Best Racoon night

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dens228

Member
Apr 18, 2021
1,654
2,040
IL, United States
My suburban neighborhood has its share of racoons. I originally got into this hobby for that reason. I've shot a grand total of three racoons in two years.
That is until last night. Just after dark my wife and a friend of hers were sitting on the back deck and I decided to go light sweep the bird feeder in the back corner of our yard and was greeted by four sets of red eyes. Got my Maverick with it's mounted red light on the scope and they were still there. I picked out mama in the middle and dropped her in her tracks while her brood scattered. Kept sweeping the area for about 15 minutes to see if any would come back to no avail. Before walking back inside I decided to sweep the branches of the tree behind the feeder and was met by the flash of eyes way up in the tree. Took some contortion to aim that high with my bipod on the railing but found the first one and had a perfect view right between the eyes. Upon impact it was lights out, not even a twitch and down it came. I played cat and mouse with the other two in the same tree for about 30 minutes as they moved around until I got my shot and took them out. Four in one night beats my three in two years!
I'm also betting this family was the one ripping into garbage and tearing through my neighbors shed roof to get at the bird feed in there.
 
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Its satisfying. I got into this because I need low power for the same reason. 22 short rifle was to powerful for what I was trying to accomplish.

Glad you had luck. The family that was terrorizing my place moved on. Had the gun in time but air source was consequently backordered for a month and held up in shipping thereafter. I took vacation to stay up all night and take them out but no more sign.

Droughts are tough but we can manage. I used to run dogs to hunt these in our area. So your report of no twitching is very interesting.
 
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dens228 said:
.25 cal out of the VP, shooting right around 890 fps. JSP or FX 33.95 grain pellets. Mom and two of the young dropped without a twitch. The other was a neck shot, hit a little behind on a shot I was aiming just behind the eye from the side. It let out a little squeal before it fell to the ground.
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As I thought, regarding the lack of twitching from the one raccoon. You probably severed the spinal cord. I've observed the same thing from squirrels I've taken with a well-placed .22 cal pellet to the upper back area. They will drop in their tracks and not move an inch.
Nice story. Please film your next pesting excursion.
 
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bamavet55 said:
As I thought, regarding the lack of twitching from the one raccoon. You probably severed the spinal cord. I've observed the same thing from squirrels I've taken with a well-placed .22 cal pellet to the upper back area. They will drop in their tracks and not move an inch.
Nice story. Please film your next pesting excursion.
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I do have a Side Shot. I had it on my Prophet. I kind of forgot I had it until you just mentioned filming. I'm curious how it would show on video using just a red light attached to my rifle.
 
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In the dark of night, I doubt you would have ambient light sufficient to illuminate your targets for any video recording.
I use the Pard NV008SLRF scope for night pesting. I must say the compact unit works quite well in its dual application as a rifle scope and video recorder.
If you're not ready to invest in a new night-vision rifle scope, this motion activated light, placed above your bird feeder may work for you:https://www.mrbeams.com
The system sells for less-than $40 and runs on D cell batteries. Interestingly enough, I've found that the varmints are not deterred by the light. It's possible they become accustomed to the light coming on. That may work with your side-mounted camera system.
 
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Man, I have to say you're lucky or a great shooter. I've got an Air Venturi .25 at 2200psi and JSB exact 34gr and bugbuster with nightlight. The coons/possums/skunks/squirrels are all pesky for my fruits and veggies. But coons are the worst and even though I despise harming animals...They have already destroyed my irrigation system twice and also consume my hard earned garden goods. Needless to say I've got the rifle to take care of them after having tried everything else in the book. So they have been coming for my fruits few weeks ago. I shot the first one in the chest from the side and the pellet passed through it and than ricochet and wedged in the garage door behind it deep enough that I could not extract the pellet. These pellets go through 2"x6", so that's expected. However this one jumped off the fence and just ran off. I'm pretty sure it didn't survive the hit but still. That was a poor shot I thought and I only took it because I could not get a good head shot at 15 yards. The second shot a few weeks later was a headshot from the side that just made it loose it's grip for a few seconds and then it climbed up the ivy and jumped off the fence. Ok, I thought another mediocre shot...Third one was at about 10 yards, clear frontal headshot, I thought for sure this will drop. I aimed right between the eyes about in the center of the forehead about an inch above eye level. It turned around and started running along the fence trying to find it's way out. It circled the whole 40 yards of garden and run up the sidewalk leaving a trail of blood sprinkled in it's tracks. I don't know I've seen videos of people shooting them and most of the time they just drop from these headshots. For me it seems I'm not having a good shot placement. I suspect even with the last one there should not have been bleeding from headshot, so perhaps I did miss. I just don't know how with a sighted scope and light...Hunting is messy...
 
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marksman said:
Man, I have to say you're lucky or a great shooter. I've got an Air Venturi .25 at 2200psi and JSB exact 34gr and bugbuster with nightlight. The coons/possums/skunks/squirrels are all pesky for my fruits and veggies. But coons are the worst and even though I despise harming animals...They have already destroyed my irrigation system twice and also consume my hard earned garden goods. Needless to say I've got the rifle to take care of them after having tried everything else in the book. So they have been coming for my fruits few weeks ago. I shot the first one in the chest from the side and the pellet passed through it and than ricochet and wedged in the garage door behind it deep enough that I could not extract the pellet. These pellets go through 2"x6", so that's expected. However this one jumped off the fence and just ran off. I'm pretty sure it didn't survive the hit but still. That was a poor shot I thought and I only took it because I could not get a good head shot at 15 yards. The second shot a few weeks later was a headshot from the side that just made it loose it's grip for a few seconds and then it climbed up the ivy and jumped off the fence. Ok, I thought another mediocre shot...Third one was at about 10 yards, clear frontal headshot, I thought for sure this will drop. I aimed right between the eyes about in the center of the forehead about an inch above eye level. It turned around and started running along the fence trying to find it's way out. It circled the whole 40 yards of garden and run up the sidewalk leaving a trail of blood sprinkled in it's tracks. I don't know I've seen videos of people shooting them and most of the time they just drop from these headshots. For me it seems I'm not having a good shot placement. I suspect even with the last one there should not have been bleeding from headshot, so perhaps I did miss. I just don't know how with a sighted scope and light...Hunting is messy...
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I wouldn't say I'm a great shot but I also don't take shots I don't think I'll make and was 4 for 4 so I'd say I'm a very good shot.....lol Head on I wouldn't aim an inch above the spot between their eyes, in my mind that's a bit high and you may just be taking off the top of their skull. As big as racoons can be their heads aren't that big. Side head shots, just behind the eye should also drop them. They may twitch a bit but they're dead. I've shot squirrels that were clinging to the sides of trees that just hung there for 10 seconds or so before dropping to the ground. When I retrieve them most of the back side of their heads are gone.
 
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