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A December 2016 fox hunt with FOXBUSTERS

Ross and Graham on a spotlighting sortie in Rover the buggy (Graham driving).                   Armed with a rifle, .223Rem firing 55gn Ballistic Tip projectiles @ 3,150fps.  A rifle .243Win firing 70gn Ballistic Tip projectiles @ 3,500fps and 12Ga shotgun firing BB size shot.

Fox 1              A 6.72kg male 2 ½ Yo, came from 200m to the sound of the “Secret Weapon” (SW) and stopped at 35m.  Ross took him with his .223.  He had eaten beetles, caterpillars and had 7 tape worms and a round worm in his small intestine.

Fox 2              This time a 1 ½ Yo female, 5.33 Kg came to 35m and succumbed to the .223.  Gut contents, carrion, beetles and caterpillars.  She had given birth to 4 cubs.

Fox 3              Graham took at 231m a 2.79Kg male cub with his .243.  It was on a dam bank in a canola stubble.  It had eaten canola, beetles, carrion and earwigs.

Fox 4              Was called in from 400m to 50m.  Ross, with his .223,took this 1 ½ Yo, 5.75kg female that had not given birth, but had eaten canola, beetles and grasshoppers.

Fox 5             An adult fox also came to the (SW) at the same time.  It turned and ran away through high grass when Ross shot fox 4.  At about 85m, it was stopped by a snap shot from Graham’s .243.  It could not be found for examination.

Fox 6              Would not come to any caller, so it was perused for about 700m when Ross flattened the 2 ½ Yo female weighing 4.38kg with the 12Ga shotgun.  She had eaten Grasshoppers, Barley and Canola.  One round worm was in the small intestine and she had birthed 6 cubs.

Fox 7              At 80m from an awkward position and a nearly obscured position Ross managed to take this 2.46kg female cub with his .223.  It had a varied diet of Carrion, Beetles, Earwig, Caterpillar, Canola, Earthworms and a Lizard.

Fox 8              Would not come to any caller.  As the barley stubble paddock had numerous bog mark ruts, we slowly followed this 3.20kg male cub for hundreds of metres to where Ross pulled off a running shot with his .223 at 130m over the fence in the next paddock.  This last fox for the night had eaten a Centipede and Beetles

There were 7 other foxes that were seen but not shot at due to distance and lack of opportunity.

What is FOXBUSTERS® “Secret Weapon”?

Foxes are attracted to the sound of an animal or bird in distress.  Logically a distressed animal would be easier to catch and eat. Play this sound, it effectively attracts foxes where they have had experience with catching birds.

Even at night when spotlighting for foxes, when a foxes eyes are seen, switch off the engine and all lights except one spotlight which is shone low keeping the fox eyes illuminated in the upper edge of the beam.  Foxes are known to gallop towards the sound. More on use.

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Tunney LCD Fox Hunt

On March 16, 2018 the  fox hunters of Tunney took out 5 cats, 78 foxes and 24 rabbits for the 28th Tunney LCD Annual Fox shoot.

FOXBUSTERS was one of the teams involved in the shoot.  The Tunney group has taken 1,124 foxes, 64 cats and 1,025 rabbits in the past 28 years.

 

Tunney LCD Fox Hunt Tallies

YEAR

CATS

FOXES

RABBITS

1990

0

12

88

1991

3

22

96

1992

6

11

37

1993

5

37

121

1994

1

45

43

1995

0

27

86

1996

2

17

18

1997

2

36

36

1998

1

20

43

1999

0

26

52

2000

1

22

23

2001

3

63

36

2002

1

32

11

2003

1

21

17

2004

1

76

20

2005

4

47

77

2006

1

43

23

2007

2

33

12

2008

2

20

1

2009

1

58

22

2010

1

46

11

2011

2

29

27

2012

2

41

32

2013

1

34

17

2014

4

78

20

2015

 0

43

27

2016

         5

          43

             10

2017

         7

           64

               5

2018

 5

78

24

2019

 

 

 

2020

 

 

 

64

1,124

1,025

 

Are they fox eyes in my spotlight?

The colour of fox eyes can vary depending on many things.

A. The colour of the spotlight being used; HID, halogen or coloured filters will have an effect on the retinal reflection colour you see.
B. The age of the fox may have an effect.
C. How directly the fox looks at the light.
D. The distance between your eyes and the light source (reflective angle) can affect the colour.

What colour am I looking for?

Usually greenish yellow. However white, orange and even red eyes can be a fox.
Cats, sheep, cattle and dogs can share the same colour as foxes. The space between the eyes can sometimes determine whether or not it’s a fox.
The movement of the eyes is the next thing to look for. You may see a fox or a cat blink. A fox’s eye may move quickly whereas most other animals don’t move so quickly. A fox may only give a quick glance compared to a sheep for example.
A fox may be seen apart from a mob of sheep, but sometimes within the mob but moving differently to the sheep’s eyes.
Because other creature’s eye reflections are similar to fox, you must identify the animal before shooting.
Cats, sheep, cattle, wolf spider and fox eyes can look similar in colour.

Deer have particularly bright eyes.  They group together quickly and move quickly when startled.
Animals with a more red appearance are kangaroo, possum and rabbit.

More eye colour information.

Always positively identify the animal before shooting.