Hunting & Fishing Proof!

[Shortdraw]

My friends in the lower 48 don't believe me when I tell them that the foxes around here are big. Like coyote big. I had a good day on my trapline. 1 silver fox and 2 cross foxes including this butterball. He is the heaviest fox I have gotten in the past three years. 34 pounds on the digital scale, and his tail is as big around as a coffee can. The small ones are usually 15lbs, average for an adult in the lower 48. Many of the adults here are about 20-25lbs. Thought you predator hunters would enjoy these pics.

 

[Shortdraw]

Re: Proof!

I usually keep my hair a lot shorter, but I haven't gotten around to it since last March. Here's another pic.

Can someone rotate these pics for me, I can't figure it out!

 

[ggmanning]

Re: Proof!

Wow our reds look like big cats here.

 

[Shortdraw]

Re: Proof!

The crazy thing is these are red foxes. Same species. Ours just come in a lot more color phases. Silvers are jet black to black with silver tips. Reds are like your traditional red fox coloration. These cross foxes are the most common color, it is a dominant gene. Vixens can have up to 7 pups and all different colors. This big male was estimated to be around 10 years old by the dept. of Fish & Game.

 

[benellibrian]

Re: Proof!

Looks like someones dog not a fox .Thats pretty crazy

 

[jayd4wg]

Re: Proof!

butterball...LMAO...that's a fitting description. he might make a hat big enough for MY noggin

 

[smack]

Re: Proof!

Frikin MONSTER fox!

 

[long range dogr]

Re: Proof!

Damn!!!!

Wish we had em like that around here!

 

[mdesign]

Re: Proof!

Interesting...trapped a lot of foxes back in the day but never seen anything that big. I wonder if it is the colder climate that makes them bulk up like that.

 

[kytrapper]

Re: Proof!

Great catch....are you running 7/37 cables? The frayed ends look familiar....I too have not got around to the hair thing since January...lol... best of luck with your season!!!!

 

[Shortdraw]

Re: Proof!

I think they are 7/32 cable. They are dakota snares with washerlocks. I have about 10 dozen out right now and I check most daily. I am averaging about 3 or 4 a week. The reason these get so big is they were imported by Russian settlers to farm them. They also have a diet rich in salmon for half the year. During the winter, they are scavengers and frequent rocky beaches. I like to watch them flip over rocks for crabs and starfish (through my scope) Glad you enjoy the pics, hope to get a big silver that has been evading me the last few weeks. It is about the same size, and nearly jet black.

 

[Guest]

Re: Proof!

 

[308skinner]

Re: Proof!

Damn, big ass fox. Not that big around here at all.

 

[Shortdraw]

Re: Proof!

I want to get thet big silver mounted, but my taxidermist can't figure out exactly how he's gonna do it. The fox forms are all too small, and the coyote forms aren't correctly proportioned. He's going to have to make a custom form. All I have to do is catch that bugger!

 

[Shortdraw]

Re: Proof!

Thanks, Tucker. A little easier to look at that way!

 

[BobinNC]

Re: Proof!

Bergmann's rule
(ecology)
The principle that in a polytypic wide-ranging species of warm-blooded animals the average body size of members of each geographic race varies with the mean environmental temperature. Another way of say this is: larger animals have a lower surface-area-to-volume ratio, allowing them to retain more heat and fare better in cooler climes.

Meaning the colder the climate, the larger the mammal. I figure it gets pretty cold in Alaska. So a red fox in Alaska would be much larger than a red fox in say North Carolina.

 

[paraiso]

Re: Proof!

Wow those surely are some big ones. I need to plan a trip up there to hunt

 

[Shortdraw]

Re: Proof!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BobinNC</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Bergmann's rule
(ecology)
The principle that in a polytypic wide-ranging species of warm-blooded animals the average body size of members of each geographic race varies with the mean environmental temperature. Another way of say this is: larger animals have a lower surface-area-to-volume ratio, allowing them to retain more heat and fare better in cooler climes.

Meaning the colder the climate, the larger the mammal. I figure it gets pretty cold in Alaska. So a red fox in Alaska would be much larger than a red fox in say North Carolina.
</div></div> Bergmann's rule is only a part of the equation. The winter temps here in Kodiak average around 30-50 degrees warmer in the winter than northern Minnesota. Were having a cold snap, 20 degrees above zero. Northern Mn, it's been well below zero for several weeks already. I trapped a few back in MN before I moved here, and a fox over 15lbs there is unheard of. I am to believe it is a genetic factor combined with an extremely rich food source. Our brown bears are the same way. Inland, a big one is 900lbs. Here, 1,400lbs is not unheard of. The food source led to bigger animals, and time caused the genetics to change. That's my thinking, validated by a biologist friend. Either way, I am having a ball! I wish I knew how to call these in. If you had some predator calling skills here you would have a lot of action.

 

[Metalhead0483]

Re: Proof!

Huh, must be a Kodiak thing. Our foxes down here aren't all that big. Maybe a little bigger than those in the lower 48, but nothing like those monsters

 

[smack]

Re: Proof!

I have seen hundreds of fox on St. George Island and nothing has even come close to what you have posted size wise and out of the hundreds I have seen only two that have been pure white.

 

[jhead7416]

Re: Proof!

Don't look anything like our southern reds. Those are huge.