Before you think that I've gone daft in the head yes I do know that it's the shooting section, so read on.
I was fishing last Saturday and aside from cod, ling and pouting I caught a couple of mackerel, I saved them to use as bait for ling on the following day but the weather scupperd that plan and so I was left with two nice sized fish that hadn't been gutted and so were not fit to eat.
So last night I decided to use them for bait, this time to tempt a fox. I knew where I was heading and set up on top of an old concrete building about 5 foot high, nicely grass covered so it wasn't cold. The field that I was on was stubble and I placed the two fish 90 yards away from me in a dip, this was perfect as there are houses about and so I could ensure a good safe back stop by tempting foxy into a pre ordained section of the field.
I arrived just as dusk was taking hold and as the light faded into darkness I started to scan the field with the night vision, half an hour passed and I caught a glimpse of something moving along the opposit hedge line some 350 yards away, I watched it move along its length and then it turned and melted back into the trees, I'm sure that it was a fox but with houses behind it and their lights interfering with the nv I wasn't sure, also the mackerel were down wind so it was not going to get the scent. Another 30 minutes passed and then from my left I saw the unmistakeable silhouette of a fox, he was on the scent and I quickly fixed the nv onto the scope, looked to where I'd left my bait and he was there, I saw him sniff at them, walk around them and then as he bowed his head to pick one up I let the Howa do the rest, the report came back as I saw him drop on the spot, a perfect heart shot. He was a cracking dog fox, one of the biggest that I've ever shot, massive body bulk.
Photos
I was fishing last Saturday and aside from cod, ling and pouting I caught a couple of mackerel, I saved them to use as bait for ling on the following day but the weather scupperd that plan and so I was left with two nice sized fish that hadn't been gutted and so were not fit to eat.
So last night I decided to use them for bait, this time to tempt a fox. I knew where I was heading and set up on top of an old concrete building about 5 foot high, nicely grass covered so it wasn't cold. The field that I was on was stubble and I placed the two fish 90 yards away from me in a dip, this was perfect as there are houses about and so I could ensure a good safe back stop by tempting foxy into a pre ordained section of the field.
I arrived just as dusk was taking hold and as the light faded into darkness I started to scan the field with the night vision, half an hour passed and I caught a glimpse of something moving along the opposit hedge line some 350 yards away, I watched it move along its length and then it turned and melted back into the trees, I'm sure that it was a fox but with houses behind it and their lights interfering with the nv I wasn't sure, also the mackerel were down wind so it was not going to get the scent. Another 30 minutes passed and then from my left I saw the unmistakeable silhouette of a fox, he was on the scent and I quickly fixed the nv onto the scope, looked to where I'd left my bait and he was there, I saw him sniff at them, walk around them and then as he bowed his head to pick one up I let the Howa do the rest, the report came back as I saw him drop on the spot, a perfect heart shot. He was a cracking dog fox, one of the biggest that I've ever shot, massive body bulk.
Photos