First fox drive yesterday on a hot day. Temperatures in the 33 to 35 deg C range. Some breezes which made the sweat feel cooler. I only acted as a vehicle driver and in a blocker role. I drove one walker. Who started last year. He took one fox this shoot.

Vehicles drop off the walkers and then circle around on tracks or usually roads to a line kilometres in front of the walking line. Quite civilised. Each usually carries a folding chair. I take a "dri-az-a-bone" style padded cool shoulder bag with blue gel frozen cooler packs with cool water and drinks in it. My Coober Pedy Akubra hat. Tag thin safari trousers. A Cabelas long sleeve safari shirt. But sleeves rolled up. What a dude! I'm too white currently and might sun burn.

Walkers have it much harder. Might walk even 25 km in a day. Such hot weather makes it hard. Some rare walks are on flatter land but usually hills and ridges. Some walkers have a spot up and down gullies and hills.

Very dry this year. Little or no grass. One farmer mentioned 8 or 9 inches (200 to 225 mm) of rain this last year, instead of the more normal 19 inches 475 mm. Roads very dusty, sometimes zero visibility billowing fine bull dust. Worst drought for thirty years. Farmers furthered North are doing it very tough. Considerable financial problems. Not a word about it on urban mainstream fake news media.

The participants are a mixture of local farmers, other country people, and often even city people.

I used my Tikka 512 U/O 12-bore shotgun. Shotguns are a mixture. More and more semu auto shotguns. Farmers can get a farm working semi auto shotgun and a semi auto. 22 RF
Fox culls are very much a collaborative team farm working fox cull. Semi auto, side by side and a few under and over shotguns. Shooting no larger than BBs.

The result? 41 foxes at least for the first shoot. Highest individual result was 8 for a younger guy walking the ridges. Second highest was 5 for the oldest guy, a blocker. 3 was another. A few 2s. Most 1, or none. 38 participants.

My result SHOULD have been ONE. I watch mybfirst fox run parallel to us, maybev160 metres away. Hopefully will be cliser down the line?

Then 20 seconds later a fox exited a creek, ran past my neighbour who was inattentive. I saw it, gave him two or three seconds. It was now in my shooting arc. Fired, shot the ground in front of it! i.e. shot short! Next barrel not enough lead, but the shot sid fall around it, it faltered but ran strongly. Crossed the creek only thirty yards in front of me. Very easy shot, but trying to reloading. One shell in, but now it was disappearing into the trees. Maybe someone down the line should have been able to get a shot. STIPID STUPID STUPID. it should have been mine.

Saw some phantom foxes which turned into hares. One circled me; only yards away. Lots of roos, Eastern greys. Plus wallaroo. Small small young ones, wallabies? Not anywhere as many as usual. The drought maybe?

One more fox I didn't see but shot behind a tree from me by my neighbour.

Clicking is easy but one must keep attentive. Long periods of boredom, random thoughts. But left and right, scanning for that rare exciting fox. I've never shot a fox blocking, only when walking. Usually I get to on shoot a year. This year with no grapes to pick, I'm hoping to get to three out of the four. A Cigar and Whisky Dinner at my Naval and Military Club the night before, I'm being a slacker the next early morning and not attending.

Intriguing is one future section, I think the shoot I'm missing. Last year it was world war 3 under the awful wind turbines, constant shooting. 79 foxes that day. Does bird kill under the turbines attract foxes?

Local farmers love the fox drives. Often questioning J the local farmer doing a lot of the local work for the drives, when the shooters are coming. Lambs are a favourite prey for wily foxes. D, a local, the main organiser does a lot of the organing work.

The day ended with a sausage BBQ and beers at J's parents house. And a talky count and debriefing and get together.

I came from Adelaide the previous night, via my Barossa farm to check on the animals and gear up. Not much sleep. It was too much. I had to stop on the road side. Have a smoke. Fall in and out of sleep for at least an hour. Before driving on to the farm.

Notwithstanding the fox I should have shot, a good day.

Note: I need to proof read and correct the Android drivel. Add some scenic photos.