Morning calling story & pics

vicfox

Member
With this last Saturday morning being my turn off work Jarryd and I had arranged an outing calling predators along a fenced creek line that runs the length of a property wee had organized . We have done well there over the last couple of years and had high hopes of a successful mornings calling being the first visit for over 6 months.

We were in place on our first stand by about 6.50AM with a very slight breeze drifting from upstream which suited our intentions but we needed to work the right hand side to best take advantage of the elements.

We placed the FoxPro Spitfire between the creek 30yards out from the fence and another 30yards to where Jarryd and I sat together for this first calling session.
The idea was this would be the best chance to attract whatever may have been down stream before we worked ahead. Using a hand call first to punch out the volume to the outreaches then switching to playing the jackrabbit distress.

Out from the creek line offered little cover but with a well-placed FoxPro we should have been fine with a degree of long grass and us seated wearing full camo.

A pair of ears was spotted well downstream to our left with us confident that our approach was good enough that our scent would remain undetected. At 200+ yards we lost sight of the fox as it followed the cover of the creek line but we needed another sighting.
Jarryd’s younger keen eyes picked up the ears again coming through the long grass so I switched the FoxPro to a mouse squeak to entice it in closer.
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Stalking a little from left to right it closed the gap to the caller set on a little lower volume. The whispered instructions were given not to shoot the Spitfire but to wait for the predator to scent the human element on the caller and take the shot with the 12g as the fox departs.
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I was manning the camera trying to capture all this on film and read the situation right as once the fox nosed towards the FoxPro it scented human odour and spun retreating at speed. Jarryd was up to the task with a clean running shot rolling it stone dead. Although only 30 yards out from a seated position and the fox partially obscured by the grass it was a neat shot and a pat on the back followed.
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The first stand of the morning had served us well. I held up my end of the deal taking some footage to relive the moment latter.
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In total we would have put 1.5 miles of country behind us and we finished with another fox trying to come down wind but the cameraman couldn’t match it with Jarryds sharp shooting this time when the lip squeak stopped the fox in its tracks.

Not far from the second fox we had a stand that attracted a fox in but rather than show itself it stayed in the cover and barked at us. No doubt in my mind that it had directed its bark at us rather than the call. I had never witnessed this behaviour before and think it will be some time before I will see it again. I have witnessed a pup being called to safety by an adult fox some time back but never barked at to the same extent as this last Saturday morning.
A very enjoyable hunt and has us eager for our next adventure.

With a few photos and the satisfaction of a productive hunt we headed home to work through the allocated jobs that waited on our return. YOUTUBE LINK TO FOOTAGE.
 
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fun story. Love the photos, that last one with the gun, fox, and foxpro is really nice, would look great on the wall...
 

Great job, Dave. I always enjoy your video clips. You need to consider putting together a video for market.
 
Nice little narrative......definitely the nicest shotgun i have seen on a predator hunting pic!!

Is there a season on fox, or is it open all year down there??
 
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