Venatic was coming through town on his way to Mississippi, so we set up a hunt date for some night time calling. I had some business to attend to, so we didn't get started until about 9pm.
We agree to take turns running the light and shooting with 2 stands on the gun unless you shot something and then it was the others turn.
I was the first shooter, but after 2 dry stands, it was David's turn.
The 3rd produced a grey fox in minutes and when he jumped up on a downed tree and posed, David got him. He fell right there on the tree. Then a second came to within feet of the first but a loading ordeal cost him that one, and as he circled around we kept hopping to call him back with the fox distress. Then I spotted a bobcat sitting on a log about 70 yards back behind us the same way as the 2 fox had came. He turned just as David shot for a miss.
This is exactly how the fox fell when David shot him.
That started a 6 fox in a row streak. We moved up the road about a 1/2 mile and within minutes had another fox.
5th stand, David's turn, same thing a fox in a couple of minutes, and had coyotes howling in the distance. So, at this point we had 5 stands and 4 fox and one bobcat called and 3 fox in the truck.
On the 6 stand, I had a fox come charging in, and every time he stopped he was behind a tree. Then as he was less than 15 yards I took a shot on the move, and I guess with the AR I was low. At the shot he squalled, did a few cartwheels, changed direction and started running back the way he came. We looked, but couldn't find him. That made 4 straight stands with a fox. Since I didn't get that one, David let me be the shooter again on the next stand, and big fox came charging in a again in just a couple of minutes.
So, that made 5 straight fox stands and 4 fox in the truck. We kept our 1/2 mile increment and tried it again. Near the 10 minute mark, I figured our streak would end at 5. Then I caught eyes down wind and at first David thought it was a coyote. But as he circled closer, we saw that it was another fox. He stopped for a shot, and we collected our 5 fox of the night.
We would occasionally hear coyotes howling, but none had showed themselves. It was my turn again for the 9th stand, and I broke the streak. Nothing showed up, so it was still my turn for the 10th stand. We were back in business. A hard charging fox came in, but we lost him behind a downed tree. We switched to fox distress, but no sign of him. Then we turned around, and there he was not 20 yards away. I was able to get a quick shot, and we had our six fox of the night. By this time our light was running low, and it was almost 4 am.
We tried one more spot near the river to try and get a coon or something, but nothing showed except a swamp rabbit and we called it a night.
Here are the 3 fox I got. I was shooting the 60 vmax and 2 of the fox had almost no damage. The third one left a nasty hole. David was shooting a .223 also and same thing. 2 had almost no damage, and one blew up on a shoulder. Not sure what bullets he was shooting.
Here was the whole night take
When I left David at this hotel, it was a little after 5 am. I got home in time to skin the foxes, take a shower and head in to work. David got a few hours of sleep and then took off for Mississippi.
Overall, we had 11 stands 8 fox called 7 shot (one grazed and lost) and one bobcat missed. Only 4 dry stands out of 11 is very good for around here.
Jackrabbit, lightning jack and grey fox distress were the top sounds.
We agree to take turns running the light and shooting with 2 stands on the gun unless you shot something and then it was the others turn.
I was the first shooter, but after 2 dry stands, it was David's turn.
The 3rd produced a grey fox in minutes and when he jumped up on a downed tree and posed, David got him. He fell right there on the tree. Then a second came to within feet of the first but a loading ordeal cost him that one, and as he circled around we kept hopping to call him back with the fox distress. Then I spotted a bobcat sitting on a log about 70 yards back behind us the same way as the 2 fox had came. He turned just as David shot for a miss.
This is exactly how the fox fell when David shot him.
That started a 6 fox in a row streak. We moved up the road about a 1/2 mile and within minutes had another fox.
5th stand, David's turn, same thing a fox in a couple of minutes, and had coyotes howling in the distance. So, at this point we had 5 stands and 4 fox and one bobcat called and 3 fox in the truck.
On the 6 stand, I had a fox come charging in, and every time he stopped he was behind a tree. Then as he was less than 15 yards I took a shot on the move, and I guess with the AR I was low. At the shot he squalled, did a few cartwheels, changed direction and started running back the way he came. We looked, but couldn't find him. That made 4 straight stands with a fox. Since I didn't get that one, David let me be the shooter again on the next stand, and big fox came charging in a again in just a couple of minutes.
So, that made 5 straight fox stands and 4 fox in the truck. We kept our 1/2 mile increment and tried it again. Near the 10 minute mark, I figured our streak would end at 5. Then I caught eyes down wind and at first David thought it was a coyote. But as he circled closer, we saw that it was another fox. He stopped for a shot, and we collected our 5 fox of the night.
We would occasionally hear coyotes howling, but none had showed themselves. It was my turn again for the 9th stand, and I broke the streak. Nothing showed up, so it was still my turn for the 10th stand. We were back in business. A hard charging fox came in, but we lost him behind a downed tree. We switched to fox distress, but no sign of him. Then we turned around, and there he was not 20 yards away. I was able to get a quick shot, and we had our six fox of the night. By this time our light was running low, and it was almost 4 am.
We tried one more spot near the river to try and get a coon or something, but nothing showed except a swamp rabbit and we called it a night.
Here are the 3 fox I got. I was shooting the 60 vmax and 2 of the fox had almost no damage. The third one left a nasty hole. David was shooting a .223 also and same thing. 2 had almost no damage, and one blew up on a shoulder. Not sure what bullets he was shooting.
Here was the whole night take
When I left David at this hotel, it was a little after 5 am. I got home in time to skin the foxes, take a shower and head in to work. David got a few hours of sleep and then took off for Mississippi.
Overall, we had 11 stands 8 fox called 7 shot (one grazed and lost) and one bobcat missed. Only 4 dry stands out of 11 is very good for around here.
Jackrabbit, lightning jack and grey fox distress were the top sounds.
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