The elusive fox

Hey everyone.
I thought I'd check in for some advice on getting pictures of foxes. We have them in this area, but getting a sighting is a rare occurrence and I've yet to get a picture of one. I am thinking about getting a photo blind and trying to locate some and get a few shots, but I was curious if anyone had some tips on possible locations or tactics. Thanks.

Cat food canned, if its legal in your area might work.

I found this fox along side the road feeding on some road kill leftovers.

It was near a farm house. The fox had babies but I couldn't get a shot of her with the little ones. It was the first time I used this camera and I was didn't know how to work this camera... yet.

So the shot was way out of focus.

But this may give you an idea on how to attrack the fox to you. Just find some road kill and setup nearby.

This was shot right at dusk.

40Driggs wrote in post #10363276
Hey everyone.
I thought I'd check in for some advice on getting pictures of foxes. We have them in this area, but getting a sighting is a rare occurrence and I've yet to get a picture of one. I am thinking about getting a photo blind and trying to locate some and get a few shots, but I was curious if anyone had some tips on possible locations or tactics. Thanks.

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I'm interested in the answer to the OP's question as well. I see a number of incredible fox photos on here, but have only myself even seen foxes a handful of times. I try to go to likely places at likely times, but still can't seem to find them.

So how do you find and get shots of them?

Never taken a picture of one, but I see them all the time out working in the fields on a tractor. They have no fear of farm equipment. Near the back of our farm, which is about a 1/2 mile from the road, we have lots of bush in small-ish clumps. They will walk from one area to the other and pay no attention to me. Same goes for coyotes, wild turkeys, deer, and any other wildlife that happens to be in the area.

One excellent way to get a fox to come to you is to hide in a blind and use a predator call. A dying rabbit call should work. Follow that up with a mouse squeak. Wear camo and or get into a camo blind to get the shot.

Check with the local game wardens and see if you can bait them to get a picture.

Down here were I live they are hunted for their fur and for sport.

One place where I have seen most of my fox crossing the road is near a creek. If you find a creek that crosses under the roadway you may have a good spot to find a fox.

I saw two red fox cross a major roadway in town and then head along a small creek bed in the back yards of some homes in the suburbs. It was during the middle of the day too and in broad daylight.

I spot fox while driving around the country side in my car right before the sun sets. They are active at night and early in the morning and at sunset they can be found getting ready to finish their hunt or getting ready to start the hunt.

Fox will eat a lot of mice. Find areas where there are a lot of mice. One thing that helps is to look for Hawks flying over fields. They will hunt in areas that are full of mice.

I have a 2500 acre fish and wildlife area only ten minutes from my home and visit this area frequently to take pictures.

I have seen fox, wild turkey, deer, beavers, coyotes, hawks, and owls in this area. The area is surrounded by corn fields and soybean fields which provides a ready food supply to the wild life.

They sell remote controlled digital predator callers now. Some are less than $50.

Johnny Stewart PM4 sells for around $200. The sound cards sell for around 15 to 20 bucks.

A small chair blind sells for around $75 at the local sporting goods store.

I was able to shoot the fox in the above picture by accident. Most of the fox I have seen while driving the car around the country side will vanish off into the woods when I get closer. They don't normally stick around for you to take a picture of them. Evidently this female fox with the kits was very hungry. She had about 5 little foxes to feed and the road kills was too attractive for her so she stuck around to eat. She would run back into the edge of the woods when other cars came by and then return to the edge of the roadway to eat. That's how I was able to get the shot of her though my window.

I have seen some guys that hunt coyotes film their hunts. So it should be possible to film these predators if you know how to attract them to your hide.

Remember that fox and coyotes are pretty smart animals and have excellent sense of smell. A coyote can smell you from 1/2 mile away. Coyotes like to circle around you and come to you from downwind. If they smell a human scent and are educated to the dangers of humans they will smell you long before you see them. Once they get your scent they will be gone.

Red Fox are taking up residence in the suburbs as they can get away from the coyotes better. Coyotes are more reluctant to come into the suburbs I guess. Coyotes will kill a fox if they can catch it. So if you have a lot of coyotes in your area they may not be a lot of foxes around.

Pennington wrote in post #10675637
I'm interested in the answer to the OP's question as well. I see a number of incredible fox photos on here, but have only myself even seen foxes a handful of times. I try to go to likely places at likely times, but still can't seem to find them.

So how do you find and get shots of them?

kampers, thanks for the excellent suggestions! They were along the lines of what I was thinking - a likely location, a blind, and some sort of prey call.

Ironically enough, I saw my first fox in the area this morning! So it goes to show that they are around - I just have to get the shot now