Gray Fox

[Wackyquacker]

Ok fellows, I'd like to learn more on Gray Fox strategies.  I catch a few of these little rascals every year and have been turning as many of them free as possible.  What I'm curious to know is do any of you target Grays and if so what sorts of strategies you use, e.g., locations, how long to you leave traps in etc.

[rascal (Joe Duncan)]

WQ;
  Yes numbn*ts!  I target greys and my strategy is to catch them :twisted:

[rascal (Joe Duncan)]

Well, I guess I will go into a little more detail :wink:
  As far as locations are concerned, my locations will be very much like those for coyote but I concentrate on timber areas.  Old roads in timber, creeks with timber, where timber breaks into open, etc.  
  Depending on your locations and the number of greys in a given area, they may bounce in on your set the very first night.  I have caught many greys after making a set in the late afternoon and they would be waiting the next morning.   I am currently trapping a spot that I have taken 8 greys off 1/4 mile stretch since season began.  
  Now here is something really stupid.  Here in Okie land, the limit on grey fox is 6 per season.  In my part of the state, greys are thick.  I had a game department official here yesterday to tag some of my cats and we were discussing this.  The officials are fully aware that we are overpopulated with greys and they expect the regs to change with the limit being drastically increased this coming year.  Right now, some of them are saying "doesn't your wife have a license"?  Do you know someone with a license that won't use their grey fox limits?  Get my drift!  The first week of season, I had filled my quota and only using a little over a dozen traps and that included the ones set for coyote.  Another thing, here you can buy a amatuer trapping license and run a maximum of 20 traps or you can buy a pro license and run as many as you want, but with either license, you can still only take 6 greys.  STUPID!  It is all a matter of MONEY!  If you have to buy your wife, son, daughter, brother, uncle, sisiter (get the idea) a license then the Dept. just gets more money and you can catch more greys.  Why don't they up the limit on greys and up the price of the permit and forget it!
 Well, I got off the track but it really PI**ES me off they way they operate.
 
Back to strategy, locations, etc.  
  RdFx mentioned in another thread about the lightfootedness of a grey.  Most of our grey only weigh in around 8 to 12 lbs.  I use a "free falling" pan (loosen the screw on CS till the pan just falls by itself) and have a very short throw.  Now- I still have pan tension.  The dog coming into contact with the jaw will create some tension and I bend the dog slightly up and make other adjustments.  I will occasionally get unwanted catches but I just live with it and go on about my fox taking.  
  Greys are not hard to catch!  Fox lure, coyote lure, bobcat lure, and urines from the same will all take greys in numbers if you are on the right locations.  Baits of most animal type will take grey.  Greys are much more "cat like" in their habits than red fox.  I have seen greys climb trees like a bobcat.  Greys don't seem to be as wary as some of the other canines.  I have seen them come in at a dead run to a call and actually not stop until they were at the feet of my buddy who was doing the calling.

  NOW!  Someone else jump in here and lets get a real good discussion on the subject of greys.  I love them little critters. :wink:

[Wackyquacker]

Well I turn my greys loose cause, well I think they are cute and just can't bring myself to wack em...guess I'm just not a meany



If you look you'll see the #2 bridger mark on his left paw.  I named this little guy Joey cause he just kept a yappin at me the whole time I was remaking the set.

In reality I release them because there haven't been many for a number of years...too many coyotes I guess.  Since I've been on a couple of theses ranches I have been seeing more greys in my traps and snares every year.  The market is better for greys and their numbers are climbing so one of these days I might just have to get after them abit.  

I run 2 too 3 pounds pan tension specifically to get good catches and exclude rabbits, greys and kit fox.  For the most part it works.  But the other thing it does is it allows you to learn from all your misses, on greys that is.  What I've noticed is the little B@#$%^&$%* will come around and mess with things (man they can move bigger rocks then you'd think) maybe 2 or three times and then disappear from the entire area...no tracks, no visits no nothing.  Now are they there and just bored with all the sets or do they have a habit of major types of relocations...fickle like a cat or a Rascal? :?

PS Thankyou Mr. Duncan for your thoughtful response, please keep them coming.  Love Wacky!

[RdFx]

Grey fox are something else and untill you learn how they act and where they inhabit you will think they are HOUDINI  (Wacky :-D )  The Houdinis of the fox world love brush (hint-hint).  Also  you have to have your traps CLOSE to where they come trotting by.  Grey fox love to cut corners but so do other canines.  The greys are fiesty like Wacky shows with the fox he released barking at him.  Also trapping greys you should have plenty of swivels which you should have anyway on yr traps as the grey  rolls and acts like a otter caught in a trap.  Greys love insects, fruits, berrys when in season (hint-hint).  But when  season goes into fall -winter they adapt and eat  whatever they can find.... Not having many greys i dont use a specific grey fox lure as  they come into  other canine lures as Joe demonstrates with his catches....  To tell the truth i think that Burro Wacky caught last yr was his attempt to catch  a grey fox  :roll:  :roll:  :roll: .  Back to lure if anyone here has alot of experience in using a specific grey fox lure in trapping , post yr experiences.....A few years back Charlie Dobbins mentioned   using a lure formulated for another furbearer but consistantly catching greys in those sets.... if anyone remembers this please post and possibly post the articles name.   Hey Joe do you think Wacky has found a outlet for burro hides yet???    

[jim-NE]

I have Dobbins land sets book, and he doesn't mention the lure or bait specifically but he references it in there. He wrote that this was supposed to be a coon bait/lure, but turned out be a dynamite grey fox bait/lure.
again, he doesn't say what it was, but clue was it was designed for coons.

[RdFx]

jim you rung a bell, as thats where i read it.... I believe the lure maker was fm Ohio, Charlies home state and Charlie was doing lure testing... I believe the lure maker passed on and possibly the lure formulation too..... UNLESS Paul has  it somewhere  in his voluminous  stacks or disks of  info fm his dad.... I believe Paul kept tract of recipes LOL ect for  his dad... I will have to chat with Paul about that...

[rascal (Joe Duncan)]

As far as the lures used in catching grey fox goes:  I have tested several different  straight grey fox lures as well as many other canine lures and can't seem to get a very different response to any of them when it comes to call lures.  Now, a matrix gland lure is a different story.  I did have a marked increase in late Jan & Feb. when using a matrix gland.  My percentage of big male greys went up when I used during that period.  

One curious thing that I have observed.  Often I will catch a grey in a set and do a remake and it won't hit another grey for quite some time.  But I will pick another up withing just a few feet of the first catch.  Don't know why this happens. Is it only me that this happens to?  Like RdFx says, they can really act like Houdinis at times.  They may just "disappear" into thin air for a few days and then all of a sudden they are back willing to nearly jump in your traps.  

RdFx;  Wacky sure ain't gonna sell me no burro hides.
WQ:  You are so very welcome. :twisted:

[RdFx]

Joe you describe the grey ghost to a tee, also the gland lure during mating season....  Charlie didnt mention if this was during mating season but i dont think so as it was set for raccoons... Ya Joe you have to watch Wacky as i heard he even nailed a set of elk horns to a burro hide and tried to sell it to some  tourists :roll:

[rascal (Joe Duncan)]

RdFx;
  Yeah and I heard that after no sucker tourists would take him up on the offer, he hung that donkey hide and elk antlers on his wall and called it his "trophy". :-D

[Wackyquacker]

RdFx I resemble that remark!  And, what's with all these hint hints?

Joey its a good thing you don't want no more skulls that's all I can say.  What's wrong with my trophy anyhow?

I just got back from setting  (starting to set) on of my ranches and saw a whole band of Joeys and RdFxs (another name often mis-used for burros hint hint :twisted: )

[RdFx]

Well it worked  Joe he saw the light and noticed the hints!  Now if we can only get him to get out of his truck when he runs his trapline and set traps instead of just running his line   :twisted:

[rascal (Joe Duncan)]

RdFx;
        Yeah, and now if he can REMEMBER those hints!    

Back to the greys--  you mentioned "plenty of swivels"  -- Everyone should take NOTE of that statement and apply it when trapping greys!!  Like you say, greys twist and turn and roll etc. in a trap I think much more than other canine.  While a cat may just be sitting there hiding and looking at you and a coyote may be lunging or bouncing on the end of the chain, a grey when you first see them will more often than not, look like some kind of contortionist or gymnist.  They really make some weird and wild moves and if you don't have plenty of swivel, you can do some leg or foot damage.  

You also mentioned the berries:   I often find where a grey has left his calling card on a rock and the scat will be full of berry seed.    I have used single lure ingredients of some of these to catch greys.  Pure persimmon oil is a good grey attractant as well as loganberry oil.   To make a "paste type" lure from these ingredients, I have added lanolin and had good results.