Nightvision Diaries: Protect & Serve

I was intending to do a kind of user’s review on the Pulsar Core FXD50, like I did last month on the ATN X-sight, but the wily old foxes have made an appearance in abundance. So, rather than spending time testing equipment, I had no choice but to go out with my tried, tested and trusted thermal imaging setup, which consists of the Pulsar XD75 thermal weapon scope and my Pulsar XQ38S thermal spotter. I feel this year, with all the mild weather we have been getting up in Scotland, the foxes have started pairing-up and running together a good few weeks earlier than previous years.

Out of control

Just when I thought everything was in control on the fox front, the phone started ringing and I was spotting foxes with the thermal spotter left, right and centre. The calls came in from farmers, keepers and even my friends who own small-holdings. They all said the same thing, ‘I’m hearing foxes barking all night. Can you pop in when you’re passing’? Or to put it more bluntly; ‘get yourself up here right away’! As is usual with foxing, everything happens at the same time, so you end up burning the candle at both ends to get everything done and keep everyone happy. Although, at this time of year you can get out earlier, as it’s dark by 5 o’clock.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that the foxes have been coming out on first dark for an hour or so, then going quiet for a few hours, then back out again after midnight. This has been happening on all my ground. So I needed to work out times and places; starting off close to home, then working may way out to catch things moving later on. The first place where I noticed foxes pairing-up was on the Raith Estate, which is home to a cracking pheasant shoot – one of the best in Fife, and it’s right on my doorstep. Also, it makes it NUMBER ONE priority, as birds are expensive and not just on money but on the time and effort put in to raise them to shootable condition!

West drive

I went onto the estate for a general look around, just as darkness was falling at around 6pm, and went straight to one of my favourite spots, known as the West Drive. It didn’t look the best of nights, as the moon was brighter than I would have liked and the wind was not in my favour. But I thought I’d take a gamble and sit in the pickup with the window open just enough for me to scan with the thermal spotter, so minimising the chances of a fox winding me. I could see hares in the field in front of me with my own eyes about 80 yards away, since the moon was so bright but thought I would give it an hour or so anyway. I knew that any movement at all would give the game away. I laid the gun on the ground at the side of the pickup, so I’d be ready to go if anything showed its face!

As has happened many times before, after about 40 minutes I heard the distinct sound of troubled pheasants up the hill in front of me. Over the wall and into the woods I could see the white heat source coming in and out of view as it weaved its way through the wood. The fox jumped up onto the wall, giving me the chance to clearly identify what it was. I was 250 yards away from it and the wind was coming from behind me, blowing straight towards it. I got out of the pickup as soon as I noticed the fox jumping down from the wall and it started working the ground straight away as it landed, so I knew it had its head down. Seconds Iater I was laying on the ground up against the front of my pickup, with the crosshairs of my scope firmly fixed on the fox’s chest as it started walking down the field towards me.

Immediate action drills

Despite conditions not being in my favour, I carried on as usual. But just as I was ready to stop the fox and take a shot, it started heading up the hill back to where it came from. The shot would only happen if the fox stopped before jumping back onto the wall. Luckily it did just that and the shot came off. I headed up the hill on the West Drive to retrieve my quarry to find it was a big vixen in great health. So a good fox to take out of the game, especially at this time of the year on a pheasant shoot as they are pairing up. With the wind not being very kind to me, I decided to move to another end of the estate, near my friend Mark’s house. The idea was to perhaps pick up another over there, as his dogs had been barking a couple of nights previous, which is a good indication of a fox being in the area. This has happened on a few occasions, where his working dogs have picked-up the scent and barked to let Mark know.

A week or so before, I shot one in the field in front of Mark’s house, by pure chance as we were coming back from shooting on another bit of permission. We pulled into his drive and I lifted the thermal spotter to scan the field. There was a fox casually walking across the field 150 yards away. Straight away the gun was off the back seat and on the bonnet of Mark’s pickup, which was parked in a better position than mine. That was another fox accounted for on the Raith Estate!

Grab your gun!

Driving through the estate from the West Drive to Mark’s house, I was pretty sure there was another fox working the area as the dogs were barking. Just as I parked up, Mark opened my pickup door and whispered, “There’s a fox on the banking, grab your gun”. Since, the dogs were barking, Mark had his thermal spotter in hand and was scanning the field. There it was. Before he saw me park-up, he was going to go inside and grab his rifle. We followed it along the banking, and then watched it cross over a wall into another field.

We walked up to the right, as Mark knew there was a high hill we could lay on for a good vantage point and a steady shot. He had used the hill on previous occasions. We lost the fox for a couple of minutes but could hear another pair barking to each other, so I gave a gentle squeak off the back of my hand. The fox appeared at the end of the field from up a banking and it came running into Mark’s squeak. I had my crosshair firmly fixed on to it. And it was coming in strong! Mark stopped it around 150 yards – he had to or I was going to have the tops of trees interfering with the shot. The fox stopped dead on Mark’s squeak and without hesitation I squeezed the trigger. Down it went. Another clean shot with the Pulsar XD75 thermal scope. That was fox number two for the night.

A pair in the hand

As we were heading down the hill to go and retrieve the fox, I was chatting with Mark. Then suddenly, he turned around and started heading back up the hill again. At that point, I too heard the second of the pair barking. We got back into the same position as before and carried out the same routine.

Seconds later, right after Mark’s squeak, the fox came over the banking at the exact same point as the last one and walking the same route too. I asked Mark to stop it further back, because it could have run off after meeting the other fox on the ground. Mark gave it the ‘kiss of death’ (as he calls it). It stopped, just like the previous animal and down it went within a few feet of its mate. That was the second hat-trick of the season on the Raith Estate and at a crucial time of year. Helping the Raith to uphold its great reputation as a pheasant shoot.