How to Hunt a Red Fox with Predator Calls
A predator call is designed to imitate the cry of distressed or dying prey such as a rabbit, one of the main food sources for red fox. The call causes the fox to follow the sound of the squealing rabbit in anticipation of finding the animal to eat. Some calls imitate a bird in distress; however, the rabbit call is the most effective on fox. The recommended technique calls for the hunter to wear camouflage and sit perfectly still while calling for the red fox.
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Instructions
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Choose a low-caliber rifle such as a .22 with long-rifle ammunition, .22 magnum, or .222. Larger calibers will make a big hole in the fox and render the pelt worthless. Shotguns can be used with a modified choke and size 6 shot.
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Locate where foxes are living and hunting by looking for fox tracks and fecal droppings. Open fields bordered by woods, farm fields of corn and grains, and along grass-lined ditches are good locations to call for red fox.
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Dress in camouflage and find a place to sit with a tree or brush behind you to break up your outline, but with a full view of the land in front of you so you can see a fox coming toward your call. Position your gun so that you can lift it to shoot with minimal movement.
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Cup your hand around the end of the call and blow hard into the call while slowly opening your hand around the end of the call, open your hand fully at the height of the call, and then close your hand back over the end as you complete the call. Keep your thumb and forefinger locked around the end of the call while opening and closing the remaining three fingers. About five seconds is the proper amount of time for the call.
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Repeat the call three times and then sit in silence looking to see whether a fox is responding to the call. After two minutes, call another three times and wait and watch. Call in this pattern for five repetitions.
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Reduce the volume of the call and make squeaking sounds by blowing lightly into the call when a fox is spotted coming toward you. The lower squeaks will cause the fox to hunt out the sound, continuing to blow loudly after a fox is coming in will scare it away.
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Call from one location for 15 to 20 minutes, this is the usual amount of time it will take for a fox to respond if it hears the call. If a fox has not been called in, move to a new location at least a quarter-mile away and begin the calling again in the same manner.
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Tips & Warnings
Always hunt with the wind blowing toward you so the fox does not pick up your scent.
As a fox moves in to the call it will have its full attention on the place the sound is emanating from. Do not make any sudden or unnatural moves as this will scare the fox away. Lift your gun slowly into the shooting position.
Predator calls will also attract gray fox, coyotes and bobcats, so watch for these animals to come in as well.
Do not hunt in residential or urban areas. Be aware of your surroundings; do not shoot toward houses or where people are present.
Check your local hunting regulations and have the proper licenses to hunt.
References
- Photo Credit Red Fox image by Steve Mutch from Fotolia.com
