# Red fox population



## J.Mark (Jan 21, 2013)

How is the fox population coming along? Still hardly a fox east of Grand Forks. I use to see upwards of 50 fox on a good day before the mange wiped them out. Its been about 14 years with no comeback. I hear the Devils Lake area has good numbers. I use to make a third of my income a year on fur,mostly red fox in the late 70s. Red fox are still my favorite animal to hunt. anyone seeing any numbers?


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## duckp (Mar 13, 2008)

Like you,I miss them.I am seeing a few more every year in the areas I hunt.


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

I'm west of Grand Forks, and i actually saw more last year then this year. The tend to stick by the farm steads.

xdeano


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## the professor (Oct 13, 2006)

With the loss of the rock piles, fence rows, and old farm groves / abandoned buildings, coupled with expanded coyote ranges, toss in some mange, and its easy to see why we don't see as many reds anymore.


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

Not to mention that the rabbit population is way down. I remember when i was a kid the rabbits were thick. 
Xdeano


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## pilgrimb (May 19, 2011)

For those of you who enjoyed better red fox populations, how weighty a factor (or not) was C.R.P. during the 1990s?


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## the professor (Oct 13, 2006)

pilgrimb said:


> For those of you who enjoyed better red fox populations, how weighty a factor (or not) was C.R.P. during the 1990s?


Slight uptick in fox numbers initially after CRP became widespread, but then the coyotes returned. Yotes and mange did a number on the fox in the late 90's where I grew up.


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## J.Mark (Jan 21, 2013)

I use to shoot Jackrabbits by the dozens back in the early eighties. They were great practice for long range fox hunting. I could hit rabbits at 300 yards with my 243 with ease. My brother had the record with his 22-250 at 459 yd. when I moved to northern wis. and told those long range stories' I got told I was the biggest bsr that ever lived. One January I brought my brother-inlaw back home to Warren and took him out hunting. My first shot took a Jack at 375 yards. He said I guess you wern't lying.He never connected with anything. Its strange that with hardly a fox or coyote in that area there are so few hares. I asked a farmer friend if some chemical could be causing infertility, he didnt know. really sad how in that area they have taken out all the tree rows, all the old farmsteads and burn all the ditches. No place for a bird to build a nest. Ill never understand that mentality . I loved that flat windblown land when I was a kid. I spent every minute I could walking tree rows, ******'s and the Snake river as well as dozens of old farmsteads. It was paradise, and I miss it.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Jacks dont have much bearing on red fox (or coyote) numbers. Theres just an unbelievably small window when canines can catch em, and jacks are just about born ready to burn. Jacks are a HIGHLY cyclic animal. They run approximately a 20 year cycle. They peaked last about 1999-2001, before that they peaked in about '78-80. Look for a lot of jacks in about 4-5 more years (im already starting to see more sign of em).

Mange is why we lost fox, and coyotes are why they havent been allowed to rebound in most areas. CRP is a big part of why we have coyotes where we never used to. Fox can and will do quite fine in "corner to corner" farm country, they did in the 70's and early 80's before CRP and coyotes moved in, and we'll see more of them again when we loose much or most of our CRP and coyote numbers take a hit because of it.


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## duckp (Mar 13, 2008)

Good stuff.Don't know much about Jackhare cycles except that they exist.I do know they breed multiple times a year and can have large litters so no surprise they can 'come back' quickly under the right conditions.I too grew up learning to shoot by shooting brick after brick at Jacks.We'd see hundreds in a day of walking.I can remember times in Wyoming that nite travel on highways was like driving through a Fall frog migration-squish,squish,squish.
As to fox,I don't worry as much about habitat since I also have seen large numbers in 'corner to corner' areas.Farmsteads,fencelines,rockpiles,and a few cattail sloughs and they'll be fine but for mange and coyotes.I do wonder about the coyote populations though.About 1/4 to 1/3 of the coyotes we are shooting now have mange.(no idea of survival rates though-tough animals)Throw in loss of habitat,increased trapping/hunting and I'd agree that the 'numbers' of necessity will drop.Gonna be a lot of electronic callers for sale. :lol: (Actually I have one in the 'classifieds' now.)


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## bearhunter (Jan 30, 2009)

fox pop's are definatly up around here compared to a few years ago.
i still don't see many but am seeing alot more tracks. 
1 thing for sure..... they are NOT laying out in the flats like they used to. they are sticking to heavy cover.


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