Out last night.

Last night,I went to a farm with silage cutting ongoing, (they get a lot of silage cover sheets broken by Charlie), set up with my back hard against the M53, half a gale blowing , so I think my ar*e is pretty well covered, as is usual I sweep the lamp behind now & again just to be sure, absolutely nothing seen but a bat, from 19.30 right up until 23.50... when a big dog has sidled up to my rear! nothing to rest the rifle on with this motor, (I used to have a truck fitted with a scarf ring set up!):doh:.. He shifts position into the rough surrounding the pond behind looking very chilled & disappears,... on positioning off the bonnet I find him 200 hundred yards back & hull down in a ditch, this guy looks really relaxed, I drive with all lights off back the way I had entered the field system, avoiding crushing the laid silage, Charlie is watching me now from 200 yards my left, again hull down in a ditch ... this is now reminiscent of a contest Charlie vs Potman and me had years ago on a bloodstock farm near my home, we chased that particular customer for weeks before finally nailing him, by virtue of Potman walking up the lane & poking his stalking stick into the ditch, anyhow I exited the truck & set up for the shot, Charlie waves bye bye & go's stage left :rolleyes:,I move the truck & find him again in the yard next to the dairy, perfect, except the night milk collection has just arrived,:rolleyes:,I move on around again, just short of a quarter mile up the main drag & start again, we end up playing ring a ring a roses for an hour & a half, you really have to admire the old ones that know the craic.:cool: ... Soon Charlie, Soon .:D. p.s. that bloody wind last night felt like November.
 
Well now!, me thinks tis time to resurrect a thread,... Wheel it never used to be like this!, Rifle, check, Moderator, check, ammunition, check, NV, check, batteries, check, spare batteries, check, IR, check, Extra IR, check, backup shoulder carry lamp, check, Yaada Yaada mumble mutter slump:doh:, Finally had enough spare time to sort out the Pulsar on the Fireball yesterday, chased a tame brick @ 30 yard intervals out to a whiteboard with a black cross 100+ yards out, moon is good tonight, no rain forecast :eek::eek:, slight winds SSE 8 mph gusts, motor loaded, Farmers notified, Gout treatment supercharged with a couple Naproxen;), looking forward to getting Pulsar blooded, (on my rifle),........................ Laters!!!!!:cool:
 
Well now!, me thinks tis time to resurrect a thread,... Wheel it never used to be like this!, Rifle, check, Moderator, check, ammunition, check, NV, check, batteries, check, spare batteries, check, IR, check, Extra IR, check, backup shoulder carry lamp, check, Yaada Yaada mumble mutter slump:doh:, Finally had enough spare time to sort out the Pulsar on the Fireball yesterday, chased a tame brick @ 30 yard intervals out to a whiteboard with a black cross 100+ yards out, moon is good tonight, no rain forecast :eek::eek:, slight winds SSE 8 mph gusts, motor loaded, Farmers notified, Gout treatment supercharged with a couple Naproxen;), looking forward to getting Pulsar blooded, (on my rifle),........................ Laters!!!!!:cool:

Good luck! I've been at the show today so haven't been back long, but hope to check out the local chicken farm shortly, all the same. :)
 
Never mind the foxes, what was new and good at the show

I was mainly talking to NV dealers and the like - it sounds as though there's some good kit coming out in the next few months, so hopefully, I'll be reviewing some of it in Sporting Gun. I did bring back an ICOtec PD2000 to test for BestFoxCall - basically, it's a well thought out whirly thing that gives what we hope is some attractive movement while the caller is running. There won't be a chance to use it tonight as the foxes where I'm going are very call-shy now. It's not surprising really, as we've knocked over the best part of 100 of them up there in less than 18 months!
 
Look foreward to it, the pairing of thermal and night vishion is starting to knock on the piggy banks side.
Was all set to go, car fueled up, then both passengers pulled out yesterday
 
Total of EIGHT fe**i'n hours in three specs, chilling breeze of 3.0 c ................... total seen, one Buzzard, one Sparrowhawk, two Mallard,two bunnies, & one clockwork budgie, on the plus side the kit is brill, like daylight out past 200 ... so just you wait Charlie!
 
Went to a mates plot last night to help out with customer care, as he is transporting a foreign mutual buddy about, ( reciprocals for Boar tripping ), must be around five years since I did an all night stag for foxes, this mission was specifically no lamps to be used, completely reliant on the p.i.r. & camera flashes, rolled in just on sunset, set up & watched the camera test run by the lady farmer, all good to go, bitterly cold & nothing worse than being up against the gutter line on a fire escape, Pulsar switched on & set the brightness & cross hair,the bino's were picking up the odd rabbit out to 250 or so, a bit troubled by mist emanating from the canal, then dark shapes flitting about in the fields, game on, the tethered goose carcass proved to be the right magnet, & I Fireballed the Vixen, strangely I have never heard so much vocalising from the two dog foxes around three hundred yards out in the darkness, right on top of the shot, almost like they were still in full on breeding mode, one far left the other far right, just past midnight the lens cover on the trail cam seemed to be covered by hoar frost, reducing the red flash to almost zero, giving me more eyeball straining in the gloom, managed a couple of nano seconds on a couple more visitors but not enough to settle the cross hairs, Farmer checked sd card today & confirms the vixen full on camera, along with me a few minutes later wiping the frost off the cover, Jacked it in at 5 am & dived into a welcome heated seat, minus 1 showing on the dashboard, then crawled into bed for a couple of hours, hard work, think it's time for thermal spotting gear.;)
 
how do they compete with NV in mist or fine drizzle?

the IR reflection from mist renders it useless on one of my spots
 
how do they compete with NV in mist or fine drizzle?

the IR reflection from mist renders it useless on one of my spots

So long as there isn't too much moisture in the air, thermals work brilliantly in the fog. The problem then, of course, is what you use to shoot the fox with! Get close enough though and it isn't an issue. :)
 
Paddy, had an odd case last night, now we all know what retinal returns from fox & other stuff looks like on the lamp, ... I have not been into the night vision equipment for much longer than a few months, & wondered if anyone else had seen returns to IR floods that appear to be very much larger & diffuse in comparison to lamps? Also last nights contender was I believe IR aware, couldn't tempt it away from the road & I tried the last ditch polystyrene on glass .. POOOF! gone!!
 
Here's my little haul from last night. They were almost certainly the work of one of the so-called charities, wreaking both environmental and economic vandalism on the area yet again...

View attachment 21054

This one was healthy apart from a strange section of the tail which had no fur at all:
View attachment 21055

And look at the state of this one:
View attachment 21053

There was a sixth too, but I couldn't find it in the brambles...

Good going, called one in while I was in the high seat last night...he was in quite a mess post being shot that is.

expecting the cubs to be out waiting to be shot very soon.

ATB

Tim.243
 
out on Friday with my shooting buddie g1963,

left ft was a nice condition vixen 200 yards double tap, right was a nice condition dog single tap, 100 yards

second picture was a rathe skinny vixen not long away from the Cubs 80 yards single tap,

all taken with with the drone and the sunnranger,

bob
 
Paddy, had an odd case last night, now we all know what retinal returns from fox & other stuff looks like on the lamp, ... I have not been into the night vision equipment for much longer than a few months, & wondered if anyone else had seen returns to IR floods that appear to be very much larger & diffuse in comparison to lamps? Also last nights contender was I believe IR aware, couldn't tempt it away from the road & I tried the last ditch polystyrene on glass .. POOOF! gone!!

For some reason the dogs often seem to have much brighter eyes than the vixens. As an example, I had a female come in the other night - I could see her clearly through the NV scope, but if I'd had to try an ID from the eyes alone, I'd have said it wasn't a fox since they were very dull.

As for foxes being IR aware - many people will tell you that foxes take no notice of it - but anyone who says this is wrong; although some will almost walk into you with the illuminator on full, others will disappear over the horizon the moment you switch it on - that's why as soon as I see eye-shine, I turn mine off.
 
Good going, called one in while I was in the high seat last night...he was in quite a mess post being shot that is.

expecting the cubs to be out waiting to be shot very soon.

ATB

Tim.243

Thank you! :) On the low ground near Exeter I've heard two lots of cubs squabbling, but I've not actually seen any yet,
 
out on Friday with my shooting buddie g1963,

left ft was a nice condition vixen 200 yards double tap, right was a nice condition dog single tap, 100 yards

second picture was a rathe skinny vixen not long away from the Cubs 80 yards single tap,

all taken with with the drone and the sunnranger,

bob

Well done! :)
 
Well done! :)

cheers Paddy

hope all is well. hard to get the dogs to come in or even stop but now the vixens are out the pup distress is working well and steve called the other vixen in using a mouth call not the FoxPro. :)

bob.
 
cheers Paddy

hope all is well. hard to get the dogs to come in or even stop but now the vixens are out the pup distress is working well and steve called the other vixen in using a mouth call not the FoxPro. :)

bob.

Good stuff! My luck went against me last night - I stopped the truck in a lane that gets about five cars a day on it to have a look through a gateway to see if there was anything going on around some chicken sheds. I soon spotted a fox that was lying in the grass looking straight at me, so I wasted no time in setting the sticks out - before I could get the rifle in place though a bleddy car came down the road. I had to abort and move it out of the way. I was furious as the farmer there had only just lost a lamb and was desperate for me to find the culprit...:(
 
Sorry to butt in guys,following this thread great read.
I am toying with buying nv but having only one deer/fox rifle was looking at an add on unit,whats your thoughts on longbow/archers?
Tone.
 
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