Out last night.

Our passion is your passion... stalk with us!
I've had a few that I like to call slinkie, dunno why but the name stuck.
One in particular sticks out, a vixen. She would scream at me to let me know she knows! I kid you not but I eventually worked out her first port of call was to see if my car was parked in its usual spot! First thing at night and early morning before dawn, I kid you not, took me months to find this out.
Eventually I worked out her approach with the trail cameras and then early one march morning I was in position before 5 and sure enough early dawn a shape walked in front of me. It was her on her way to check if her adversary was about or not.
A quiet mount of the rifle and a grunt and that was that. I took my hat off to her.
I often recall her screams directed to me and smile.
I don't have a picture of her after she drew her last but here she is sussing the camera but always keen for a free meal.
Slinkie.PTDC0013.webpPTDC0015.webpPTDC0115.webpPICT0027.webp
 
That’s the thing about foxes - before thermal you just never knew who was really doing the stalking.
Only a couple of weeks ago just as I was getting out of the Jimny my young apprentice drove past in a huge tractor, saw the tail-end of the Jimny, parked up and came over, leaving three rotating orange beacons going full blast on his pantechnicon, each of them sweeping the fields and so I thought putting an end to my initial foray.
However, always good to see the lad and he is dead keen so we stood and chatted for maybe twenty minutes then off he and his orange answer to the Northern Lights went. Five yards back to the jeep and a quick sweep of the field with the thermal before I even reached for the remmy and out in the big field was a very round but obvious heat signature which I initially thought to be a rabbit or even perhaps a hare - always nice to see a hare.
Sooo opened the door, loaded the rifle, put it on the sticks and as usual adjusted focus on the Pard 008p before setting off. Swung round with the Axion to where the heat had been and there was your man in full commando crawl mode coming towards me but this time ears fully cocked and undeniably fox-shaped; a very quick adjustment to the rifle, minuscule squeak, up he sat - whump!
I had made no attempt at calling, apart from the one squeak to get his head up but he was definitely coming to me - he actually sat up to study me, his mistake, silly boy.
IMG_1168.jpeg
On another occasion I was showing a farmer my then new Axion and standing in his lane and in broad daylight I saw a heat source not twenty five yards away in the cover - Mr Fox studying these two blethering eejits who otherwise would have been utterly oblivious of his presence.
Clever creatures these foxes!
Meanwhile it’s 5:15 and raining…….
🦊🦊
Bugger it I’m going out!
 
Triggermortis said:
The longest I’ve had to chase one for was 9 weeks on and off maybe 3-4 times a week, see it loads of times but always with no safe shot on then one night I got into the fox box, set the gear up and the blighter walked out onto the track 20yds from me and stood sideways looking at me!
Click to expand...
I should be so lucky!
 
Well that was a result! Rained the entire 10 minutes drive to the farm, still raining when I wound down the Jimny window for a forlorn scan and flipping heck - a fox not 60 yards away!
IMG_3006.jpeg
Usual smooth controlled blind panic ensued which always happens in such circumstances - still in slippers (n.b. Smelly D - not pyjamas - some of us do have standards after all) fortunately the v strong wind deadening my repeated clunking, banging and muttered oaths and finally sticks deployed, remmy loaded and on sticks and all was ready. Except the sodding fox was now nowhere to be seen in the drizzle! Bugger, bugger, bugger!
Yer man reasoned it couldn’t have gone far, maybe it was lying on it’s back laughing at himself‘s impression of Joe Cocker - think demented windmill - but sign of it there was not. Sooo literally “up sticks” with rifle still mounted and a quick shuffle (cleverly leaving one slipper behind) to the other side of the lane to check the adjacent field. Short pause to reflect on why is it that a slipperless foot is so much better at finding puddles then?
I digress, through the Axion the sodding fox was 70 yards away in the next sodden field busily hoovering up fresh scent from something, possibly snipe or woodcock, but fortunately oblivious to me and the wind was good; the rain maybe not so…..
A very fast (for me) sight acquisition with the Pard - hot tip - having set your rifle on the sticks, spot the fox with the thermal, then tilt your rifle at 45degrees upwards on the sticks in the general direction of the spotted fox, look again through the thermal for the quarry, keep it in the picture and with your other hand move the sticks/rifle until the rifle muzzle blocks the fox in the spotter then back to the Pard for final acquisition. If I can do it…..
Using this very cunning plan I could see Mr F still really working the ground at a trot, a quick squeak guaranteed to stop him and he continued to trot, further squeak and he was still hoovering at speed - must have been so hot on something he just kept going. Soooo a firm “Oi” and he finally stopped and looked straight back at me, gentle squeeze followed by the confirming “whump” and he was mine. Happy days - less than an hour after deciding to go out on a pretty grim morning I had shot a fox. Sure where would you get it?
As is now customary I had forgotten to press record on the Pard so what would have been a great bit of rainy footage will never be, in addition my Iphone of course was safe and dry at Chez FB. However I did take a couple of bits with the Axion so something to remember the outing by after all; that and the sodden foot……
🦊🦊
 
Last edited:
I went pigeon shooting in slippers once, but it wasn’t by design.
Just forgot to change to boots before setting off.
Ken.
 
Smellydog said:
My PARD auto records the shot but didn't last night....it has a sensitivity option. It was on low, maybe that was it....
Does not the 008 have that facility FB?
Click to expand...
Well then - the manual states there is an auto record function which kicks in each time you turn the Pard on. This would, in my case, result in endless hours of pointless videos of not much at all interspersed with occasional and very short footage of foxes being shot or on occasion shot at.
Sooo as I read it the auto record option is not like some others where by some magic it starts to record just before you take the shot, unless you or some other SD chappie knows different? Happy to be corrected.
Thanks for the advice anyhoo.
🦊🦊
I nipped down this afty to check the position of this am’s slain beast before lifting it after dark tonite (the field is overlooked by an “anti”) but 20+ hooded crows were well ahead of me……
🦊🦊
 
Foxyboy43 said:
Well then - the manual states there is an auto record function which kicks in each time you turn the Pard on. This would, in my case, result in endless hours of pointless videos of not much at all interspersed with occasional and very short footage of foxes being shot or on occasion shot at.
Sooo as I read it the auto record option is not like some others where by some magic it starts to record just before you take the shot, unless you or some other SD chappie knows different? Happy to be corrected.
Thanks for the advice anyhoo.
🦊🦊
I nipped down this afty to check the position of this am’s slain beast before lifting it after dark tonite (the field is overlooked by an “anti”) but 20+ hooded crows were well ahead of me……
🦊🦊
Click to expand...
Mine will record as soon as you turn it on yes but apart from that there is also the function where it just records the shot.
I imagine it's recording all the time but erasing it a few seconds later until it hears or feels a noise or recoil then saves the previous few seconds and some after etc.
 
Smellydog said:
Mine will record as soon as you turn it on yes but apart from that there is also the function where it just records the shot.
I imagine it's recording all the time but erasing it a few seconds later until it hears or feels a noise or recoil then saves the previous few seconds and some after etc.
Click to expand...
Interesting - is that the 008P or the older 008? My manual is the Oz version so might be different……
🦊🦊
 
That's how my dashcam works, the camera is constantly buffering video to a small amount of RAM (10 seconds) but it isn't commited to the SD card until it senses movement. I believe it is the writing to the card that uses the battery so if it were to continuously record and overwrite then the battery would drain quickly.
This way it can record something from 10 seconds before it even happened.
 
Just back having disposed of this am’s carcass - puzzled by the fact that the crow-widened bullet hole had something small giving off a heat signature so either a wee beastie that didn’t spook even when I lifted the fox or Hornady are using depleted uranium or some such in their Vmax - very odd!
Bomber’s Moon out there tonight and getting cold too….
🦊🦊
 
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