Fox territory

Making the most of the recent good weather I decided an early morning Monday hunt was on the cards. I set off early to one of my great calling locations situated on the bank of a creek. This particular location has a fantastic view of the creek bed which is fed by a small natural spring and contains plenty of great fox hidey holes.

I got comfortable and started calling away on my rabbit distress Tenterfield and it didn’t take long for a fox to emerge.

I spotted the fox on the distant hill side and it started to trot on in, however this time it was different to usual. The fox made it to the side of the creek around 300 yards away and stopped dead in its tracks. The fox sat with its ears pricked up on the opposite creek bank staring across the other side. Initially I thought it had either seen or winded me, however the wind was in my favour and it was not staring at me. I gave a few more softer callers on the Tenterfield but it would not budge.

What could be wrong?

After around 10 minutes of the fox sitting there in a suspicious state it moved back to the standing position and barrelled in towards my location. Once it reached within 100 yards I took the shot and killed the fox.

On my way to inspect the kill, I couldn’t understand what made him freeze like that? Whilst walking towards the kill site I spotted tracks directly in front of me on a ledge out of sight of my calling position. It dawned on me, he was watching another fox between my position and himself! Doing some later reading on the subject, it seems foxes are very territorial and the fox I was watching was waiting for the dominant fox to move on before crossing into its territory.

You can see the fox prints on the ledge in the below photo followed by fox scat along side cow scat.

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Fox whistling how to

Are you stuck trying to work out how to whistle foxes in Australia? Here are a few fox whistling tips to help set you on your way to bagging your first fox on the whistle.

The first tip I recommend is just getting out there. Foxes won’t whistle themselves and the best way to gain experience is to experiment and see what works in your hunting patch.

The second most important tip is??? You guessed it. Wind. Foxes have a keen sense of smell and at the first sign they smell trouble, they will bolt before you lay eyes on them. Always do your best to position yourself down wind from a likely fox location and keep and eye on wind changes.

What whistle?

There are many different types of whistles from the trusty tenterfield fox whistle  to electronic callers. My first suggestion is to pickup a tenterfield fox whistle  from your local gun shop (or make one) and practice practice practice. The tenterfield whistle is a tricky fox call to master however once you have the basic technique down packed you will have them coming in like the pied piper. Another great call is the button whistle. The button whistle is much simpler to use and can be dynamite on foxes. The best part of all, it is cheap! Usually around $2 at your local gun shop. I have also had great success with the shotgun shell whistle and my latest whistle the T2 fox whistle from Fox Calls. Overall my favourite whistle is my Silva mini tenterfield which has many scalps to its name.

What gun?

The simple answer is, whatever you have. Foxes can be hunted with a .22 rimfire (close range) or any of the smaller centrefires such as the 204 Ruger or the most popular Australian centrefire .223 Remington. Shotguns are also an awesome weapon against foxes when using BB’s or above. Shotguns however are best suited when you hunt with a friend as often a fox will sit just outside shotgun range so a rifle is a must.

Where to whistle?

The best way to work this out is to think like a fox. Foxes need three key things to survive: A water source, A food source, Somewhere to seek shelter. Food sources can be anything from domestic livestock to ground dwelling birds, mice, insects and marsupials. I try to look for areas that tick off all three key points above. The places I have the most luck are rolling hills that also contain deep creeks and hopefully water. Creek banks are the perfect spot for foxes to burrow and fresh water means plenty of insects, frogs and water birds to snack on. Another favourite of foxes are orchards, foxes love nothing better than climbing trees to flog a few apples.

The setup

when calling a creek system I try to find some trees either on the side of the bank or 50 metres or so away from the bank. I setup at the base of a tree to provide some shadow and break up my outline. It is important to enter the area as quietly as possible and then wait at least 5 minutes for the bush to adjust whilst sitting dead silent before commencing a fox whistling session.

Time of the day

I like to do most of my fox whistling at first light. I have had success in the afternoon, however I find the best time is from sunrise until around 10am if calling during the day. I also like to mix it up sometimes and call at night using a rifle mounted torch and handheld torch for scanning.

Hopefully the above will be enough to get you started, over time I will add more tips and tricks to help sort out the cunning red fox. Always remember identify your target before making a shot and ensure there is a safe backdrop.

Get out There!

17 HMR (hummer) vs red coats

Last Sunday we finally got a break in the hot weather so I decided to head out early for a walk in the hills.

Using my new T2 fox whistle it didn’t take long to call this vixen up out of a lush creek system.

A quick off hand shot to the neck / chest dropped her on the spot. Considering the time of the year and the string of hot weather I was surprised her coat was in such good condition. This is the first time I have hunted fox with cz 455 HMR and it seemed to do the job nicely!

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