My father said he had seen the same fox three times while sitting in his deer hunting spot in Tri-County. This got me even more excited to go to this spot for some small game hunting. We had seen many squirrels as we sat for deer in this spot, so we decided that should be where we go for this hunt. See what we see!

We made our way around the lake to the check-in station. After checking in we headed for the spot. The fox was heavy on my mind as we pulled into the parking area, but I was sure I would never see it. We loaded our guns and began down the trail. I told my father I thought we should walk the path in case a bunny happened to jump out of the tall grasses lining the way, and he agreed.

My father and I made it to the spot he sits for deer. I decided to go down a little closer to the open field on the edge of the woods. I saw a log to sit on and as I walked to it I saw a set of deer horns laying by a tree half buried in the leaves. What an awesome find that was!

I got comfortable on my chosen log, watching the trees and listening for the bark and chatter of a squirrel. Off in the distance, I could see two piney squirrels running around chasing each other, but even with a .22 and a scope they were too far to get a good shot. I watched those two squirrels until they went out of sight. After that, I continued to scan the trees and the ground in the hope to see a grey or fox squirrel waking up for the day.

The day started off looking like the sun was going to make an appearance, but by the time we got out to the woods, it was engulfed by a grey overcast that remained the story of the entire day. Of course, the two days before, while finishing out the work week, the sun shone brightly providing some warmth at the very end of November.

I looked to my left by a downed tree and there it was. The red fox had appeared. His bright orange coat gleamed, even on a grey day such as this one. I clicked my safety off and started to raise my rifle. The fox heard the click and looked right at me and in a split second he was running like the wind through the woods leaving me with no chance in hell to get a shot at it. I took a breath of air and chuckled to myself as I swallowed the fact I wouldn’t see that fox again on this hunt. I sat for a little while longer just to see if it would come back though.

I got up from my log and made my way to where my father was sitting. I told him about the encounter with the fox and he laughed and said “I told you he comes through here around this time every morning.” We made our way farther into the woods to find some squirrels. We sat at a few different spots, but the squirrels didn’t seem to be super active that day.

It was a good hunt with my father, as it always is whether we shoot much or not. The memories and the knowledge gained are enough for me to keep crawling back out there in the sticks and dirt of the few natural areas we have left. I did end up bagging one little piney before the day was done. One more tree rat in the freezer!