Gary's First Redfox
Jan 10, 2011 18:10:17 GMT -7
Post by Timber Butte Outdoors on Jan 10, 2011 18:10:17 GMT -7
Team TBO ProStaff Brendan LoCicero and I went hunting on Saturday Jan. 8, 2011.
It was a nice morning when we left home at 6:30AM. As the sun came up, so did the wind. By the time we arrived at our destination, the wind was howling, blowing snow, but the sky was clear and cold 14 degrees before the wind chill factor.
But due to us being in a new area of hunting, we decided to go ahead and look for some good calling areas, or locations that would afford hiding the truck, within a quarter mile walk to a calling stand.
Due to the wind howlng, we never got an opportunity to make a stand, although we tried to walk to a stand, but was blown/froze out and went back to the truck.
As we were driving around exploring, Brendan says "FOX!" so he comes to a stop, the fox was on my side, rolled up in a ball, laying on the snow, in the wide open with the wind blowing snow over him. Brendan brought the truck to a stop, the fox just laid there, as I was trying to get my rifle and myself out of the truck, Brendan says to me, here use my 17 Fireball, So I took the rifle, rested on the door, left handed, as I was working to get set up, the fox jumped up, and began trotting away, not in a hurry, I found him in the scope, got the crosshairs on him and fired, I missed at 100 yards, Brendan handed me another round (he had only put one in the rifle), I loaded it, got back on the rest, and on the scope, the fox ran about 70 yards and stopped broadside, Now remember, the wind is blowing snow right into my face, howling, 30 miles an hour, I lined up the crosshairs on the chest behind the front shoulder, squeezed the trigger, and instantly the fox dropped like a sack of taters, which I watched in the scope due to very little recoil, the bullet hit the fox in the head right behind the ear, the little 17 cal bullet opened his head like a water balloon.
Brendan said that he would walk out and get it. Off he went, the snow was plowed up on the side of the dirt road about 4 ft, but the snow in the field was a little over the knee deep, and thigh deep in spots. I watched Brendan, trudging out through the snow, in a couple spots I watched him actually crawl because the snow was to deep to forde. 170 yards both ways. After Brendan got the fox, and was on his way back, I saw him toss the fox up ahead of himself, and then he would forde to it, then toss it again, and so on till he got back to the truck. As he arrived back at the truck, he was completely winded, he was gasping for air, coughing, wezzing, and I thought he was going to kick off any minute. This guy works out in a gym a couple times a week, and does MMA workouts, getting his butt kicked each week - LOL Just given you a hard time Buddy!
The first thing I told him when he got back was, "Man! I Owe You Big Time!" I also told him: "If that had been me going after that fox, You would have had a tow truck come and wench me out of the snow field, becuase I would have died 50 yards out, you would have never got me back to the truck - hook a TBO Drag on me and drag me back to the road. LOL
This is the first Redfox I have ever shot. Although, I have in the past, when I was younger, did trap a good number of foxes here in the valley. Just never had the opportunity to shoot one, other than in a trap.
Here is Brendan with the fox.
Notice the snow in the background, we were up on the high plains. On this trip, we saw 5 coyotes, one of which I think was a wolf, it was about a third of a mile away, when I saw it, it was big.
We also seen one in a field next to a house, as we were looking at, we noticed that the coyote had no hair on its, hind quarter and tail was bald, but due to being right next to a house, which we were parked in front of, and people were home, we didn't take a shot, but as soon as the coyote saw us, it took off over a snall hill in the field.
All in all it was a good day, I just wished it would have not been howling winds, and we could have called a few coyote to have put in the back of the truck.
OH! I forgot that Brendan's spare tire holder under his truck had broken, and had fallen off into the dirt road, we were lucky, we had just a couple minutes been traveling on the Freeway, just imagine if that had broken going 75-80 down the Freeway, man what a mess that would have been.
So we stopped, backed up and picked it up and put in the bed of the truck. We had not seen any other coyotes, unable to get out to make a call, and it was getting late, and we were both tired, we headed for home.
Good Hunting
Gary
It was a nice morning when we left home at 6:30AM. As the sun came up, so did the wind. By the time we arrived at our destination, the wind was howling, blowing snow, but the sky was clear and cold 14 degrees before the wind chill factor.
But due to us being in a new area of hunting, we decided to go ahead and look for some good calling areas, or locations that would afford hiding the truck, within a quarter mile walk to a calling stand.
Due to the wind howlng, we never got an opportunity to make a stand, although we tried to walk to a stand, but was blown/froze out and went back to the truck.
As we were driving around exploring, Brendan says "FOX!" so he comes to a stop, the fox was on my side, rolled up in a ball, laying on the snow, in the wide open with the wind blowing snow over him. Brendan brought the truck to a stop, the fox just laid there, as I was trying to get my rifle and myself out of the truck, Brendan says to me, here use my 17 Fireball, So I took the rifle, rested on the door, left handed, as I was working to get set up, the fox jumped up, and began trotting away, not in a hurry, I found him in the scope, got the crosshairs on him and fired, I missed at 100 yards, Brendan handed me another round (he had only put one in the rifle), I loaded it, got back on the rest, and on the scope, the fox ran about 70 yards and stopped broadside, Now remember, the wind is blowing snow right into my face, howling, 30 miles an hour, I lined up the crosshairs on the chest behind the front shoulder, squeezed the trigger, and instantly the fox dropped like a sack of taters, which I watched in the scope due to very little recoil, the bullet hit the fox in the head right behind the ear, the little 17 cal bullet opened his head like a water balloon.
Brendan said that he would walk out and get it. Off he went, the snow was plowed up on the side of the dirt road about 4 ft, but the snow in the field was a little over the knee deep, and thigh deep in spots. I watched Brendan, trudging out through the snow, in a couple spots I watched him actually crawl because the snow was to deep to forde. 170 yards both ways. After Brendan got the fox, and was on his way back, I saw him toss the fox up ahead of himself, and then he would forde to it, then toss it again, and so on till he got back to the truck. As he arrived back at the truck, he was completely winded, he was gasping for air, coughing, wezzing, and I thought he was going to kick off any minute. This guy works out in a gym a couple times a week, and does MMA workouts, getting his butt kicked each week - LOL Just given you a hard time Buddy!
The first thing I told him when he got back was, "Man! I Owe You Big Time!" I also told him: "If that had been me going after that fox, You would have had a tow truck come and wench me out of the snow field, becuase I would have died 50 yards out, you would have never got me back to the truck - hook a TBO Drag on me and drag me back to the road. LOL
This is the first Redfox I have ever shot. Although, I have in the past, when I was younger, did trap a good number of foxes here in the valley. Just never had the opportunity to shoot one, other than in a trap.
Here is Brendan with the fox.
Notice the snow in the background, we were up on the high plains. On this trip, we saw 5 coyotes, one of which I think was a wolf, it was about a third of a mile away, when I saw it, it was big.
We also seen one in a field next to a house, as we were looking at, we noticed that the coyote had no hair on its, hind quarter and tail was bald, but due to being right next to a house, which we were parked in front of, and people were home, we didn't take a shot, but as soon as the coyote saw us, it took off over a snall hill in the field.
All in all it was a good day, I just wished it would have not been howling winds, and we could have called a few coyote to have put in the back of the truck.
OH! I forgot that Brendan's spare tire holder under his truck had broken, and had fallen off into the dirt road, we were lucky, we had just a couple minutes been traveling on the Freeway, just imagine if that had broken going 75-80 down the Freeway, man what a mess that would have been.
So we stopped, backed up and picked it up and put in the bed of the truck. We had not seen any other coyotes, unable to get out to make a call, and it was getting late, and we were both tired, we headed for home.
Good Hunting
Gary
