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

Choose Hunting Friends Wisely

A friend leased some hunting land years ago, put up some tree stands and ground blinds. As soon as people who knew him learned he had some decent property, his list of newest best friends grew overnight.
Two came to hunt from another part of the state where deer were few, and seeing any buck was great cause for celebration. He did all the work, built blinds, did the preseason scouting and they just came to shoot deer.
He assumed they were hunters. That assumption led him to believe they knew when and where to shoot a deer. That assumption was incorrect.

Running shots at bucks are risky

Each one hunted the first weekend with my buddy. At the end of two days, four deer -- two bucks and two does -- had been wounded and lost. They didn't have Game Trackers on their bows, and all four deer eventually fed the neighborhood coyotes.
They came the next weekend, and my friend presented each with a Game Tracker unit and helped them install it on their bow. You guessed it: they shot and lost four more deer because they wouldn't tie the string behind the broadhead so they could easily recover wounded animals.
"No more," he screamed. "You've lost eight deer in four days of hunting over a two-week period. Either learn when and where to shoot or don't bother to come back. And ... you won't hunt one more day here without using a Game Tracker."
The following weekend he explained the facts of life to them again. He told them that where they once hunted, and where they seldom saw a deer, was a thing of the past. If they were to hunt more than this one last day with him, they would know when and where to shoot deer.

Take only high-percentage shots.

He explained the necessity of taking only high percentage shots, and never taking low percentage opportunities. He told them the only shots they could take were standing broadside or standing quartering-away shots at 20 yards of less. There would be no exceptions to these new rules.
Any deer hit anywhere else would buy them a one-way ticket off his hunting land. And, he stressed, friends or not, he was done messing with them. They would do it right or they wouldn't do it at all.
He used a deer target and positioned it at all different angles. He offered them broadside, quartering-away, quartering-toward, dead-on and dead-away shots. He made them shoot countless arrows at the target when it was properly positioned, and they finally realized what they had been doing wrong.
They had been flinging arrows in hopes that a lucky hit would kill the deer. No doubt the first eight "lucky" hits killed the deer but none were recovered even after several hours of blood trailing long after dark.
They soon became excellent shots, and knowing which shots to take and when to take them came next. He had to teach them how and when to draw, and he didn't want them shooting at moving deer.
"A deer that is feeding is occupied," he said. "Watch that animal and any other nearby deer, and make your draw slow and noiselessly. Take careful aim at the heart-lung area, and don't shoot at anything else. Neck, frontal or rear shots are strictly forbidden. Quartering-away bow shots are the best of all."
He told them that patience is a virtue, especially when trying to arrow a deer. Wait until the deer offers you the ideal shot. Often deer will move around and never offer a shot, so he told them not to shoot. You be the judge of when to shoot: don't let the deer decide for you.

Quartering-away bow shots like this are the best bow shots of all.

"You control when you shoot," he preached. "Don't raise the bow until a deer turns sideways or offers a quartering-away shot. If the deer is within range, but other deer have their heads up and are looking around, wait.
"Don't be in a big rush to shoot. Cherish the moment. Make it last. Drag out the final outcome as long as possible. When you decide to shoot, make certain the buck is properly positioned within range. Check to make sure no other deer have their heads up or are looking in your direction.
"You'll know when the right moment comes. Pick a spot, come to full draw, aim at that precise spot, and make a smooth release. Don't lift your head up until the Game Tracker line starts going out after arrow impact."
That night both of them shot bucks. Nothing big, but bucks nonetheless. They waited, and true enough, when the right time arrived for a shot and the deer were perfectly positioned, they eased back to full draw and killed their bucks.

Everything in life must be learned, and proper hunting methods are no different. Do it right or don't do it.

Learning periods like this are very important. Beginning bow hunters have the urge to shoot something, and they invariably take shots that offer little hope of recovering the wounded animal.
Bow hunters must perfect the art of patience. Don't try to rush things. If and when the time is right to shoot, the deer will be motionless and looking away or at another deer, and you'll have plenty of time to shoot. Learn how to wait, and if a deer doesn't offer a good shot that day, let the animal go and try again the next day.
Shooting and wounding deer is stupid. Practice constantly, and know when to draw, how to aim and where to shoot. Refine each of these skills. They are not difficult to learn, and once hunters understand these principles, shooting a buck become much easier.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors