field. There are no houses or buildings or anything else that can be killed/damaged/put at risk from a snap shot.

 

Pssshhtttt.........

 

Thwap!

 

 

Dog fox, on the move, something around 50 yards I think. That'll be the other John's tour guide from two nights ago, dark dog fox he said.

 

[hw100sniper 2]

Well done again Mr Galway but your really starting to rub it in now that you can even get out out with a rifle never mind get good results noticed on piccies no snow over the water or have you just been lucky round your way

[JohnGalway 1,043]

I'm well over on the West coast HW, so we got feck all snow to be honest, so pretty lucky. From my door, the closest I could see snow was about down to 1,000 feet on the mountains. Some parts of Ireland got a bit though, as usual the country ground to a halt Brought a trailer load of lambs to the mart on black ice Saturday, that was fun!

 

Mind you, a dusting of snow to find tracks would have been nice

[terrierjohn 49]

nice shooting bud

atb john

[sounder 9]

good result john, great write up, good heathy foxes there,

atb sounder

[wag 13]

great read john and 2 nice shot's well done ......

[JohnGalway 1,043]

Cheers lads. I reckon those were two of three seen feeding on a sheep carcass that washed ashore. One farm nearby has some dodgy ground near the tide and loose the odd one or three because of it.