GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Hunting Gate => : only1harry March 19, 2010, 06:20:29 PM
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Some of you probably knew this was coming but I didn't know it was going to be this fast. Here is the sequence of events tonight..
Around 10:15pm tonight I hear a cat scream in my backyard like when cats are fighting or getting hurt. I turned on the flood lights in the back and went to my bedroom window. These are very powerful lights and I have positioned them so I can see most of the hill that starts about 23yds from the back of the house I looked around and quickly spotted a fox, probably the same one that's been visiting frequently, in the back by the trees about 26yds out. I then see her look up at this one tree she was standing under. She then circled the tree once, looked up again and took off. I got the big Mag flashlight and spotted the neighbor's cat 15-20ft up the tree. This cat is kind of small and only about a year old. She doesn't weigh more than 5-6lbs because I picked her up just a few weeks ago and we sometimes feed her. The fox was about 3x her size.
I kept checking the tree with the flashlight from the window and by 11pm she must have climbed down because I couldn't see her anymore. I couldn't help but think if I had caused this incident by inviting the fox in with the cat food and table scraps I leave outside for the Starlings and crows. The fox could have easily killed this cat and I have no idea if she was already injured. It sounded like the fox may have bit her.
I fell asleep just before Midnight but then at 12:35am I woke up to the fox barking again! If you want to know what a fox bark sounds like Google it and listen to audio and see video of foxes barking or calling each other. So now I am like what the hey!! I get out of bed contemplating how I am going to shut this fox up. This is the 4th night in a row this fox has been barking and waking me up. Now I 'm getting very annoyed because I really need to get some sleep as I have to work again tomorrow morning. The fox's bark was very loud like it was outside my window. Maybe she was protesting that I had not put any food for a couple of days. I had put out some table scraps 2 nights ago that consisted of mostly Chicken bones but my wife said a crow and some Starlings did short work of it yesterday and today while I was at work. I only saw a couple of bones in the bowl earlier tonight. I was walking towards the other room where I had left the window open in case I needed to shoot some more skunk tail (see my reply to Ray about getting rid of skunks) when the barking suddenly stopped. I went back to bed and 2min. later the Ding Donger went off! Now I am just PO'd and my wife is giving me some very bad looks.. I turned it off, grabbed the Condor .25, loaded a JSB 25.4gr pellet and with the gun light on I went to the other room and quietly approached the open window.
It's the fox again. Not sure if it's the same one but it kind of looked a little smaller than usual. It was still a good size animall. In any case, now I know why they say foxes are smart. She was circling the food bowl which has a couple of chicken bones left in it and was looking around for danger. It seemed nervous and very cautious and even looked up at me or the gun light from only 18yds away where the bowl was, but then approached the bowl. I was just in a PO'd mood lacking much sleep, so when the fox put its head down and started chewing on a chicken bone, I just put the Condor's crosshairs right "between its eyes", went up a little, and squeezed. I heard a muffled sort of "thud", and the fox fell immediately to its side. It stretched its neck and legs for 1-2secs and that was it.
I got my 1st fox! Now why don't I feel that great about it? It's my dang temper. Same reason I shot those 2 skunks. They woke me up needlessly so many times and when they showed no fear towards me I got PO'd and shot them. 2min. later I was like what have I done? (that smell! hehe). I kind of felt the same with the fox. It's a beautiful animal and didn't really want to shoot it and was going to try to wait until next Fall/winter. On top of that it was a female, which might explain why it looked smaller to me. I could swear the other one that came to eat the cat food in previous days was like 20-25% bigger.. with a larger head. Perhaps a male? This fox's *_*_*_*_*_* also looked like they were being "used".. Maybe it had young from last Spring/summer in the den? Well no doubt "dad" will take care of them cause they should definitely be old enough to eat solid food. I felt like this fox was taking over my property and the incident with the cat tonight was the last straw. It cerntainly didn't help the fox's chances of survival.. in my backyard. I will not stand by while they eat my neighbor's pet cats.
Ok so check out the shot. Perfectly mid-center right above & between the eyes :) Condor = surgical precision, hehehe. First time I wasn't shaking or anything and my heart wasn't pounding as with raccoons and G-hogs. I guess because I was just angry at that point so I wasn't really thinking about it too hard. I just aimed and took the shot fairly quickly. This fox weighed somewhere between 16 and 18lbs. Had I stretched it out it would have almost covered the length of the Condor. I felt its fur and to my surprised it felt like it had several ticks - too many bumps on the skin. Its tail is very thick and the tail bone also seemed wide as well. Its canines were about twice as big as a raccoon's or possum's and I 've seen a lot of those up close. I was surprised how long the upper ones were when I lifted its upper cheek - twice as long as the bottom ones and they they looked just like a wolve's with a good amount of curvature.
Anyway, this post is very long so I 'll stop here and go get some sleep.
Here are the obligatory pics of my 1st predator. I had the flood lights off so any nosy neighbors would not be wondering why my backyard was all lit up. I was using a flashlight so I can take the pics with the digital camera.
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Now that was an awesome shot. Glad you got it finally.
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WOW !!!! Great stor/pics....even if you were *_*_*_*_*_*ed off.....hehe. I love my Condor, they have so much power and really accurate.
What kinf of FPE is the JSB pellets producing?
Thanks for sharing.
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Wow what are you guys doing up so late? Waiting for night critters? hehe
The one I used tonight out of the 3 Condors, is a Talon Tunes tuned Condor .25 so it is power-tuned with a polished and bored out valve, heavier hammer, etc. At full power the JSB 25.4gr Kings get 70fpe. But I shoot them at a lower power level because I don't want them going supersonic. This fox got hit with about 64fpe or 1,060fps. With EunJin 42gr it gets 90fpe and 79-80fpe with 31gr Kodiaks. I could have taken the fox out almost as easily with my 350 .22, so the power was a bit excessive.. but it guarantess a quick kill everytime.
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Outstanding shot placement Harry and Outstanding pic's bro. I'm impressed with the trophy you have there and it would be a great mount along with the fact that it was taken with a airgun. :) It does like it was a female and the Kit's are probably around there somewhere in the den with pop's. I had a feeling that the Fox wasn't going to last long there since it had made your place it's hangout hehe. If anything I would keep the hide and skull and I know it takes some work but what a hunting prize. Again outstanding shooting and pic's Harry and that's filling the Predator harvest ticket for sure. Ed
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Nice shooting Harry! I don't blame you it was a threat to the neighborhood!
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Beautiful fox Harry, simply beautiful. Great shot with that Condor, doesn't get any better.
That animal would make a phenomenal full mount !! Or at the very least get the hide tanned with the head attached.
Very nice buddy... now go get some sleep :)
Jeff
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SUPER SHOOTIN HARRY!!!!!
I would love to have one like mounted.. great story and pics as usual bub...(http://../jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-cool.gif)
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thats an awsome shot,pcp's really have so much power i love them and want to get a condor to to play along side my marauder.keep up the good shooing and pics.
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Great looking fox Harry. Good shooting. The pelt still looks like it's good shape. Way to go man.
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Thanks guys!
Well I have a couple of "issues". The fox was taken out of season.. but I did call a couple of taxidermists this morning. One guy wanted $1,000(plus tax!) for the full mount and the other said I took it out of season and said I could be a cop trying to trick him.. which probably means it is illegal for him to work on an animal taken out of season. I told him it was eating my chickens (hehe) and then he said ok eleven hundred bucks!!! What the hek? I just can't afford that right now because I got big trees down due to the last big storm and have lots of repairs to do in the house like new doors, windows, etc. I also had a bad streak of luck the last couple of weeks and have dished out a lot of $ for a new water heater and dish washer that broke within 10 days of each other. My car also needs a clutch so I 'm up to my neck with spending..
But you guys now gave me ideas about the head, so I 'm going to call back to see how much they would want for just a head mount and the tail alone. Even if I knew how to preserve these two things well, I just don't have the time to do it. I don't even have any time to spend with my family anymore with all these hours they got me working. This is why I really did not want to shoot it. It couldn't be at the worse time. Oh well. Life sucks, and then you shoot a fox 8)
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Nice shooting Harry!!!!! You should get that one mounted, and get the skull bleached... Don't know if you've ever looked at skull prices now days... People are buying them (cleaned of course) for like $55.. All the skull prices have went up in recent years
Sorry to break your bubble Harry but...... Kits (baby fox) are usually born sometime in march, which might explain why they where so big,,
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Even if you dont get a full mount, you could easily get just the hide tanned... Should be around $100 - 250?!? But than again everything seems to be more expensive where you are!!! There are some products out there that you can buy for a cheap price that can tan a hide for you... I normally tan most of my hides that i get from running the trap line and just hunting in general... Heck if you want I'll send you a bottle of tanning fomula for free... I'm not gona need it anymore this year... You could also do brain tanning,,,, though it's not for the weak stomached! And cant see your wife letting you do that eighter!
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They give birth in March? Oh man do I feel bad now!!
Well you hit the nail in the head. That my other biggest problem. The wife does not know! She 'd be very upset if she found out, but I figured if I can get the head and/or tail done and it's after the fact, there is nothign she can do and she 'll accept it. You have no idea how bad I feel now with this latest news that she could have newborns in the den.. Those little ones would have made it very exciting around here when they got grown up come winter.. That is why she kept hanging around. She probably had young ones very close by and didn't want to go far. I have also read that sometimes when the male brings food back, it will bark outside or near the den so the female and kits will come out to eat. Dang, it seems like I have made a big mess of things..
Maybe I 'll take a stroll along the edge of my property where I 've seen her or the maile hang out and bark and find the den and retrieve the little ones and take them to a shelter to be hand-fed?
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Don't fret none Harry.. put the fox in a bag and freeze it.. it will keep a long time and you can have it mounted later.. thats what the taxidermist is gunna do anyway... You might see it back from him in 6 months.
as far as the kits go.. don't fret that none either.. Life goes on.. with a few less critters.
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Nice shot Harry.
If she's barking, she's signalling - I wonder if the Kits aren't already weaned and she's gone back into heat ????
Paul.
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Thanks Randall. That puts it all into perspective. I feel a little better :) I won't fret nothing, hehe. I can't worry about these things now. I got way too many other things to worry about and my blood pressure is high enough. I just hope I will get to sleep a little better now, and I 'm turning that dang Ding Donger off until next Fall. I don't want to see what is out there anymore until about 4 weeks before hunting season :)
Paul,
yes that's what I read a couple of years ago. They bark either because they want to mate, and sometimes when they make a kill, or they want to call their mate or young ones.
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Harry, Good job on the fox. Don't worry much about shooting that Vixen....Don't bother with a rug or mount now, probably a bit late and the pelt is not in it's prime.
I see you gloved up for the photo, glad you did. Most Fox that I have dealt with have been Flea and Tick ridden buggers. If you are going to freeze the hide or skin it for something else, go put some Sevin powder (insecticide) in a garbage bag and place it inside and shake. Leave in the bag for a while, it will kill ticks as they leave the host animal. (this is best done immediately after a kill)
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Last week a fox got my favorite chicken and 4 fan tailed pidgons from my friends coop i say good work condor was a great choice for your vermin ,very well placed shot congrats
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Brian, yep she is in the freezer in the garage.
Another problem.. I went to check on the fox about an hour ago while the wife went to the store for a short while, and the freezer was off! She hit the switch by the door which shuts the power to anything electrical in the garage. It's the light switch for the garage. So when I have the freezer going, we have to screw in the light bulb a little to light up the garage. I had the freezer off the last couple of weeks to save some energy and reduce my electric bill. My wife never liked that she had to reach up and screw the light bulb since I got the freezer, and could never get used to wearing a glove to unscrew the light bulb when she left, so she wouldn't turn off the freezer. I know it's a crappy situation and I need to do some re-wiring and install a seperate circuit breaker for it. The current situation results in the freezer going on & off all the time. Well she did it to me again this morning when she screwed the light bulb in to get some light and then just flipped the switch off on her way out which turned off the freezer as well. It had been off for several hours until I discovered it this afternoon. So it's not going too well so far :) If she discovers the freezer on again and the light bulb unscrewed, she will look into the freezer and then all hek will break loose.. She has learned to put up with the squirrels in there but she asked me not to shoot the fox.. I said I 'll do the best I can. I never said "ok I won't", hehe :)
Chris: what is a fan-tailed pidgeon? Is that the name of the species? Sorry to hear about your favorite chicken. Put a Ding Donger out there and shoot it if it comes back for more. Sounds too simple doesn't it? but it's far from it :)
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Had my ding donger there the next night but i have to get up at 5 for work and construction isn't easy so staying late is no go . I have a bunch of corned beef scraps maybe tonight i will sit for a while a fan tail is pretty but still a pidgon http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_qKDl-SVisbw/SVgWdwi2vKI/AAAAAAAAADs/MIgWY64CGpQ/s400/pigeons.jpg this is what he had very pretty in person but easy pickings
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WOW Harry !!! Go and set the record straight. Tell her to leave the ****** switch alone....and then run....hehe
You married guys crack me up.
Good luck
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Eric, you 're like a ghost from the past that surfaces once in a while to give some good advice :)
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Man o' man that is some great shooting and great excitement! Glad you got your fox!
After looking at him, I'd think a big .22 magnum springer could take one out with a shot like that.
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FANTASTIC SHOOTING HARRY!!!!! you cant get a better shot placement then that. are you going to get her stuffed? if not send her to me and i will!! lol i cant wait untill i get a real "game" animal with one of my airguns. keep up the good shooting!
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Thanks guys.
Jake: I am keeping the at least the tail and I 'd like to have the skull bleached too. So it would be in pieces if I sent it to you :)
Randy:
The 350 .22 would not have been a problem at all, and the distance was only 18yds don't forget. The 350 would have taken the fox out at 30-35yds too. Timmy has taken a couple of foxes with his 34 .177 from 15+yds, and that was only a 14-15fpe gun. If I get another chance next season I will use the 350. I don't believe a fox is harder to kill than a coon or possum with a head shot. Granted, the size of its head is larger but people have taken coyotes with .177 and other Springers and less powerful PCP's. It's all about the shot placement. It's just that it is very hard to get up close to a fox to get a shot off with an airgun. This is one critter where a lot of planning has to go into it and a little luck too. They have the most acute senses out of all the other night critters and never hang around long enough. They can hear a mouse from like 100yds away and under the ground, etc. I consider myself lucky. I think it would be a very great challenge for you to get one sitting outside waiting for one to come in. I think a fox will hear you breathing before it even enters your property :) but you never know. I got lucky because I forgot to mention that she took a piece of chicken bone first and went another 14-15yds out to eat it so she was a good 32+yds away when I got to the window. Then 30-40secs later, she came back for more when I was already in position and got her just before she could take off with another bone as soon as she put her head down to grab one. A little luck and timing is sometimes all you need.
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Harry,,,, if you're not going to get it mounted here's what you should do...... skin it out as carefully as you can leaving the tail on the hide. Then scrape off as much of the remaining meat, fat, etc. from the hide, just get it as clean as you can. Then roll up the hide so that skin only touches skin (and fur only touches fir). Best way to do this is to fold it in half - skin to skin- then roll it up. Place the rolled up hide in a good thick plastic leaf or garbage bag and place it in the freezer. Packed away like this the hide will stay perfectly preserved until you are ready to take it to a taxidermist to have it tanned. Seems a shame to waste such a beautiful hide and you will have years of pleasure looking at it and remembering back to "the day" :)
It's not uncommon for professional trappers to freeze and store hides exactly like I suggested above. The trappers will store them like this when the prices for hides are low. They'll freeze em and wait until the price on the market goes up....
Anyway, just a suggestion.
Jeff
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excellent shot
great pics
same for the rig i cant wait to get one
dont beat yourself over being angry
life is a web and this is just another part of it
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I'll bet you could hold it with a predator call. The challenge bark of a fox is something you can find in most predator calls.
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Wow....that`s an excellent shot....right in the center of the brain. And that`s a nice red fox.....are you going to mount it. Or at least make a Daniel Boone hat out of it. heh heh