Chicken thief no more.

[jaeger88]

Caught up with this Dog Fox on the third outing. He couldn't get into the run, but he'd stir the hens up till one stuck its head through the mesh, then he'd bite it off. 
A 50 grain Nosler BT at about 50yds sorted him out. A high price to pay when your only getting Chicken heads for dinner.
I'm glad it wasn't a Tawny Owl doing it, as that's often one of their trademarks. Especially with Pheasant Poult's in a pen.

[gitano]

Yippee! They're wiley critters, but once they start coming into a henhouse - or duck yard  they won't leave 'til all the chickens are gone... Or they die.

Izzat a .223 Remington? If so, what's your load, or are you shooting factory ammo?

Paul

[SmokeyJoe]

I'd bet it's factory ammo. He doesn't know how to reload. 

That's a luvverly stock Sir!

Where did you shoot him? (That's your cue to say "by the henhouse, told ya that already" )

[SmokeyJoe]

Speaking of owls, better test this image upload feature...

Pic taken on my phone, of a PC screen, showing a CCTV cam near our chicken pen...




My 'good lady' barred me from shooting the "cute" fox cubs we had running around the fields recently. Thankfully, little Billy solved the problem (one of them at least). I can't say how, as I live in Stalinist Britain and I might end up in the Gulags. 

 

'Officially' it was shot with a .223 expanding bullet through the module oblongata. Good enough for you officer?




While I am at it (images upload nicely don't they!), a few days away, returning home taught me yet again why I hate pet cats...

[jaeger88]

Hi Paul, Rifles a Steyr Männlicher Hubertus Model in .222 REM. Load's a Nosler 50g BT over 21 grains of VV N130.  Doing about 3,088 fps, (according to Quickload). I've never chronographed it, I went more for accuracy than mv. Scopes a Meopta Meopro 6 to 18 x 50, in EAW Apel Swing mounts.
I load for a mate that has an off the shelf, skinny barrel, Tikka T3 in .223. I use the same N130,21grain powder charge, ( a mild load, but that's what my Lyman powder measures set up for ), with a Sierra 52g soft point, and at 100yds it shoots 3 rounds into 1 ragged hole. It was the first load we tried for that rifle, & by pure luck (& obviously superlative loading skills), it just works. 
The Fox was almost broadside to me, & went down with hardly a twitch, shot in the boiler room.  

[gitano]

I'll try this a second time.   I hate touchpads.

Thanks for the info, Jaeger88.

Tell me more about your Steyr. As you know I've got Alain's Steyr Classic II in .223. Just got it scoped and taken to the range for the first round of load workups yesterday. Nothing to 'write home about', but no bad news either. (Contrary to the .22-250's day at the range. ) I understand "skinny barrel", as that is exactly what the Steyr has. I'm very glad to hear that the skinny barrel shoots straight nevertheless. I'll try that load. Who knows, lightening may strike twice!

On a 'fox' note, I saw something today that I have never seen before, and when it comes to local critters, and a 72-year-old, that's saying something. I saw a YOY (young of the year) fox. Just about exactly the size of the one SmokeyJoe posted a picture of above. However, it was colored in a way I have never seen, even in a farmed fox. It had the coloration of a tortoise-shell cat! It was stunning. I've never seen a YOY cross-fox (see below image for typical cross-fox coloration), so speculating, maybe it was a YOY cross-fox. Regardless, it was stunning!


I think I'll set my trail cameras out, and some bait, and see if I can capture a picture of tortoise-shell Reynard.

I shot a gorgeous dog fox on my place several years back.  (See here: https://forum.thehunterslife.com/index.php?topic=15282.0)
And I see tracks around the place now and then, but I haven't actually seen one in quite a while. And this one was out in the "middle" of the day! (About 5 hours after sun up). Of course it was a youngster.

Anyway, thanks again for the info, and any suggestions about loads for any of Alain's rifles will be well received, I assure you.

Paul

[SmokeyJoe]

That's one beautiful fox! Almost too beautiful to shoot. 
(I said "almost")
A stuffed one of those would go nice on the wall.

[SmokeyJoe]

PS that other fox thread you referenced - wow! 
What a great 'article' that would make. Anyone searching Google for "How to skin a fox" and "Fox taxidermy diy" should find that slap bang at number one! A nice ad underneath to a decent skinning knife you'd recommend, could help pay the board's hosting dues! 

[gitano]

I was reading this thread: https://forum.thehunterslife.com/index.php?topic=19398.0 again, and noticed your load data for the .22-250. I'll be getting some H380 today. (Miracle of miracles, the local Sportsman's Warehouse has it in stock!)

Since I got Alain's .223 as well as his .22-250, I thought I'd relegate the .223 to the lighter weight bullets, and the .22-250 to the 'heavier' ones like 60, 65, 69, and 70 grainers. Any thoughts on that, Jaeger88? The 60-grainer is a Nosler Partition, a bullet type I am fond of. All Partitions I have used have been very straight shooters. BUT... they're not exactly 'fur friendly'. BUT BUT... I'd be using the .22-250 and the 60-grain Partition on whitetails. Or, I could play Native and use it on caribou if I ever go caribou hunting again.

At any rate, I'll post the results of using H380 in the .22-250, here at THL.

Paul

PS - I was talking with JaDub about coming down to Colorado in January to shoot Prairie Dogs. I'd bring both the .223 and the .22-250 AS LONG AS I CAN GET THEM TO SHOOT STRAIGHT BEFORE THEN.

Paul