I heard a local rancher was losing a bunch of lambs to coyotes so I stopped to see him about it. Turns out his real problem was fox. The government trapper had already taken a bunch off the place but I offered my services just the same. He was happy to have dead predators regardless of the method and gave me the run of the ranch. So, this afternoon after church, I slid over to give it a whirl.
My first two stands were blanks. There was only time for one more stand so I walked about a half mile up the river and set up with my scent going out into the open meadow to my left and the caller hanging from some brush in front of me. The heavier cover along the river ran left and right from my position.
I started with some Lucky Bird then went through a number of sounds as the stand went on--Baby Cottontail, Juv Red Fox Distress, Cottontail, etc. Since another stand was out of the question, I let the call play. It was getting pretty dark and I would have given up but I noticed that one of my presets on the Shockwave was messed up. I decided to fix it while I was there so I was scrolling down the sound list looking for the correct sound. Eventually I looked up and, lo and behold, a fox was standing in front of the caller! I raised my .17 HMR as the fox began to move. A lip squeak stopped him for a frontal. Better to be lucky than good sometimes!
At the shot, he leapt straight in the air four feet like a bobcat, fell on his side then jumped up and ran 80 yards across the field towards the willows. I threw another shot at him as he entered the brush line. It was dark enough that I decided to hike back and get the truck and a light.
I found blood at the location of the hit then walked to the area I last saw him. There he laid just inside the brush line. I'm not sure if the second shot connected or not but I had my first Cross Fox!
Some research found that it is a color-phase of a red fox. The black of the legs runs up over the back and is supposed to form a cross with the black dorsal line. I didn't notice the black on the back of mine but there seems to be quite a bit of variation in color in these fox. Very interesting. Either way it probably signifies Divine Intervention as this is the first called fox I've killed in about 35 years and the first fur for 2015!
Here's a photo that shows more of the color difference compared to a typical red.
Happy New Year from No Off Season.
My first two stands were blanks. There was only time for one more stand so I walked about a half mile up the river and set up with my scent going out into the open meadow to my left and the caller hanging from some brush in front of me. The heavier cover along the river ran left and right from my position.
I started with some Lucky Bird then went through a number of sounds as the stand went on--Baby Cottontail, Juv Red Fox Distress, Cottontail, etc. Since another stand was out of the question, I let the call play. It was getting pretty dark and I would have given up but I noticed that one of my presets on the Shockwave was messed up. I decided to fix it while I was there so I was scrolling down the sound list looking for the correct sound. Eventually I looked up and, lo and behold, a fox was standing in front of the caller! I raised my .17 HMR as the fox began to move. A lip squeak stopped him for a frontal. Better to be lucky than good sometimes!
At the shot, he leapt straight in the air four feet like a bobcat, fell on his side then jumped up and ran 80 yards across the field towards the willows. I threw another shot at him as he entered the brush line. It was dark enough that I decided to hike back and get the truck and a light.
I found blood at the location of the hit then walked to the area I last saw him. There he laid just inside the brush line. I'm not sure if the second shot connected or not but I had my first Cross Fox!
Some research found that it is a color-phase of a red fox. The black of the legs runs up over the back and is supposed to form a cross with the black dorsal line. I didn't notice the black on the back of mine but there seems to be quite a bit of variation in color in these fox. Very interesting. Either way it probably signifies Divine Intervention as this is the first called fox I've killed in about 35 years and the first fur for 2015!
Here's a photo that shows more of the color difference compared to a typical red.
Happy New Year from No Off Season.
