- September 25, 2018
- Hunting
- Natali Michaelis
Hunting with a decoy for a fox is a rather exciting type of hunting, because in order to catch this unusually beautiful animal you will need to bring it closer to you at a distance of 30 to 40 meters. This event does not require any special equipment or organization from a person. In most cases, the fox is hunted alone. You should also remember that this is a very cautious and sensitive animal.
A little about hunting
Beginning hunters are advised to take care of good camouflage, since this animal is able to recognize an approaching person even from a hundred meters away. You will need to purchase a camouflage robe, as well as a special cover for the hat. In our country, fox hunting is most common in winter, so all equipment should be made in white. It is recommended that even felt boots and gloves blend in with the snow, since the fox has very good eyesight, and in an all-white uniform you will be almost invisible.
It is also necessary to purchase high-quality natural decoy. Professional hunters quite skillfully imitate a mouse squeak with their lips, but beginners will have to buy a special whistle in the store. You can even learn to imitate the cry of a wounded hare, but this will require quite a lot of time.
The sounds produced by the decoy are quite reminiscent of those made by wild animals. The fox will definitely take the bait, after which catching it will not be difficult.
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Hare decoy...
One day, after work, I looked into the Okhota store. And since the local seller, Aunt Vera, knew me from those times when I, a curious sixth-grader boy, ran here every other day to look at real hunters and listen to their stories, then I was lucky!!! Aunt Vera happily called me to her counter and said that when the customers had dispersed a little, she would show me something.
I waited impatiently for about half an hour. Finally, there were fewer people, and Aunt Vera, with a conspiratorial look, took out from under the counter a small box and a new glossy magazine “Hunting and Game Management.”
“Here, read it,” she said, opening the bookmark.
I'm reading. It turns out that in the Czech Republic, hunters invented a decoy that imitates the cry of a wounded hare. If you blow into the decoy, then after 10 - 15 minutes, as if on command, foxes will come running from all sides, and in the evening you can shoot up to 14 - 15 of them.
And curiosity begins to fill me: Is it really this thing that Aunt Vera has in her hands?
“Here, here,” says Aunt Vera and hands me the decoy. – I called you at the hospital, but you had already left.
As it turned out, three decoys arrived at the store. Two went to the city fathers, but one was hidden for me. I take the treasured decoy out of the box and, looking questioningly at Aunt Vera, I put it to my lips.
“Try it,” she allows. - but not very loudly, because the sound is very scary.
How a wounded hare screams does not need to be explained to hunters, but for non-hunters I will explain: Feeling that death is near, the scythe screams so that it gives me goosebumps. The scream is reminiscent of the heart-rending cry of a baby, creepy and at the same time unpleasant, chilling to the marrow of the bones. I don’t understand how such a terrible sound can be made from such a small and cute animal.
So. I blew into this decoy. The piercing screech scared me, but the reaction of the visitors was even worse. Two fell to the floor, and the rest's hair stood on end.
- Great! “I’ll take it,” I tell Aunt Vera and hurry to leave the store: it somehow turned out awkward with the frightened visitors. Having run home, I immediately called the chairman of a remote steppe collective farm, either whose daughter or wife I once saved from death, and shouted into the phone: “I’m leaving tomorrow, get the car ready!” I will conduct the hunt with a new Western super device.”
Tomorrow comes with great difficulty, after a sleepless and restless night spent in anticipation of tomorrow and discussing with my wife the model of a heel-length fox fur coat being developed, loading additional cartridges, sorting through hunting clothes.
The decoy tried again at home with his fellow hunters - everyone was in panic and horror. A good thing!
Then followed an endless road, a meeting, a sample of village delicacies: borscht, dumplings, sour cream. Inevitable questions: how is work? like parents? I answer automatically, looking forward to the evening. The owner, Nikolai Ivanovich, is not a hunter. Therefore, from the bottom of my heart, I suggested that I sleep today and take a walk with my gun around the village in the morning. I'm not offended. But now the driver and the local hunter are already standing at the gate, not stopping the Ural in which I need to be transported. There was a lot of snow, the UAZ would not pass.
Local hunter Sanka, I already know him, looks at the decoy with delight and says that with this you can shoot two fur coats. It’s a bit far to the place, about eight kilometers into a field. There they brought haystacks from all the surrounding fields and meadows - and of course in winter there are a lot of mice and foxes.
It's minus thirty outside, January. Three people help me get dressed. First there are diving trousers made of camel wool, and wadding on top, and then white camouflage ones on top. Of course, there are also two sheepskin coats. One like this, and the other chairman backwards, for warmth. Felt boots, a hat with ears tied, but there is no other way. It’s cold, sitting in the cold for three or four hours.
I couldn’t fit in the cab, so they pushed me into the back. We drove for a long time, somewhere into the night, and skidded twice. When we stopped, it was about ten o'clock in the evening. Climbing the haystack took about twenty minutes. I myself had difficulty even walking in such an outfit, and I was not at all able to climb a four-meter-high haystack. It was lucky that there were pitchforks and rakes near the haystack. Their reverse side was pushed into my rear seat, and they managed to push me upstairs. I dug a hole for myself in the hay and set up a very comfortable place for shooting. Then, waving to the guys, he told them not to come for me earlier than four hours later.
The “Ural” snorted powerfully with its engine, turned around and drove off into the darkness, leaving me alone in the terrible January night, in the Kazakh steppe. It's scary to be alone. I sat quietly for about ten minutes, then I thought: “Well, it’s probably time.” I take out the decoy, put the cartridges in a row so that they are at hand, and the buckshot is also closer, just in case. Well, it's time! Taking a deep breath into my lungs, I blow into the beacon with all my might, and a soul-tearing scream echoes across the wild icy steppe.
Mommy! Why did I do this?! Now some devils or goblin will come running. Somehow I came to my senses, calmed down, well, I think the foxes will definitely gather now. He kept watch and kept watch and fell asleep unnoticed.
The hunter’s subtle hearing does not fail even in a dream, and this time it did not fail either. I hear creaking steps somewhere nearby. I move the safety lever forward, quietly turn my head, and see: not a fox or a wolf, but an ordinary horse with a sleigh driving up to my haystack. A village man in a fur hat with a pitchfork gets out of the sleigh and looks around slyly, making sure that there is no one around. Slowly, he begins to fill the sleigh with hay, almost from under me. If the man had raised his head even a little, he would have looked right at the barrel of my gun. But why should he look at the top of the stack when there is plenty of hay in the middle?
I sit there, barely holding back my laughter. Should I tell him that stealing is wrong, or should he steal for himself? Life is already hard for them. The decision came gradually.
I quietly put the decoy to my lips and blow with all my might, pointing it directly at the man. It’s hard to convey what happened next, but I’ll try.
So, the horse, without raising its head from the stack, jumps unusually high on all four legs, its mane and tail stand on end, and it, being two meters above the ground, begins to run. She ran through the air for what seemed like two minutes. Then, according to the laws of gravity, she nevertheless falls to the ground and disappears into the steppe, rushing at some kind of unhealthy gallop, which she apparently had never had to run before. I still don’t understand how the sleigh came off the horse. They didn’t even move, she did it all so abruptly.
The man, a split second later than the horse, also jumped, as it seemed to me, higher than the haystack, while somehow convulsively kicking his arms and legs. At the same time, the hat was catapulted from his head, apparently due to his hair suddenly standing on end. He screamed during the flight so much that I was afraid for his health. The man disappeared from sight a little slower than the horse, without even touching the ground.
In a minute it was all over. Again I was left alone with the night, the steppe, winter, and also with the sleigh with hay. The driver who came to pick me up walked around the sleigh for about ten minutes, scratched the back of his head and finally said: “It seemed like there wasn’t a sleigh”? “At first it wasn’t,” I confirmed, “and then they came running to the decoy.”
And in the morning in the village council, at a meeting of the collective farm board, the asset listened attentively to the watchman’s story about how, while he was guarding the collective farm’s hay, he was attacked by a snowman, devoured his horse, but could not catch up with himself...
Series of messages “Life Stories 3”:
Part 1 - People who eat chebureks at the station are difficult to scare with anything Part 2 - A modern water vending machine... ... Part 16 - A kind word makes a cat feel good Part 17 - Tender Part 18 - Hare decoy...
Fox hunting with a wounded hare decoy
Most professional hunters recommend using this particular bait. Fox hunting with a hare decoy is best done at dusk in early spring. The fox will respond most actively to the call between 16:00 and 21:00. In general, this method is practically no different from using a decoy with a mouse squeak, which will be discussed a little later.
Thanks to its acute hearing, a fox is able to hear the cry of an animal even in windless frosty weather at a distance of up to one kilometer. When luring an animal, it is necessary to alternate long and short sounds every 15-20 seconds. After several attempts, you should take a short break and wait about 3-4 minutes, and then get down to business again.
The fox decoy must be covered and opened with one hand. Hunting at dusk is otherwise called “hunting from ambush.” It is worth arriving at the chosen place in advance, even before dusk. It must have a good viewing angle, as well as natural cover. We wait for the time when the fox begins to actively look for prey, and we begin to lure the animal.
The best shelter would be a haystack in an open field, which rises quite high above the surrounding terrain. Remember that it is necessary to position yourself on the leeward side, otherwise the fox can smell the human scent.
Is it possible to make a hare decoy with your own hands?
An experienced hunter makes all the bait for any animal himself. Before you start using it directly, it is advisable to first listen to the sound of a hare - there are a lot of similar samples on the Internet. The most convenient way to make a decoy for this animal is from an ordinary duck decoy, and you don’t have to sharpen, adjust or drill anything.
Remove the mouthpiece from the duck call and try to make an animal cry. This requires some skill, so it is better to reproduce the sound at home first. You can listen to the cry of a hare in a version recorded on a voice recorder and compare it with samples. It is most convenient to use a bait made from a duck decoy, placing the upper lip on the tone board and pressing the tongue with it - this allows you to get a clearer sound that the animal will hear at a very long distance.
Mouse squeak decoy
For this type of hunting, clear but windless weather is best. Arriving in an open field, where foxes usually hunt mice, the hunter must look around with binoculars and find the animal. Having noticed a mousing fox in the distance, you should quickly hide. For an ambush, it is best to use natural depressions, such as a ravine and depressions. Any abandoned lake or spring ravine is also suitable.
Your shelter must comply with the following conditions:
- There should be no bushes or tall vegetation in front of it. The hunter's view should not be obstructed by foreign objects.
- The ambush should be located against the wind (relative to the animal).
- From a shelter that is too large, the sound of a decoy can be heard quite poorly, so choose a ravine of a suitable size.
- The fox should be at a distance of at least 800-900 meters, but no closer than 600 steps.
If you use the above recommendations when choosing a shelter, and also purchase good camouflage, the animal will never notice you.
As soon as the hunter decides on a place for an ambush, he must begin to carefully move towards it. You need to lie down in the shelter in such a way that only the white cap peeks out, rising above the surface. As soon as you are comfortable, prepare your gun for a shot in advance and begin to lure the fox.
Using decoy
The keen hearing of this animal will allow you to hear the squeak of a mouse or the cry of a hare at a fairly large distance. It is also worth noting that it is not for nothing that the fox is popularly called a cunning animal. It is able to quickly recognize deception. Therefore, sounds must be produced in several stages. For example, it is worth making two short sounds and one slightly longer: “pik-pik...pik.” It will be enough to emit it once, and then look at the fox’s reaction through binoculars.
Typically, the fox will respond to the sound after the first time. If she was sitting at that moment, then, having heard a mouse squeak, she would definitely turn her head in the direction of the sound, and if she was walking, she would stop in place, listening to the environment. Only if the animal ignores the sound, it is necessary to repeat the luring a minute after the first attempt. Typically, a fox will immediately head towards the source of the sound after hearing it.
Hunting specifics
Having a decoy and using it is not all that is required of a skilled hunter. Good camouflage is also a guarantee that the hunt will be successful.
Having scared off the fox, the hunter will not see it in the same place very soon: the animal is cautious. Therefore, it is necessary to purchase the simplest camouflage and surveillance devices.
A camouflage suit may consist of white felt boots and a white camouflage robe. Gloves are a very important element of the costume; it is also better to choose them from white material.
To begin with, the hunter chooses a place where he can hide. This place can be a hole, a bush, a ravine. After taking cover, you need to lure the fox. They attract the fox when it moves around the area, if it stops, they stop making a sound.
The principle of using semolina:
- At first, 2-3 short squeaks;
- Wait 3-4 seconds;
- Make a third squeak;
- Wait 2 minutes;
- If the animal does not appear in the field of view, it is necessary to repeat the procedure again.
It must be remembered that if the fox has stopped and is looking towards the hunter, it is better to stop beckoning (extra sounds will scare the fox away). She will still come to the shelter, but it is extremely easy to scare her away at this moment. The hunter will need considerable patience and caution.
Sometimes, in addition to decoy, hunting uses such a device as a fur bait - a thread with a fur tail at the end. He is thrown onto the snow thirty meters from the shelter and gradually pulled towards himself, parodying a field mouse in the snow.
Even when hunting for a fox, everyone will need binoculars, since the fur of the red animal camouflages itself very well with its surroundings and is not easy to spot.
Currently, many hunters use such a fairly modern decoy, which makes the sound of a wounded hare.
How to wait for the fox
It is worth correctly recognizing the moment when it is no longer necessary to lure the animal. At too close a distance from the fox, the animal recognizes an unnatural squeak much easier. Most wild animals are able to recognize the location where a sound came from with phenomenal accuracy. Therefore, be sure that the fox will sooner or later come close to your ambush.
Along the way, the fox may be distracted by real mice, but he will never forget about your bait. However, if this does happen, repeat the sounds made and the animal will again head in your direction. As soon as the animal turns its head towards your ambush, you should freeze without making a sound. Remember that your disguise will not allow the fox to see you against the background of white snow, but a moving object is much easier to notice.
A little trick
Some hunters prefer to throw a ball of black sheep's wool in front of them when the animal approaches their shelter. It must be tied to a white thread or fishing line in advance. Others prefer to use a dead frozen mouse for this game. By pulling the object by the line, you will imitate the movement of a mouse, while the black color will stand out wonderfully against the white snow, so that the fox will quickly notice the bait. Succumbing to the excitement of the hunt, the animal will cautiously pounce on the fleeing prey. This moment is best suited for a successful shot.
Weapons for hunting
Have you thought about what weapon to use for fox hunting? For this activity, a double-barreled shotgun with large shot - from No. 1 to No. 3 - is best suited. The suitable range for firing such cartridges is from 35 to 60 meters.
If the hunter has at his disposal a fairly obedient hunting dog, the color of which is light or white, then you can take the four-legged assistant with you on the hunt. The dog will be indispensable for catching a wounded animal that decides to run away from the hunter.
Alternative option
Using hardwood, you can cut a couple of plates (5 centimeters long, 1 centimeter wide and 0.5 centimeters thick). They need to be driven to each other as accurately as possible so that they are in close contact with each other. In the middle of each plate, several hollows are cut across (depth from 0.5 millimeters and width 3 millimeters). It is very important to ensure that the valley plates coincide with each other.
A pair of holes are drilled in one plate. It is necessary to cut a strip 2 millimeters wide from thin wood. One end is inserted into the hole in the plate on the side where the groove was previously cut. After this, all that remains is to clamp the end with a wooden wedge. The second part of the strip is pulled tightly into the remaining hole. The volume of the sound produced by the decoy will depend on how tightly the elastic band is stretched. The plates are folded together and tied with a strong thread. This decoy is designed to imitate the squeak of a mouse.
How to make a decoy with your own hands?
The simplest decoy is the one that imitates the squeak of a field mouse. It can be made from an ordinary glass test tube. The vessel is filled with vodka or an alcohol solution, after which the neck is closed. To obtain the required sound, the cork is moistened with vodka and quickly passed over the glass.
To make a hare call decoy, take a tube of wood and make a longitudinal cut in it. A thin plate of metal is inserted there. If you blow into the tube, the metal will begin to vibrate, which will imitate the cry of a hare.
Also, the call of a hare is made from duck decoy. To do this, you just need to disconnect the mouthpiece from it.
A good way is to use two wooden plates. They must be absolutely the same. A groove 2 mm wide is cut in each. 2 holes are drilled in one plate and a rubber strip is inserted. After this, both plates are compressed.
Hare call decoy
The decoy, which reproduces the cry of a hare, is a fairly thin tube, which is divided in the middle by a longitudinal section. This section is covered with two metal plates, which are connected to each other using copper wire. When a hunter blows into such a mouthpiece, the air will lift the copper plate, causing it to vibrate violently. After this, the illusion of the cry of a wounded hare appears. Making such a device is not difficult even for a novice hunter.
Popular decoys
Are you planning to go fox hunting with a decoy? You can purchase this device at any store specializing in hunting equipment. You don't have to pay much for a simple decoy that imitates the squeak of a mouse. However, there are also more sophisticated models, for example made in Sweden, which have a wide spectrum of action. What can we say about electric decoys, which are capable of imitating several hundred sounds of various animals. Such equipment will not be cheap, but it has a wide range of actions.
We hope our article helped you understand all the intricacies of hunting with a fox decoy. Even a novice hunter will be able to cope with this interesting activity if he follows all the above recommendations. The main goal of a person when hunting an animal is to remain unnoticed until it comes to a distance suitable for shooting. In this regard, it is recommended to pay special attention to camouflage, as well as choosing the right place for an ambush. As soon as the animal comes within shooting range, grab the gun and do what you were taught at the shooting range. The main thing is not to panic and not to give your presence away to the sly fox.
Decoy with a bunny cry
Fox hunting when a decoy is used, the cry of a wounded hare is based on attracting the fox with the sound of the decoy to the distance of a confident shot.
Stores sell a large variety of plastic and wooden decoys of this type. Moreover, there are both imported decoys and domestically produced decoys.
A wounded hare decoy for a fox is able to reproduce a sound representing the voice of a hare in trouble, which will undoubtedly attract such a curious predator as a fox.
Nordik Mini Predator is a classic fox decoy, it was developed by the Swedish company Nordik and can imitate the voice of a wounded hare, as well as a mouse squeak. It belongs to the type of combined decoys, that is, decoys that combine a hare cry and a mouse squeak.
