46 http://www.rifleshootermagazine.co.ukas its playmate didn’t seem in the
mood and finally decided it would
investigate the strange squeaks
coming from the trees.
I stopped it with an “oi” and as it
paused to look around shot it through
the ribs, bowling it over dead.
A few minutes later, a small heat
source caught my eye on the bank at
the far end of the field. I thought it was
a rabbit as it was quite small and had
been there a while, yet my eye was
continually drawn back to it until I
had to check what it was through the
night scope.
I was quite surprised to find myself
looking at the head and shoulders of
yet another fox sat peering around from
above the long grass on the bank 245
yards away. With the fox seeming quite
content to sit there a bit longer, and
the rifle well supported on the Rekon
tripod, I felt pretty confident in the
shot – especially with next to no wind
that evening.
Lining up on its shoulder, I squeezed
the trigger at the right moment and
was rewarded with the sound of bullet
hitting bone and I saw the fox roll
sideways in the grass and just the tail
wave in the air for a moment.
The farmer had asked that any shot
foxes be removed, so I gathered up the
two in the field I was in and laden with
rifle and tripod I decided to head back
to the truck and come back for the one
on the bank. I was surprised to find
that the two foxes that had come in
together were both dog foxes,
presumably for the time of year they
were most likely siblings from the
previous year’s litters.
Picking my way between the rows of
young maize, I made it back to the
truck and offloaded my gear and foxes
before heading back across the fields
to find the third one.
This proved more difficult than I
had anticipated; having had to walk
around to the next field to get across
a ditch, I found it tricky to get my
bearings as to where it had fallen. After
a little wandering about, I was able
to find the vixen dead in the long
grass with a sizeable bullet hole
through the shoulder.
On the way back to the truck, I
spotted a further two more foxes in the
next two fields so clearly another visit
is on the cards.
Once I got home and reviewed the
recorded footage of the shots I noticed
on the recordings counter that this
quick visit had been just that – three
foxes in 12 minutes. Not bad going!»
FOXING WITH MARK RIPLEY
RIGHT: The fox stood
out crystal clear
in the night visionBELOW: Three foxes
taken: the local
chicken population is
a little safer after
tonight’s foray