Hey all, quick question. With thermal now attached to nearly every foxing rifle in the uk. In my eyes the sporting element has been reduced, I know guys shooting huge amount of foxes on a weekly basis. Surely there is some law out there to preserve the breed as much as we want to keep it under control..,
Legally limit how many fox you can shoot??
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With thousands of foxes living in city's not being managed, when people bring urban foxes to the countryside and release them to an environment not what they were used to.
No one complaining with 100+ rats in a morning with the terriers and hockey stick.
So we shoot them...
Tim.243
countrryboy
Well-Known Member
I really don't think u have to worry, they're will always be enough areas where folk aren't shooting them.
Plus keepers have waged war on foxes for hundreds of years and never managed to wipe them out even using all sorts off ( thankfully) banned traps and chemicals.
Plus keepers have waged war on foxes for hundreds of years and never managed to wipe them out even using all sorts off ( thankfully) banned traps and chemicals.
Not worrying buddy and certainly not a anti hunter. Do my share of control on my patch. Was just curious if there was any guidelines, after all vermin control is control after all not complete termination. Honestly believe since thermal has been launched, a lot of guys bagging 20-30 foxes on weekly basis every week. Not sporting to me, any monkey can shoot an animal completely oblivious to the hunter.
For some people it’s not sport but necessary for protection of livestock, ground nesting birds etc. If you’ve shot one, and another 4 turn up, no point in leaving them
shakey jake
Well-Known Member
i dont beleive many people are shooting that many a week, i would also imagine there ate more now than 100 years ago
It is no different to shooting large numbers of pigeons over decoys on the right day....
Come the early summer things balance out as the crops are to tall to see them until harvest when it kicks off.
I think you have to juggle it based on whats going on on the ground you shoot on and what your landowner wants.
If theres a pheasant shoot or livestock farming which would be adversely impacted by the presence of a large number of foxes, or foxes in general, then you're going to want to knock them over when you can and be proactive about doing so as well. Ultimately if the landowner wants you to shoot anything orange with a tail then you're going to have to do so or risk losing the permission to someone who will.
If its arable crop and theres not too much issue with them then you can probably leave them broadly alone unless you are seeing loads about (in which case thinning the numbers may be a good idea to prevent disease amongst the population and adverse impact on other species the foxes predate on) or you spot any scratty old things or injured animals where a quick bullet is preferable to letting nature take its course.
JMHO and all that.
If theres a pheasant shoot or livestock farming which would be adversely impacted by the presence of a large number of foxes, or foxes in general, then you're going to want to knock them over when you can and be proactive about doing so as well. Ultimately if the landowner wants you to shoot anything orange with a tail then you're going to have to do so or risk losing the permission to someone who will.
If its arable crop and theres not too much issue with them then you can probably leave them broadly alone unless you are seeing loads about (in which case thinning the numbers may be a good idea to prevent disease amongst the population and adverse impact on other species the foxes predate on) or you spot any scratty old things or injured animals where a quick bullet is preferable to letting nature take its course.
JMHO and all that.
Sporting? Its them or the grouse I'm afraid fella. Been shooting them relentlessly for 20 years and still they come!
landkeeper
Well-Known Member
Fox pelts were worth a tenner ish a pop in the middle 80s they got hammered night and day with lads making a good wage from it .
They became very scarce then the fur trade switched to something else , a year later the numbers were back, if they didnt get wiped out then they never will
They became very scarce then the fur trade switched to something else , a year later the numbers were back, if they didnt get wiped out then they never will
Better that than the heroes shooting them at 400 yards with a .22 lol !
People are strange. I know everyone is different. Shooting a particular animal can be sport for one person yet a necessary job for another person. Yet both of them can enjoy what they do. Both of them could have the same reason to kill the animal, say if it's a fox the shooting of it could be to protection of game or livestock, herbivores could be crop protection etc. One person might say the use of such tools as thermals is not sporting, the next could say it is.
Perhaps we should just be content at looking at ourselves and having the reasons, methods and tools that are capable of doing the task that we have set out to do. Do it in a humane way, wherever possible make the most use of the end product, think about the sustainability and to stay within the parameters of the law.
I can not really understand why some people have so much time on their hands to be that concerned about what and how other people are doing.
Perhaps we should just be content at looking at ourselves and having the reasons, methods and tools that are capable of doing the task that we have set out to do. Do it in a humane way, wherever possible make the most use of the end product, think about the sustainability and to stay within the parameters of the law.
I can not really understand why some people have so much time on their hands to be that concerned about what and how other people are doing.
macfarlane
Well-Known Member
Shooting foxys shouldn't be seen as a sport there shot because they do damage and are classed as vermin, but why shoot them over stubble or on arable land where they may be doing more good than harm. They only take lambs for a couple of months a year, but so do badgers there not controlled sure they take and kill game birds but that's birds put down by us to provide sport for others at the end of the day. I'm not against shooting them not one bit I've shot hundreds but can't let people think we shoot them for sport we shoot them for other reasons.
John Gryphon
Well-Known Member
Here in Vic 20,000 YES 20 thousand skins were going through Aus Estates skin buyers in the 80`s every fortnight on average...we still have a fox problem.
There was no suggestion how big ones balls were ,more so how fat the wallet was.
There was no suggestion how big ones balls were ,more so how fat the wallet was.
What's "thermal"?
K
K
Essexsussex
Well-Known Member
Sort of pants / vest to keep you warm?
And thermals
shakey jake
Well-Known Member
the numbers stated are pub talk at best, i would love to hear from any one who regularly shoots more than ten a week, more land is off limits now and urban foxes are hardly controlled, if the fox could be made extinct it would of been the victorians that acheived it
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