Probably my strangest fox.

[roedeerred]

Point taken, and I realise the job has changed over the years and perhaps I should have phrased my opening post a little better. But, in 9 cases out of 10, if a fox gets into a pen, a mistake has been made. I realise we are all capable of making mistakes, but it should never happen more than once!

jack honestly just apolgise you got it wrong and continue to dig a hole for yourself after 60+years living and working in the countryside to make a statement like that is like changing your spade for a digger.
If there is one thing certian with any wildlife that is uncertinty.
I have known the best keepers have trouble with determined foxes nowadays you cannot employ a watch 24/7 on all pens.
why should any keeper be sporting towards foxes just kill them when the birds are your living.

 

[www.yorkshireroestalking.]

Don't recall saying I was a keeper.

I could tell !!!
And as far as letting the fox get out of the water only to run like the clappers into the wood, why would that be better, you still have a rifle in your hands the range is double and the speed of the fox is triple?
Sentiments are of no concern to me when killing foxes.
That morning and every Sunday morning 5-10 rifles take up ambush from the seats on my shoot to sit for 2 1/2 hrs waiting for foxes.
Those boys give their time freely. Some travel 60 mile for the privaledge. Sport is nice doing a job is paramount and with birds arriving from this thursday who gives a dam about the ethics of whats right or wrong?
Cousin Jack, I'm sorry if we have got off on the wrong foot, but to suggest a guy like mark is not doing his job beacause he has been hit by basil is not constructive or true.
And if we sound defensive, well we are. Juggling many jobs which need to be done now, sleep depravation and stress. (all part of the job).
And yes at the mo i'm on the laptop after been out early waiting for a fox, then coming home and washing out loads of drinkers, 10mins for a cup of tea, then back out. Or maybe i should still be on sentry duty??
Hope this is put to bed now.
And for the record as said after over 2,000 foxes shot to my rifle, I would consider this fox to be the strangest circumstances and very sporting (for me) as it was unexpected and very different from anything else I've done. He had a head start, magazine was empty and out of the gun. A true head start.

 

[cousin jack]

I could tell !!!
And as far as letting the fox get out of the water only to run like the clappers into the wood, why would that be better, you still have a rifle in your hands the range is double and the speed of the fox is triple?
Sentiments are of no concern to me when killing foxes.
That morning and every Sunday morning 5-10 rifles take up ambush from the seats on my shoot to sit for 2 1/2 hrs waiting for foxes.
Those boys give their time freely. Some travel 60 mile for the privaledge. Sport is nice doing a job is paramount and with birds arriving from this thursday who gives a dam about the ethics of whats right or wrong?
Cousin Jack, I'm sorry if we have got off on the wrong foot, but to suggest a guy like mark is not doing his job beacause he has been hit by basil is not constructive or true.
And if we sound defensive, well we are. Juggling many jobs which need to be done now, sleep depravation and stress. (all part of the job).
And yes at the mo i'm on the laptop after been out early waiting for a fox, then coming home and washing out loads of drinkers, 10mins for a cup of tea, then back out. Or maybe i should still be on sentry duty??
Hope this is put to bed now.
And for the record as said after over 2,000 foxes shot to my rifle, I would consider this fox to be the strangest circumstances and very sporting (for me) as it was unexpected and very different from anything else I've done. He had a head start, magazine was empty and out of the gun. A true head start.

My intention was to make a broad statement in general not to belittle an individual, and for that I apoligise. However I will also say that I did not critisize your shot or say that it was unsporting, as I have said on another thread I have been responsible for the death of a lot of foxes over the years, and I don't supose for one minute that sport came into it, it was a job, it made me money, and was something I seemed to be good at. As a young man I killed every one I could, as I have got older I have realised that maybe it was'nt all that important in the grand scheme of things. I know only to well how important it is if you derive your living from it, I don't anymore so therefore I can afford to be an armchair expert, putting it to bed now, all the best. CJ

 

[User00003]

To a gamekeeper, every bird taken by a fox is an opportunity cost of approx. £25 + VAT. One fox can do imense damage to birds that have gone over the fence and haven't got back in again. To the private 'gamekeeper' such as myself (ie. I put birds out for my own enjoyment), one fox can ruin a whole seasons shooting. I only put around 300 birds down a year, so if I lose 100 over the course of a few nights, and another 100 expire from natural predation, migration across borders, etc, it only leaves me with 100 birds in my cover crops!

..Therefore...you cannot always take the super-high moral ground with fox control, sometimes you just need to do the dirty on them, and protect your assets....trust me, if the fox was a wolf, it would not stop from eating YOU just because you were in the swimming trunks and chasing some hot blondes around the local lake on a summer day

I have yet to have a fox get into my pens, BUT, I have seen roe crawl onto stone walls, then from there jump over a tall wire fence protecting an xmas tree plantation, landing from a height of around 10-12 feet!!! if they go to that effort, I'm sure a fox can get into a release pen too, no matter how fool-proof you think it is

I have in fact heard a story of a keeper who had a badger dig an exit hole inside a pen, the force it's way OUT through the netting, which then created a nice little tunnel for the fox to get IN...VERY unfortunate I know,,but true.

 

[www.yorkshireroestalking.]

I know of a keeper who had a tiny vixen jumping in and out through the hole in the gate you put your fist through to un sneck the gate!
Now it took 3 evenings to catch it. He was scratching his head, while waiting, no holes no forced entry just dead birds.
Night 3 saw it come in while he was sat at the wrong end of the pen and he saw it jump through the gate.... gob smacked he grabbed the gun and shot it in the pen its only way out was the small hole it jumped in through. And he was stood in front of it.
Who could have forseen this?
Strange things happen and they are the most cunning creature I know.
They also wander miles on a night or may even be "dropped" on your patch while you are in bed.
So it can happen anytime anywhere to anyone. Even the best.
Regards john

 

[User00003]

"No forced entry"...

I love it