Right Or Wrong Comments Please

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

 

 

 

 

CLEAR UP FOXES ONCE AND FOR ALL

 

Robert Bucknell shares his top tips...

 

 

 

Theres no point in trying to kill all the foxes because nature abhors a vacuum and others will simply move in to fill the gap. So goes the antis mantra but its simply not true, as I have proved on my Essex farm this year.

 

Were talking about a block of about 3,000 acres. I farm around 1,000 acres in the middle and liaise closely with neighbouring farmers and keepers over the surrounding 2,000 acres. For years we have hit the foxes hard by every (legal) means available. That has included allowing through the hunt, trapping, snaring and, of course, shooting them with the aid of a lamp and, more recently, night vision and thermal tools.

 

 

 

For years we fought a rearguard action, chipping away at a population that never seemed to diminish. But now, for the first time, we appear to have won at least for the time being. I can confidently say that the fox population across those 3,000 acres is down to the odd one or two that may wander over the boundary once in a while. In our little patch of Essex, Vulpes vulpes is pretty much extinct. Nobody tell the RSPB, for goodness sake, or itll be launching a campaign to re-wild the place and reintroduce the fox!

 

HOW DID I DO IT?

 

So what has changed? How is it that the fox hitherto managed to maintain a strong presence on the farm with everyone doing their best to eradicate it and yet me, with a handful of keepers and mates, have now effectively wiped it out? The reason, in my view, is night vision but especially thermal, pure and simple. Thermal viewers and, more recently, thermal riflescopes have given us a massive edge. No longer do we have to give ourselves away with lights and calls that any wily fox can learn to steer clear of. But why is thermal night vision so deadly? In essence, its the speed at which you can pick out the fox with a viewer before swapping, in the blink of an eye, to the rifle. The acquire-identify-safety check-shoot process can be as quick as that.

 

 

 

Its usually pretty clear if a fox is living in a given area; the signs are there if you know how to interpret them. You dont need to track it down, or draw it towards you, with calls and whistles. Just arrange a suitable spot where you can sit and wait, and lay bait over a few days. When youre ready, and the weather conditions are in your favour, simply settle down with the thermal and wait for Mr Fox to pass by. He has to eat and, like any general predator, will opt for the lowest-hanging fruit the meal that offers the best return for the least effort.

 

Provided you are able to sit still for a few hours and resist the temptation to phone your friends, shuffle or cough loudly, sooner or later your quarry will appear. When it does there is no need to give your position away by shining a light. Just edge the rifle into position and bang!

 

This means we can deal with even the oldest and wariest foxes relatively and I do mean relatively easily. In years gone by, these difficult foxes would have evaded us with their cunning. Now, with thermal, they can be picked off like the rest. In fact, it can only be evident how old a fox is once you pick it up.

 

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[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

I personally have lost permission on roughly ten largish farms. I use the conventional lamp and rifle and also have use of terriers. I have had call outs at lambing time on these farms for over 30 years! I drove to one of these farms a few months ago and was confronted by two lads and a very excited farmer beckoning me to look at this thermal imaging gear on their rifles! To cut a very long story short these 2 guys with one vehicle led to 4 guys and two vehicles! They went around every farm and showed this equipment in the dark demonstrating its potential value in predator control! So far no call outs for me! I have been on callouts in the most atrocious weather night after night ant tramped mountains looking for signs of the culprits earths! So if this is now the path of fox control I for one am a little bit unhappy. ATB

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

I may have been a bit severe by saying I have lost permission on these farms as I have formed a friendship with fathers and now their sons over the years and am welcome to call anytime! But sheep farmers in Wales want the fox rid by any means possible. Lambing calls have been part and parcel of my life and to now have the phone silent is really upsetting.

[Rat face 1,655]

I don't get what people get from doing this type of shooting. There's no field craft needed what so ever. It really sickens me to think lads can call this sport just wiping out populations of Fox. It's a real same things are going this way.

[neil cooney 10,415]

IMO it's a step to far. It's one thing controlling foxes by taking out the potential trouble makers but these gadgets could potentially make the fox a rare species.

Sadly the days where field craft was needed to set a snare or work a terrier or to be in the right place to get a fox are now being replaced by boys with toys.

There's a lad near me who got a large lump from a claim and is now bored with his mini motor bike and other toys and has now got himself a rifle and lamp.

One of his first nights out involved him shooting a fox a few feet from a house and the police getting involved.

Boils my blood to think that such a messer would call himself a hunter. He wouldn't know a fox earth from a foxglove.

You don't need an apprenticeship in field craft now ,you just need a big bank account.

[stonewall 1,913]

i know that in america the coyote has been hunted and a bounty put on them for decades and its only has made their species spread out across the usa and populate even more.they have what u would call a roll call where at night the coyote gives out a bark and if their is link missing in the roll call all of the female coyotes who are in young increase their litter size to compensate for the missing coyotes.they are a remarkable animal.i have always wondered if a fox can do the same.

[just-A-snap 1,269]

As with a lot of things, it is Between a Rock and a Hard Place. The Dodo is gone, if we are not careful so will a way of life that gives and on the hole wants no harm. It Is constantly attack by some who have no comprehension of life lived with nature, this life will also go the way of the Dodo as with so much that was Great Britannia. Respect the law of the land and also the law of a way of life.

All the very best

[Glyn..... 5,199]

its the way of the world now, i still have as much permission even more than i had 30 years ago , since thermal imaging its desert for terrier work there are still populations on land that was/is no go , but if they poke there heads out they are gone , before the areas not touched used to feed and repopulate but not any more , only plus side is ground nesting birds ,hare and rabbits on the increase , better get a ferret again !

[C.green 3,203]

That thermal imaging don't sit right with me at all must make it almost too easy

[THE STIFFMEISTER 14,571]

Totally agree

 

I know of at least two lads with absolutely no interest in wildlife or the aspect we grow to admire who are cleaning out over a hundred a season with a set of nvgs and a look a like Dimarco set up

 

Knocks me sick

 

No skill respect or due to the quarry

 

A far cry from some lads digging and giving best

 

You can only hope that they drift off into motor biking or snow boarding asap

[Rabbit Hunter 6,608]

The thermal imaging is a disgrace IMO. No guile, field craft or even a LAMP needed. The poor twats are shot in the dark with no chance. The lads with this gear are obliterating the job. Its not just foxes either, I know a lad that shot 70 odd hares in one night. Sitting ducks.

[Mooching Celt 658]

It's the ones they pick off from the roadsides where they have no permission that does it for me, anyone who spends that much on dedicated kit isn't going to stop when they wiped out on the land they have permission on

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

I wouldn't believe every thing robert bucknell write the mans a blithering old fool full of shit

lol I know he tends to contradict himself! I remember him writing an article which was basically is this the end of conventional means of fox control re- thermal imaging! Changed his tune a bit now!

[Pirate 9000 675]

There is going to be loads of this thermal and night vision equipment up for sale before long when there is no foxes left for them to shoot,it will come full circle but the damage to the fox will have been done

[Haiddheliwr 1,911]

There was an old saying for every fox that dies two will come to the funeral. And to this day I always believed there was some truth to this as numbers in different regions stayed pretty consistent. Not so now lads speaking to various individuals and also my own observations there is no doubt a decline in fox numbers!