Fox Shooting Calendar

[www.yorkshireroestalking.]

i accept that even tho the chances are slim some cubs will un-fortunatly die due to there parents being killed, its not somthing i set out to do but i shot foxes for the greater good. sure the main reason is for game management and i make no bones about that but many other species benifit by the death of a litter of cubs including hares and songbirds for starters as we all already know. i never go out with the intention to starve a litter of cubs to death i just know its a sad situation which can arise from what i do but before you tar me as a cub starving ******* just take a look at what you shoot, as i bet you shoot rabbits, squirrel, crows, muntjac,pidgeons, magpies, ect ect all year round without a thought for there young? and muntjac and rabbits can have dependant young all year round! so where do you draw the line? as just because somthing looks cute and cuddley like a fox cub doesnt mean it has the right to live or die any more than a ugly wood pidgeon sqwab

+1 here mate vermin are vermin and foxes are the no1 bad lad in my book.
when i shoot a pregnant vixen I applaude 5 with 1 shot if they are born same result though I have got the time to look for the litter and will destroy them also if/when i find them.
Why on earth do vermin have NO close season???

 

[trouble]

i would lamp as much as possible until the cover gets too high , use high seats early morning and evening year round . Snares are the best way to kill numbers , as many as possible until i get too busy with pheasants and then i use 2 middens 1 either side of the shoot which means i can check 20 - 30 at each sight in about 15 minutes . A couple of fox drives when the days warm up and the covers up . From early november until about april check your earths about once a fortnight with terriers , if you find cubs ALWAYS kill the pair first try to get the vixen first as the dog wont move the litter , if you get her first plaster the area with wire and check all local holes with a terrier for him then get the cubs last . On the snow i put on a snow suit and walk at night with a shotgun , no lamp , stand by a gate post or tree and call they sound like a little train coming on snow . A mate of mine keeps hens and has an extra pop hole in the back with a cage trap nailed inside the coop at all times

 

[swatty]

to answer a vixen will travel as far as neccesary to provide food personally knowing my ground well if i come across a/ shoot a vixen in milk ive already a rough idea where to find the cubs but ive been brought up to reconise that a fox is enemy no 1 alough ill make every effort to get the cubs ill loss no sleep if i dont just like most people will loss no sleep shooting pigeons all summer or any other vermin hence no season to answer thee original question i find the most effective way to controlfoxes is snares and when in my vermin hinting prime where it was a major part of my job id have 300 snares out 365 days of the year lamp as much as possible and have fox drives all through the year altough mainly once the cubs are up and about september onwards i find for shooting foxes with the lamp the same sept onwards to be best as your dealing with big daft cubs or for the older foxes the best time is when theyre feeding cubs as hunger gets the better of then and they aint as wise ive found that if you shoot the dog fox first its commmon for the vixen to move the litter but also if you shoot the vixen ive know the dog to move the cubs and also to carry on feeding them but generally once found they have already as good as in fox heaven . when the weather is hard like now i will spend days trying to track prints back home and also feed foxes , like john yorkshire roe stalking a fox will be shot first infront of any deer whilst out stalking even if im paying to stalk or if im taking guests out stalking just the way it is with me the best fox is a dead fox no ifs or buts. ps i take no plesure out of killing fox cubs what so ever its just a jocb that needs doing

 

[trouble]

300 wires to check every day thats stretching the truth a bit aint it

 

[jamross65]

Are we getting a bit lost here? I don't think there is an issue with seeing all fox cubs dead, it's they way we dictate how they will die that's the issue. I appreciate I am not doing it for a living but I too leave off them when the cubs are being fed. They are easy to shoot over the first few weeks of wandering out into the big bad world. And, if some on here are so sure of being able to find the hole, then why not wait for the first wanderings out of it. I have waited outside holes and shot 6 at a time with the .22

I understand however the point of view on here that shoot all year round. Just not for me. Done it too many times and seen the wet hair round the vixens teats. I also no longer shoot pigeons during nesting.

What a total sap I'm turning into...

 

[sir-lamp-alot]

What a total sap I'm turning into...

no your not turning into a sap you just have respect for your quarry which is obviously a good thing, i think we all have to look at our shooting ethics from time to time and really ask ourselves is what i'm doing right, right for me but more importantly right for our quarry. i also think that the biggest thing to come out from this post and one which liamjs can pass on to his student's is that everyone who controls vermin in there own way and has there own sucsess's and failures but what ever you do just make sure it's humane aswell as effective and you wont go far wrong

 

[www.yorkshireroestalking.]

As said vermin have NO season and thats because all interested parties want them destroyed.
I kill all foxes regardless and sleep very well at night even at breeding time.
I just think how many ground nesting birds I will have saved by killing mr and mrs charlie.
Cubs die all the time you only have to see how many vixens are run over the same with does with dependant fawns----should we all park the cars up for a few months.
Get real.

 

[swatty]

300 wires to check every day thats stretching the truth a bit aint it

i checked 300 every day when it was part of my job on a commercial pheasant shoot with no other estates around us so no vermin control other than ours it was a must as we had 23000 pheasants to keep alive then everything possible needed doing to kill mr fox so yes i did check 300 a day the result was 120 foxes average a year , every realese pen had a brash ride around it with snares we had numerous stink pits with rides around every fence had snares bottoms of gates trods there wasnt a part of the esteate that didnt have a snare and the fact checking them whilst trying to do every other job required to produce pheasants is probably why i got out of keepering i like sleep and didnt get much when it was my job

 

[finnbear270]

Swatty has the gist of it there!, those of us who are still misty eyed about trying keepering, should think long & hard about travelling this road.

 

[Gazza]

Interesting, but I find it somehow at odds that those on here who would no doubt profess the humane shooting of deer, would do all within their powers to trace a wounded deer(many having trained expensive dogs for that sole purpose)so as to lessen suffering and prevent a long slow lingering death have no problems with shooting a milky vixen and leaving the cubs to starve to death. Does animal welfare not stretch to fox. I control vermin on many farms including those with gamebirds/chickens/ducks/geese/lambs and have always found that if you are prepared to spend the time specifically shooting above ground fox out with the cubbing season and not just what you see whilst out stalking/other shooting this well and truly controls the numbers of the potential breeding stock and allows stoppage time. Nothing to do with being a recreational foxer but a professional and proficient one at other times.

 

[jamross65]

i checked 300 every day when it was part of my job on a commercial pheasant shoot with no other estates around us so no vermin control other than ours it was a must as we had 23000 pheasants to keep alive then everything possible needed doing to kill mr fox so yes i did check 300 a day the result was 120 foxes average a year , every realese pen had a brash ride around it with snares we had numerous stink pits with rides around every fence had snares bottoms of gates trods there wasnt a part of the esteate that didnt have a snare and the fact checking them whilst trying to do every other job required to produce pheasants is probably why i got out of keepering i like sleep and didnt get much when it was my job

300 snares set 365 days a year is effectively 109,500 snares set over a year. For 120 foxes. By my calculations that is a success rate of about 0.109% (happy to be corrected as I'm no mathematician)

Sorry, I'll stick to shooting them from the car, with the heater on, and a flask of coffee. We used to average about 3 foxes a week for 4 outings a week - preferable odds.

I do admire your dedication though, and Finbear is correct, I would never aspire to be full time pheasant/partridge keeper. Looking after 500 birds is more than enough for me.

 

[old keeper]

Snares are a back up to shooting, I take my hat off to anyone who lays 300 wires and remembers where they all are! Any keeper who keeps fox numbers to a bare minimum needs to use all methods he can at all times. Most keepers are well aware of the earths on his land so if a keeper shoots a vixen he will be pretty sure where the cubs are.
I think the situation is different where folk are shooting foxes for sport or to help others. In cases where large areas are shot over it is difficult to know where the earths are. Where a keeper is on the same land day in and day out he knows what is about and where it is.

 

[derek.snr]

shooting all year round ,if cover allows ,snare mid dec - jan as this is the only time we can check twice a day.

 

[www.yorkshireroestalking.]

Gazza I don't think anyone said they wouldn't go look for a den of cubs they just said it wouldn't stop them shooting a milky vixen.
Most who fox seriously for work will know that a sister or dog will sometimes feed cubs who are weaned.
That is bad for the full time keeper so every effort is made to find the litter.
The point being made was the vixen would be killed regardless of time of year....thats the difference and if they cant be found we would hope they will starve.
Having a terrier nip them or a shovel accross the head after been terrified and dug is not a great death.

 

[russ91]

I all lamp all year round and blast some with the 12 gauge when I'm walking round feeding up

 

[Roedinator]

Interesting, but I find it somehow at odds that those on here who would no doubt profess the humane shooting of deer, would do all within their powers to trace a wounded deer(many having trained expensive dogs for that sole purpose)so as to lessen suffering and prevent a long slow lingering death have no problems with shooting a milky vixen and leaving the cubs to starve to death. Does animal welfare not stretch to fox. I control vermin on many farms including those with gamebirds/chickens/ducks/geese/lambs and have always found that if you are prepared to spend the time specifically shooting above ground fox out with the cubbing season and not just what you see whilst out stalking/other shooting this well and truly controls the numbers of the potential breeding stock and allows stoppage time. Nothing to do with being a recreational foxer but a professional and proficient one at other times.

spot on gazza x 2 regards pete .

 

[Roedinator]

no your not turning into a sap you just have respect for your quarry which is obviously a good thing, i think we all have to look at our shooting ethics from time to time and really ask ourselves is what i'm doing right, right for me but more importantly right for our quarry. i also think that the biggest thing to come out from this post and one which liamjs can pass on to his student's is that everyone who controls vermin in there own way and has there own sucsess's and failures but what ever you do just make sure it's humane aswell as effective and you wont go far wrong

sir lamp alot you gain alot of respect from me with a reply like that

regards pete .

 

[Cyres]

We shoot all year round, lamp on longer nights. Start in eanest when harvest starts and stop lamping in late march. Lots of dusk forays when silage is being made. I expect we average 2 every time we go out which is about once a week.

D

 

[sir-lamp-alot]

sir lamp alot you gain alot of respect from me with a reply like that

regards pete .

many thanks pete i'm glad you understand what i'm trying to get accross
all the best
Dan

 

[foxdropper]

Gazza I don't think anyone said they wouldn't go look for a den of cubs they just said it wouldn't stop them shooting a milky vixen.
Most who fox seriously for work will know that a sister or dog will sometimes feed cubs who are weaned.
That is bad for the full time keeper so every effort is made to find the litter.
The point being made was the vixen would be killed regardless of time of year....thats the difference and if they cant be found we would hope they will starve.
Having a terrier nip them or a shovel accross the head after been terrified and dug is not a great death.

John ,we have had this discussion on another forum and i see your views are unchanged .The fox has as much right to life as a deer in my book and is treated with equallity.
Just to reinforce my veiws on your last sentence ,digging with a terier is as humane as a gun shot mate so get real and try to only comment on what you know to be fact and not what youve heard .Fox control goes on all year round with me where its necessary but cubs are dealt with first as in taking a roe kid first for best practice .Vixens only kill in excess to provide the cubs with food,no cubs and the killing stops ,fact .Too many lads trigger happy ,and thats what it is ,shooting for the sake of pulling the trigger using the vermin excuse to justify condemming a litter .What do you think happens to that gralloch that youve left in the hedge .It dosn't evaporate ,no charlie mops it up.Control not eradication is the key word here ,something overlooked by many so called custodians of the country side. In winter i would take a fox over anything but summer is a time for a more laid back approach .
Edited to say ive yet to see any proof that a dog fox helps feed at the den let alone a sister or cousin.