the feathers indicated that the chickens had been
taken towards the forest.
It was a beautiful spring evening and already
the deer were coming out into the lush grass field
that runs alongside the wood. Bern said there
were about seven coming out every night. I had all
the NV set up: thermal spotter and .243 with
digital scope on it. I was interested to see what
would come out when it got dark.
We heard the ‘honk, honk!’ overhead as two
Canada geese flew over to pitch into the pond. I
cannot explain how good it felt to be back out
again, taking in all the smells and the last of the
birdsong as darkness descended and we waited
for our fox. It gave me time to reflect that so often
we take life for granted, but here I was, feeling
very lucky to be out once again enjoying it.
All seven roe deer had come out, but I started
to detect more and more heat blobs coming from
the wood. We now had 15 deer out! It just
shows what you see with the NV that you
would otherwise miss.
It was good to share the evening
with Bern, taking it in turns with the
spotter. However, I could feel myself
getting tired. “I don’t think I can stay
too late,” I said to Bern. “If the fox
doesn’t show soon, I will try to call
him out.” I felt confident this would
work, as the foxes here don’t get chased
around much.
“No need,” said Bern, “I think this is him
coming out the wood now.” I took the spotter to
confirm. He was right. I handed it back, and,
turning on my scope and infrared, I picked up the
fox making his way across the meadow above the
pond. This is where it gets exciting for me,
working out when to take the shot. There was not
much wind so when he stopped and sniffed the
ground broadside on, I took it. The 58gr varmint
round thudded into the fox and the job was done.
As someone who hasn’t really seen a
full-bore rifle in action much, Bern was impressed.
“You got it! Cracking shot!” he exclaimed. It is
always nice to feed off someone else’s
excitement. I lined up my rifle so he could see the
fox in the scope, then off he went to collect it. I sat
there, just looking around with the spotter, feeling
a bit tired but happy as I could see him returning
with the fox.
It was a nice dog fox. After taking a couple of
pictures, I got my split sticks out of the truck and
took the brush off and gave it to him. Before I
headed off, I told Bern to let me know if he had
any more trouble. Although I am going to be busy
back on the farm catching up with those closer to
home before the crops get away. I know for sure
some will have slipped through the net as in other
years, but I will do my best.
I still have a long way to go in terms of my
recovery, but I know that the support from my
family and friends and my love of the countryside
will get me there. PICTURES:
DEAN HARRISONFOXING
When the foxes have young to feed, they will be
skulking around chicken sheds earlier in the dayDeano’s full-bore .243 gets dusted
off after a few weeks of recoveryChicken feathers left
at the crime scene