[Music]
One of the reasons people love fox shooting is it can be so challenging.There are so many
factors to be taken into consideration, especially at night.
Your decision-making process has to be fast and safe.
Today we are going to conduct a little experiment to see how shooters can improve their fox
shooting technique.
We have Tom the novice who has very little rifle experience...
and has never shot a fox.
And we have Roy who has accounted for quite a few.
Tim Pilbeam, rifle reviewer for Sporting Rifle magazine, is in charge.
He's come up with a cunning plan to challenge the young apprentice and tax the old hand.
So tonight it is all about the a, b, c’s of fox shooting.
We will be shooting different foxes, different ranges in different situations.
So it is safety, range, decision making and dealing with the light.
So what do you think the range will be on that one.
So especially for Roy I will be asking many questions, how far is it Roy?
How safe is it Roy?
And also with Tom I will be guiding him to make sure that he does shoot the fox in a
very, very safe and correct method.
This is a typical target we are shooting at tonight.
A bit of plywood painted black and we have got a very typically sized fox here, 4" x
10" is the normal kill zone of a fox.
So this is what we will be practicing tonight.
I have got a couple of bicycle reflectors there for its eyes and for a bit of fun tonight
we are going to see if we can get these guys to start shooting these exploding targets
and that will be quite exciting to see at night time.
Tim drives us around the course in daylight to get the lay of the land and to talk us
through a few of the targets.
This is a typical foxing situation.
We have got 2 foxes here.
One in the alley way and one next to the telegraph pole.
The one in the alley way is about 120 yards away, the one near the telegraph pole is about
170 yards away.
Both reasonably straight forward shots, but we need to get a decent position to shoot
them.
Do we use a tree?
Do we actually put the bipod on the bonnet here or do we lay down in the grass and use
the bipod in a prone position?
For the last targets of the evening he is giving the guys something a bit more tricky.
The ones we have got in front of me at the moment they are about 220 yards away, but
the problem is that they are head on, they are front on these foxes, quite narrow.
The kill zone of a fox sitting down in front of you is about 6" wide.
So they have got to make sure they get that shot bang.
I would say that they are 220 yards away so they should be aiming right at the kill zone.
And it doesn't stop there.
Tim is really going to try and simulate the unpredictability of the quarry and possibly
the erratic technique of the lampman.
What I will be doing is flashing the spotlight around, sometimes I will be taking it off
the fox, sometimes I will be putting on the fox and just before they shoot I will be taking
it off the fox and that is what happens in fox shooting.
Also sometimes if you flash light around you, your eyes get blinded.
So the light is very, very important.
Also I will sometimes be putting light on the fox and then say 1, 2, 3 and then take
it off.
Very often the foxes do not stand for that long, they stand for 5 or 10 seconds and they
move on again.
So it is very important to get the cross hairs on the fox, make a decision and shoot it.
Some targets will appear as we climb over the brow of a hill and others will offer some
more choice to get into a stable position: bonnet, post or prone for this one.
While we have been scooting around this simulated foxing course on Tim's farm and practice range,
Roy has been giving Tom some tuition.
He spots something which, if caught early, can be easily remedied.
Right when you are shooting you are expecting the shot.
So when you shot there, you went like that.
So you are actually twitching slightly.
When you are watching your eye your eye blinked.
You should stay in contact with your target at all times so when you squeeze, concentrate
on looking straight through and concentrate on the target.
When the round goes off, when the shot goes off you should then still see the target and
you should still see the shot hit.
Ok, so what you did then, you blinked and twitched slightly.
Tim also gives Tom some tips and finds out just how much experience he has.
So Tom tell me about the first deer you shot.
The first deer was in Scotland.
We went up to an estate about 45 miles north of Inverness, a red hind which was shot at
a distance of about 150 yards with a 38/6.
Ok brilliant.
Now tell me about your rifle.
It is a 708 Remington rifle with a quite heavy barrel on it and quite a heavy moderator as
well.
So this is an all round rifle.
You can shoot deer with it, you can shoot foxes with it, a very capable rifle.
A 708 which is a very good all round calibre.
Yes, the idea was that it fits everything you can shoot, everything from foxes up to
deer and anything I want to shoot from here really.
Before we lose the light and the fun begins, Roy and Tom have a few more shots.
Both are now happy with their set up, but there's still plenty to go through: from having
one up the spout,
And I think in the vehicle, bolt’s open basically, yes, simple as that really.
To the magnification you're happy with, to spotting these cunning foxes.
Right we're off, and they just can't help themselves.
Roy starts blowing and foxes - three real ones that is - come hunting.
Tom is told to get into position.
Already there are errors and we lose two of the interested foxes.
With our remaining fox at 250 yards Tim takes over, shooting from the buggy frame.
The shot sounds good.
That is very interesting because Roy the boy got his wonderful squeaker out and we immediately
pulled in one to our north here, one down the bottom and one just down here as well.
So we had 3 contenders.
Now first of all we stopped, we stopped in the wrong place unfortunately which was my
fault and we couldn’t actually get on to them at all.
So we moved the buggy over here and Roy kept on squeaking and we actually found a real
one which is quite exciting.
About 250 yards Roy?
Yes, 250.
What was interesting as well, earlier on, we had a couple of eyes over the back here
which looked very similar to the eyes of the fox, but with one slight problem the eyes
were on top of the hedge.
So I do not think it was actually a fox which shows how careful you must be.
You must know your land.
I knew exactly that was on top of the hedge, so there was no way I could shoot that.
You have to be very careful at night.
You have had a good start guys.
Well done, bullet goes straight through the shoulder and out the other side.
Nice looking animal, quite a small fox.
Best fox is a dead fox as far as I am concerned.
So points to remember here are: don't step in front of the lamp.
Don't choose an unstable rest.
Tom picked a duff post to lean on.
And, of course, don't make too much noise, which everyone is guilty of.
So that was an absolutely perfect example of what not to do when you are out foxing.
We had people fumbling about all over the place, lights going all over the place and
as a consequence it cost us the foxes.
We had one fox coming right into us and just because we weren’t sure and there was a
bit of fumbling and a bit of noise the fox came in made us and was off again.
Right, back to the simulated animals.
These are the ones over the brow.
Tom shoots off the frame.
Roy goes for the bipod on the bonnet.
Both the guys have hit the kill zone but one of Tom's shots has pulled to the right.
Next up are the pair of foxes near the post.
Tim gives them 10 seconds to shoot.
There are firebirds on these targets.
Roy the spoilsport nabs both his and Tom's.
Naughty.
There is 3 shots here which tells me one person has been shooting the wrong target, Lupton?
The shots are still good even if greedy Lupton has taken both foxes.
So what does Tom think so far?
First time I have shot at a target in the dark, so the whole thing was a new experience
really.
So how did you find the light because the light was moving a wee bit.
That didn’t bother me too much.
I was just trying to get my cross hairs in the middle of the 2 cats eyes looking at me,
fox eyes in this case.
The light wasn’t too distracting at all really.
I think a lot of people think foxing is easy, but there is an awful lot to consider.
I thought it was a lot harder.
I always thought the idea of lamping easy, you see the fox under the lamp, but it is
completely different, you don’t, you see the 2 little spots looking at you.
The next two targets are the one in the track and its neighbour.
Range is an issue here and the shooting sticks also cause problems.
Last but one are the targets we first looked at in daylight.
Tom has a real problem here but Roy is in his comfort zone and the little tinker even
shoots one of Tim's reflectors.
Have you shot one of my eyes?
Last up are the head on foxes.
Tom is again struggling - it's getting late and we're all tired - Tim takes over and sees
the last Firebird go bang.
So what do the chaps think of the evening?
So what is your advice to anyone who wants to go fox shooting for the first time?
At night, get a warm jacket, be calm and have confidence I think.
Practice, practice, practice.
Plenty of practice.
Is it how you thought it would be?
Better actually, I must admit.
First of all I thought you would see the big fox coming and it would nice and easy a bit
like your deer stalking, but it is completely different.
You don’t see the animal, you do have to have confidence in where you are shooting
and you will hit the target.
Tim has been keeping a score of how the guys have performed - Roy has shot well but has
been a bit fruity with not keeping to his own target.
We have got Roy here who tends to shoot anything in front of him.
He shot 2 eyes out of my foxes, he shot somebody else’s target, so Roy is very, very greedy.
So we have got the youngster as well who has shot very, very well.
So tonight I think the winner is going to be the youngster Tom, so well done Tom.
You shot very well.
Thank you very much.
It is not a competition!