Fox playing dead?

F

falcon four

New member
Guys, I need your help.

Those of you fox hunters out there...Will a fox play dead? I shot at one on saturday night, He hit the ground immediately. Motionless, he layed there for 5 minutes. I started calling again hoping to bring in the second one I saw. The first one started crawling away, I really don't think it's possible I missed it. At the range, everything was perfect. No hair or blood.

Do you think he was playing dead?
 
I'm going out on a limb here. My crystal ball predicts that you were using a shotgun? The shot size was, oh let's say number 4's? Modified choke? Around or over 40 yards? Maybe, just maybe, you were using a rimfire of some sort, that could it?

Go ahead bust my cyrstal ball, how far off was I? We need a bit more information. At any rate, no I don't think he was playing dead. I'd guess that you fringed him with a shotgun and fairly small shot and that knocked him down temporarily. Or, you stunned him with a shot near the spine with a small low velocity rifle round. Either one of those type hits on a well furred fox might not leave much sign on the ground. Especially if there was no snow and at night you may not detect specks of blood. That'd be my take on it.
 
Falcon,

Highly unlikely. You might of "grazed" his head(coal-cocked) him. He got his bearings again, laying there.

Theres an old saying in the medical field...Their not dead...until their cold, stiff & dead. 1-shot can bring any animal down, doesn't mean its over.

I'm always ready, for a second whack job on a downed animal.
 
I shot a fox once that went right down. Used a .223, so i figured it was dead. Walked about 150 years only to find that it was still alive. I steped on its head, and stood on his chest to kill him. When skinning, the only hole i found went in one ear, sliced the skin ontop of the head, and out the other ear. Thats one of those one in a million shots. My guess is that you knocked him for a loop. Good luck with the next one.....
 
I was using a .22 magnum with hollow points.

Hence the reason I am now looking for a 22-250, and the .22 mag is for sale.

.22 Magnum Marlin, synthetic stock, stainless gun, extra heavy barrel.
3x9 Swift scope
sling
Harris folding & extending bipod
about 100 rounds

Email me for pics or price. The gun has killed me a few fox, and probably at least 100 groundhogs.I love it but I'm in the field for a bigger gun now.

Thank you guys so much for the info. I wasn't sure if it would play dead or not.
 
One time I shot a coyote at 40 yards and over he went and by the time I got a new round loaded I looked up to see all four feet facing me straight on. So I thought good and get back on the call and waited for the next one to come in. After 5 minutes with nothing showing, I went down to get my coyote and it's gone. I looked for 45 minutes and I didn't stop until it got dark. I even came back in the morning to look some more. Not a drop of blood or anything! Goes to show you 4 feet up is not dead. That pictures still sticks in my mind after all the time that has passed. Go figure!
 
hey TC, I'm a righty.

I also keep playing that moment over and over in my head, and as I play it through my mind, there's no was I missed it. I can drive tacks with that gun /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
Well somethings not right here. Falcon four; I have almost the same rifle, have taken fox, coyote, tons of possum & raccoon, not to mention woodchuck and countless squirrel. I have made a few bad shots, it happens. So I check my zero and stick with ammo that works. It could happen with centerfire too. Ok so you perhaps missed the vitals, and one got away. Im just thinking this is not a good reason to sell off a fine rifle.
 
A little hasty there to blame the equipment don't ya think? Hitting (and killing) a fox at night(assuming) can be a little more difficult than shooting nickel sized groups at the range. So when you miss one with the 22-250 what will your excuse be?

Another question is why didn't you keep shooting when he was cralwing away?
 
I have had this happen to me before. It won me a the "Hunting the Night Shift" video a few months ago in the contest. I was out at night calling. A real nailer gray came in to the call. It almost jumped in to the truck bed. He finally got out to about 25 yards when I shot with the 22 mag. I walked over to him and picked him up by the tail. I was looking for the bullet hole. I couldn't find a hole in him anywhere. I put him down and he kicked a few times. My hunting partner told me, "he is getting better". I went back to the truck to get another gun to finsh him with. I got back to within ten yards and he runs off into the woods. I laugh every time I think of the fox being 10 inches from my face.
 
foxchasr,

do you use handcalls or electronic callers?

I don't have the luxury of spending beaucoup(many) bucks for an electronic caller nor do I have the time to build my own. For this reason I am stuck using hand calls. Tell me, how do you aim and accurately shoot a rifle while calling with a rabbit in distress?(which alone requires two hands). Not only the fact that I don't have the money or time, It is much more of a rush using your own hands and "voice" to call one in to your position. Go ahead, aim your speaker into the wind, itch your arse and wait for one to come in.

The area that I was hunting was a small gas line about 6 feet wide, he laid in the middle so he had only approximately 2.5 feet to go before he was into the thick brush. It took him about two seconds to crawl from the center of the trail until he was out of view. for this reason I COULD not take another shot.

Danurve-

I have probably killed at least 80 animals with this gun and I am not impressed with its killing power. I have recovered about 98% of them, most require a second shot. I can drill a groundhog in the chest and he will still run a ways into his hole or fall over dead. I have tried a few types of ammo and I am not really "all about" letting wounded animals run free, because I have drilled them in the chest in open fields and had them run, in some cases, 20 yards before they die. A head shot will drop anything pretty much but at the distances that I often shoot they are not always an option.

Upon gutting them I see that I made a good hit, whether it be heart or lung. It simply pokes holes in the animal, not inflicting much damage.

Because I often hunt mowed trails or lines, COVERED with brush on both sides for fox, It is not in my best interest to use that rifle where they run 25 yards into a brush pile that a human simply can not get into to retrieve.

For this reason I am choosing to use a rifle that will inflict more bodily damage, resulting in a more humane way to kill them. Will certain animals still get away? SURE, I don't care if you're using a .50 caliber BMG, you're going to miss or make a bad hit once in a while.
 
FF
You completely misunderstood my post. I agree that it is VERY difficult to hit a fox while you have several other things going on, that is my point. You said that it couldn't have been you that made a bad shot, must have been the gun/ammo. I've shot lots of critters with the remington premiers and they have killed things dead real fast when the shot placement was where it needed to be. I had one yote run about 30 yds, but they are a lot bigger/tougher than a fox. A 22 mag is commonly agreed to be plenty of gun for fox.
Thanks for explaining the 'crawl away' situation, it wasn't clear from your 1st post.
 
falcon four - when you skin your next fox look at that tiny body. Not much of a target with his coat off right /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Hence the reason I am now looking for a 22-250, and the .22 mag is for sale.
Click to expand...
If you do use a 22-250 on that tiny body, you will be picking up 2 halves of fox. :eek:

22 mag is plenty
 
not to be rude but if he was crawling away why did u not give it to him again /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif but i agree wth danurve
no need to sell of a good rifle /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

and about the groundhog crawling away
groundgogs are tuff little critters i have seen some still try to run after being shot with a .223 no joke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

there was a post here awhile back i think it was in the varmint hunting section titled pretty wild woodchuck
u should read it and see jus how tuff they can be /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

jus my 2
 
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I once shot a fox with my .22, and straight away he went over on his back, dead as a doornail.
So of I go to claim my prize,and as I picked him up by the tail, and lifted him, he growled at me, so I dropped him in fright, and put another shot behind his ear, and he ran off.
I chased him, and caught him, but he got away again and last I saw him he was running into the scrub.
I never found him.
Now I know the 2nd shot at least got him, as the range was a massive 1/2 inch.
My guess is the bullet bounced off his skull under the skin, that could have been what happened with your fox
 


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