Foxy Doxie

 

 

As it always seems to turn out, a quick weekend trip back in February 2013 turned into an extremely memorable one. The plan was to head up to the ranch in the Texas hill country, pull trail cameras, pick up pop up blinds to prevent weathering and damage, feed the cows and maybe do a little calling for predators and varmints. This wonderful piece of land is only populated with deer, varmints and predators so without hogs and turkey to hunt year round we try not to leave equipment out all year to prolong its use.

The first night we decided to set up by a small tank and use the Foxpro electronic caller. The moon was full so we had to remain concealed. As my husband and I scanned the area with our green lights we hadn’t seen much. We like to call in one area for about 20 minutes before moving on. We were using a woodpecker in distress call and right at the 20 minute mark we caught a glimpse of some eyes in the distance that quickly disappeared. We waited for a few minutes but never saw them again so we moved on.

We headed to another part of the ranch and set up to call near an open field and another tank. About 10 minutes in we saw a small grey fox come running in behind us. I was unable to take a shot because the cows had also come in to see what all the noise was and he ran right near the cows. I wasn’t in the mood for hamburger so I passed. It’s always important to know what is beyond your shot to prevent any accidents, especially at night. He circled around us and came out pretty far away. I tried for a shot with the 17HMR but with the distance he was at it didn’t quite work out. We decided to end the night and try again the next day.

The next morning we got up and headed back out to the first tank we had called at the night before. This time we set the call for the cottontail duet and waited. The fog was heavy, pretty much raining on us making it hard to see too far into the distance. About 15 minutes later a grey fox came over the tank running right at us. I picked up the 17HMR and took a shot; I hit him and he started spinning around. As we watched his fluffy tail in the tall broom weed I waited for a clear follow up shot but he never provided one. We grabbed the shotgun and headed in his direction and searched for about 30 minutes but couldn’t find him. With the fog, rain, and 3 foot tall broom weed it was nearly impossible to find such a well camouflaged animal in the mess. We called it off to go finish working on the ranch.

After about 5 hours of work, lunch, and feeding cows I decided it might be a good idea to go look for the fox again. This time however we enlisted the help of Muzzy, our miniature dachshund who has been learning to track deer with us. He was only 2 years old and but has a great nose so we took him over to the tank; there wasn’t any blood where I had shot the fox but all Muzzy needed to smell was where the fox had been standing and he was off with his nose to the ground. A few minutes later Muzzy had found blood and was on a mission. We followed close behind watching everywhere he stopped as he found more and more blood.

As you can imagine this took some time because Muzzy is so small and close to the ground he must maneuver through the tall brush and broom weed instead of being able to leap and bound over it like most larger dogs; but we trust him and just had patience. Almost 500 yards later Muzzy started to pick up speed and so did we. A few moments later he was barking and had found the fox…alive but wounded. Before we could catch up to him, Muzzy had grabbed the fox by his throat with his mouth, drug him out if the brush and was slinging him to the ground fighting him to the end. Go Muzzy!

Because this was one of Muzzy’s first real tracking encounters with a live animal, we weren’t sure how he was going to react but Muzzy got the job done. My shot was slightly low only broke the front leg and shoulder of the fox; it was enough for a great blood trail but not enough for a quick expiration. Thanks to our awesome doxie and his nose we were able to recover my fox.


Afterward Muzzy was a proud puppy of his kill and wanted to be in the picture with me. For those of you that have hunting dogs you know the feeling of pride you get when your hunting buddy succeeds and this was no different. He may not be your typical hunting dog but he has tracked 2 deer so far and now tracked and finished off my grey fox.

It was a wonderful success story for a quick trip. We were able to get our ‘chores’ done, have a little fun, and make another unforgettable memory. So even if you only have the weekend, get out there because sometimes the quick spontaneous trips end up being some of the best ones!

Update a few years later: Muzzy is almost 4 years old, has tracked many more deer, a few hogs, killed some birds, and a squirrel to add to his list. He also loves fishing with us! Although small he is mighty!