King of the hill

Patrick Hook describes the difficulties of shooting from high ground when he was on the trail of the scourge of some chickens

- Patrick Hook

While some parts of the British Isles are more or less flat, many of us have to contend with hilly ground. While shooting foxes from level terrain is relatively straightforward, doing so from a slope can be challenging. A recent foray to deal with a chicken-killer reminded me of that.

A poultry farmer called me a couple of weeks previously to say that he had a number of his birds killed and that he would appreciate it if we could try to deal with the problem. Paul, my shooting partner, and I went over to assess the situation, him covering off one end of the valley while I did the other. I saw nothing but he shot a sub-adult dog fox. A few nights later while operating alone, I knocked over another. It had a very good bodyweight for the time of year, showing that it had consumed a good supply of food.

Unconvinced

While this was all well and good, I was not convinced that we had dealt with the culprit. My fears were confirmed when I received a subsequent call to say that another 25 birds had been found dead and an unknown number were missing. I returned to the scene of the crime and this time I received permission from the owner of the adjoining farm to use his land to try to solve the problem. I walked a considerable distance trying to find my quarry but to no avail.