Death in the afternoon

[Foxyboy43]

Some time ago my path crossed with a beautiful fox, resplendent in its rich red coat. At the time I was calling - trying to get to terms with a bushy-tailed terror which was sporting itself with our pheasants, lots of night-time outings revealed not even a hint of eyeshine so plan B was hatched - daytime calling. I have had lots of success over the years usually in the afternoon and indeed this fox came to the call, problem was he was just the other side of a thin hedge and even moving as much as I dare I just could not get the best shot at it. Soooo I went for Lady Luck - and she let me down!

My 50gns Vmax clipped a twig and promptly disintegrated allowing the red rascal to live to eat even more of our phezzies. Bugger!
Time passed and the only time I saw it again was twice in the same afternoon when it came to the call through heavy cover, saw me, ran off and amazingly came back again for a very quick second look - but far too fleeting for me to get onto it! Fox 2 - Foxyboy 0.

Even more time passed and the evidence of continuing damage was pretty obvious so battle continued but no cigar, or for that matter, fox - on my many return trips. Then as part of my introduction to the world of thermal I went out today and reasoned that a different call to my usual back of hand squeak might work so I brought the new Icotec festooned with an inbuilt decoy of spinning fur - sound and movement, how could I possibly fail? Back to the usual place, set up caller, stepped off 70yds and set the decoy in motion to the background of a distressed pheasant. Triple Deuce, 50gns Vmax loaded to my own time-proven recipe and topped off with the Pard 008P - all set on B&Q’s finest plastic-coated quad sticks, caller remote on string round neck and brand new Pulsar thermal on a different string but round the same neck - bring it on!!

As seems to always be the case you never see foxes coming, they just appear and sure enough this old-timer did just that - just as I was trying to scan the heavy heather cover with the Icotec remote rather than the Pulsar thermal, well they are about the same size and what if the damned remote’s aerial poked me in the eye? I stood transfixed watching this beauty (with my one good eye) as it alternated between staring at the caller/decoy and this strange blinking apparition aka Foxyboy. Cool as a cucumber I levelled the Pard crosshairs and focussed my one good eye on the red rascal’s head - it was all I could see in the long heather and as the head swung through the crosshairs for only the fourth time I squeezed the trigger….

- click! Chriskey! Can it really be Fox 3 - Foxyboy 0?
Time stood still, unlike me, as dervish like I cycled the bolt, caught the round, checked it still had a bullet attached and chambered another round. Meanwhile old red was still puzzling over the obviously far more attractive caller/decoy and this far-off eejit doing more than a passable impression of a circus clown. Incredibly I was able to get the crosshairs on target again and sent 50gns of Mr H’s finest en route. There was no sound but a very reassuring puff of white fur and old red dropped out of my picture and this world.

The oul fella, for indeed it was a dog, despite my efforts, had taken the round straight through the throat and died instantly - a fitting end to a fine old warrior and a long saga which had become quite personal and on several levels.

It was only afterwards that I discovered that I had for a change pushed “record“ on the Pard and the whole episode was there for me to view, time and time again! Fortunately the Pard did not pick up my reaction to the duff round or what followed but it did catch the deadman’s click, the noise of ejecting and rechambering and the final shot. Oh and the fox as well - in full glowing colour. Note the puff of white fur on the rh side of the photo. Tonight both I and our phezzies will sleep easier as old red sleeps on and on and……….

 

[T-D Deer Management]

Great story mate

 

[BenBhoy]

Great write up. Love the aerial to the eyeball!!

 

[User00036]

Incotech, tailed swirler thingy, rifle, sticks, thermal, caller remote, you forgot the box of cigars & a drop of bush mills, you deserved that good fella, well done! Do you want to buy an electric golf caddy to cart that lot around? Keep them coming Foxy, its great stuff. Forensic report on the duff bullet please.

 

[Foxyboy43]

You do have a point FG.
As a less is more minimalist shooter for pretty much all of my shooting life which spans nigh on 55 years my fox expeditions invariably consisted of me, rifle(s), army surplus clothing, a reclaimed motorcycle headlamp and 6volt (damned heavy) battery and very little else. As the years rolled by this was pretty much all I ever used or indeed needed to. My “caller” was the back of my hand which I still use on those worryingly frequent rare occasions where the “real things“ are left at home. Then of course “callers” came along in their many shapes, colours and sizes - mostly designed to attract the shooter rather than the quarry; I confess I dipped my toe in this strange new plastic world but with only moderate success - so I invariably reverted to the caller one can never leave behind. The plastic revolution continued and ‘lamps”, their associated lumens (whatever they were) and coloured filters became available which for me completely transformed the art of illuminating the fox and at a stroke ended the hassle not to say pain of lugging said headlamp and heavy battery about the hills and dales. My final improvement was the adding of what I still marvel at - the infolithium battery and tiny for power torch. These pocket torches could reach out to distances beyond belief and would have terrified the Luftwaffe so many years earlier. What more could a fox-shooting man need…… or so I thought.
The next millstone milestone in my foxing career was the Pard 007a - a terrific bit of kit which enabled one to see in the dark at relatively long distances and didn’t really add much weight to my load. This was only recently complemented by the addition of a Pard 008P on the foxes nemesis - my beloved triple deuce - again a great set-up which as you have seen, I use day and night often forgetting to record my exploits - what fun and what more could a fox-shooting man need…… or so I thought, again.
Soooo that was it, I had all the new-fangled electronic wizardry that I could ever wish for, my foxing outings were transformed and my tales of foxy derring-do were now sprinkled with expletives photos or on the odd occasion I remembered to press that damn button video footage.
Then a very big birthday sneaked up on me only 10 days ago, (I am sure I had one last year) and Mrs FB very generously bought me a Pulsar2 something or other thermal spottie thing which I hung round my neck to keep all those sodding plastic callers company. Sooo my outings were to the accoustic accompaniment of something like a deep South Chain Gang and visually I did a very passable impression of Mr T (younger members should ask their grandad). A small price to pay for now I could see all those foxes and every other living creature in total darkness without spooking them, apart from the rattling and clanking. I saw the light (or not I suppose), I was indeed a believer! What more could a fox-shooting man need…… or so I thought.
Then this eejit spotted an Icotech caller at a very good price on this very site and the deal was done. My god, the number of calls it holds, a modern marvel indeed and as loud as you could ever wish. This latter facility is particularly useful of course as the vast bulk of the many calls are designed for and need to be heard by target species in Wyoming. Anyhoo, as can be seen from my earlier post it also has a few UK species calls and on only my second outing and as reported, the red rascal came to the distressed pheasant call - result!
So here we are, yes I do look like a demented Japanese tourist each time I venture out and neighbours do give me some very funny looks but hey ho I can take it. The main thing is I enjoy every minute of it, except perhaps the aerial in the eye bit, an understandable bit of confusion in my haste to push the Pard record button, lower the caller volume with the Pulsar (it doesn’t work - maybe a possible improvement?), knock off the safety catch, take aim, pause breathing and gently squeeze the trigger to the sound of the dreaded click, eject and check, reload, take aim…….,
Now, some years ago you asked about the bullet - well, upon examination the powder charge was present and correct, the primer had indeed been struck - possibly not for the, ahem, first time but other than that certain highly unlikely explanation it remains a mystery.

PS
what colour is the Trolley?

 

[Rhodesianjess]

Loved the write up. Beware whilst using the jiggly furry tail decoy thingy,a keeper friend of mine in Cambridgeshire is still looking for his one. Whilst using it for Charlie,a buzzard stooped on it and flew off with it.
Hell hath no fury like a keeper that's been robbed

 

[cjm1066]

You mean an old school Japanese tourist, with a 35mm SLR and all the kit.

Today they use a mobile phone and a selfie stick, it's thus far easier to annoy the natives.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Loved the write up. Beware whilst using the jiggly furry tail decoy thingy,a keeper friend of mine in Cambridgeshire is still looking for his one. Whilst using it for Charlie,a buzzard stooped on it and flew off with it.
Hell hath no fury like a keeper that's been robbed

Indeed, twice yesterday I unintentionally left the furry jiggly thing attached to barbed wire - seems to be a magnet to fences rather than foxes!

 

[Foxyboy43]

You mean an old school Japanese tourist, with a 35mm SLR and all the kit.

Today they use a mobile phone and a selfie stick, it's thus far easier to annoy the natives.

Hmmm. For cameras insert callers, remotes, thermal spottie things…….

 

[Loki]

Hiya

Good read - thank you for sharing.

L

 

[Longstrider]

2 Sayings that hold true fella ....

There's never a fox .... Until there's a fox.

The fox has to be lucky ALL the time. You only need be lucky once

Nice write up chap

 

[Smellydog]

Excellent story and with a 222. Extra points for that.
I recently caught up with a barren vixen I've been after for over a year.
She was very clever and knew my every move. When I realised how she was dodging me it took a 4am start an an unorthodox approach. Were it not for trail cameras I would still be guessing.

 

[foxdropper]

I was out last night and nearly tripped over a fox asleep on a dung heap .Don’t know who was more surprised .Saw same fox later on in the thermal but the crafty sod ran full tilt from the wood nearby to the far hedge without a look back .Soon as it was off piste he settled down to mouse .