Tracking a Fox During a Fox Hunt

Jamey, KC1ENX let the N1FD foxes loose in Nashua, NH, this past weekend to give all of us a chance to track them down. This is not the first time our foxes have roamed to wilds in New Hampshire. We let them loose during our summer picnic this year. We always have fun and improve our radio direction-finding skills while doing a Fox Hunt!

Fox News Alert!

We woke this past Saturday to a Fox News Alert! Fox News contributor Jamey, KC1ENX, reported –

“Two foxes have been spotted in the Nashua area! It has been reported that N1FD-fox1 was heard on Route 3 this morning on 146.565. It has also been reported that N1FD-fox2 could be heard from close to N1FD-fox2’s location on a frequency of 146.535.”

Hunting the Large Fox

I went down to our shack and turned on the 2m rig. Sure enough, there was the howl of the large fox (audio recording above) so I gathered my HT and Elk Yagi antenna and set off to track down the Wiley critters. I stopped just beyond my house near Rt. 122 in Hollis, NH, to get an initial fix. Sure enough, I heard the large critter’s bark coming from the general direction of Nashua. A couple of fixes along Rt. 3 indicated that the fox was in a den in Mine Falls Park, so I drove there and parked. By this time, the fox was clearly audible on the mobile rig in my truck. I switched my HT to the big fox’s third harmonic frequency and headed for a high spot on a bridge in the park’s center. Sure enough, there the Wiley critter was – just ahead on the trail.

The Large Fox in its Lair

I got very close to the large fox when I encountered Bob, W1FDR, who had a very effective close-in system which used an HT and a dish. Bob said:

“Lets team up and we’ll track the critter down”

So we did team up, and it did not take long to find the fox’s hideout. We both signed the fox log and turned our attention to finding the smaller fox.

Hunting the Small Fox

Bob W1FDR by the Small Fox’s Den

The small fox was audible from the large fox’s den using my Yagi and HT. We tracked the small fox across the soccer fields at Mine Falls Park and over a small ridge. Once we got close, Bob used his dish system to track down the small fox in its den.

Fox Hunting Equipment

The combination of my Yagi and Bob’s dish system worked very well for hunting the foxes. The Yagi was surprisingly directional at a longer range, and this made it relatively easy to get close to both foxes. Bob’s dish was great for the final, close-in location of the foxes in their dens.

I had a great time hunting the foxes and am looking forward to another hunt this Saturday after our breakfast get-together at Parker’s Maple Barn in Mason, NH. I am looking for some folks to team with again for the hunt this coming Saturday. Talley-ho!

Fred, AB1OC