What a great weekend!!!

SnowmanMo

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Staff member
I would like to start off this holiday post by thanking all of the men and women who have and are serving in our armed forces for their dedication and devotion. I full well understand and appreciate that without them this weekend would not have been possible.

Unlike many, Joe and I ended up with Friday off from work in honor of Veteran's Day. Joe got off his house arrest, which apparently you get from predator hunting when it is your wife's birthday, and we opted to go up into some cooler weather.

It is still deer season here in Az, so we hoped that by going during the week we would miss a lot of them. Sadly, that was not to be. From the very first stand we had deer hunters all over us. Being that the seasons are mainly winding down they were out in force. While I respect true hunters, road hunters annoy me. And they were everywhere Friday. These guys roll up and down roads and trails, glassing from trucks until they spot a hapless deer that they can blast away at. Of course the issue for us is that they tend to burn our stands while they do this.

Joe and I had several unsuccessful stands before I decided to give something a try. I took the Mule down some tight little trails that swung us around the backside of some camps, and were behind a larger trail. My hope was that the bobcats and foxes would head up into the rocky hills to hide from the noisemakers. In order to draw them out I went to my BIG speaker. I rolled out some hand calls and backed them up with my Scorpion. I was using grey fox distress along with a jackrabbit hand call when this male comes running down the hill. Joe had set himself up behind the caller and I was to the right. The fox stood up on a boulder over 50 yards out and got a good look at the caller. When he titled his head from side to side I took the shot. The #4 buckshot loads from SD did the trick.


IMG_2725 by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr

In order to keep my schedule somewhat normal I decided to go out Sunday. unfortunately most of the guys had family commitments. I was sorely tempted to sleep in, but the weather and hunt reports looked so good, I couldn't pass it up.

I chose to go into an area I hoped would have less deer hunters. Fat chance of that. They were everywhere. On my first stand I had 3 truckloads of them roll up on top of me. I figured that I was using the wrong calls since they seemed so attracted to me. I decided to head even further towards the rocks and headed toward a water hole I knew.

I got the Mule stashed in the brush and was about half way to my stand when I hear talking and laughing. It is no wonder these deer hunters are so unsuccessful, they are LOUD!!! Frustrated, I was seriously thinking about calling it a day. Then I thought about Friday and decided to try the same strategy. I sat down to wait out the deer hunters. Not too long after I hear car doors and I see the truck roll up to the Mule. These guys are fully engaged in a conversation, windows down with music blaring when the one asks the other if the Mule was there when they came in.

I used their noise to cover the sound of me slipping into my stand. After hearing the noise of the tires on rocks fade away, I waited about 10 minutes. I ripped into a combo of hand calls and jackrabbit calls on my Scorpion. 90 seconds in and here comes this male fox. He is using the trail underneath me. I really can't move so I was going to let him come past me and take the shot from behind him. I rolled my Specialized Dynamics 17Rem AR-15 so that I could use my Burris Fast Fire 2 on my 45 deg mount and the fox stopped. I was busted. The fox turned to run and I swung on him. I have to be honest, years of shooting tactical 3 gun matches kicked in and as the dot hit the fox I fired. The fox dropped DRT. The shot hit the fox in the base of the neck and exited the top of the head. It also probably didn't hurt that the fox was only 20 feet away.

Here is a pic from where I sat, I have circled the fox:


20 foot fox by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr

Here is from the fox's point of view, I have circled the rock that I was leaning against, with mys stool as reference.


20 foot fox stand by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr


IMG_2739 by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr

After skinning the fox I decided to try another stand. The weather was nice, and I hadn't seen a deer hunter for a little while. I decided to call a little horseshoe canyon.


IMG_2727 by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr

I slipped in and tucked into some rocks again. I again started with a jackrabbit hand call and with the echo still rolling through the canyon I see a fox about 400 yards out coming down hill. I start the Scorpion and the fox stops. It then begins to slide to my left. I fire up some pup distress calls, and the fox disappears. I try a series of pup distress calls before I roll into some grey fox distress. On a hunch I throw out some jackrabbit hand calls again. No sooner do I start the hand calls then I spot the fox about 75 yards out on the rocks to my left. I raise my rifle and keep the hand calls going. The fox pops out on a big boulder and I take the shot.

Now while the SD 17Rem doesn't have much recoil, it doesn't feel to good when the scope happens to catch your mouth call and jam it into your teeth. So with two foxes down, a sore mouth and a new flock of "deer hunters" buzzing around I decided to call it a day.


IMG_2742 by SnowmanMo56, on Flickr

Our freedoms are truly amazing as are them men and women who protect them.

 
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Great narration of a great story followed up with excellent pictures to help tell the tale.

Sounds like a great hunt, overcoming the burden of the roadmasters.
 
Originally Posted By: scottmilk9Good job Mo!

Man I cannot get over this .17Rem!!! The more I use it, the more I love it. Your idea about going with the 18in barrel is really paying dividends.
 
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