Another 5 minutes passed without anything else happening, so I whistled to my hunting partner and good friend, Eric, that the stand was over. As we headed away from the stand and down the canyon, I scanned the hillside, looking for any sign that what I had seen had been real and not imagined, or not some bird fluttering from bush to bush. Suddenly, I spotted something in the shade - it looked like a set of ears outlined against the hillside. It was about 150 yards away and just slightly uphill from where I had seen movement earlier. I stopped and looked hard, waiting for movement. Oh nevermind - it was just a branch. As Eric and I walked on, closer and closer to the branch, I kept my eyes on it. Something about that big branch looked too much like an animal, but in the shade and the early morning light it was hard to tell. Finally I asked Eric for his rifle, which was scoped with a variable optic, since I only had my shotgun. As I shouldered the rifle, there in the crosshairs stood a gray fox, staring down at us!
I can only guess that he felt very confident in his concealment, since he still didn't move, even though he was only 120 yards away and technically in the open. I say to Eric "That's a fox!" Eric replies that he wants to shoot him, so I hand the rifle back to Eric, who got into a steady position, adjusted the scope . . . . and still the fox did not move. Amazing!
Eric flipped the safety off and with a solid shot dropped the fox. We had to do some bushwhacking and serious uphill climbing to get to it, but what we found was a beautiful and fairly large fox - I'd say the biggest one I have seen all season! It was a good shot by Eric, shooting uphill at a steep angle at about 120 yards, and just as interesting to see was that the fox didn't budge the entire time, until Eric shot him, of course.
So what is the lesson that is to be learned here? There are several, actually:
-Always double-check that "stump bobcat", "rock fox", or "bush coyote", because it just may be a real animal! They are masters of concealment, since that's how they survive and hunt.
-Spend more time looking in the shade when you are scanning your area while on stand. This isn't the first time I have killed or seen killed a predator who had snuck in and was sitting in the shade, surveying the situation and deciding on his next move, perfectly concealed.
-Sitting in the shade and not moving is amazingly good concealment, even better than whatever fancy camo Cabela's is currently selling.
-Invetigate areas where you saw movement while on stand. You may find sign of what was there, such as scat or tracks. And maybe the animal will still be standing in those tracks!
-When you are done calling, get up slowly, look around, and leave the stand quietly. You don't know what may still be approaching or watching. I have bagged several predators just by taking the same amount of time and care leaving a stand as I did approaching it.
-Like I've always said, foxes are crazy! They will stick around through just about anything, and just like this one did, they'll often give you a second chance if you screwed up the first one.
-This is the third fox this season that I have seen run away from fox distress, and I have heard from other hunters that they have been having similar results. This is interesting, since fox distress is usually a sure bet for calling foxes. I'll keep an eye on this trend, as it would change the way that foxes are called since it may be an indicator that foxes can be educated to a sound to the point where they would no longer come to it.
It was a fun morning, and the best part of a hunt is getting to share it with someone else. I'm glad that Eric was there to take this shot!
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