Last evening...

19 June 2009, 13:14

Andre Mertens

Last evening...

While stalking Roebuck, I crossed the path of a vixen on her way back from shopping. She died so suddenly that she had no time to release what she was bringing back to the hole : 2 field mice and 1 slow worm !

19 June 2009, 13:55

Claret_Dabbler

Andre, excellent.

Deer calibre's really mess up a Fox...

19 June 2009, 14:07

DUK

Did you look for the puppies to shoot them, too?

19 June 2009, 16:17

Andre Mertens

quote:
Deer calibre's really mess up a Fox...

And then Brian, you haven't seen the other side of her

One thing's sure : "the .30-06 kills fox like lightning"

I haven't located the foxhole yet but the gamekeeper is going to comb out the bushes with his dogs today. No need to let the puppies starve (in this kind of work, a terrier is as efficient as a rifle).

19 June 2009, 16:30

Ghubert

quote:
Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
One thing's sure : "the .30-06 kills fox like lightning"

+1

Yup, mine certainly made a mess of one Kiri's problem foxes. I'm impressed the two halves of yours stayed together

Waidmansheil Andre!

Regards,

Amir

19 June 2009, 17:29

Andre Mertens

Well Amir, it was a near 100% frontal shot actually with the bullet traversing lengthwise. The most dramatic "biopsy" was on the underside and the end effect ressembled some king of a rug . Luckily the photo is respectably cosmetic but, true, there were little pieces of fox all over the place...

19 June 2009, 18:26

nightwalker uk

Nice going Andre, always find it interesting what they have been eating.

Heres the dog I shot just before dark coming into cubs, count the field voles he was carrying!!

Then shot the vixen with scope light just before midnight. Heres a picture of the pair together.

Over the next 2 nights got 6 cubs - wish it was always such a tidy clean up!

Oh yes this is one of my accomadation for foxing operations!!

This action was from last year, this year I have been using the night vision more, big cubs just starting to move now.

19 June 2009, 19:09

Andre Mertens

8 moles, I lose !
That's a professional setup, are you a pelt hunter

Of course, being able to spot and shoot at night is deadly and most efficient. In this country, both night shooting and lighting are prohibited, so that shooting/seeing a fox is a matter of luck.

19 June 2009, 19:21

Claret_Dabbler

Great Photo's Rich.

I shot a big brute of a dog fox two weeks ago. I crept up a bank over looking a silage field which had just been cut that day. The fox was about 70m away, facing directly towards me with his head down feeding. I shot him in the back of the neck.

It was only a little 50gr v-max from the 222, but it nearly decapitated him. I was pretty pleased. The cubs are out and about in numbers here now.

19 June 2009, 19:47

Boghossian

quote:
Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
8 moles, I lose !
That's a professional setup, are you a pelt hunter Of course, being able to spot and shoot at night is deadly and most efficient. In this country, both night shooting and lighting are prohibited, so that shooting/seeing a fox is a matter of luck.

Andre I heard that foxes are being protected in the Flanders region. Is this true?
I've also heard that the new agriculture minister is a green and hunters expect he will be anti-hunting.

19 June 2009, 20:17

Andre Mertens

Unfortunately, you're right on both counts, Boghossian. My hunting lease lies astride on both regios, Wallonie and Flanders. It means 2 hunting licences (no reciprocity, of course), woodcock season on the French side, protected on the Flemish side, fox open all year in Wallonie, only from october to february in Flanders. It would have been laughable if not so sinister, you have no idea to what point one could get disgusted in this country which should never had been (artificially) created to start with. Back to things more interesting, the difficulty of hunting fox in my case is that before shooting, you must ascertain the beast is Walloon or Flemish. Luckily, with experience, one notices at 1st. glance

19 June 2009, 22:20

Fallow Buck

quote:
Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
Unfortunately, you're right on both counts, Boghossian. My hunting lease lies astride on both regios, Wallonie and Flanders. It means 2 hunting licences (no reciprocity, of course), woodcock season on the French side, protected on the Flemish side, fox open all year in Wallonie, only from october to february in Flanders. It would have been laughable if not so sinister, you have no idea to what point one could get disgusted in this country which should never had been (artificially) created to start with. Back to things more interesting, the difficulty of hunting fox in my case is that before shooting, you must ascertain the beast is Walloon or Flemish. Luckily, with experience, one notices at 1st. glance

Andre, For a country with as many parliaments as Belgium what can you expect!!!

I think the politicians need to be reduced let alone the foxes!!

FB

19 June 2009, 23:18

Stu C

Interesting photos all.

André, your Sauer is a very handsome rifle. I always enjoy looking your photos of it.

cheers,
- stu

20 June 2009, 05:00

DB Bill

The "slow worm" looks more like a snake ????

20 June 2009, 12:00

Andre Mertens

"Anguis fragilis", also called "glass snake" because of its habit of shedding parts of its tail when caught and actually "breaking loose". As a matter of facts, it's not a snake but a lizzard sans legs. The shown example was a female anguis, recognizable by the dark stripes running along the flanks.

21 June 2009, 01:43

DB Bill

Thanks --- I did a Google search. Fascinating.

21 June 2009, 13:46

nightwalker uk

quote:
Originally posted by Andre Mertens:
8 moles, I lose !
That's a professional setup, are you a pelt hunter Of course, being able to spot and shoot at night is deadly and most efficient. In this country, both night shooting and lighting are prohibited, so that shooting/seeing a fox is a matter of luck.

Not a pelt hunter, no longer any demand in the UK! But fox control is a major part of my job. It would be terrible if we had similar restrictions in UK, I reckon many of the wild populations of ground nesting birds would crash to a low level.

The professionals in your country must use scented bait stations alot to get fox's out in daylight? Can you also trap and snare and use terriers/hounds for flushing?

Regards NW

21 June 2009, 15:47

Andre Mertens

There are no professional hunters or trappers in Belgium. In Flanders, stupidity goes as far as prohibiting all hunting acts within a 50 m radius of a foxhole. BTW, unleashing and letting roam a hunting dog is also posing a "hunting act", so it's easy to become a criminal if you don't known each foxhole location !?! Further, in the whole country, your dogs may flush a fox in open season but hunting underground has become illegal a few years ago. All in all, apart from catching them alive in cage-traps or otherwise shooting them when sighted, killing one of the (plentyful) foxes proceeds from luck... Needless to say that "illicit" fox hunting has become quite common nowadays.

22 June 2009, 03:40

308Sako

Andre, Done with style... congratulations.

22 June 2009, 14:49

Nitehawk

Nice shot! Foxes and runaway cats can really mess up the population of ground nesting birds. In our hunting ground, we try to keep their presence to a minimum, but with current laws, it's allmost impossible.