Jump to content

Back up at the shoot


Recommended Posts


  • Replies 5.5k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Posts

Up at the shoot first thing this morning, bird scare tape up around the pens, elec fences on and tested, water on and drinkers tested and adjusted, water butts filled again over the piggeries, I had l

Well our first shoot of the year went well. It was cold but dry and a bit of sun appeared. Bag was 122 head comprising of 57 duck 56 pheasant 7 partridge and 2 pigeon. My own contribution wa

It’s been frosty the last couple of mornings, it’s very welcome , hopefully it will kill a few bugs . Unfortunately the Maize and cover crops don’t like it and they will soon be unviable as a drive .

Posted Images

7 hours ago, shovel leaner said:

I use the 50grn Vmax in my .223 . My Tikka seems to shoot them ok . I have thought about trying different weights and brands just to see if there is anything better . But these bullets kill very well , dropping them on the spot , they very rarely put big holes in them , very often you have to really look for the entry hole . I’ve just bought another 100 off spud1967 , so I will be on them for another season. 
            I have shot a fox at 285meters at night , that’s the longest . I used Mapulator and my LRF and split the difference , no dwarf paces ?. But that was at a tricky one , who wouldn’t play ball . I’m more comfortable at half that distance and even more comfortable at around 60or 70 . 
            Is it just me or are foxes getting more clued up ? Are we seeing Darwin’s theory in practice? Where only the very shy foxes are surviving to breed . I remember foxes coming right in almost to my hand and shooting them with a shotgun. You wouldn’t do that around here now . I went woodcock shooting in Cornwall with a famous fox shooter who claims to be able to charm foxes with his squeaks , he told us not to shoot any foxes as they were all “ film stars “ . He then demonstrated his calls a few times bringing foxes in really close , he proudly boasted that he could make a fox do whatever he wanted. His calling was no different to what I can do , and it’s just that the foxes around there are hungry and not under pressure . He might have impressed the gullible people he takes out but I had my own opinions. 
 

You raise some good points here. If the 50grn are working in the 223 for you then leave well enough alone. I hated my 223 (but not as much as the hmr). I wasn't reloading then and i think the problem was the bullets where travelling to slow. They had a tendency to pass through the fox and leave a big exit wound, so not doing much if any damage inside. The number of runners i had was seriously unfunny. I was sick to death of spending forever looking for fox carcasses. It sounds as though you may have yours tramping on a bit and so it is fragmenting inside. The 204s that i now run do this, foxes drop on the spot and an exit is extremely rare. In fact when i go and pick them up i mostly cannot see either an entry or exit wound, they look "brand new" till you pick them up and give them a little shake, then they sound like a bag of soup.

I don't know if darwins theory is coming into play with foxes now but like you i would struggle to kill one with a shotgun now. They definately seem to be switched on more when it comes to calling them. Only an odd one will react to lip squeaking but most won't. I have found i have better reactions using fox calls on the foxpro rather than prey calls. It may also be that because i am constantly killing them in the areas i shoot on, the replacements have already run the gauntlet elsewhere and are clued up on calls lamps etc. However i have noticed a marked difference in the behaviour of a lot of foxes in the past six or seven years. Will we eventually only see foxes in daylight if Darwinism and pressure of using n/v and thermal takes hold? Interesting times.   

  • Like 4
Link to post

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.


×
×
  • Create New...