Hi guys. I got a Leshiy 2 in 9mm and a thermal scope (AGM Rattler TS25-384) to help deal with Racoons damaging my property. This is my very first time I've ever turned a weapon on an animal and I wouldn't have done it if they didn't keep wrecking my screens trying to get into my sunroom (where there is no food, garbage, etc.).
That said, I didn't really feel bad about it because I heard they can spread deadly diseases and when they decided to leave a huge pile of poo and pee in my sunroom and then proceed to rip my screens, I knew I had to reduce the population.
So I put some food out in my yard and put a camera up and watched on my cell phone. When one came up, I put my crosshair on the spot just behind the shoulder blade (where my research told me to). It was only about 15-20 yards away. Clear shot and I thought impossible to miss.
I used a silencer so it wasn't too noisy. When I fired, I heard the shot hit and the medium-to-big racoon ran down my hill and off into the woods and I heard it running into the woods. I have the Raptor regulator tuned to just under 900 FPS and I used a Diabolo 81 grain 9mm pellet.
I'm shocked the racoon didn't drop. So I went out and searched for a blood trail the next day and I didn't see a single drop of blood. There is no way that pellet didn't pass clean through. They shoot through metal pans, etc. The evening before, to make sure I was ready, I had just shot a small hot potato (for thermal) right where the racoon would be to make sure I'd hit the target. Blew up a small potato (maybe two inches tall and thin).
So I'm wondering. Did I somehow miss the racoon... Or do you guys think it could take that nasty Diabolo shot and then run off into the woods? If so though, I'd expect a trail of blood.
/
I guess I'll try again later but a bit disappointing for my first time hunting. I'm a bit stressed what if I shot too low and wounded it and it's suffering somewhere (although still I'd expect to see blood).
What are your experiences with racoons?
