Feeding foxes

[thesmi]

i have had quite a few on the golf course and paddocks but all the farms only take out cf so leave them where they lay so dont look,,,,but my mates allways eat them and 2 of them prefer the milkys ones the other hates it

[horsedentist]

My mate and I would get our bums kicked into touch if we suddenly declared a closed season on foxes and rabbits and we would damn soon have no where to shoot!
Not many farmers give shooting away for free for sport they want something back ie dead foxes and rabbits all year round are you saying you let foxes kill what they like at their most predatory time of year out of respect?
Sorry but I have more respect for the farmers who let us drive all over their land at all hours of the night for a reason!

[redeye jedi]

My mate and I would get our bums kicked into touch if we suddenly declared a closed season on foxes and rabbits and we would damn soon have no where to shoot!
Not many farmers give shooting away for free for sport they want something back ie dead foxes and rabbits all year round are you saying you let foxes kill what they like at their most predatory time of year out of respect?
Sorry but I have more respect for the farmers who let us drive all over their land at all hours of the night for a reason!

i've known plenty of landowners that have raised orphaned fox cubs to a stage where they can fend for themselves and released back onto their land, you'd think hill farmers with flocks of uwe all over the heather would kill any fox on sight, not raise the cubs.
i'm not going to get into an argument about this any longer, if you did your job through the winter you shouldnt need to kill large numbers of rabbit or fox during spring/summer. there's plenty of chance while the bitch is being fed by the dog to deal with the problem properly, find the den, sort the bitch and then deal with the dog when he comes back to feed his woman. Job done, no cubs and 2 foxes down in one go
Hell if your doing that good a job "all year round" most will be out of sport come november. just a piss poor excuse for summer, fair weather shooters. thats my last word on this thread gentlemen.

[Radagast]

Taking a self righteous position on a matter of controversy, discounting the arguments of others, ignoring the facts stated by others, creating straw man arguments, followed by throwing insults then leaving the thread is considered trolling on any forum.

Perhaps you could reconsider your behavior when interacting with other forum members. It appears the Dark Side of the Force is trying to take you.

[hibbydunk]

Different strokes for different folks I say. What works for me might not for others and vice versa. Personally I would shoot all year round but the last two Nov - Febs down my patch have been so wet I simply couldn't get out so my farmer is desperate when it gets to March for me to start hitting them hard once his verges are drivable without wrecking them. Theres still patches now where i sink right into the steel of the wheels. As far as he is concerned if it moves shoot it. Ain't too bothered about the kits or otherwise. Unless someone is clearly unsafe you shouldn't critisise them or take the huff when they simply have an honest debate with you. Walking away with your ball just cos youve taken the hump is what eleven year olds do, isnt it?

[rapid7008500]

Despite some of the aggressive posts this is an interesting thread.

I always try to go about my sport in an ethical way and am keen to point out to Farmers that I'm not a 'gun for hire'! That said; crop damage is a very legitimate reason for controlling all sorts of species so it sometimes it is necessary to shoot under that 'catchall'.

I don't think we should criticise others for doing things a certain way; I know Sheep farmers that are happy to lose Lambs to Foxes as they are Hunt supporters; always seems odd to me but there you go; we have to adapt our services to meet their needs.

I have other Farmers that expect the land to be sterile, devoid of any living creature as they grow high value crops for the salad suppliers.

ATB

Kevin

[Gloop]

This can be seen as a controversial subject and different farmers have different attitudes. Mine would happily have me shoot deer out of season to be rid of them. But I find it interesting that people have different attitudes to animals depending seemingly on their size. Who cares when a rat is shot and if it had any young. Etc etc.

Anyway keep the discussion goin and keep it polite and not personal. There are other sites better suited for personal insults

[horsedentist]

My mate and I would get our bums kicked into touch if we suddenly declared a closed season on foxes and rabbits and we would damn soon have no where to shoot!
Not many farmers give shooting away for free for sport they want something back ie dead foxes and rabbits all year round are you saying you let foxes kill what they like at their most predatory time of year out of respect?
Sorry but I have more respect for the farmers who let us drive all over their land at all hours of the night for a reason!

i've known plenty of landowners that have raised orphaned fox cubs to a stage where they can fend for themselves and released back onto their land, you'd think hill farmers with flocks of uwe all over the heather would kill any fox on sight, not raise the cubs.
i'm not going to get into an argument about this any longer, if you did your job through the winter you shouldnt need to kill large numbers of rabbit or fox during spring/summer. there's plenty of chance while the bitch is being fed by the dog to deal with the problem properly, find the den, sort the bitch and then deal with the dog when he comes back to feed his woman. Job done, no cubs and 2 foxes down in one go
Hell if your doing that good a job "all year round" most will be out of sport come november. just a piss poor excuse for summer, fair weather shooters. thats my last word on this thread gentlemen.

I have to say that I rather take exception to your implication that we obviously don't do a good enough job in the winter if we have to shoot in the spring and summer or that we are fair weather shooters. I have been shooting for 50 years I have shot for sport and for pest control most of that time, I lived in Scotland for ten years where I culled Roe to eliminate damage on fruit farms and rabbits on several hill farms where it was not uncommon to take over a hundred a night.I have been and still am (at 66) out all hours of the night in all weathers I have on occassion been so cold it was hard to get a steady shot!
Now if you know as much about shooting and vermin control as you imply in your replies, you would be aware that what ever you are culling be it deer or foxes when you reduce or eliminate them on a given area of land you create a void. You then open up new territory for the surrounding populations to expand into in order to take up residence or find a less pressured hunting ground.
So it matters not if you are 100% efficient in the winter months and kill every fox on that land in the spring there will be more coming in from surrounding land in fact you are unwittingly encouraging them.
I have no wish nor intention of getting into a slanging match over this, if your farmers are happy to feed foxes all spring and summer and hand rear cubs for you to shoot in the winter that's fine, others are not, I act as requested by the land owners to whom I am grateful to for their trust in letting me shoot on their land.
However to imply that foxes wouldn't be there if I shot more in the winter and brand someone you do not know as a fair weather shooter on the basis of that shows a sadly lacking understanding of field craft my friend!

[slaphead]

I have a bit of land and a lady close by has been known to be feeding a fox as she feels "sorry" for it. Well, I have chickens too so the first sign of it coming over here to raid the hen house will mean I then sit outside with a fox call and the shotgun. No matter what time of year it is.... however in winter Ill probably freeze my ass of and give up before it shows up...

[rodp]

I have a bit of land and a lady close by has been known to be feeding a fox as she feels "sorry" for it. Well, I have chickens too so the first sign of it coming over here to raid the hen house will mean I then sit outside with a fox call and the shotgun. No matter what time of year it is.... however in winter Ill probably freeze my ass of and give up before it shows up...

Now there's an honest man, and he's got the same outlook as me