Hunting Regs vs. Private property?

R

redneck

New member
Whats your take on this. There have been a few fox in the area and have come up around the barn and in the pasture a few times ( I had a post about this earlier, asking about rabies) Anyhow, one showed up a couple weeks ago that was sicker than I've ever seen an animal, looked like day old road kill up walking around. No hair on any of its body except the very middle of its back, sores all over and moved kind of funny. I shot it, and buried it good and deep and figured that took care of the problem. I had only seen one fox around at the time and figured that was it.
After talking to some friends it turns out 3 of them have been around and have all been seen together, I shot the worst of them, the second looked almost as bad, and the third seemed healthy. Didn't see anymore for quite some time though.

Then yesterday I turned a mare and foal out to pasture for a few hours and came back to find them standing in the paddock more than willing to go back to the stall. Couldn't figure out what was going on, didn't see anything unusual in the pasture (grass is waist high in spots now, too much rain to get the horses out regularly) An hour later I looked out across the field and there was a fox chasing birds. I figure its what scared the horses out of the pasture. The foal is too young to vaccinate for any diseases for another couple months, and the fox didn't seem to bothered by me or anything else going on. I didn't get a chance for a shot at him though.
Alright I'll get to the actual question now ;) What if I was to get a predator call (local store has one for red fox on sale right now) and call the thing in and shoot it? I don't have a hunting license (thinking about getting one this summer anyway, would like to make time to hunt or at least be able to go if I ever get time) and they're not in season in ohio. I don't think anyone would even know what I was doing but I don't want to get in any trouble. I figure I have a right to take care of varmints/pests on my property, but I'm not sure how it would go if I was calling them in. What do you think?

Thanks
 
Gonna depend on where you are. A check with your nearest game and fish office should give you some answers re your legal standing.

Was a time when do now and apologize later if necessary worked. In these times with laws made by whacos tis best to know first.

Good luck.

Sam
 
Last year in a mountain Lion on a porch thread someone gave the best advice I have ever heard:

shoot shovel and shut up.

Animals that don't act right get 40 grains from a .22 magnum no questions asked around here.
 
I would first get a copy of the hunting regulations and read it. That way you'll know whether hunting pest-type animals is controlled or not. Or at least have a clue.

Then ask a game warden about the rules if you suspect a rabid or otherwise diseased fox to be in your area. Some states will actually make an effort to find and remove the animal for testing.

I gotta admit I tend to subscribe to the "shoot, shovel and shut up" philosophy, except that if the problem is widespread it's good to have our tax-paid folks actually doing something.

For instance, there has been a widespread outbreak of rabies in the fox populations of south Texas. The state has been air-dropping a sort of dog food with a vaccine in it, all through the area. Rabies incidents are now way, way down.

Art
 
If the fox acted sick, I would likely destroy it. With a loss of hair, it probably has mange. The right type could be transmitted to the horses. Rabies is not generally associated with hair loss. As to vaccination of the foal, they can be vaccinated at birth. If done at birth, it may just not be effective. If the mare was vaccinated about 30 days pre-partum, you should be fine, assuming good colostrum.

MFH
 
Generally we wait to vaccinate foals until they're a little older and good and strong. Less chance of them having trouble fighting the small dose of the disease and forming antibodies. This one didn't get good colostrum and had to get 2 liters of plasma, so we have to be careful. It stayed strong and healthy the whole way through but thats not something to mess with.

Thanks for the input guys. I also am a firm beleiver in shoot shovel and shut up, and have taken care of lots of other varmints that way. I'll probably just keep an eye out for the fox and see if I can't take care of him when he comes to visit. I just thought I might have found a more immediate solution. From my experience and from talking to friends around here, game wardens and park rangers around here sort of think they're supercop and don't practice much common sense. I'd rather not get them involved as it would probably lead to animal control stalking my pasture with one of those poles with a cable loop on the end ;)

If it shows up again I'll either introduce it to the old scatter (but not much) gun 1897 winchester 12 gauge, or a .22LR
 
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