A new spin on the varmint control issue. I grew up in the 1950's-- we shot barn pigeons in flight with our shotguns, and went to the township dump on Saturday afternoons (closed at noon back then) with our .22's and about 100 shells each-- and shot rats until Hell wouldn't have it- Not today, that's for sure.
My Dad loved to shoot woodchucks in the summer evenings in the rolling farm hills in Southern MI- and at age 12, I went with him, and got "hooked", now-a-days, my son-in-law are still carrying on that tradition.
But I understand what my friend Stan is saying-deer are more of a threat to the P&L column to a row crop farmer than coyotes or fox--
About 25 years ago, a now deceased hunting partner and I went after fox and coyote in the Winter months--I had a Johnny Stewart electronic game caller- one of us carried a shotgun (12
gauge) for running shots, the other a scoped varmint rifle (.220 Swift)-- but we curtailed killing the fox, as one of our landowner friends was big into Christmas trees-- Now here's the logic-- the mainstay of a fox's diet is field mice- and field mice tend to "girdle" the stem of a planted spruce tree, the bark has some appeal I hear- that either kills the tree, or stunts the growth- so, the equation was that more fox un-shot - in theory, the fewer field mice extant to do "crop damage"--
So, in conclusion, although I like to kill varmints- I will always abide by my host's wishes as to which critters he prefers not be shot on his lands. That's just common courtesy, nothing more, nothing less. RWTF
Last edited by Run With The Fox; 04/30/19 08:00 AM.
