Fox hunting: And so, at the age of forty-three, I went back to school. I accepted with pleasure the invitation made to me by the Province of Grosseto to participate in the training course for Selecontrollers responsible for the containment of wild species: wild boar, fox, nutria, corvids and passerines.
There were fifteen very interesting lessons and the time I dedicated to it was well spent. There was very little left of the boar that I did not know, of the fox and of the nutria I appreciated the biology and ethology, while on the passerines and on the corvids I learned many things, even how to use a Larsen trap !! After the competent bodies of the Province and the INFS have examined the data collected with the faunal estimates, the censuses, the IKA and the IPA (respectively Kilometer indices of abundance and point-like indices of abundance), they will start the selective culling. These interventions will be aimed at the containment of wild populations which in certain areas have reached a high biotic and / or agro - forest density. The hunt for the aforementioned "harmful" should be carried out in the summer, in a fairly quiet period, which does not compete with other hunting activities and which will therefore involve many enthusiastic hunters. We are only at the beginning and there is a lot of work to do, but if we commit ourselves properly, the results will surely show. I contracted hunting fever at the age of eight, when my grandfather gave me the Diana 27 and to date my body temperature has not dropped one degree yet, quite the contrary! So, as the opportunity presented itself to be able to “seriously” practice fox hunting, I immediately asked myself: with which rifle and in what caliber? Before talking about weapons and ammunition, let's try to get to know this noble savage better: the fox.
Scientific name Vulpes vulpes. It is a carnivore of the canidae family which has a not very specialized morphology, typical of the "generalist" predator. It can weigh up to 10 kg, with variable size and color of the coat depending on the habitat in which it lives. Did you know that its beautiful and bushy tail serves as a balancer during the pursuit of hares and rabbits, which suddenly change direction during the escape? There fox it has mainly crepuscular - nocturnal habits, with a peak of activities during the first hours of the night. It is an opportunistic and selective predator, which feeds on "easy" prey (eg sick, weak or unattended domestic animals) and its rhythm of activity is closely linked to the relationship with humans, depending on both the food side (it is estimated that in the landfills on the outskirts of London there is a population of about six thousand foxes), and for the containment of the species, having no predators or natural competitors such as the wolf, the coyote, the lynx or the eagle. It is a cunning and cunning wild that represents a serious danger to all small game (although German hunters say that a feral domestic cat causes more damage than five foxes !!). Extensive studies have shown that it is useless to proceed with massive repopulation works of sedentary game (partridges, pheasants and hares) unless drastic action has been taken first on the containment of foxes. When I was a child I remember that in the spring my father and my grandfather, before starting the pheasant "throwing", hunted foxes in great hunts in which the whole town participated. Today those nice and folkloric "outings" who remembers them the most? A good hare or boar hound costs the same as a small car. If you ask the pack handler to use it for a fox joke, he at least shoots you. Many hunters who meet it often do not even throw them in order not to waste a cartridge or perhaps not to ruin the dog that found it. I abhor, curse and condemn any type of poisoned bait, for the safety of our auxiliaries, other wild animals and for the protection of the entire ecosystem. To hunt fox without the help of dogs, the only viable alternative is to buy a good rifle, have a lot of patience and a lot of passion!
Let's see together what characteristics a good rifled weapon should have for fox "containment" hunting.
The marauder offers a small target that, beyond one hundred meters, is certainly not within everyone's reach. It is a suspicious and "nervous" game that we will rarely have completely stopped for more than a few seconds. To hit it you need to have an extremely precise weapon, excellent support and good practice that allows us to aim and shoot quickly. The fox should be stationed near the burrows or where there are traces of transit and / or presence such as: footprints, excrements, remnants of food, etc. The use of carefully prepared baits could also be an excellent solution, but it is not about hunting techniques that we want to talk about on this occasion. The fox has always been the symbol of cunning. He has all the formidable senses and an atavistic instinct that allows him to perceive danger even at great distances. In Maremma the old hunters taught us that if during a wild boar hunt a fox crossed our post, we had to be very careful because the wild boar would also arrive from the same "trot". This is because over the years it has been seen (perhaps it was only coincidences?) That the King of the bush trusts a lot in the primordial instinct of the shrewd predator. And here we are finally at arms. For fox hunting, Bolt Action rifles with sliding swiveling shutter equipped with heavy or semi-heavy barrel (heavy-bull barrel), the so-called “Varmint” would be very suitable. They weigh a little more but they pay you back with their excellent characteristics. Single barrel Kipplaufs and mixed tippers such as combined and drilling might also work well, especially for fox hunting, as broken ammunition is also allowed. Everyone can use what they want, according to their personal tastes, but I recommend that you adjust the release of our weapon to the minimum allowed. Then what counts, in addition to the accuracy of the rifle, is our ability to know how to exploit it. It is useless to have a very precise instrument when we cannot keep it still on the hunting ground. Years ago I met a guy who did not have photographs of his wife and son in his wallet, but a series of splendid rosettes that he boasted of having done in the shooting range. He showed them to everyone until one day I decided to take him with me to hunt roe deer. He immediately missed one fifty meters away !!! We must train ourselves to shoot well especially in the countryside as well as in the shooting range. 
Unfortunately, I do not have the experience of dear Mario Tortora in "Varminting", but I too have often ventured into hunting corvids and some foxes with rifled barrels. I have always used a Zanardini kipplauf in caliber 5,6 x 50 R Magnum or a Remington 700 BDL in caliber 243 W, both invariably equipped with Harris bipods. Given the size of an adult fox, in order to successfully undermine it we need to be able to quickly place our shot in a four-centimeter-diameter circle 5,6 meters away. For the choice of ammunition I would say that all calibers between 6 (centerfire) and 17 millimeters are just fine. I also know who uses the 22 Remington and 222 Hornet! This category includes: the 223 Remington, the 22 Rem., The 250-224 Rem., The 220 Weatherby Magnum and the 243 Swift; up to the limit of 5,6 Winchester. Among the excellent European calibers are the 50 x 5,6 Magnum, the 52 x 5,6 R and the 57 x 6,5. In swinging firearms I would also admit the 57 x 90 with armored bullet. For the choice of the type of ball there are some clarifications to be made. Hunting ethics would dictate the use of completely jacketed bullets, in order not to reduce the small game to "pulp", but in that case the shot should be extremely precise. I have direct experience of foxes only "kicked" by solid balls that have moved away without being recovered. Almost all of the aforementioned calibers mount an infinite series of bullets, ranging from the so-called "explosive" to fully armored ones. The former damage the prey considerably (even if in summer the carcass of a fox has no value, neither trophic nor culinary), but they stop it 100 times out of XNUMX, while the latter, except in rare cases, kill without causing conspicuous wounds. . There are also some normal Soft Points which could represent a good compromise.
It is up to us to decide which ones to use, perhaps even consulting the "opinion" of our weapon! And what are the best optics? German, Austrian or American are all fine, as long as they are of excellent brand. I recently bought a DOCTER scope (ex Zeiss-Jena) 2,5 - 10 x 48 which is giving me a lot of satisfaction. For the choice of magnification, if we want it fixed it is not the case to go below 6-8 x; but undoubtedly for fox hunting the optimum is a variable lens with high magnification that allows you to shoot easily at all distances (max 200 meters!) Good i 2,5 - 9 x 42, i 2,5 - 10 x 50, the 3 - 12 x 50 (56) and for the true specialists the best choice is a 6 - 24 x 50. Watch out for the reticle, which is fine for me, but remember that you almost always shoot at dawn or at sunset! Many years ago the Province paid a paltry amount to the hunter who made a foxtail, who knows if in the future they will offer us at least a coffee?
Mark Benecchi
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