Out Foxing Charlie 22 & 23

Out Foxing Charlie 22 & 23
​ The Tale Of The Road Side Fox

​It all started off with a phone call from one of my oldest VIP clients, er is that the resolver he said, I chuckled and said yes hello Farmer what’s up? A blasted red devil is back and it’s murdering my prize Gleanies and Bantam's, I need you now, no yesterday or even last week, he calls me the resolver as I resolve any pest issue on this prestigious farm that he throws at me, over the last 20 years he has put some real pest problems my way, I have sorted them all in turn too, he even has me in his phone as Rob The Resolver in brackets Rob The Guns, this always makes me chuckle, alas I could not go when he called me, it took three knights before I could be there, I was just so snowed under with work, there was just simply not enough hours in the day or days in the week, that's why this article is entitled OFC 22 and 23, he also said er can you sort out those little grey cotton tailed blighters too, they are eating more grass than my cattle, of course I will deal with the fox and the rabbits when I get there I said.

Now this fellow is an old school farmer, he knows more about his farm or indeed wildlife than I will ever know, well by day anyway, at night that's my territory, I took along a young man as my wing man this night, I thought this would be a good one for him to have a go at the rabbits with the new Marten Thermal scope from Night Pearl, plus if I need some bait for a scent attractor for said fox, nothing works better than the paunch of some fresh shot rabbits in a bucket I find.

We got there in plenty of time lots of daylight still left on the clock before the cloak of darkness falls, my young friend had a wonderful time trying to stalk the rabbits on the lambing paddocks, I sent him off for a stalk with his new Air Arms Pro Sport, he came back smiling like a Cheshire cat after bagging his first rabbit with it, I was at the truck in the orchard getting all my kit ready for the night ahead, I always have a rifle at the ready, so as we sat in the truck for a sandwich and a mug of tea from my flask, I looked across and saw a rabbit pop out, not too far around 55 yards. Like a cat in stealth mode I dropped out of the truck, mounted the rifle over the car door, then dropped it with a clean head shot, my young friend laughed and said you made that look so easy, I laughed too, well after almost 5 decades in the field I should do really I said, as always we win some we lose some, tonight I was lucky.​

The weather started to look horrible, all of a sudden it was blowing a hooley and lashing down in rain, I said lets stay in the truck and wait this one out, the quarry wont want to get wet either, so another mug of tea from my big flask was poured, the wind and rain came and went almost as quickly as it had come.

Time to get in position for this Chicken Thieving Charlie I said, I took up position on the middle ground as we call it, as its the field that separates the two farm houses, this was the field the fox had been seen in with the farms fowl in his chops, the trouble was not only was the moon high, but the security lights from way over lit this field up with ambient light too, I had to choose the shot position very carefully too, there was a farm track along one side and a road along the other, so our safe shot zones were very limited, I got my young fellow to put the bucket of rabbit paunch right where I knew was a 101% safe shot zone, thus my plan was to get the fox were I wanted him.​

This plan worked perfectly until mother nature threw a curve ball, the wind changed direction just as the fox came onto the field of play, so not only did this fox wind us but saw us too in shadows of a tree in the ambient light, so said fox made a good ole sharp harp exit stage left to the main road, no safe shot here.

Right up sticks and move a bit quick I know where he is going, he is going to try to come in on the other side of the orchard as he was heading along the road in that direction, of we went to get in position, we had just got there and managed to tuck into the shadow of a hedge, my gen 3 Primos Trigger sticks were on the ground in second, rifle mounted with the Night Pearl Seer 35 on, I turned on the scope then the Scops Max III thermal spotter.

Entrance stage right in the gate to the field there was the fox, he came into the field and came round on the wind towards the orchard, not straight at it but the long way round, my Young Friend watched it on the spotter as I followed it cross hairs on waiting for the perfect shot, my young friend had never seen a fox shot before or heard the sound of the crack of the rifle either.​

On the fox came all the way round winding all the way, he got to the point of no return just as he winded us, Bang Thump to a perfect engine room shot with a great back stop of a huge old muck heap, my young friend almost jumped out of his skin to the shot report then asked what the thump was, I laughed and said a perfectly administered lead injection to the engine room my boy, I think he is now hooked on rifle shooting.

​Well that was the roadside fox, experience and field craft put this cheeky Charlie in the bag, with some help from the awesome equipment the brilliant Night Pearl Thermal Systems.

Out Foxing Charlie 23
​ The Piglet Thief and The Close Encounter

We start out on an old clients place, he has some other shooters in trying their hand on the rats and indeed his fox problems, they have done OK as free boys and fair play to them, but nothing beats a professional who is paid to be there, families, work and social life does not get in the way, this is why I am paid to be on these jobs, I am there when my clients really need me, not when it suits me, something that's come to the forefront just recently, one farmer not paying me to look after his crops, the last two years he has lost his crop, now in the third year he has called me back in and paying me to protect the crop again, I don't begrudge anyone their sport and permissions just there is a massive difference when you pay for a service.​

This old client of mine is no exception except when he started getting hit hard, small piglets being taken, fowl going, even his lambs, his first words were we have a fox nobody can get, can you come and sort it with that there thermal stuff of yours, I chuckled and said yes I will book you in for the following evening, I got on site in plenty of time like I always like to do, tracked the area and worked out a plan of action, my niggle my sixth sense was telling me there was more than one fox at play here, as the night falls we will see what were dealing with on the thermal.

I did shoot a few rabbits here with the New Hellios UK multi platform mounting lamps, these worked great on the 22 rimfire using Eley ammunition, the rabbits were part of another crop protection job here, I thought would make a good scent attractor if I needed them.

The night fell and the farmers son decided to join, I gave him the Night Pearl 13 spotter to scan on and I used my usual Scops Max III spotter, tonight I was trying an un tested by me thermal scope on the ole 223, obviously I had zeroed it on the range before taking it out on the field of battle, The Marten Thermal Scope from Night Pearl, a wonderful dedicated thermal scope with more gadgets than I know what to do with, the recording function is awesome as you will see in my videos that are attached to this article.​

As we stood there on the hill looking down on the lambing meadows below we could see everything like daylight, this was when we saw not one fox but six foxes, even the farmers son said the other guys said there was only one fox about, I laughed and said yes they might of seen one, just not the other five, they were not cubs either all largish foxes, my thoughts here were they were town released foxes, far too easily called in as you will hear about shortly.

So let me set the scene, there I am with the farmers son, both with thermal spotters, rifle with a new Night Pearl Dedicated thermal scope mounted on my Gen3 Primos Trigger Sticks, I started squealing a distressed rabbit call on my hand, the foxes came bolting in from all angles, 300 yards right down to 25 yards where I had to shot OOOOOOIIIIIYYYYY, said fox sat looking straight at us, I squeezed of the shot and gave him a Tonshaw, that's a monks haircut if you don't know this, yes I missed at 25 yards, the farmers sone just laughed and said you missed, the video says it better than me, I was growling like an aggry bear, no time to dwell these foxes were still coming, again at 25 yards I missed another one, I did not record that one though, I put the gun away and said something is wrong here, I always carry a back up rifle etc and went back to the Seer 35 thermal front add on, that's sorted that as I put 3 foxes in the bag quick time at greater distances than 25 yards, I said tell your Dad I will be back tomorrow night, actually it turned out I was not the one that missed, it was the scope, it had re set itself back to factory settings and need a software update, plus the fact I probably didn't save the zero correctly, a low tech man in a high tech world I am afraid.

As I stated in my very first article in this series, I only deal with foxes that actually attack livestock or pets etc, if they are going about their natural business doing no harm I leave them well alone, they are such wonderful and beautiful animals and its good to have them about naturally on a farm etc, they clean up any carrion and do other good jobs too, this if its red its dead attitude really goes against my ethics as a Countryman who has conservation at his core the way I was taught as a Boy.

I went back to the farm the next night, this time a solo mission, I wanted no disturbances or no witnesses if I missed again, I was armed with my favourite combo tonight, the 223 with a Seer 35 add on thermal and the Scops max III spotter, mounted on the Primos Gen3 trigger sticks, I was in the same spot at the previous night, but tonight no calling, I was just going to sit and watch and be ready, an ole Brock the Badger snuffled passed me not interested in me, I watched him go about his business none the wiser I was there.

Then they they were a pair of foxes heading around the headland, straight for the piggery, some of the sows had given birth this day, all of a sudden they split, one to my left and one to my right going around the farm buildings, now they were on the wrong side of me for the wind, they would surely pic my scent up, I tried some calling on my hand one fox sitting 200 plus yards out next to some Ewes with large lambs, no safe shot, no where was the other one, I scanned around and it was coming in over my right shoulder, I shuffles round as quickly and quietly as I could.

This was a problem, it was on my wind side, I could not make a sound for it would have me pegged straight away, plus the shot was not 100% safe where it was near some farm machinery, it trotted further around the fence line, the other fox just sat there watching by the sheep, as it got to the far fence of the piggery the shot was on she was after the magpie in the Larsen trap, Safety off, a last double check on the back stop, Click, Bang, Thump to a perfectly administered lead injection to the engine room, the other fox took off running and I breathed easy.​

I went to retrieve this fox, it was a vixen, I think the disappointment in my voice said it all in the video, I don't like dealing with foxes at this time of year with cubs about, but I have a job to do, its a fine balance between my ethics and morals I telle, the farmer next door told me he dealt with the cubs and earth so I breathed a little happier, I will say I never take pleasure or pride in a kill, I don't like killing at all, but its my job and I do what I do well, I suppose that's one reason I get called into some really prestigious venues for all pest control not just foxes.

The next job I will tell you about was back on the farm that started this article, again being so close the town and trading estate this farm borders right on the edge of man, the foxes fit in well in the urban environment, especially as we have stolen their land to build yet another ghastly concrete jungle on, I wont go on about this, I could write a book about ghastly man's greed and building on wonder farms etc.​

I always work with my clients on their husbandry etc, this client has tried it all, the electric fences around the perimeter of the farm are really good, but still these foxes find ways around them to attack his prize fowl, both by day and by night, apart from keeping them locked up 24/7 there not much else he can do, one hen house was broken into and he lost every chicken in there, he even got it on his trail camera, a pair of foxes taking it in turns to chew their way in.

There I am in daylight trying to find how the foxes were getting in, I found a spot right on the boundary hedge, right next to the neighbors yard, I could see the foot prints in the ditch where they had been getting in, I could see the fowl enclosure at the far end of the field, this also gave me a great back stop as the field was rising up in front of the and the wind to my face.

As the night fell I parked my truck right in the corner of said field, well might as well have a comfy seat in the warmth of the truck whilst I waited for night to fall, just at dusk I leant on my spare wheel to set up the Night Pearl Seer 35 on my 223, it was too dark to see well, but you could see shapes, you know the sort of light, I was tucked in nice and tight as I focused the Seer 35 Thermal on a rabbit, this was when I heard a rustle to my right, I peered around the car not moving my feet, bowl me over sideways there was a big dog fox sniffing the front of my truck, I could see it in the dim light clear as a bell.​

He walked a couple of yards took a pee, then headed off, I quietly as I could swung the gun around, and had him in the scope, I whistled as he stopped to look back at the bottom of the bank, thwack 18 yards, yes you read that right 18 yards free hand, he dropped to a perfectly placed engine room shot, I breathed easy, laughed to myself then took that long walk to retrieve said, not another fox or indeed rabbit showed himself this night, I am not sure what it was but the weather just did not feel right to be out, even the ole Roe Doe sat under the Oak Tree did not stand up, I retired early with a very happy client who said The Resolver Does It Again, we both laughed.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my humble scribbles as much as I have enjoyed writing them and remembering them, this may not be some of my best scribbles as I am so busy at the moment, even as I type my secretary is nagging me saying I am going to be late to set a rifle range up tonight for I am the lead Ro’s tonight, so until next time, stay safe and well one and all, For Tiz Proper Job Mucker

Out Foxing Charlie 22
The Tale Of The Road Side Fox

Out Foxing Charlie 23
​The Piglet Thief and The Close Encounter​

By The Ole Hedge Creeper
www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk