Best foxing set up?

[trucraft]

I'm being asked more and more to control foxes locally. (Twice today already)
Particularly poultry and Lambs.
I don't really do much but just help a couple of landowners I know. At moment I'm limited to daylight hours with a day scope and either sit up or walk round.
I'm thinking perhaps an add- on NV or handheld spotter and lamp on the scope.
I don't really want to have a dedicated NV scope as the 6mm I use is one of my main stalking rifles too.
As I'm not making money out of shooting a few foxes a year just doing favors I'm not too keen to invest £1000+ into gear.
Suggestions would be great fully received.

 

[yeet]

I'm being asked more and more to control foxes locally. (Twice today already)
Particularly poultry and Lambs.
I don't really do much but just help a couple of landowners I know. At moment I'm limited to daylight hours with a day scope and either sit up or walk round.
I'm thinking perhaps an add- on NV or handheld spotter and lamp on the scope.
I don't really want to have a dedicated NV scope as the 6mm I use is one of my main stalking rifles too.
As I'm not making money out of shooting a few foxes a year just doing favours I'm not too keen to invest £1000+ into gear.
Suggestions would be great fully received.

Add a lamp to you rifle will be the cheapest way to be able to sort out foxes at night, can see out to 200 yards with a good one

 

[243varmint]

An add on like a Pard NV007 is a game changer for under 500quid.
Punches well above its weight.
If you can a thermal spotter to go with it.

As said before a scope mounted green cree led lamp. Small and compact.

 

[Cottis]

Get a Lumintop GT Mini torch. Lightweight, small footprint and will throw a beam well over 200yds. Use one of those cheap figure of 8 mount things to attach it to the top of your scope and you will be good to go for less than £50 if you want to shoot at night.

If you want to spend more and actually see in the dark, probably hard to look past a Pard 007 add on NV unit which attaches to the back of your scope but you need to make sure you have a compatible day scope first. If you want to go down that route let us know what scope you use on the gun you would shoot foxes with, and we can tell you if it is suitable.

 

[andychas]

I started out with a thermal spotter and a gun torch (green cree) on top of the scope, worked perfectly well for occasional use. Then I used a mates dedicated NV and my bank balance has been suffering ever since (not as much as the foxes though). Currently on thermal throughout. I tried a rear mounted add on, didn't get on with it, but the front mounted thermal/nv look very effective.

 

[Sonicdmb73]

Cheapest option is a couple of torches. One on the rifle. The other to spot with.
I have the choice of a NV scoped rifle electronic caller and various other bits of kit. However more often than not I take two torches and my day scoped 20 Tac. A simple reed type or widgeon whistle call.
An add on is ok but it does comprise your use of the rifle ie it’s not the best for cheek weld etc. A dedicated scope such as the Pard 008 is however a different thing entirely. But unless you go down the road of a Picatinny rail and good mounts. It means having a dedicated rifle.
When I started Lamping it was with a car battery and spot lamp with an airgun. We moved on to better lamps and rifles. But simple still works forty years later.

 

[Rob1562]

As mentioned above....if your scope is compatible then a rear add-on is a game changer. I have a Ward 800l which can be had for around £400 secondhand and is very short, hardly adding anything to the back of your day scope, to which you'll need an illuminator, and then of course you've got to find the buggers in the first place.........a thermal spotter is absolutely a game changer !
How did we manage with just a big lamp and a car battery !!!
As others have said the cheapest is a couple of lamps but be warned....once you venture down the wormhole of NV it's going to be spendy !!

 

[Brittany boy]

Pick up a second hand photon and HMR as a night time rabbit and fox rig at sensible ranges, less than you might think. Works for me . Or lamp on your usual gun.

 

[trucraft]

Thanks very much guys.
Some great advice.
I have a couple of handheld lamps currently. One would mount on top of the scope but would be clumsy.
My scope is a Zeiss Victory 6-24x56.
How are they with an add-on?

 

[Cottis]

Thanks very much guys.
Some great advice.
I have a couple of handheld lamps currently. One would mount on top of the scope but would be clumsy.
My scope is a Zeiss Victory 6-24x56.
How are they with an add-on?

An add on will not work very well with your Zeiss. The lens coatings are not all that compatible.

I have put a couple of pics below of a rifle I use with a lamp. Bear in mind that the scope you see is a relatively compact scope with only a 42mm objective lens which will give you an idea of how small the Lumintop GT Mini torch is on it. It is VERY powerful. You could shoot a fox at 300yds with it and it has a staggered beam, whereby you can press and hold the button and the beam power zooms smoothly until you release the button. It then remembers that setting next time you turn it on. Great little torch.

I use NV on other rifles. One is dedicated NV scope and then I use an old Ward 700 add on other rifles that have compatible scopes.

 

[wabbit warren]

ive just got a sightmark wraith about £595 including mount and an ir laser torch for about £100
all sits on a .223 rem tikka t3x rifle
great set up and see foxes out past 300yds
spot with thermal and shoot with nv
your lucky to be asked to control vermin, jump at the chance and dont let the landowner down.
it can only lead to more shooting hopefully

 

[mudman]

18 couple

 

[Crowstalker]

Good old fashioned lamp is definitely the cheapest option and the one I use. NV definitely has the technical edge and stealth but your going to pay for it as well as needing some good mounts and a compatible scope if using an add on. Personally if money is tight I'd stick to the lamp. Now to open a can of worms what is the best chambering to use for fox?? Obviously it's the 222 rem......

 

[wabbit warren]

.222 rem ?????? really lol no joking what ever round suits you go for it
a lot of my mates shoot .22-250 rem for foxes lovely round flat and fast but you do loose sight pic with it
i dont with a .223 rem you pay your money and make your choice

 

[andychas]

Thanks very much guys.
Some great advice.
I have a couple of handheld lamps currently. One would mount on top of the scope but would be clumsy.
My scope is a Zeiss Victory 6-24x56.
How are they with an add-on?

My understanding (please correct me if I’m wrong) is that rear add on devices only work with some scopes dependent on the coatings of your scope, some scopes coatings filter out ir wavelengths and thus effect the nv performance. By contrast, a front add on will work on any scope as the scope is only looking at the tv screen, the nv has done its work unhindered.

 

[Paddy_SP]

My understanding (please correct me if I’m wrong) is that rear add on devices only work with some scopes dependent on the coatings of your scope, some scopes coatings filter out ir wavelengths and thus effect the nv performance. By contrast, a front add on will work on any scope as the scope is only looking at the tv screen, the nv has done its work unhindered.

I use a Swarovski with my rear add-on, while my mate uses a Zeiss Conquest - both work superbly!

 

[wabbit warren]

Hawke are known for there add-on capabilities i use to use a hawke sidewinder untill my pard 007 played up
now im on a sightmark wraith HD, while im still waiting for the pard to be fixed

 

[trucraft]

An add on will not work very well with your Zeiss. The lens coatings are not all that compatible.

I have put a couple of pics below of a rifle I use with a lamp. Bear in mind that the scope you see is a relatively compact scope with only a 42mm objective lens which will give you an idea of how small the Lumintop GT Mini torch is on it. It is VERY powerful. You could shoot a fox at 300yds with it and it has a staggered beam, whereby you can press and hold the button and the beam power zooms smoothly until you release the button. It then remembers that setting next time you turn it on. Great little torch.

I use NV on other rifles. One is dedicated NV scope and then I use an old Ward 700 add on other rifles that have compatible scopes.

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m.banggood.com

Is this the model?

 

[DavyG]

There are so many options available. It’ll depend on budget and whether or not you want a dedicated NV rig.
I use a Tikka super varmint. Vortex viper for day use and a Pulsar digisight for night time. Both fitted with an Innomount QD mount. Chop & change between the 2 with no loss of zero.
Regards,
DG

 

[Cottis]

[£41.02 20% OFF] Lumintop BLF GT mini 18650 LED Flashlight Portable Mini Torch Camping Light Flashlight from Lights & Lighting on banggood.com

Lumintop BLF GT mini Stepless Dimming Portable EDC 18650 LED Flashlight Torch Camping Light

m.banggood.com

Is this the model?

Yep thats the one. There is a tiny one called a Micro but that has less throw. It is the Mini that you want. I think you can get bright white or soft white Cree LED's in them but I cannot recall which one mine is but when I was checking onlione reviews, it didn't seem to matter. They both throw a beam a long way for something so small and compact.