Out last night.

Braces Airgun Masters
jall55 said:
And thats totally your call Foxy

But you did miss - what would you - could you have done if you clipped it too ?

Maybe the shot was on for you - but as i say and assert - NOT to be recommended especially at night - off sticks
Click to expand...
Yep but with respect perhaps you like me pre-Zulus are old skool?
May I suggest you try the Zulus where holdover is calculated for you? I have tried it on range days at targets out to 440 yards and it is incredibly good at calculating holdover. As per earlier post, confidence in your equipment is one of the paramount essentials before taking a shot at any live quarry. A rabbit at 220 on this occasion confirmed the accuracy of the Ballistic Calculator so the 320 was on in my humble opinion, the miss was therefore down to me - regardless of distance.
Dare I suggest you try the Zulus (other BC scopes are available) you might find it makes long range shots quite do-able!
🦊🦊
 
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Last night my squeak spooked one, or he might have winded me. Tonight the wind was about 45 degrees further East, so I sat in a different chair, facing a different bait. About 18.45, number three for the year went down on the far side of the lake. I like these Speer 52gr HP Varmint bullets!
 
#8 & #9
Shoot day tomorrow so I thought I had better have an hour out tonight, just so I won't be too embarrassed tomorrow with foxes running out of every drive... managed #8, a long shot for me of 210 yards, and had to double tap it in the end, poor bugger was not killed cleanly, he wouldn't look at the mouse squeaker and just sat in the stubble looking at me.

I came home and took the dogs outside in the garden for a pee and looked over the bait & turnip field and knock me down with a feather clever Trevor, there was another munching on something in the turnips... quick whistle to get the hounds in the house, grab the rifle & sticks and gave her a sleeping pill from behind the yew hedge #9.

#8
20250117_205555.jpg
 
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Also on the long-range versus short-range discussion, you can never be 100% on any shot, I've chinned two foxes in as many weeks using my .22Hornet and it ended up messy, both were about 80 - 100 yard shots, bread & butter stuff, my longest shot off sticks with a Ruger MK11 in .220Swift was just shy of 400 yards, off sticks, using a cheap Hawke Vantage with a 007 behind it, I never planned on taking the shot, but everything was rock steady, when I got that big old girl up on those sticks that it felt perfectly acceptable to take the shot, never occurred to me that I might miss.. that old dog almost got knocked over backwards.
 
No shots last night but I did see who I assumed was the fox I missed Wednesday on the other side of a valley.
Only heard a couple of barks from another in the distance.
 
JTO said:
Last night my squeak spooked one, or he might have winded me. Tonight the wind was about 45 degrees further East, so I sat in a different chair, facing a different bait. About 18.45, number three for the year went down on the far side of the lake. I like these Speer 52gr HP Varmint bullets!
Click to expand...
I use to use them. Are they the ones with the huge hole?
I like Speer bullets 👍🏻
 
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Foxyboy43 said:
Yep but with respect perhaps you like me pre-Zulus are old skool?
May I suggest you try the Zulus where holdover is calculated for you? I have tried it on range days at targets out to 440 yards and it is incredibly good at calculating holdover. As per earlier post, confidence in your equipment is one of the paramount essentials before taking a shot at any live quarry. A rabbit at 220 on this occasion confirmed the accuracy of the Ballistic Calculator so the 320 was on in my humble opinion, the miss was therefore down to me - regardless of distance.
Dare I suggest you try the Zulus (other BC scopes are available) you might find it makes long range shots quite do-able!
🦊🦊
Click to expand...


Im not really foxy - some things very old school - but use all the latest pulsar thermal gear - got different thermal set ups for foxing and ratting
As above just holding the rifle steady on sticks at that range is beyond me anyway
Its not a dig - but each to their own - and as you now highlight further you took the shot because of your specific equipment and knowledge and expertise in using it - many dont have either so as i said and still say - that distance at night off stick - Not to be recommended
 
jall55 said:
Im not really foxy - some things very old school - but use all the latest pulsar thermal gear - got different thermal set ups for foxing and ratting
As above just holding the rifle steady on sticks at that range is beyond me anyway
Its not a dig - but each to their own - and as you now highlight further you took the shot because of your specific equipment and knowledge and expertise in using it - many dont have either so as i said and still say - that distance at night off stick - Not to be recommended
Click to expand...
Okeydoke J.
Maybe I should have added that I regularly shoot at gongs and plates beyond 450 with the Zulus so distance is something I am comfortable with.
🦊🦊
 
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I did know how bad the "ground" was at the rear of the farm, seriously bad mixture of blanket bog mashed up by large four legged burger beef, so I did arrange to have nighttime access to a nice clean comfy area to spy & shoot from.
The bit that was not in the equation was the vixen (carrying a smallish cargo) would necessitate my picking her up from THE very worst of the puddled field, several almost loss of balance / wellie loss episodes over 600 yards, 3 there, three back🥵
The dog quite smallish, I dropped on a nice bit of lambing nursery paddock, BUT having to have a detour following walls & fences to avoid being made into toe jam by the other much larger burger beefstock :scared:
But a nice change to having an all night shivering session.IMG_1958 - Copy.webp
 
One more for me, this vixen was in the first field out the back of the farm. After a quick scan and seeing nothing but hares I’d spent 5 minutes attempt to turn the brightness of my thermal down and managed to adjust most other settings in the process as I fumbled with the buttons, in the midst of that she had appeared from @Smellydog side of my patch, rifle up and the 222 did its job. Another couple of hours were spent walking around with nothing else to see, other than hares.. I’m sure they’re milking them!

 
Andy RV said:
One more for me, this vixen was in the first field out the back of the farm. After a quick scan and seeing nothing but hares I’d spent 5 minutes attempt to turn the brightness of my thermal down and managed to adjust most other settings in the process as I fumbled with the buttons, in the midst of that she had appeared from @Smellydog side of my patch, rifle up and the 222 did its job. Another couple of hours were spent walking around with nothing else to see, other than hares.. I’m sure they’re milking them!

Click to expand...

Excellent 👌.
 
It had been quiet the last few nights. Not surprisingly as I’d taken 11 foxes off since the start of the year. However one bait spot started getting hit late at night. I stop the recording at 2300. Moving it up to 2400 showed a fox at 2319 the previous night.
I pitched up to top up the bait at 1830. Walking across the field I was astonished to clock a fox approaching some way out. I tore back to the Hilux and set up on the tailgate. Long and short of it was the fox was the other side of a sheep fence which I either clipped or just plain missed. Short shot at 100 yards had me spitting blood metaphorically.
So grumbling to myself I set off. Last stop before civilisation and I stood out to look with the thermal . Nothing, a big nada, so I unloaded and packed the rifle into its bag.
One last glance, 😳 where the fcuk did that come from ? Out in “ the field of death” was a fox ! Quickly I got my act together. Charlie had now mooched off to another field. I followed after him just in time to see him disappear into a thin wood. I persevered and after several minutes he showed up again on the side. 🦊💥. Job done and away home.
 
Well my DNT Zulu arrived last week but weather been terrible to get it zeroed so bored sighted it threw my window at chimney pot app 30 yds away and watched the weather , finally a drop in wind but risk of mist especially where I zero as high up, anyway got the kit together and were off. Arrived at the perm and the mist was pretty bad so put the target out to see how I could see it . I was shooting off the bonnet of the car target was app 80yds as RF wouldn't work with the mist , first shot low and left (but on paper) second slightly low and right, third bang on the money, changed to a white card and moved back to app 100yds and you can see the result , dot is app 1/2" and using .223 well pleased just need to try in the field now, all shots were taken with a cold barrel as was walking back and forth etc to check POI20250111_095739.webp20250111_100736.webp
 
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