Well I knew there was a grey fox hanging around the back of my property because I saw him twice, even calling him in to 4 yards during archery deer season. Gun season for deer started two weekends ago and I gave it my all this past Wed-Sun without seeing many deer. Friday night was breezy and fair. I decided to lug not only my deer hunting rifle and gear in with me, but I also took my Rem. 700VS in .223, Lightforce spotlight and FoxPro FX3 caller in with me. The minute deer hunting hours ended I switched gear and started calling.

I started with the squealing rabbit for a while, then silence. Tried again, then silence for about 10 minutes. Tried the grey fox pup in distress for a while, then silence. I had a great spot with a good view overlooking about 2 acres of mowed clearing at the edge of my woods and the wind was perfect for the setup. I switched again to the sqealing rabbit and turned up the volume to get some range into the woods and down through the two goldenrod fields below (the goldenrod grew over 7' this year and the rabbits are loving the protection!). I shined the spotlight out into the field and saw eyeballs trotting right at me! If you've ever seen a Lightforce spotlight they are really dark red and really bright - this didn't phase the fox at all. It came closer, then turned to head directly at the call. I quickly shut the call off and tried to get a shot, but he slipped into the woods. I got the caller going again with the lip squeak and out he came, stopping at 60 yards with a slight quartering away shot. I pressed the trigger and down he went.

He was a prime, "cherry" fox - perfect pelt! My .223 handloads use Varget powder to push the 40 gr. V-Max at 3,300 fps. The entry wound was just a bullet hole, the exit wound wasn't bad at all and stitched up good once the pelt was on the stretcher. This is the first fox I've skinned, though I've done plenty of coyote. What a pleasure it is to do something as easy as a fox - no fat, little muscle, ear cartilage came out easy and fleshing was a breeze!

So I'm going for the canine trifecta this season - I know that grey is out there, he better be careful!

As he lay:


FoxPro FX3, Remington 700 VS .223 40 gr. Hornaday VMAX at 3,300 fps


The exit wound was smaller than the blood shows

. Way to go . !! What model of LightForce do you use , The 140 or 170 ..

I got the Lightforce Hunter pack a few years ago - it comes with the 140 and all the attachments, adjustable dimmer, etc. Until you see one at night it's hard to tell people how good of a dark red beam it shoots. I use a handheld red spotlight for general scanning until I see eyeballs, then switch to my scope mounted Lightforce. I keep it on low power until I'm on target, then turn it up if needed. I have not had any notable alarm of any animals that I've shined. I even had a coyote come right up some cornrows right at me from about 50 yards to 10 yards away without any signs of slowing down.

I will say that I have had some problems with my Lightforce that were very disappointing. The switch on the cord is not great. I have had several problems that were wiring related. I used the shotgun mount for one hunt, but after one shot from my 12-gauge the mount cracked into pieces. The battery pack is heavy and you can't have the light on for hours on end, but the bulb is using a lot of juice. The other thing it should have is a shroud that contains the light spilling out right in front of the lens - it lights up the front of my rifle, tripod sticks and my feet. I have a homemade one, but I need to make a longer version.

Even with the annoyances that you shouldn't have to deal with for the price, I still think it's a great spotlight. I just wish I could find a good red-LED flashlight throwing a beam strong enough to use for scanning for eyeball reflections at 100-200 yards out. The LEDs last for a long, long time and my white LED flashlight is very small and extremely bright (claimed 900 lumens).

Awesome. I shot at a red in the headlights once......missed cuz I was too blown away! We don't have many of them around here!

Congrats!!

You might try keeping your caller running continuously and just turning it down when you see them coming in.

Good Hunting,

Bob