We were relaxing watching the horses. Suddenly there is a huge fox in the pasture. At least it was the largest I had ever seen. Without really thinking it through my brain went into protect mode. I didn't take the time to consider what the threat was. I reached for my scoped .270 and headed out to remove the percieved threat. It was an amazing stalk, I was barefoot and happened to have earthy colors on. I was well in range of my prey. Problem was it was in among my horses. The horses and even my donkey were oblivious to the fox. I must have corrected my position 4 or 5 times undetected by the fox but not by the horses. It was dusk now and growing dark as the sun dropped below the trees. The fox lost interest in the pasture and started for the back of the pasture and my property. I lost sight of him in the brush to the rear of the pasture. I quickly covered the 200ft. to the back. I caught sight of him again. There was no resting place for the shot but it was broadside. The fox would move just about the time I was satisfied with the shot placement. It was now or never as the Fox reached the woodline. I squeezed as the cross hairs settled on the heart and the fox ran off seemingly unscathed. I headed back to the house for my shoes and a shotgun. I found tracks easily in the sand where I had shot but never found blood and it grew dark. I believe it was a clean miss, yeah it happens to me too. So then I was left with experience of the stalk and adreneline it had caused. In hind sight it was a beautiful fox the prettiest and largest fox I had ever seen. I couldn't find a single picture across the net that even came close. I am still baffled by the horses being oblivious, perhaps the fox is a frequent visitor? Other than the horses and my beagle, the threat I percieved was the wildlife I have on this place deer, rabbits, dove, and quail to name a few. While tracking the fox I found 2 feather piles right off and a larger animal I am not sure what it is, maybe a goat. I think the foxes den is an old abandoned shack on some acreage behind my place. I am pondering now whether or not this animal needs to be eradicated. So if any of you have had an experience living close to a fox den, what is the risk? For now I am relieved I missed, but not sure if there will be another hunt or not..I had found alot of bird kills on my place and had thought it was my neighbors cats, maybe wrong about that. There is a chicken coop accross the road, I will advise my neighbors.
