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Last fox drive day of the season on Saturday past. Third drive day I attended out of the four,

Finally shot two foxes on the day.

The first coming at a medium run slight angle in front of me. In the tree scrub. No under growth. Too dry. A first shot hit hard, it ran to the side, second shot fired as it was behind the trunk and exposed roots of a tree. It ended up under a hollow of the tree roots. Reloading the Simson Suhl side by side, a third shot to finish it's wriggling. A smaller maybe immature red fox.

The second, I had a stone ridge in front of me, maybe fifty to sixth metres or less away. If they came over they would bevfast. Completely open country, but I couldn't see further behind. Three or more foxes \ came to the guy on my left. He was in fox alley. The third fox he fired at twice, but it was still running strong when I shot it. It skipped and hopped hit hard when I used the second barrel to finish it. A very large fox with a hairy blackish rug coat on its back.

Last drive was in tussocky grassy clumps. High enough to ide a running fox. The blockers here were closer together. Tree scrub maybe forty metres ahead. The shooter to my right shot a fox running through the tussocks unseen by me. I needed to stand up to see better. Later a second foc shot at from the second shooter to the right ineffectively, running straight towards me. I had a beautiful sight picture of it,as if through a scope, it's nose out, ears back,running as if it's life depended on it. My front bead on its nose. Bang, shot hitting all around i a second shot. It crumpled. Not shot by me, Damn!

My Akubra brim, sighting along the barrels, gave me after each sighting an image like a black round scope circle image. Tunnel vision memory. The moving fox image like a close up video.

Only two for the three drives, Should have been two more. Stupid two bad shots on the first drive of the season on an easy running fox at 30 or 35 metres. Should have been a dead foc. When it crossed the creek right in front of me, again it should have been dead. Empty double barrels.

Second drive day. Tin a wide reedycreek flat, the walkers within range, I let the fox run through the line and shot itfrom behind, the second shot dropping it. It got back up and ran. The girl to my left shot at it to no effect. It ran maybe two hundred metres. The guys on the left wing saw it fall over and ran after it. One said he shot it dead sitting, lying on the dam bank in the grass. His fox.

I imagine around 150 foxes plus for the four drives, About forty walkers and blockers per day.

Foxes are a serious pest in Australia. Kill a lot of lambs, or sheep, knjured or weak. Domestic poultry. Kill a lot of native ground nesting birds and small marsupials to extinction.

Introduced species such as pheasants don't have a chance of surviving long. Especially nesting.

150 to 200 foxes every year from drives maybe fifteen to twenty five kilometres each drive is invaluable to the farmers. Especially during lambing season. But a small dent in the total population. And as the drives are through scrub, hills, ridge lines, they are difficult areas to spotlight.

BBQ and a beer at the end of the day.

I used my Simson Suhl 12-bore with full, possibly extra full chokes. I decided to use this after reading the German Guns thread on the NE Forums. It's restrictive chokes seemed appropriate. I want to test shoot it on fox paper targets and see how it patterns. Especially on extended ranges. See how it goes.

But there is no doubt a semi auto or pump action shotgun with three to five shells would result in those two other fixes dead, with the third or fourth shot. I shoot a side by side better, but extra shots are invaluable.

As a farmer I've a farmers licence allowing semi auto rimfire and shotgun. Or a pump action shotgun.

I'd love a nicecsrmi auto. Walnut and blued steel. Maybe a Browning A5. I always wanted one. Are the available in Australia's very restrictive semi auto market? Most would have been destroyed. Second hand ones would have. exhorbitant prices is my guess. New ones all seem to be black plastic.

I already have my Father's Mossberg pump action shotgun. It needs the bulbous variy\ choke sawn off, a Briley internal vari choke fitted.

It's very rusty from my father's gun safe in the shed, against a moist wall. I had it lovely oiled, but in his retirement house it rusted seriously. I'm thinking rubbing the rust off. Smoothing as much as possible, Replace the choke. Paint the non wood bits green. Maybe add a rifle front sight? See how well I shoot it? Assuming the slide and magazine works fine.

If I want a semi auto I need to sell the pump action first.

A question. What sort of paint is used on a gun's steel? Any special application methods?

How long would you make the barrel? I think it's 28 inch currently. BB's on fixes, maybe SGAAs, slugs sometime. Steel shot on ducks, probably not legal for ducks? Farm pest shooting only.

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John aka NitroX

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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
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