chazspot

I'm a small-time chicken farmer and occasionally I have to manage run-ins with the local predators i.e. fox, coons, hawks, etc.

A new fox showed up a few weeks ago and has taken two chickens since. I set up a foxpro caller I borrowed from a friend and got the fox to come in and missed with my .22. (about 50 yard shot with open sights).

I then set up in my ladder stand with the caller a couple nights later. I got him to come in again and as soon as he noticed the caller, he split.

He stopped at about 40 yards and looked back. I thought it was a game-time decision and risked him taking off again not giving me a closer shot so I stood up, aimed and shot at him with my 12 gauge using six shot. He flinched and then ran off.

It's hard to tell if I mortally wounded him or not. I would have liked to have dropped him, but that wasn't the case.

I know I need to get a scope for my .22 and get it sighted in. I prefer to use that since it is lower profile.

Oldtimr

What you need to do is not shoot at distances where you can't hit your target. I wouldn't be telling people if I hit an animal with fine shot and let it go off and die a slow death. What state are you from btw?

MudderChuck

Maybe you educated him or her not to come around your place anymore. Been my experience once they get a Chicken they will be back for more, they just get sneakier.

6 shot is unlikely to do much damage at 40 yards IMO, most of the pellets won't make it through the fur. And butt shots are the least likely to put one down anyway.

I've tried various rounds 00 Buck to 4 shot, not all but many. The biggest disappointment was 00 Buck, I've yet to kill a Fox DRT with 00 Buck. I don't know if it is operator error (me) or what it is, I've just had poor results.

2 3/4, 2 shot, semi magnum (Rottweil) seems to work out the best for me. Pretty much a Goose round, but seems to plant Fox rather well, out to around 35 yards. I often get a shot at a Hare when Fox hunting, 2 shot works for them also. Hare here can get up to 15 pounds, we joke they are sometimes bigger than the Deer.

Maybe BB or 4 Buck might also work out, haven't tried them yet on Fox.

I average around 20 Fox a year here. But those suckers can be sneaky, I hunted one for two years that was depleting a guys Duck flock (most of a hundred Ducks). I finally ran over him one morning at 2 AM with my Jeep by accident. His luck finally ran out.

I pop the majority with my .308 out to around 350 yards. Most at the end of my Deer hunt in the morning, just before I pack up to go home. I sometimes scare one up (or my Dog does) when I'm Rabbit, Hare or Bird hunting.

I've also had pretty good luck live trapping them in places (like the Cemetery). Rotten canned Cat food seems work well. It can get ugly when a Fox starts looking for a meal in the Cemetery.

chazspot

Thanks, MudderChuck. I appreciate the insight. I'm afraid he is just going to be extra cautious now. I don't want to lose another chicken and I can't not let them free range. He may be dead for all I know. Him flinching like that has to mean he felt some lead.

I certainly don't mean to injure any animal and I intend on practicing more to avoid such scenarios. In addition to shooting accuracy, there is much benefit to how one sets up for fox. The last time I did this I used 00 buckshot (shot from a deer blind) and hit the fox really well. He didn't drop in front of me either, but it was clear he was mortally wounded and never came back. That was three years ago.

Last night, my mistake was not putting out a decoy. I had been doing that unsuccessfully, but the foxpro and a decoy would have kept him close long enough for a close up shot.

Topgun 3006

Bad stuff happens like you found out but IMHO it's best not to announce it out on the internet like you did in this thread because it doesn't really accomplish anything positive, especially if non hunters read your posts. There really doesn't appear to be any reason you even made your post! FYI a high base load of #4s like they offer for turkey hunting is the minimum shot size I would use on fox and only with a choke that keeps it in a pretty tight pattern out to about 40 yards.

Champlain Islander

I agree with all of the above. A scoped 22 would be a great answer and give you the yardage to take him out cleanly. Not too many around these parts anymore the coyotes keep the number down.

flags

Is it even legal to shoot the fox in your area this time of year? And how do you know that particular fox was the one that took the birds? You didn't catch it in the act, you called it in at night. Is night hunting legal there this time of year?

I'd be very careful about posting stuff like this.

MudderChuck

You can look up the "nuisance wildlife regulations", I've never seen many differences state to state. But occasionally an animal is dropped from the list or added, Fox and Yotes are almost always on the list.

Birds of prey and various types of Weasels can get tricky and may cause you some real grief.

It usually reads something like this, " Landowners and any leaseholders may hunt nuisance animals year-round at any time of day or night with no weapon/caliber restrictions on property titled in their name or otherwise owned, or leased by them."

The biggest differences I've noticed is the regulations for trapping. Kind of all over the place from state to state.

Here you are required to check traps twice a day, need to take a supplemental Hunting course and need a supplement to a normal hunting license.

There is always the unwritten law, technically it is illegal to hunt Hogs at night here. Been hunting here on and off for most of fifty years and have never heard of anybody ever being cited for night hunting Hogs. If in doubt ask a Game Warden, the ones with the mud on their boots, not the ones sitting behind a desk.

flags

Most states allow farmers and livestock producers to protect their crops and animals but they don't necessarily allow wholesale killing. Take my native CO for example: livestock producers can shoot coyotes all year long because it is classified as a varmint but there is a season on fox. So unless you catch the fox in the act of killing your birds you can't just shoot any old fox if you lose a few. Same with cougar/bear, ranchers can kill a predators that takes cattle but they have to target the guilty animal and they can't just kill any cougar/bear they see. Cougar and bear are both covered by seasons and tags and cannot just be shot on sight if a cow ends up dead.

My take on this is the OP lost a few birds and is willing to kill any fox in the area and that may or may not actually be legal to do. I'm all about protecting livestock but it has to be done in accordance with whatever laws cover the area.

MudderChuck

Good point.

Trapping may be the better option. You can set the live trap near your animals.

I've had a lot of dealings with Fox, they can wipe you out. Weasels are worse.

My stories are sometime boring, but I hunted one Fox that would jump the border between Hunting leases. He wouldn't kill Chickens in his home lease but would stage raids into the next lease, my lease, to do his dirty work. Almost like he knew I couldn't pursue him over the border. Maybe I'm giving them way to much credit for smarts, but it was almost like that Fox was in my head.

This time of year they have a den full of younguns someplace and can get really destructive. Anything and everything they can kill and drag home is at risk.

Shooting a lactating female is always a downer. You always get a vision of a den full of youguns slowly starving to death. And you may not be able to find the den and do what needs to be done.