up this routine until I was 150 yards from the hay bales. Upon arriving at my predeter-
mined spot, I tried to warm my already frozen fingers in anticipation of my reward, which was only a minute away! Not! After 20 minutes, the fox had not reappeared … and I was cold and tired of waiting. I had been in the field for 90 minutes and I was getting chilled to the bone. I still had option number two, which was still sleeping to the west of me. Without another thought, I was up and walking. After 25 yards, I looked back at
the hay bales to see fox number one had stuck its head out of its hole and was looking at me. I quickly dropped to the ground, centered my scope, and Bang! Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready for the shot. A 2-pound trigger takes some get- ting used to after six years and I had not taken the rifle out before today’s hunt. Oh well, back to number two
which had awakened, looked around, but quickly went back to sleep. After walking about 50 yards, I looked to see that fox number one had again emerged from its hole. Obviously, I missed, but I hoped I would make it up on shot num- ber two. Nope, I missed again. Fox number one had enough of
the bullets cracking over its head and decided to head out. Back to number two, which was now wide awake, sit- ting on its haunches, watching number one head out. Although it was a long shot, I decided to take it. Yup, another miss and number two headed north on a dead run. Well, I figured I could tell my friends the gun was off. After the miss I decided to walk
to the bales and check my first shot. As I reached the bales my phone rang so I decided to sit down on the lee side of the bales and answer it. After a few minutes, I stood to leave and noticed fox number two had returned and was trying to get to the hole I was standing near. I immediately dropped the phone in the snow and grabbed my rifle. As number two stopped to see what was going on, I dropped it with a shot to the heart. Finally, success! Could it get better than this? I had
spent two and a half hours in the field, harvested a fox, and had driven only six miles from home. After spending some time warming myself, I continued to drive down the road away from my
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house. One mile later I noticed a dark spot lying 75 yards off the highway. A quick check with the binocular con- firmed it was an animal … but what? I watched it for the next 20 minutes until it stood, turned, and laid back down. Initially I thought it was a raccoon, but with the below zero temperatures I was sure it was not. After calling Todd, who was out
for the season recovering from knee surgery, we decided that possibly it was a cross fox, something I had never seen before. After spending the next half hour attempting to locate the land- owner, to no avail, I decided to leave ... but I continued to call, hoping to gain permission. As the day ended, I was unable to make contact with the owner, but I made a New Year’s Resolution to hunt this special fox and make it mine. January 2 found me looking over
the field where I had spotted the cross fox the day before. A search of the sec- tion revealed nothing, but I did notice the landowner was now home. I spent the next two hours searching the area but I could not find the fox. I decided to leave and look for other fox, but the thought of the cross fox brought me back within an hour. By this time the clouds had moved
in and the wind switched to the south- west. The temperature was -18 degrees without the wind chill. I decided to give up for the day and try my luck later. As I drove past two rows of round bales approximately half a mile from where I had seen the fox the day before, I no- ticed a dark spot between them. A quick check revealed the cross fox. I had found it! Not only was it asleep, but it was directly in the center of a field dotted with “No Hunting” signs. Not to be de- terred, I checked the plat book and was off on a four-mile drive. After talking to the farmer and his wife, permission was secured. Upon returning, the fox was still
sound asleep. I decided that I would need to make my way down a frozen creek bed to a stand of willows where I would attempt to take a shot. With snowshoes on and my 17 slung across my back, I set out for my dream fox. As I approached the willows, dozens of pheasants erupted and began flying toward some standing corn directly behind the fox. Several landed on the hay bales next to the fox, but with dis-
interest the fox watched the pheasants, then went back to napping. As I got into my selected position, I found myself ap- proximately 300 yards from my target. This was too far to try a shot at a once- in-a-lifetime fox. Because of the noisy snow, I de-
cided I would have to try to make up the distance this time by moving when a car passed on the nearby highway. Each time a vehicle approached I began walk- ing and stopped as the vehicle noise faded. After ninety minutes I had cut the distance down to 70 yards. Time to take a shot at my New Year’s Resolution. After calming my nerves, I set-
tled the cross hairs on the fox’s ear. I touched the trigger and the 20-grain V-Max found its mark. Because of the knee-deep snow I did not immediately go retrieve the fox, but returned to the willows where I had left my snowshoes. After strapping on the snowshoes and picking up my rifle, I made my way to the fox. To say I was elated would be an understatement! The fox had a chocolate brown face
and belly. Its shoulders were marked with silver highlights, followed up by a red-tinted tail with a white tip. The fox was easily twice as large as the two I had shot the day before and the fur was extremely long and luxurious. This fox will make a beautiful full-body mount! I will never forget the sight of the
fox as I studied it on that day, while ly- ing next to the highway. I have hunted fox, on and off, for the last 20 years and have never seen such an odd looking and beautiful animal. I believe it was a rare opportunity to harvest one of Mother Nature’s unusual trophies … and it will be one of my most memorable hunts ever! Cross fox are a color variation of
the red fox. According to the research I did on the Internet, 30 percent of red fox are considered cross fox. They are distinguished by dark stripes forming a cross on their front shoulders and down the back. The color varies from brown to black and can cover a majority of the body. Another variation among red fox is a silver fox, which is black with silver highlights. No matter what the color variation, every fox has a white tip on its tail. It is said most New Year’s Resolu-
tions are never fulfilled, but for me this year was an exception!
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