Tips For Charlie

[CaptainBanana 5]

Evening gents.

Having a problem with a dog fox on a dairy farm that I shoot. He's a big boy with a nasty limp.

Pretty sure his rabbit catching days are done, and I assume that's why he has moved on to any very small or ill calves in the calfing pens. He eats the soft parts on the face (ears, lips etc) and more than once the farmer has called me out to put down a badly mauled calf.

He's out and about at all hours of the day but never comes in range of the .22. And often sits out watching me at about 120ish yards.

The farmer keeps asking me to take my dogs down to deal with the issue, but I'm not keen. For obvious reasons.

Now I've never hunted charlie before, so was hoping for some tips or pointers. I have the .22 and a 12 bore available to use right now, but was thinking of putting in a variation for a .17hmr to deal with the situation.

 

Advice and opinions greatly appreciated as usual.

Cheers chaps

All the best

 

Mick

[shropshire dan 467]

Bait an area and after a week sit and wait with the 12g. I use 46g no.3 but bb is a firm favourite. Or maybe take the .22lr as well and pop him in the head within 50-60 yards.

[maktayla 50]

Hi Captain Banana

He sounds like a very old and sly fox.

Your going to have loads of advice on taking care of this fox. You said he often sits out at 120yds and watches you. Is there anyway you can coax him in closer with some nice cat food. Maybe you can hide closer to where he sits and wait for him to appear. They are creatures of habit and he will no doubt be set in his ways. He has a limp and it sounds like his hunting days are almost, if not over, and that's why he is taking to easy meals. If you can, get him within range of your .22LR with some cat food. Unless you want a .17HMR, I don't see the point if it is just for this fox. If its a dedicated fox calibre youre after, go centrefire not HMR.

As I said earlier, you're probably gonna be inundated with advice and no doubt a lot of it will be better than mine. I cannot comment on shooting Charlie with a 12 Bore because I never have. But you are certainly talking closer than a head shot with your .22LR

 

All the best mate, I hope you get him

[shropshire dan 467]

Maybe put your location up and someone off here local to you can help out mate

[Barky 24]

Where abouts are u bud?

[CaptainBanana 5]

Bait an area and after a week sit and wait with the 12g. I use 46g no.3 but bb is a firm favourite. Or maybe take the .22lr as well and pop him in the head within 50-60 yards.

Hi Dan,

This was my original plan, been baiting for 8 days now with no luck with split open bunnies, he's not touched even one, do you know of anything more attractive to Charlie?

 

Hi Captain Banana

He sounds like a very old and sly fox.

Your going to have loads of advice on taking care of this fox. You said he often sits out at 120yds and watches you. Is there anyway you can coax him in closer with some nice cat food. Maybe you can hide closer to where he sits and wait for him to appear. They are creatures of habit and he will no doubt be set in his ways. He has a limp and it sounds like his hunting days are almost, if not over, and that's why he is taking to easy meals. If you can, get him within range of your .22LR with some cat food. Unless you want a .17HMR, I don't see the point if it is just for this fox. If its a dedicated fox calibre youre after, go centrefire not HMR.

As I said earlier, you're probably gonna be inundated with advice and no doubt a lot of it will be better than mine. I cannot comment on shooting Charlie with a 12 Bore because I never have. But you are certainly talking closer than a head shot with your .22LR

 

All the best mate, I hope you get him

Cheers Maktayla.

The issue with getting closer to him is he sits right smack centre of the field next to the cow yards, it's around 18 acres with thick, mature hawthorne round the edges so I have no way of hiding myself within 100 yards of his usual spot. The reason I though of the HMR was twofold. The first being that I've fancied one for a while anyway, mainly for all the rooks knocking about at the minute. And the second being that with it being rimfire and not cf, it should be fairly straightforward having it granted, avoiding the mentoring conditions etc that would surely be added to any request for a cf, and I would end up with a tool for the job in question.

 

Maybe put your location up and someone off here local to you can help out mate

I did mention this, but he's a funny old boy and told me in no uncertain terms that he 'doesn't want people poking round his land'

[CaptainBanana 5]

Although it's cattle I'm sure you can find some spots to set some fox wires, I'd focus on fair means or foul and get it gone. Have you tried squeaking him in, you might get him in to your feet? The farmer could invest in a cage trap if he's not already. Somebody once advised me to use a leg bone staked out in a field tied to a peg with wire and they can't carry it off, or bury some offal and get yourself down wind , knock up a tidy hide or sit in/behind a vehicle. Good luck.

Also has he been seen in the pens or could it be something else.....?

Hi Joe.

By wires are you talking snares? I've zero experience of trapping so forgive my ignorance. A cage trap would be a good idea, but I think the last time this bloke spent any cash on anything was before I was an itch in my daddies nutsack. His kit is all a good 20 years old. How much does a cage trap run to out of interest? Could be something handy to keep about.

It's definately him, I've scared him out of the pens once myself when I was setting up for crows one morning.

[abarrett 461]

Flick some cat wet cat meat on top of a hedge close to where you can hide up

He will walk up and down the hedge with his nose in the air

You'll get a shot

Or

Lay your shotgun on a couple of bricks right where he sits put a big lump of cat meat on the end of the barrel

Then all you need is 150 yards of string

One end on the trigger other end in your hand

Someone had to start the stupid ideas

[CaptainBanana 5]

Lay your shotgun on a couple of bricks right where he sits put a big lump of cat meat on the end of the barrel

Then all you need is 150 yards of string

One end on the trigger other end in your hand

Excellent... But maybe a bit Tom & Jerry Edited July 19, 2014 by CaptainBanana

[CaptainBanana 5]

Cheers joe.

Thanks for the links.

[maktayla 50]

ABarrett, that will probably be on you tube next week Someone has bound to have tried it.

 

CaptainBanana, Abarrett said roughly the same as me. He will probably find the cat food irresistible. Try it, you never know. If he is having problems hunting he will take it.

 

And, if you can hide in somewhere, try the squeak as well. You will get him in the end.

Back to the HMR, if you fancy one, go for it. I love my HMR and the photo of me with the fox was shot with my HMR. Hit him in the head and he dropped stone dead. He was about 80yds. It is incredibly flat, accurate and fast out to 100yds for a rimfire round. You were talking about rooks, can you not take them with your LR. I've had a few with my HMR but it is substantially noisier.

[squab 2,875]

i find it very difficult to believe that a farmer regularly calls you in to put down a calf,

[CaptainBanana 5]

ABarrett, that will probably be on you tube next week Someone has bound to have tried it.

 

CaptainBanana, Abarrett said roughly the same as me. He will probably find the cat food irresistible. Try it, you never know. If he is having problems hunting he will take it.

 

And, if you can hide in somewhere, try the squeak as well. You will get him in the end.

Back to the HMR, if you fancy one, go for it. I love my HMR and the photo of me with the fox was shot with my HMR. Hit him in the head and he dropped stone dead. He was about 80yds. It is incredibly flat, accurate and fast out to 100yds for a rimfire round. You were talking about rooks, can you not take them with your LR. I've had a few with my HMR but it is substantially noisier.

Sounds like cat food is the way forward then. I'll swap the bunnies for it and see how I get on.

As far as the Rooks go, I've had a good few with the .22 at 60- yards but I fancy the HMR for the extra reach it will allow me. The noise isn't really a factor as the first thump of bullet on meat tends to send them all skyward anyway, even with the lr.

Cheers for the advice so far chaps.

[Rake aboot 4,929]

Build a stink pit.

Chicken carcasses are the way to go.

Build it where you can shoot it.

 

Fox snares are handy tools mind, but if you don`t know what your doing , get someone in who does.

 

If I were you, I`d get someone in with a centre fire rifle and get the job done properly. The farmer will soon get sick of you failing to shoot it.

[abarrett 461]

Try a box of stingers or what ever they are called now

22lr bullets but they aren't subs

Might get that bit of extra distance you need