Went hunting the other night with a buddy. A couple of minutes after the call was turned on this fox came running to the call. Made about a 200 yrd shot on him with a 22-250 55 gr bullet. Being my first fox I thought the gun was a great set-up. The problem was the hole it put in it and destroyed the hide. I felt bad about that but what do you guys use? Maybe I just hit him in a bad place, I posed him pretty good for the pic but half his back was missing. Any advise would be great.

Any center fire over 17 cal. Is very hard on fox, the 17HMR with 20gr HP's is fine as is the 22 WMR. Back in the early 80's I used the 22 mag with awesome results on fox.
RR

I have shot foxes with a .22 Hornet and not torn them up too badly, but a friend blew one up with a .17HMR (at fairly close range). Both impact velocity and bullet construction seem to be the key.

Congrats on your first fox WNY!

That's why I stipulated the 20 gr HP's the 17 gr v-max's are pretty bad about splashing on close range impacts, I did omit the hornet simply because it's not offered in many rifles anymore, but it is suitable also
RR

I experimented a bit with 52grn A-max's at modest speeds for a bobcat and fox friendly load out of a .223rem with fair results. Really comes down to bullet placement. The 50grn V-max is not kind. Mild velocities out of the Hornet explain a bit towards it's "fur friendly" quality.

I haven't seen much nasty out of the .17HMR on fox/cats, but again, I'm never placing the bullet over anything hard.

The Fox I shot behind the shoulder with a 223 55 gr rem psp core lock fables a big hole in the pelt both entrance and exit. Same goes with the 222 shooting 50 gr psp corelocks. If I was going to hunt Fox's.for.the pelts I would use a shotgun or a 22 magnum.

Good suggestions here. I have a few 22 lr that I will be using for now on. I would rather not shoot one if I am just going to destroy it.

As far as a firearm to use I have nothing to offer however. I would try to use the fur.
You could still get him mounted. A good taxidermist can position him just right so the damage doesn't show. Other than that you can use the tail and the rest of the hide can be used to make other items like a hat or decorative items. Just a couple of cents for ya

ive shot alot of fox with my savage 17hmr and havent blown one up yet.Ive shot some with the 250,you need to bring a needle and lots of thread!