Video - Attention to Detail & Animal Knowledge = Grey Fox Success


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A morning trip to scout for mountain lions turned into grey fox filming. This is a great video of how a fox can be manipulated with a variety of prey sounds and fox vocalizations.

While in the field recently, I was working my way along a decomposed granite road looking for lion tracks and other lion sign, when I came across the tracks in the photo below:

FoxTracksonTireMarksw-Boots-Sept200.jpg

When I found these fox tracks I noticed right away that they were right on top of a tire track, indicating that they were at least more recent than that tire track. I took some time to evaluate the tire track the fox had walked on and found the tire track was on top of all the other tracks on the road, thus it was from the last vehicle to drive through. The area is fairly well travelled and my best guess was that the vehicle had passed through the prior evening.

Realizing that the fox tracks were just a few hours old, I set up my Wildlife Technologies electronic caller in a rocky canyon running adjacent to the roadway. I sat about 20-25 yards from the caller and used a Cannon GL video camera to get the following footage of the fox coming in and hanging out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvE1-N7WvPM

I used different sounds to manipulate the fox and get it to stay near the speaker for more than a minute. It's worth mentioning that this fox saw me turning the camera to my right, and was very aware of my presence. Keeping the sound playing without pauses and making the changes that I did to the sound is key in keeping the fox focused. This fox could have easily been photographed or taken by a hunter.

Far too many callers miss these field clues and end up calling what looks good to them, rather than calling an area that is obviously target rich. Scout carefully and call where the critters are! This fox started his approach in just a few seconds of the caller being turned on - I was in his living room.

I am editing another video that shows several more minutes of grey fox behavior and how a predator caller can manipulate the animal being called for better shots with a camera, bow, or gun. Stay tuned for that.

Best regards,

Mark Healy

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Grey Fox Calling w/Video - Attention to Detail and Predator Behavior = Success

I wish we had red fox in AZ. I've never had the opportunity to call one, but will eventually go calling far enough to the north to get a chance. I've been told the reds are harder to call than a gray and that they act a bit more like a coyote when coming to the call.

Someday...

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