smelled the fox

[greybeard]

I was out fishing this morning and decided to paddle to shore to clean some fish. I paddled to a spot where I know there are red fox, so I figured I could call before I cleaned the fish and maybe get one to come in ( It's a NO Hunting spot).

I've overcalled this spot using different calls so I didn't really think that I'd get one to come in, but figured I'd try anyway.

I start callin' and see and hear bluejays right away very excited, I was behind a downed tree, so I look up, but saw nothing. Then I smelled one. He really stunk and I knew he was close, but still couldn't see him. I started cleaning a fish and had called again and smelled him again..I thought I heard him maybe 10 feet from me. I got up slowly and this time I saw him. I've smelled them in the woods, but never called and smelled one before I saw it. It sure is an unforgetable odor.

Did anyone ever have that happen , where you smelled one before you saw it ?

[apertureguy]

Happens all the time...especially after I eat at Taco Bell

[BizCT]

He probably came into the scent of you gutting fish and not the calls. However, I have called in fox with a doe bleat call....cant imagine a fox trying to take down a doe?

[Pygmy]

My nose is very sensitive to the smell of fox and coyote and I have smelled them several times before I saw them..

Another smell that carries well is that of elk.. I can smell elk from 100 yards upwind..

[greybeard]

Biz-R- Oworld.

I doubt that he smelled the fish until he got close. The fish were laying in the water until I was gonna start cleaning them. You'd have to see the spot to understand why I say that he couldn't smell them until he was closer. Also the breeze was in my face blowing scent over the water. There is a fox den on top of the hill and I'm not sure if it was in the den, or just up on the hill.(I can see the den from the water in my kayak, which is how I get to this spot.)

.I call there a lot and have had them almost run me over, and generally come in almost as soon as I start calling..I was using a call that has proven to work in this spot as well as a spot further up the harbor. The fox in this area are very receptive to calls. I change calls often, but sometimes I get dry spells and figured that I educated them too much. The call that I used this last time is a closed reed so I reversed it and changed the sound to more of a higher pitched rodent.( I own over 20 predator calls and also use pheasant and turkey calls at times.)

The last time that I called one in in that exact spot was with an open reed call, which does excellent bird distress sounds,