Doggin’ the fox

Brother George with a nice red fox he shot while doggin’ the tracks.

Many years ago there were far more red foxes than coyotes, and one of the things almost every winter day was to cut a fresh red fox track, and take off cross-country on foot along the straight-as-a-string trail.

Once I was driving to brother George's house, and spotted a fresh track that crossed the road a quarter-mile from his place. I stopped, got out of the car, and studied it. The track was smoking hot.

George and I put our heads together, and he felt the fox would probably skirt behind the barn, head off across the open field, hunt those fields for mice, and then settle down for a nap atop a clump of uprooted trees a half-mile from his house.

Two people working together is always a good plan.

We took turns dogging the tracks, and it was his turn. I'd lag behind, check ahead through binoculars, and try to make certain we didn't accidentally bump the critter. We headed out on the hot track, and the fox did cut behind the barn, moved down a hill, and crossed the field.

I glassed the track from cover, and lost them near a patch of sumac this side of a fence row 300 yards away, and on the other side of the fence was the tree-tops that would provide a sunny hiding place for a napping fox.

We eased through the field, spotted several areas where the fox had tried for a mouse, but the tracks stay straight until it came to a small knoll, and we bellied up to the edge of the knoll. More fox stalks are blown when people rush to see what is on the other side, and blunder into the fox. Once spooked, the animal will run for a long distance.

My head just eased over the top, and I glassed everything within view. The fox was nowhere to be seen, but its tracks cut through the field, into a cluster of sumac bushes near the hill-top, and we couldn't see the tracks past there.

We huddled, and whispered back and forth, and felt if the fox wasn't in the sumac, which we didn't believe possible, we'd have a reasonably clear look at the tree-tops. Perhaps the fox was already sunning himself.

I studied the sumac until my eyes were watering, and couldn't see tracks coming out. We had to keep going while we were fairly close to the animal. Stalling now could ruin the hunt.

We crossed the open field and approached the sumacs with caution. We could then see the fox tracks heading toward the fence line and the nasty mass of tree-tops scattered about like jackstraws.

Be ready to move but make sure the fox isn’t in sight before moving.

"I can see his tracks down to the fence," George whispered. "Check the tree-tops, and see if you can spot him. We'll stick out like two sore thumbs while crossing the field to the fence row."

Long minutes were spent glassing the tree-tops before I spotted the reddish-russet color of the bedded fox. He was facing away, directly into the wind, and we formulated plans. I would give George hand signals, and a palm raised upright meant for him to stop.

He watched a minute or two longer, saw the fox raise his head and check his back trail. We waited until he checked his back trail the second time, and we had five minutes. As soon as his head went down, George stayed low and ran for the fence only 40 yards from the fox.

He eased into place just as the fox's head came up to look around, and when it went down, I moved out. We met at the fence, and George pointed to a hole in the fence that would put him only 25 yards from the fox but he couldn't make a sound getting into position.

The fox looked around again, and when his head went down, George crawled to the hole, and snaked through. He had to depend on me now to tell him when the fox raised his head again.

Don’t shoot until the animal presents a clear shot.

Two minutes later the fox raised his head, and I made one small hand movement to George. He raised his 12 gauge 3-inch magnum, started to aim and the fox stood up when it caught the movement, and with one shot this fox hunt was over.

Stalking fox is no different than stalking bedded coyotes. Work into the wind, check closely before making a move, and when the stalk leads to a close shot, make it count. It's an exciting way to spend part of a mid-winter day, especially this time of year when foxes and coyotes are in the mating season, but not with each other.

The two species are deadly enemies, and a coyote will kill every fox they can catch. One rule hunters can count on: if fox are abundant, there aren't many coyotes around. However, if coyotes are thick, very few fox exist in the area.

Are you reading for the challenge of dogging a fox track to the animal's resting place. There's little margin for error.

Drove around square-mile sections until you find a coyote or fox track. Check the other roads to make certain the animal didn't cross out, and if it is still within the section, take up the track if you have permission to hunt someone else's land.

Move slowly with all possible haste, check ahead for the animal, don't move until the coast is clear, and always stay downwind if possible. It a great way to spend a snowy winter afternoon.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors