Shooting fox vermin on our farm?

You're taking the wrong tack here and failing to take the opportunity to buy a new rifle!

huesmann said:

You're taking the wrong tack here and failing to take the opportunity to buy a new rifle!

Click to expand...

+1
Total epic fail.

I highly recommend a 17HMR. Tack driver, no recoil, and its a rimfire so its easier on new shooters. I have shot house fly's that land on my target at 110 yards. A savage 93R FV is a great little gun that will have other uses should other pests pop up, and wont break the bank, both to practice and the rifle itself. A 17HMR has plenty of knockdown as long as you do a decent job of shot placement.

Get a decent 22 rifle, maybe even a scope. Practice a bit. Open a can of cat food and place it on the ground partway between your deck and the barn. Shouldn't take long.

In reconsideration of a recommendation for a firearm I'm going to modify my previous suggestion of a shotgun and go with a solid recommendation of a .17MII rifle for your varmint problem on your property. The reason is first the size of your acreage, the second is the experience I've had with the caliber for shooting varmints. I've had a .17MII from about 2009-10 and during that time have shot and killed at least 3 foxes, a racoon (rabid) a few skunks, and 31 ground hogs. The shots ranged from around 20 yards out to about 125. Most were one shot to anchor the varmint and second to finish, at times a second was not necessary. The rifle has mostly been a Savage mark II with a heavy barrel and a 4X scope (have a second Mark II with a standard barrel as well). People deem the cartridge to be too light for this type of varmints but I have not found that to be the case. It is in my experience at least as accurate as a .22 Long rifle if not a little more. It is certainly faster and uses jacketed bullet with a nylon/plastic tip for very rapid expansion. I think that is a factor in anchoring critters better than a .22. All this said, I have no experience with a HMR so I cannot compare the two. The down side is you will run into trouble finding a rifle in this caliber, I think it nearly died a few years ago as the ammo dried up as factories made more .22 to meet the demand and not much .17MII was made. That seems to be over and ammo is available again. As to rifles Savage makes three two bolts and a semi-auto but I have not heard the semi is actually out in market place yet. Other brands may be available as used but not many others are being made now.

In short don't sell the .17MII short, it may do all you want and a little more.

In Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties leghold traps cannot be set to capture furbearers unless completely submerged in water with the following exceptions:
•Traps can be set above the waterline on farmland by the owner(s) of the property, members of owner(s) immediate family that reside on the property and the landowner(s) agent, tenant or lessee.
•Traps can be set above the waterline in response to wildlife control concerns by authorized agents of the Department of Natural Resources, and according to guidelines established by the department.

Click to expand...

Just to clarify on the use of footholds.

also

Those who are not required to have a Furbearer Permit are:
•A person who possesses a Wildlife Control Cooperator Permit and is engaging in the control of fur-bearing mammals in accordance with the terms and conditions of the permit.
•A landowner who possesses a Landowner Wildlife Damage Control Permit.
•A person who possesses an Apprentice Hunting License.
•A Furbearer Permit is also not required for: ◦A landowner to destroy a muskrat that is damaging an embankment or impoundment.
◦A landowner to hunt or trap a coyote, fox or skunk that is damaging or destroying the personal or real property of the landowner on their land.

Click to expand...

The foxes have returned to the barn. They are accessing all the same holes/dens plus have dug one new one. I haven't seen the critters but the construction must have started a few days ago, probably at night.

Smoke and pee-pee only appears to last for so long.

DC-Choppah said:

The foxes have returned to the barn. They are accessing all the same holes/dens plus have dug one new one. I haven't seen the critters but the construction must have started a few days ago, probably at night.

Smoke and pee-pee only appears to last for so long.

Click to expand...

If you can get close enough use a .22 HP
I use .223 soft points on mine and they aren"t coming back

Invest in a PCP airgun. They are perfect for quite dispatching of varmints. I can take everything up to a medium racoon with my suped up Benjamin Marauder .22 and no one hears anything.

Do not relocate…

It is highly illegal in MD to trap and relocate fox, raccoon or skunk… regardless of season or nuisance permit.

MD criminal law and civil code is very specific about this.

Our neighborhood has a serious fox problem and well-intentioned neighbors are giving out profoundly wrong advice. And when presented with the laws and codes verbatim they want to argue because of their feelings. It got to the point I emailed the state’s DNR Furbearer Biologist to get conformation of what people can and can’t do… and neighbors still want to let their feelings override the law.

BLUF: don’t get caught possessing, transporting or relocating live skunks, raccoons or fox.

IMHO one of the finest, inexpensive combos for varmints where you don’t want/need too much power or noise, would be one of the Marlin 700 or 800 series 22 mag rifles. A 783, 882, or one of the other ones. Even better is a Mossberg 640 Chuckster 22WMR, if you can find one.

Cheap 3-9X scope with good rings. The over/under rings work fine, and allow use of the open sights. Not shooting too far, not beating the crap out of the scope with a heavy caliber.

With this ammo. It penetrates and expands nicely on fox size game. There is a solid tip version also.
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rimfire/Super-X/X22MH

A lot of other ammo seems to push the velocity limits, and have flyers in the groups. We try just about every load of 22 mag ammo, and have yet to find anything as consistent accuracy wise. Plus it just works very well on animals.

I have the Marlin 882, and the Chuckster. Several friends also own these rifles. With that ammo, every one of these rifles is a tack driver. I can’t even imagine the amount of critters that have succumbed on their farm with this combo. It just works, even for coyote size animals.

What do you do with a fox carcass; bag & trash, head on a stake to warn the others…?

Dovk0802 said:

What do you do with a fox carcass; bag & trash, head on a stake to warn the others…?

Click to expand...

SSS

Abuck said:

IMHO one of the finest, inexpensive combos for varmints where you don’t want/need too much power or noise, would be one of the Marlin 700 or 800 series 22 mag rifles. A 783, 882, or one of the other ones. Even better is a Mossberg 640 Chuckster 22WMR, if you can find one.

Cheap 3-9X scope with good rings. The over/under rings work fine, and allow use of the open sights. Not shooting too far, not beating the crap out of the scope with a heavy caliber.

With this ammo. It penetrates and expands nicely on fox size game. There is a solid tip version also.
https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rimfire/Super-X/X22MH

A lot of other ammo seems to push the velocity limits, and have flyers in the groups. We try just about every load of 22 mag ammo, and have yet to find anything as consistent accuracy wise. Plus it just works very well on animals.

I have the Marlin 882, and the Chuckster. Several friends also own these rifles. With that ammo, every one of these rifles is a tack driver. I can’t even imagine the amount of critters that have succumbed on their farm with this combo. It just works, even for coyote size animals.

Click to expand...

I have been told that a .25 cal PCP air rifle with a moderator on it is whisper quiet and takes raccoons and foxes at 35 yards DRT.