does anyone bait foxes? we have a fox problem on our little pheasant shoot, and we want to clear as many of them up as possible this year, before we get our birds.
i used to get some lovely shots at foxes in Scotland, on a piece of land where a sheep farmer, who must"nt have been fully informed on the marvelous new regulations on the disposal of dead animals, used to dump dead sheep in a glen. it was always worth a look, as it offered a comanding view of the bottom of the glen, where there was often a fox or two feeding on rotting sheep.
i"m starting to think about making feeders from 5 gal plastic drums, filled with cheap dry dog food, to hang up "bear bait" style!
has anyone tried feeding them? will it make the problem worse by attracting more? we do lamp them already, but there are a few who run as soon as they see the lamp, and some who sit way out too far and won"t come in to any calls we"ve tried(i think teal whistles are hard to beat!)
i"d love to leave out a dead sheep for a day or two, but it might"nt be appreciated by the land owners.
any ideas?
good shooting

Baiting foxes is common practice here on the Continent. We usually bait them at shot distance, but that has advantages and disadvantages. You REALLY have to be quiet (both in terms of sound and movement) to get the foxes to come in that close. Since foxes are primarily hunted in winter, and since they are largely nocturnal, the preferred condition is to have snow on the ground. The hunts are to 99% done from high seats.

A typical bait setup consists of a piece of 5-6" tube (concrete or PVC) dug into the ground, into which you can fill whatever bait material you can get hold of, is legal and has been proven to work. Chickenheads are popular, but I don't know if that will continue to be so in these days of impending bird flu. It is essential that you get to hold the fox on the bait site, so it must be capable of accessing the bait, but not too easily.

Another trick is to create a "mouse castle" (Mäuseburg in German). This is essentially any location such as a collection of straw, hay or branches, in which a bunch of mice can find cover, and are therefore willing to take up residence. A constant supply of some grain strewn on the ground is a good attractant for mice.

Depending on how you intend to shoot at your foxes, you need to give them some cover to come to the bait. Foxes are anything but dumb, and they don't appreciate exposing themselves in open country. Using natural fox attractants such as running water or natural passes can be an advantage. Fox hunting can be a bit of a "science", but it is one of my favourite pasttimes.

- mike

...as mike said - tho you can replace chickenheads with raw fish (foxes love fish very much)...to drawl fox attention to the new baiting point - just get some sardines - cut them to pieces and fill the bottle with them 3/4 , then add water to fill the bottle full - and put it on the sun (cork it up offcourse) for some days till fish will partially disentigrate, then just pour the ground around with the mixture (warning - it smells really badly)...however when baiting foxes use smaller pieces of bait - better than one big, becouse foxes dont like to feed on the spot and are prone to take the bait and drag it in cover (shadow, bushes...)

brass,

Mike & Mouse gave you some great poop. To expand a little on the concept.....

The idea with the PVC or Pipe idea is to place them where the foxes can approach but where the hunter will have some cover. Here on the Continet we normally place then within shooting range of High Seats.

A 4-5" diameter of about 12" long piece of PVC is dug unto the ground at a slight angle. The idea is that a Fox can get his head into the pipe to get the goodies but it is too small for a Dog. If simply placed on the ground the Fox will scoop up the bait and depart. With the pipe he has to stop and work at it a while, giving the hunter some time to place the shot.

Fox baiting locations are off the beaten path for pedesrtians with dogs but having sky lit or moonlight with a pale, or light-colored background is another factor afford enough light to shoot at night. Doing this in deep heavily timbered forest is a disadvantage.

Like Mouse I love Sardines for this purpose since ethey quickly spread their smell around the area and attract Foxes from a good distance. I don't go through all the gyrations with preparing them since they don't need much enhancement IMO to produce a good "Aroma". I use plastic gloves and a plastic bag to dump the contents of a sardine can or two into the pipe and bin the tins in the bag. I also top off the pipes with a little Road Kill or whatever makes it self available from the lease. Foxes aren't too picky and once you've got them regualrly coming to a spot it is a matter of sitting in ambush a couple of evenings.

Once you've got a couple of these locations established; like the dead Sheep spot, the Foxes will include these locations in their routine and they can be used quite successfully over a long poeriod of time.

Hi Brass,

All these options should work. Personally I tend to go shoot a couple of rabbits and peg them to the ground so the fox can't just pick it up. It always helps if doing this in a field to put the bait so that the wind carries the scent into the cover you think the fox is in.

The other option is to try driving the foxes to the waiting syndicate guns. split guns into two teams where the walk and stand teams alternate. the walkers can also take care of any sqidgell drey as they go.

If you have a local hunt or a couple of beagles/terriers handy these are often helpfull.

The foxes will be cubbbing soon so if you locate and earts then some snares or a silenced .22 can often take care of the cubs. Another trick here that is handy is if you get to shoot the vixen, you dig a steep sided hole about 3-4ft deeep, and drag the vixen from the earth to the hole and drop her in. The cubs will follow and you can sometimes get the whole litter this way.

Rgds,
FB

Hey FB

I got the impression that you found that Duck was the best attractant for foxes!!??!!

As an aside - I find with the urge to feed the cubs so strong - now is an excellent time to be calling. Get some really strong reactions to a rabbit squeal .

rgds Ian

thanks guys, some useful stuff there. i"ll be getting some sardines to keep in the hotpress!
i"m ashamed to say that i"m without a fox rifle just at the mo. my 243 is with border barrels (rebarrel/bed job), and i"m still waitimg for my FAC for my new .22 magnum.
(i am tempted to use the .308, but it"s just not worth the risk!)
i"ll pick up some plastic pipe and look for some suitable sites.
good shooting