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Hunting foxes


Trigger Mike

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We have a serious number of foxes here.  I recently saw one walking by the road and he didn't care that we were there.   My cameras pick them up by my chickens all the time as well as my goats.  

 

What's a good lure or call to get them where I can get some of them?

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Used to be a gent here who wrote a great booklet ( and made a tape) about hunting foxes titled Foxes Yet Unseen.

 

He went by Robert Burns (or R. B. Rooson).

 

I haven't seen him on the wire, nor heard from nor about him in several years, but see what you fand out, maybe at a public library.

 

Good luck.

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By God's wounds, sir!  Lures?  Traps?  Red lights?  Shot gun?  Dash it all! There is but one way to take a fox, and that is to ride to the hounds, sir!  Saddle up, sir.  Rouse your Master of the Hounds.  

Related image

There's a good gentleman. 
None of this "lure" or "trap."  How....vulgar.  

 

 

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States are peculiar.

 

Man asks about the best way to kill fox. I look at his profile. He's in Georgia. Georgia is right next to Florida. You can stand in one, take a step and be in the other.

 

Georgia has a 3-month fox season. Unlimited. You can kill three or four hundred every day of those three months. Not a problem.

 

In Florida it's illegal to kill a fox.

 

But then I see that Georgia has a three and a half months rabbit season. In Florida we can kill them all year long.

 

States are peculiar.

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9 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Darn...I thought this thread was about pretty girls going hunting...<_<

 

Same here.  Something like
Image may contain: 1 person, outdoor and closeup

 

Then I shuddered at the thought of what a cougar would be who would consider someone my age as prey.

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Get a Foxpro or icotec game call. Set up and shoot’em just after sunrise, right around sunset, til they wise up. Don’t over call. Might get a ‘yote too! Yotes seem to catch on pretty quick.....

i shot three grey foxes in a 30 minute period using an icotec game call a couple years ago. I wouldn’t worry so much about “furbearer” season if they are threatening my chickens, just shoot’em. We had possums real bad this past year killing hens. Trapped 3 or 4 back in November and keep two traps set at hen house at all times. Ain’t seen a possum since November though....Caught some feral cats and armadillos, though.  I can bring those to ya if you like.

 

My predator hunting is limited and mostly luck.
 

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2 hours ago, Alpo said:

States are peculiar.

 

Man asks about the best way to kill fox. I look at his profile. He's in Georgia. Georgia is right next to Florida. You can stand in one, take a step and be in the other.

 

Georgia has a 3-month fox season. Unlimited. You can kill three or four hundred every day of those three months. Not a problem.

 

In Florida it's illegal to kill a fox.

 

But then I see that Georgia has a three and a half months rabbit season. In Florida we can kill them all year long.

 

States are peculiar.

Rabbit populations around me come and go. I’ll start seeing rabbits, and along with it, come foxes and yotes. Then won’t see many rabbits for a while. Predators move on, rabbits come back, keeps cycling. Since I logged my pines off and briars, sweet gums, under growth has come up, rabbits everywhere. Barely saw them before. Lotta woods around us are mature pine or hardwoods. Can be great for squirrels,  deer, turkey, hogs, but the mature hardwood forests provides little to no cover for rabbits, and a lot of times doesn’t provide the cover and food deer want.  if ya want healthy turkey and rabbit populations killing yotes and foxes ( and hogs) goes a long way. For deer fawns too!

 

My personal opinion is Id poison hogs, foxes and yotes if it were legal and I could be 100% certain of no collateral damage.
 

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1 hour ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

 

Same here.  Something like
Image may contain: 1 person, outdoor and closeup

 

Then I shuddered at the thought of what a cougar would be who would consider someone my age as prey.

Women who look like that and like to shoot to boot dont usually look my way.  The only women who ask for my phone number are the check out girls at bi-lo and tractor supply and they never call me.   Which is nice.

 

 

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I have A fox den in my yard, and each year a pair come and raise a brood of Kits, that I watch from my deck or kitchen window ….

It seems that my desire to hunt foxes has decreased as of late ….

I used to hunt them and Yotes mid Jan. through the month of Feb. with my Scoped Rifles …. My two old stand-byes being a .220 Swift and a .222 Rem. both heavy Barreled bolt guns …. To this I added a Ruger "Hawkeye" with a Heavy Sporter  weight barrel in .204 …..

 

Jabez Cowboy

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18 minutes ago, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

Get a Foxpro or icotec game call. Set up and shoot’em just after sunrise, right around sunset, til they wise up. Don’t over call. Might get a ‘yote too! Yotes seem to catch on pretty quick.....

i shot three grey foxes in a 30 minute period using an icotec game call a couple years ago. I wouldn’t worry so much about “furbearer” season if they are threatening my chickens, just shoot’em. We had possums real bad this past year killing hens. Trapped 3 or 4 back in November and keep two traps set at hen house at all times. Ain’t seen a possum since November though....Caught some feral cats and armadillos, though.  I can bring those to ya if you like.

 

My predator hunting is limited and mostly luck.
 

I saw a fox pro on sale at cabelas which triggered my question so this helps.  Thx.

 

The eye candy was helpful too though

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My grandfather used to hunt foxes with his buddies.  They'd take out a pack of Walker Hounds, build a fire, put on a pot of coffee, and tell lies until dawn.  Then they'd call in the dawgs and go home.  Never really gave a hoot about the fox.

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I think coyotes, possums, skunks, and weasels may be a bigger threat to your chickens. Foxes are the best rodent control mammal on the planet.

A secure coop is your best safeguard against predators. 

All of our coyotes and foxes died from the mange about 7-8 years back. Then, the feral cat, rabbit, and rodent population exploded.

Now the fox population has leveled out, coyotes aren't quite back up to old numbers. There are fewer rabbits, gophers, mice, and other rodents.

Neighbor has a big German Shepard that protects his chickens. Fox and coyotes don't come close.

 

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10 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

By God's wounds, sir!  Lures?  Traps?  Red lights?  Shot gun?  Dash it all! There is but one way to take a fox, and that is to ride to the hounds, sir!  Saddle up, sir.  Rouse your Master of the Hounds.  

Related image

There's a good gentleman. 
None of this "lure" or "trap."  How....vulgar.  

 

 

 

 

Tally Ho, Lads!

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20 hours ago, Marshal Hangtree said:

My grandfather used to hunt foxes with his buddies.  They'd take out a pack of Walker Hounds, build a fire, put on a pot of coffee, and tell lies until dawn.  Then they'd call in the dawgs and go home.  Never really gave a hoot about the fox.

 

I remember doing the same thing with my dad. I think the fox got as much enjoyment out of it as we did.

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19 hours ago, Assassin said:

I think coyotes, possums, skunks, and weasels may be a bigger threat to your chickens. Foxes are the best rodent control mammal on the planet.

A secure coop is your best safeguard against predators. 

All of our coyotes and foxes died from the mange about 7-8 years back. Then, the feral cat, rabbit, and rodent population exploded.

Now the fox population has leveled out, coyotes aren't quite back up to old numbers. There are fewer rabbits, gophers, mice, and other rodents.

Neighbor has a big German Shepard that protects his chickens. Fox and coyotes don't come close.

 

+10

 

Feral Cats decimate the bird population especially quail.

Rodents cause way more trouble than foxes do.

We lost more chickens to feral dogs than foxes. 

Foxes are part of the natural ecosystem and play a key role in controlling the populations of other small mamals. Leave them to play their part in nature's balance.

 

BTW The fox wasn't afraid of you because they are incredibly intelligent and knew you wern't a threat.    

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Actually in the past I lost 24 chickens in 1 year to foxes, possums and hawks.   I moved them to a stronger pen and only lose them when my son forgot to close the gate properly. 

 

The problem is I put a smaller coop beside the strong one for the little ones to grow without being pecked to death by the bigger hens.  A fox is trying to dig underneath it to get in.

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The fox is a digger. They have created quite the earthworks next to the railroad tracks, they have multiple dens and use all of them. They also will form a nursery and one vixen will take care of the kits while others hunt for food. Our resident fox eats quite well, she gets our chicken carcasses, bones, bread heals, pretty much any left overs go to the fox rock. They also like milk-bone dog biscuits. They watch from afar and know when to come in for dinner. Maybe they are too well fed to bother with the neighbors chickens. The kits are very entertaining when they start running around in mid summer. Then, towards the end of summer they are gone. Should see a fresh batch of kits around the end of march. Coyotes kill foxes, and they are arch enemies. If you have foxes at least you don't have to worry about coyotes bothering your dogs, cats, or children. Foxes will avoid confrontation from other animals, they will not bother adult cats. 

The chicken coop needs to have the wire go under ground 6-8 inches. Many critters will try to undermine the perimeter when baited with chickens. 

Badgers will tear everything up if they want in bad enough. I'm guessing y'all don't have badgers in GA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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In addition to burying the fence 6 to 12 inches below grade, add some galvanized hardware cloth about 3 to 6 inches below the surface extending out 2 or 3 feet from the fence. For an extra deterrent attach some good 4 barb barbwire to the hardware cloth with hog rings. Space the barbwire strands 4 to 6 inches apart.

 

The hardware cloth is tough enough to deter most diggers diggers and the barbwire will cut the foot pads of those that need more persuasion.  

 

Installation is a little work but it keeps diggers from gaining access under fences. If also teaches a lesson about the hazards of digging around the chicken coop that gets passed on to offspring.

 

BTW I have identified a lot of chicken thieving dogs with this method because it takes a long time for foot pads to heal.

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