I often get many questions on YouTube why I do not shoot foxes when out stalking. I often do, but as principle I do not shoot mature foxes when cubs still depend on their parents. I know many treat a fox as a pest and shoot them all year round, but I come from the country where we have closed season for foxes and it does not feel right to leave any animal to starve to death… I know many would not loose and sleep and call me squeemish, but I would… I do not feel bad shooting cubs when they are out and mature foxes from now on when cubs are out and become independent. In June and July young foxes start to leave their parents and wonder everywhere and roads are full of ran over cubs.
It was wet and cloudy day, but I decided to go out anyway. When I got to the forestry it did not look good and the clouds were very low and it soon become very misty. I walked up the forestry track, but soon it become apparent that it was not going to get any better. It was very still with no wind and I could only see up to 50m…
I sat on a tree stump for a while, but it was very misty and would not be safe to shoot so I slowly walked back to the car. It was very quiet and no deer were moving, but when I got out the woods it cleared a bit and the mist lifted. I slowly walked back to the car when I spotted a movement out on the track in front of me.
There was a red fox cub coming out on the track. He wondered around for a bit and sat on the track facing away. The mist lifted for a bit revealing the fox was close to the bend of the track and there was safe backstop behind him. I took the rifle off my shoulder and dropped on one knee. The cub moved and was about to go when I squeezed the trigger.
The fox dropped on the spot hit with 55gr Sako bullet from my Tikka M595 .223 Rem. I was thinking whether I should go back and try deer stalking but the mist lifted only for a moment and it soon started raining so I went home.
