This modality, like chilla or waits, is a very effective method to control the population of predators that stands out for its selective nature: first, because it is the hunter who decides, at the last moment, whether to kill or not the fox.
Secondly, because it is carried out in an insufficient area, usually not exceeding 150 meters, and with the authorization of both the Administration and the owner of the boundary, so that other species are not bothered.
Related Article: Guidelines for Hunting Deer in Rut
How to Know if There Are Foxes Among the Bundles of Straw
The straw storages in the open that accumulate farmers and ranchers year after year, forming a large pile of alpacas easy to see at a great distance, are very querencias places for the fox.
To detect the presence of foxes in these burrows, we must observe them from a distance with the help of binoculars, scrutinizing the highest part of the alpacas, which is where the quiet days tend to lie.
We can also approach in situ to check if our ‘friend’ has fixed his residence there: the males often urinate in the corners of the hayloft, something we will discover by the strong smell of their urine.
We can also detect its smell in all the entrances-exits of the burrow-haystack, observing how they are taken. As well they will betray him the numerous excrements that he will have been distributing around since this predator is not very careful in matters of hygiene.
Get Closer Without Being Detected
The eviction of this type of burrows is not an easy task due to the large size of the barns since the fox knows that it does not have to go out to the clean, where it has no protection because there is no vegetation.
In addition, we are waiting for you, something that in some occasions you will know because you will have seen us arrive from far away because they are clear areas.
It will be difficult to break, going out and coming back without giving us time to shoot. In order not to be detected due to its fine smell, it is essential to approach the wind in the face.
So that your sharp ears do not discover what we are up to, the weapons have to be carried away from the burrows, at a distance that does not hear the locks of our repeaters.
As we are not alone, will have to download them at that point when the director of the hunt indicates that it is over, so that when meeting again all participants do not have a single cartridge in the breach or in the deposit of any shotgun.
Related Article: How to Prepare Our Dogs for the Hunting Season
How to Get in the Hayloft
We must take positions with extreme caution, placing the shotguns in two of the corners, always diagonally: this way we dominate the whole haystack, but the hunters can not see themselves in order to avoid accidents. Also, you have to stay close to the haystack to prevent the fox from seeing us when leaving the burrow.
It is also significant to remain still and in complete silence and not shoot at the haystack, always out to avoid hurting the dogs, which will be on their heels – we have to be enduring and give them time to find our prey.
Nor will we climb on the haystack if it is not necessary – just to look for the dogs when a long time has passed without seeing them. If we step over, they will detect our presence, and as the fox fears the man more than the dog will confront him, or he will lock himself in one of the many recesses without going outside.
Drop the Dogs in the Burrow
Once the hunters are placed, we will let go of the dog, which must always be trapped – no more than one horse at a time, except in very large burrows or barns with large dimensions.
The dog, after confirming by the traces the presence of the fox in its lair, will penetrate inside to expel him, most of the time without physical contact, because in principle the fox does not want problems and when detecting the presence of the dog, it will go out to the Exterior.
He should not be shot in the same door of the burrow. You have to let it go a few meters -10 or 15- so you can not return to your lair.
This mode may seem easy, but an error such as a mobile phone, the bolt of shotguns, coughing, will make the fox recognize these noises as part of a package whose final content is a man.
Then he will make use of his cunning and knowledge of the burrows, he will mock the dog taking refuge in the deepest part of the hayloft, and he will have to prove his qualities to dislodge his prey, even reaching the melee.
Read Article: Skin Problems in Hunting Dogs
Which Dogs Are Best Suited to Hunt Foxes in Barns?
The ideal breeds are fox terrier in its two varieties of hair, hard or fine, a border terrier, Lakeland terrier and Welsh terrier. It is not advisable to use those that have a morphology with a ‘bassetism’, very short shoes – pronounced – such as the teckel, Jack Russell, terrier of Sealyham, Cesky terrier, and all that his height at the cross is less than 33 centimeters.
Because in these barns we can have serious problems to recover them if they are unable to overcome the unevenness that exists between the alpacas of straw or if the fox is accumulated in a bag-bottom corridor – sometimes we have had to wait for days to come out our partners.
What Weapon and Cartridge Do We Use?
The caliber to be used in shotguns is usually 12, with leads from 4 down to reach double zero or fox shot and with not less than 36 grams of charge. The recommended chokes are those of 2 or 3 stars, depending on the shooting distance.
