Second Fox of the year.

[jaeger88]

Well Friday just gone, I managed to obtain a "pass" from "Swmbo", to go out shooting for the afternoon.

There posed a dilemma, should I take a shotgun, & batter a few Woodies ?, or a .22 & go for Squirrels ?.

So  I did both, took my 10-22, which is pretty stripped down & light,  & my little Leeson s/s 28g which weighs next to nothing. Plus a belt  full of 15 gram 6's.

Neither of them being my Loxodonta Africana guns of choice, but I thought what the hell.

I  parked at the farm, got geared up & started walking, as I have to, since my current  means of transport is probably the least "off road" vehicle there is  short of a London bus.

At least I get plenty of exercise, which is no bad thing.

Id  gone maybe half a mile & reached the corner of the nearest wood, where 2 tracks cross. I looked up one track &  spotted something on the skyline. Had a look through the Bino's & it  was a Fox heading down the track to the side of the hedge towards me.  It was maybe 150 yards away.

I go down behind the .22 where the  hedge met the main track, & waited, & waited, & ..........waited, for what seemed  eternity, but was maybe 5 mins.

I could only see 30 yds of the  track due to a bend, so thought Id best have a peek & see where he'd got to.  Just as I  got up onto my knees for a better look, Monsieur Renard popped out of  the hedge about 7 to 8 yards away, obviously hadn't seen me & walked  back in. Cursing myself for having the .22 in hand & and not the  shotgun, I put the Ruger down & picked up the 28g.  

He was  so close I could smell him, but couldn't see him, & was thinking Id  have to take a snap shot if he showed up close.

Well he'd  gone through the hedge, out the other (left hand) side, through 20 yds  of game cover & stood on the drilling looking at me.
I couldn't shoot as there was an Elder bush between us.
Id  frozen with the gun to shoulder & waited for him to bolt, but he  didn't, he looked away & casually walked out into the open.

Fleetingly  wishing I got my 20g with some heavy loads in I squeaked to make him  stop, & let fly with the full might of 15 grams of 6's out of the choke barrel. He fell over on the spot, but was wriggling a bit, so I  gave him the other barrel for good measure.
I paced the shot out at 25 yds, & honestly hadn't expected the little 28g to be that lethal at that range on a Fox.

A  lot of people discard the 28g thinking its not much bigger than a  .410, where in fact its not really much smaller than a 20g.

Pic 1 is where I first saw him at the top of the hill.
Pic 2 is looking from my firing position to where he lays.
Pic 3 & 4 speak for them selves.

[sakorick]

Good show, great pics and great story.....a homerun!

[jaeger88]

Thank's Rick !. Sometimes we just get lucky !.

[gitano]

Great story!

I LOVE 28's. I always liked .410s until I started using 28s, and I fell head-over-heels in love with the cartridge. I can appreciate the concern over a 25yd shot, and am glad to hear that it worked well. I've never felt 'under-gunned' with a 28, but I've never shot anything but birds with mine.

Paul

[sakorick]

I love them too! I just picked up a Browning Citori 28. More to come.

[farmboy]

There is something a bit special about them.

[jaeger88]

Ive never handled a Browning 28g Rick, are they built on the 20g action, or are they a "true" 28g ?.

I'm looking to get rid of all my 12g's & just keeping 20's & 28's, & thinking of getting a Browning 725 Black Gold in 20g or 28g, but I just think having a 28g on a 20g action kind of defeats the object of the exercise.

Getting a 20g shell mixed up with a pocket full of 12g scares the hell out of me.

Though I guess the same is true with a 28g mixed in with your 20's