gunsforfox

Guns for Fox Hunting:

This is a topic that will stir the emotions of those paying attention like few others will. I have opinions like everyone. Hopefully mine are based on experience and will be helpful in selecting what weapon you will choose to use.

Foxes have been killed by most every caliber of gun ever used. Many guys will have a major problem laying out the money for a rifle that will be dedicated to fox hunting so they use what they have at hand. Most of them will kill a fox just fine.

Let's start at the top. There are a lot of foxes shot with deer rifles. Yup, they kill them dead. They also completely destroy the hide in most cases. Anyone who has seen a nice red fox hide up close will not likely want to do such a thing to such a beautiful trophy.

Case in point: During the early years of my fox hunting, I was out with my cousin, Ed Prechel from Waseca, Minnesota hunting near Canby in the SW corner of our state. It was shortly after a fresh foot of snow fell and we weren't having much luck. Eventually I managed to call in a red fox. It came bounding in over the snow, one leap at a time through the deep snow. At about eighty yards, my cousin let loose with a shot. He missed. The fox tried to take off but with the deep snow, all he could do was keep leaping one jump at a time. Ed chambered another round and fired again. He hit the fox solidly in the shoulder and the hunt was over. The fox lay dead on the snow.

We made our way over to the fox to admire him. He was easily the most beautiful fox I had ever seen. He was a deep cherry red with perfect black and white markings. He was an old cuss with a long mane around his face and short, warn teeth. He would have been a perfect mount if it weren't for the fact that he shot it through both shoulders with a .243 win. The big bullet opened up that fox and cut him nearly in half. Ed was a professional taxidermist at the time and couldn't repair the damage. Most foxes are not that perfect. This one was and Ed's deer rifle wasted him.

So, what do we do? Go with a .22 LR? Sure there have been many foxes killed with them. I shot my first several foxes with them. But, bottom line, and believe this, a .22 lr is NOT big enough to reliably kill a fox. There is almost no shock value to the .22 long rifle and the hole it punches is not big enough to kill a fox quickly, especially if the shot is any less than perfect.

Lots of guys will swear by a .223 or somesuch .22 centerfire load. They work farily well. They tend to be long range, flat shooting, accurate and deadly. Depending on the load and the bullet, they may or may not destroy the hide. Most often, however, there will be a large exit wound needing attention before tanning.

But, the .22 centerfires are not a fox-dedicated rifle. In many states they are legal to hunt deer with. They tend to be the prairie dog and woodchuck shooters rifle of choice. They provide a wide range of bullet styles, weights, etc. Bottom line is that they are still too big. Too much damage.

The perfect caliber for fox then is????? The .17 Rem. This tiny bullet leaves a 20" barrel at 4000 fps +/-. The tiny bullet, 17 to 30 gr. hits the fox and enters leaving a .17" hole in the hide. The bullet explodes with force inside the fox killing it instantly and usually with no exit hole. It's a dandy round and I believe it was made with foxes in mind. The .17 is most certainly the the "perfect fox caliber." It is a super-flat shooting rifle and I've killed foxes out to 400 yards with it.

There are a ton of rumors about this and that with the .17 rem. First is that it's fussy about the wind. They say if there is any breeze blowing, the tiny bullet will be blown off it's course. The fact is that it bucks the wind on par with the .223. Other's say it's too small to kill coyotes. The truckload of coyotes I've killed with it would argue with you on this if they could. It's effective and lethal on coyotes.

Shotguns work well too. They can be effective out to 40 or so yards and it's been my experience that a 1- 7/8oz load of BB's works best to provide good, clean kills. Smaller pellets don't offer the energy to needed to break the bones and anchor the animal. Larger pellets often don't have the pattern density to be sure of a clean hit in the vitals. Twelve guage and larger is the rule. You need a significant payload of BB's to put down a fox.

The bottom line in choosing a weapon to shoot at foxes with is this. Pick a caliber that will do the job you want it to do. For example, if your hunting is on the prairies of North Dakota, you shouldn't take your old model 94 in .30-30 out and hope to make a three hundred yard shot at a sleeping fox. You are a better shot than I am if you can pull off that kind of shooting on a regular basis. Likewise, I wouldn't take a scoped .22-250 into a tamarack swamp where I'd expect to call a fox to within ten or fifteen yards. Pick the right gun for the right job.