Raccoon Hunting Tips?

[bluey]

Our raccoon loves to come on our back porch to eat our bird seed. I recently fortified the chicken coop with a lock and doubled the chicken wire, to prevent easy access to my gals at night but they do free range all day on our 10 acres. I have a .22 that I'm deadly accurate with and moved everything away from the bird seed on the porch. I should get a clean shot in the next few nights but he doesn't come until well after midnight. Never in a million years did I expect to be a 'coon hunter but it seems like the logical solution to the problem. It's only a matter of time until he realizes that our chickens are there free ranging all day.

Anybody have any coon hunting tips they want to impart to this "wayward city boy" who now resides in the country?

 

[silkiechicken]

Well, I usually set a live trap in known walking paths against the side of fences, the house or coops. I bait with marshmellows.

For non trapped animals, go for the spot in the middle of their forehead. Looking at pics online of the skull shape and proximity will give you the best idea of where to place the shot. My little brother was able to take one down that was out at 3pm, in the boad day light, with a single shot from a 22 AIR rifle, so it can be done.

 

[panner123]

It is best to get it up a tree or on a post. You need a dog to do this as a rule. No matter how good you are during the day, night time shooting is a whole different ballgame. You should duct tape a real good (not good but real good) light to the rifle.
This will aid you in seeing your sights. If you must shoot it on the deck, remember you can kill a person a mile away with a 22. Just aim for an eye. Good hunting.

 

[CUDA]

Best way to deal with coons if you don't have a good dog to do it for you is to trap them like silkie said. I prefer the lil griz dog proof coon trap with a marshmallow in the bottom of it myself... Once you trap them, you can dispatch them humanely. BTW, I guarantee you have more than one coon too...

 

[SpottedCrow]

I think it depends on the time of year...when we baited the one for the raccoon that killed Tom, my EE pullet, we used some of her feathers, used litter, some sweet cherry gunk and cat food...

This came from the havaheart trap site.
◊ Fish, fresh or canned

◊ Honey or sugar covered vegetables

◊ Smoked fish

◊
Watermelon

◊
Sweet corn
◊ Cooked fatty meat

◊ Crisp bacon

◊ Marshmallows are a favorite!

 

[LittleChickenRacingTeam]

Best kill shot on any animal is a heart/lung shot. Aim for the area behind & below the shoulder, through the rib cage.

This is the preferred target for all hunters.

 

[ivan3]

Unless you enjoy hunting these vermin down, and have the time to do so, get a live trap (use havaharts here). We have feeders out for the Nocturnal Flying Squirrels, and the raccoons will almost always go for the bait in the trap before they bother going up the tree.

To save even more time, do NOT place the trap on the ground, the raccoon will have not only whatever can be reached through the openings pulled into the trap (grass, dirt, leaves) but will mix that with its own waste and probably roll around in it. This can be avoided completely by placing 1"x2"s/2"x2"s under the trap (running parallel to length) along the sides (can't get to ground with paws). Place, at least, a twenty pound paver on top of the trap (some of them are pretty clever and will push trap over to get the bait). If you place the trap ON the deck, place a 1"x14" (or anything flat and coonproof) on deck and cover that with a similarly sized section of hardware cloth. Without the hardware cloth, the coon might/can move trap some little distance (I learned the hard way, arriving home to find most of a fifty foot extension cord dragged into trap with coon and wrapped up/chewed through - what a mess). The trap had been set almost five feet away from the coil!

This will keep your cleanup/turnaround time (dispatch coon/wash down trap/rebait/reset) to approx. ten to fifteen minutes.

I use the liquid from canned tuna/salmon and soak paper towels in it as bait. The papertowels are placed in a hard, plastic screw top container (with holes punched in lid) as I don't want to waste food on them. I just pith them with a .22 at the base of the skull.

Good Luck and good hunting

 

[bluey]

I actually took the heart/lung shot tonight and hit him (I have a nice scope on my rifle thankfully). He fell like a rock off the well lit porch but he was still able to scurry the few feet into the woods. I feel kind of bad because I was hoping to put the poor guy out of his misery. Will a .22 shot through the heart/lung area generally kill them quickly? I used a bullet that the guy in the sporting goods store recommended for varmints, not the target variety.

My issue with trapping raccoons is that I don't wish to attract them near the house. We have enough of them on the property. I guess I'll just make sure I dont leave bird feed out in the future although the "easy" meal did keep him away from the coop seemingly.

Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[Miltonchix]

You MIGHT get a quick kill with a heart/lung shot if you use a round such as a CCI Mini Mag Hollow Point. Best shot for an instant kill is always a head shot, preferably with above mentioned round. A head shot anywhere in the ear/eye area almost always will drop the animal in its tracks. Lights OUT! Coon will be dead before it hears the shot.

 

[bluey]

That's good to know. The CCI hollow point is exactly the round I used. Next time I'll try the head shot. I didn't want to get too fancy with my first attempt ever. I just wanted to make sure I got him.