Escape of a 21st century fox

My old-school method of controlling foxes involves sitting and waiting as the light fades, armed with a 12-bore loaded with 3in BB. This can involve many hours of waiting until a fox appears. Even then, my range is restricted to around 40 yards if the fox presents itself broadside. Once the light has gone, I have no choice but to pack up and go home. This method very Zen, as you have to sit stock-still and in total silence; an unexpected sneeze can ruin everything. 

I was therefore excited to be invited by my friend, Stuart Llewelyn, to accompany him on a nocturnal foxing trip, during which we’d be using thermal spotting equipment and an infrared scope. I had never even been lamping foxes, so I was intrigued to leapfrog a technological generation and go straight to using the very latest equipment. 

Stuart turned up at our meeting point bang on time. It was a balmy late-summer evening but I wore a few extra layers as I expected the warmth to dissipate once the sun had set. I joined Stuart in his vehicle and he briefed me on where we’d go in search of foxes. Stuart controls foxes to a strict management plan; not for him is shooting as many foxes as possible, despite the capabilities of his kit. 

Modern night-vision equipment is so sophisticated that anyone who can afford such devices and a rifle can shoot a great many foxes. Perhaps too many. The days of foxes being lamp-shy on ground where they’re pursued by rifle shooters with torches are long gone. With the latest kit, the fox is literally in the dark about your presence, which significantly shifts the odds in favour of the shooter. 

Stuart explained his philosophyon fox control in more detail as we drove. He said it’s not necessary to control every fox on every piece of ground on which he operates. That approach can do more harm than good. “I can’t stand hearing anyone say ‘the only good fox is a dead fox’,” he said. “It just isn’t true.” 

Taking out an individual fox, particularly one that isn’t causing harm, will create a vacuum for

another fox to move into the vacant territory. And that fox may well cause damage to stock, released game birds or endangered ground-nesting species, such as curlew, which Stuart works hard to try to protect from foxes before each breeding season. 

Basics

Arriving at our first farm gave Stuart an opportunity, while we still had light, to run through the basics of the equipment we’d use. First, he showed me the thermal spotting scopes. We had one each and Stuart said we’d have to use them sparingly or we’d risk running down their batteries. 

When I’d familiarised myself with operating the spotter, Stuart showed me his rifle, scope and infrared illuminator. We would use a Tikka T3x rifle in .223 with a 55-gr bullet and a HikMicro Alpex 4K LRF riflescope. The thermal spotter Stuart used was a Pulsar Quantum XD38 and the thermal spotter I was using was a Pulsar Trail riflescope. 

The farm we were on is part of a shoot, so any fox control carried out here is done to protect the released birds. The topography of the farm was such that there were no natural backstops so Stuart’s solution was a platform of hay bales the farmer had placed on top of some round bales covered in black plastic. 

The hay bales on the top provided a stable platform from which we covered a couple of fields. Stuart then showed me how the riflescope worked. The zoom went from 3x to 28x, which was enough to ensure accuracy in covering both fields, and our elevation meant we’d be shooting downwards to negate any risk due to the lack of backstops. 

Badgers 

The sun dipped below the hills to the west and darkness brought out the creatures that inhabit the Welsh night. As I looked through the spotter, a rabbit in the adjoining field showed up as a rounded white shape. A couple of fields away, the shuffling motion of a large, low-slung animal gave away the presence of the first of many badgers we would see. 

Stuart employs a light touch to fox control on ground such as this, where the objective is to protect gamebirds, given there were no reported incidences of foxes taking lambs. As we were very much in sheep country, Stuart is often contacted by farmers any time from December onwards to deal with foxes predating lambs. He has to be quick to react because foxes that start taking lambs seldom stop and any losses can be devastating for small, family-run farms where margins are tight at best. 

After 90 minutes or so on the bales with no foxes spotted, Stuart suggested we move to another piece of ground. We descended from our perch and headed for the next farm, where we parked in the yard. This farm was situated on the lower slopes of a hill on top of which, at more than 1,200ft, are curlew plots that Stuart helps protect. His approach to controlling foxes to protect nesting curlew — as they are significant predators of both eggs and chicks — has to be far more intensive than his approach to controlling foxes to protect gamebirds. 

Natural backstop 

We crossed a couple of fields as quietly as possible, stopping to spot now and then but seeing no sign of foxes, before setting up on top of more plastic-covered bales at the bottom of a large field. The topography of this farm was entirely different and, because we were facing a slope rising away from us to woods on the lower slopes of the hill, we had a natural backstop. 

We scanned the field in front of us as well as the adjoining field and the open woodland above. Sheep in both fields meant it was sometimes difficult to look for the telltale movement of a fox with so many animals visible in our field of view. Two badgers sniffed around the edges of the adjacent field as we settled in to wait. 

“There’s a fox. Right there, by the hedge,” Stuart whispered. I turned my spotting scope in the direction he was looking and made out the unmistakable image of a trotting fox heading straight toward us. “Get the rifle ready,” Stuart said and I moved the bipod 90 degrees while keeping as quiet as possible. I lifted the spotting scope to my eye once more but there was no sign of the fox. 

He’d simply vanished. Scoping the whole field revealed only the pair of badgers and sheep. 

We waited another hour, taking turns to scan our surroundings. As if from nowhere, a fox appeared a few yards to the right of the solitary oak tree that stood in the field. “A fox! See him?” Stuart whispered, pointing. I fumbled with the grip of the rifle, felt my thumb on the safety and, with my finger on the trigger-guard, struggled to adjust the zoom on the scope. Knocking it from 3x to 25x in my haste, I saw nothing but a close-up of a molehill. I silently cursed my clumsiness as I zoomed out to see the fox slipping away slowly to our left. 

Vulpine image 

Zooming in once more, I heard Stuart whistle then call to try to stop the fox. It stood for an instant and glanced over its left shoulder. “Shoot it,” Stuart whispered but, unfamiliar with the ground, the scope and trying desperately to gauge the range of the fox, which must have only been about 100 yards off, I decided I wasn’t comfortable taking the shot. I watched the vulpine image fade into the darkness at the edge of the field. 

We waited on the bales for another 45 minutes or so and, despite spotting a fox moving through the trees in the wood above our field, nothing more presented itself. At around 1am, we decided to call it a night. As Stuart drove me back to my vehicle, I apologised for making a hash of a good chance to shoot the fox, but he told me not to worry. He said if I hadn’t been happy with taking the shot, my decision had been the correct one. 

I thanked him for taking me out and told him that I was fascinated by this method of controlling foxes and that I’d like to try again, if possible — to which he agreed. The fox had won this evening, which was probably a fair result. 

I’d certainly learned a lot in Stuart’s company, particularly about his refreshingly enlightened approach to controlling foxes and the admirable degree of respect he shows his quarry. There will be other nights and there will be other foxes. The next one to cross our path, I hope, may not be so lucky. 

LIGHTING UP THE DARK

Even though Gethin Jones has yet to experience the old-school joys of lamping, the practice is very much alive and still represents a cost-effective, practical solution when it comes to predator and rabbit management. Lamping also continues to hold a special, albeit nostalgic, space in the hearts of many gamekeepers. 

Modern energy-efficient LED torches have quickly rechargeable batteries that last for hours, and when you direct them at a hillside it feels like someone switched the sun back on. Best of all, today’s powerful lamps offer much of the utility of a top-end thermal sight but cost a fraction of price. Here are three bang up-to-date lamps that foxers ought to investigate for future forays.

MIGHTY RANGER PISTOL LIGHT 

This lamp is the sort of thing the people of Gotham could have used to summon the services of Batman. It’s a beast. The muscular-sounding Mighty Ranger PistolLight has a 6,500-lumen beam that can pick up a set of fox retinas at up to a mile. It comes with a removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, much like the sort you would findon a cordless drill, which delivers a blinding LED beam. If you are operating it from a vehicle, it can be run directly off the 12v cigarette lighter and it only weighs 774g, so you don’t need to have rippling biceps to wield it for a whole evening. 

Price RRP £220.44 

Contact clulite.co.uk 

STREAMLIGHT WAYPOINT 400

The Waypoint 400 is wonderfully rugged. It floats if dropped in water and the high-impact polycarbonate housing means it can withstand a bashing in the back of a pickup. On the highest setting, the Waypoint’s LEDs produce 1,400 lumens that give it a beam that can pick out a rabbit at 1,265m. On this setting the rechargeable battery will last three and a quarter hours and on its lowest setting the power will last for a whopping 84 hours and still light up objects at up to 200m. Weighing only 689g and featuring an ergonomic cushioned pistol grip, the Waypoint eliminates hand fatigue. 

Price £179.99 Contact streamlight.com 

NIGHT MASTER TRIDENT

The Trident is a beautifully refined bit of kit. It features an intelligent TRI-LED mechanism that allows you to swap between the pre-installed LED modules by turning the knurled dial, which you can operate without adjusting the focus or beam position. The Trident also offers the facility to adjust the beam profile, from a tight long-distance pencil beam to a wide-flood through a simple twist of the head. The Trident produces a 1,000m directed beam and can also act as an infrared illuminator for night-vision devices. With a three-year warranty, this durable lamp can be fitted to a rifle and comes with a high scope mount. The whole thing weighs 405g so won’t affect your rifle balance. 

Price £209.95 

Contact nightmaster.co.uk