Tactics for raccoon hunting?

[Bigragu]

Saw some great feedback on the squirrel hunting tactics request, so I thought I’d ask about the masked bandits. 

Stupid question, but do these things only come out at late night early morning? Is it normal for them to be seen out during daylight? 

Can they be called in, using mouth or electric callers? 

Ive heard others say baiting is best. What type of bait? 

Last question, and this is for validity really, is it true a home made trap can be made, by drilling out a hole in a heavy log, like a deep augered out hole, then something shiny dropped into the hole. The raccoon reaches in to grab that shiny gadget, grabs hard and makes a fist, and now he can’t pull his hand out cause he’s determined to take that shiny whatever. So, in essence, he’s trapped. A guy recently told me that, and I had to ask on here. When I asked him what size is the augered out hole, he didn’t know.

 

[guod123]

In my neighborhood they are everywhere. It's impossible to leave a garbage can outside without them tipping and raiding. If I load my truck for a dump run and then if I leave cans in truck they are looted overnight. With that said their feeding and daytime activities is based on the pressure they receive. In the spring of the year with their new young in tow they can be seen walking openly on most of the other blocks in my small neighborhood. They have tunneled under sheds, decks, invaded most campers or winter covered boats. The soffits on most sheds and garages shows the damage as they look for a warmer winter home. I have a few Hav a heart traps, and used them in the past. Sardines, fresh fruit, bacon fat have all produced. With that said the traps have also caught possums, cats, and rats. With pressure they smarten up, and they will feed in a yard that remains fully lit over night. If you shine a light on the same pack from another house they will scatter. The best I've found is the Harbor Freight driveway sensor, as once they start to raid they spend some time sifting thru their garbage buffet. An open window shooting from a dark position, they will scatter after one is hit, at my neighbors house I shot one and the rest ran up a tree. I never shot one past 20 yards, with the bulk under 10. I don't like to light tackle hunt, a 700 fps 14-16 grain 22 is all that's needed at close range. I've used an older Yukon, and recently a NiteSite, FX no limit rings and an illuminated scope like the older bugbuster 3-9 works good for my situation.

 

[Guest]

We had some pretty aggressive ones that kept attacking my 3D deer target and chewed a hole in the gas tank of our lawnmower. They rarely came out during the day, but it was easy to trap them with a havahart trap baited with marshmallows at night. (Better than most other baits to avoid catching cats and other animals, although I still accidentally got a skunk once.) Our town does not allow backyard air gun shooting unless you’re 500 feet from the neighbors (basically impossible) so I’ve only trapped them and taken them elsewhere for dispatch.

 

[TheIceman]

Bigragu,

I hunt them in the woods, rather than in my backyard, so I will share my tactics with you. First, you need a feeder that only raccoons can access. You will need a plastic five-gallon bucket and a four or five inch long piece of 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe. Use a torch or heat gun to heat the side of the bucket close to the bottom. When the plastic bucket starts to soften, grab the pipe and push it in with a twisting motion until it pushes through, then let it cool down. Your pipe should have about half in and half outside the bucket. This creates a feeder that only raccoons can reach into to get the bait. I use dry dog food, with some pre-sweetened grape KoolAid powder mixed in. They love that grape smell and flavor. Use a piece of rope or nylon strapping to tie the bucket to a tree, with the bottom of the bucket just barely off the ground. A 16 pound bag of dog food will completely fill the bucket. I try to position my feeders so that they are about 40 yards from my hunting blind location. I use a pop-up blind. This allows you some freedom of movement without scaring them off. Wind direction is important, at least in the woods. You don't want them smelling you. Oh, and a little bit of peanut butter spread out on a stump or some dead branches next to your feeder doesn't hurt, either. They love peanut butter, too. If you can position a trail camera on your feeder, it lets you pattern them to see what time they typically show up. You don't have to spend a lot on a night vision scope. Amazon has some great prices on red or green LED lights than mount on your regular scope. You'll have no trouble seeing the raccoons or your crosshairs. If you are hunting a relatively large open area, you may want to set out range markers, to help you figure out your holdover at longer distances. Generally, I shoot mine between 30 and 50 yards away. They are tough, so I recommend head shots so you don't end up tracking one at night. Finally, check your local and state hunting regulations, especially in regards to baiting, electronic calls, and hunting at night with lights. Hope this helped, and I also hope you have a great time.

Edit: I forgot to mention that you need to put the feeder up several days in advance, so they have time to discover it and establish a pattern of stopping by. I leave mine in place all season long, and just stop by once every week or two to fill them up.

 

[Bigragu]

Iceman, good advice on set up! Great instructions, also. Any particular type of dog food, if it matters? Also, is the caliber your using 25 cal? Your bullboss? Hope you don’t mind this last question, do you know what the minimum FPE is required to drop one of these, at that yardage? I was gonna use my PRod, for its compact benefits, but I was told not enough fpe at the 650 FPS I’m shooting it at. I’ve got my 25 Marauder and my hatsan 30 cal Bully, which I know will do the job, just inquiring about how much thump is really needed to drop a raccoon. 

 

[BlackICE]

Bigragu, great idea. But I think rats and mice can get the bait, but they are valid targets as well. At least it will keep the opossums and skunks out.

 

[TheIceman]

Iceman, good advice on set up! Great instructions, also. Any particular type of dog food, if it matters? Also, is the caliber your using 25 cal? Your bullboss? Hope you don’t mind this last question, do you know what the minimum FPE is required to drop one of these, at that yardage? I was gonna use my PRod, for its compact benefits, but I was told not enough fpe at the 650 FPS I’m shooting it at. I’ve got my 25 Marauder and my hatsan 30 cal Bully, which I know will do the job, just inquiring about how much thump is really needed to drop a raccoon.

Whatever is the cheapest! I use Alpo and Gravy Train the most. BlackICE is probably correct in that mice and rats could get in the feeder opening, but since I place mine in the woods, they have not been an issue. As for caliber and energy, I have only used 25 cal so far. Both my Bullboss and my Streamline. 25.39 JSB Exact Kings at around 900 FPS have plenty of power for raccoons. I plan on using my Wildcat 30 cal this week, and will let you know how it performs. Try testing your PRod on some 3/8 or 1/2 inch pine boards. If it goes through at the ranges you'll be hunting, then it will be sufficient for a raccoon's skull. A lot depends on your shooting ability, as a well-placed head shot drops them in their tracks, and a well-placed body shot may end up with you doing a bit of tracking the dead animal down. Either way, have a powerful flashlight handy. Some hunting headlights have a UV style light to make blood easier to spot. I hope you have a blast and get some raccoons.

James

 

[Bigragu]

BlackIce, thanks for your input, and Iceman(what is it with these ICE names? Must mean bad asses, lol) not questioning your method cause you definately got this tactic down, but to minimize the mice and rats, can’t the pvc pipe be of a smaller diameter, just enough to get a coon’s hand in? Which goes back to my original question, what is the size for a hole drilled into a heavy log? Where a raccoon can get his handed caught when he grabs at the bait(shiny bait). I guess, Iceman, would you happen to know a raccoons fist size? For your setup, of course you don’t want too small an opening cause the goal is for them to be able to get to the bait, but to test this theory of what I heard, what is the size of a raccoons fist? 

 

[TheIceman]

BlackIce, thanks for your input, and Iceman(what is it with these ICE names? Must mean bad asses, lol) not questioning your method cause you definately got this tactic down, but to minimize the mice and rats, can’t the pvc pipe be of a smaller diameter, just enough to get a coon’s hand in? Which goes back to my original question, what is the size for a hole drilled into a heavy log? Where a raccoon can get his handed caught when he grabs at the bait(shiny bait). I guess, Iceman, would you happen to know a raccoons fist size? For your setup, of course you don’t want too small an opening cause the goal is for them to be able to get to the bait, but to test this theory of what I heard, what is the size of a raccoons fist?

Well, I did a little research on trapping raccoons with a drilled hole. Most of the hits referred to chapter seven of the book "Where the Red Fern Grows." I had totally forgotten about that part of the story. Little Billy is advised by his grandpa to do what you have described. In real life, it seems it has worked for some trappers. Some even make it out of 1 1/4 PVC pipe and anchor it with a cable. Big question is whether it is legal where you live. Do a Google search and you will find lots of info, but be sure to sift for the accurate stuff. So, I've seen anywhere from 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch on the hole diameter, and about 4 inches on the depth. One additional step is required beyond what you mentioned. Several screws or nails are driven in at an angle towards the bottom of the hole. Place the bait in the bottom. This does not rely on the raccoon grabbing anything, as it is a one-way trap for its paw. Sounds kind of gruesome, but it can't be any different than regular traps that snap shut on a paw. If I get one this coming week, I will measure the paws for you. If anybody asks me what I did today, my answer would astonish them. "Well, I did some internet research on how to trap raccoons by tricking them into sticking their paw into a long hole."

 

[Bigragu]

Or better yet you can tell them you mic’d a raccoons fist, for engineering purposes.

 

[BlackICE]

Or you can just buy dog proof Coon traps. I don't use them as get as many skunks as you get raccoons. Always risky disposal of a skunk.

 

[Bigragu]

I have a three foot long live cage trap, but no way I’m gonna try and get a raccoon out of that again! I was trying to trap and kill the local skunks around my property and one day caught a raccoon. When my son and I pulled in that afternoon, we typically let the dogs out to run around and play, but that day they ran off somewhere, with a mission in mind. I heard the dogs going crazy, and my son who was 10 years old at the time yelled to tell me we got a raccoon! I heard one of my German shepherds scream out caught as he got his snout shoved against the cage the raccoon pinched or clawed it.

my son says dad, we gotta let him out. I said no way not now! The dogs got him all worked up!

So I decided to come back two hours later, the dogs had been put away earlier so I figured this raccoon had simmered down. My trap has a folding double exit door. In order to open it, you must fold down the first door on top of the second, then both doors come up. As I went to unlatch the door, the coon was at the opposite end, just making a growling noise. I said, ok, buddy, be cool, man, be cool.... then heck! He charged at me so I let go of the trap!!!

Went back a half hour later, this time with welding gloves on and a long pair of needle nose pliers to lift the door up. I don’t ever wanna go thru that again.

 

[TheIceman]

I did some science for you and anyone else following this thread. Got a raccoon this evening, a ten pound male. The smallest hole I could get his greedy little front paws into was exactly one inch in diameter. For an evening that started off on the wrong foot, it ended well. Wait, was that a pun back there? Anyways, I ended up having to work late, and in my rush to leave the house and hit the blind, I grabbed the wrong rifle. Snagged my Streamline 25 instead of the Wildcat 30. No big deal, except I hadn't put a battery in the light on the Streamline. Didn't realize my mistake until I grabbed the rifle out of the truck just before hitting the woods. Crap! Fortunately, I use pocket flashlights for scanning, and I was able to mount one of them on my scope instead. Not as bright, but very doable. Less than two hours into my hunt, and after watching a possum feed a while, I caught a break. Even on a moonless starlit night, my MTC Viper Pro gathers enough light for me to make out the feeder bucket. I habitually line up my scope with the bucket before turning on the scope light, and I saw movement in the scope. Lit the LED up, and there he was. Probably less than five seconds from turning on the light and pulling the trigger. Gotta love a good scope!

James

 

[Glem.Chally]

Any hole big enough to fit a raccoons arm will definitely fit a mouse or rat, however i think iceman mentioned suspending it which would solve that issue.

I want to see some of these coons go down. 

 

[Bigragu]

Thanks for the awesome tale, and for checking that paw width. Now I know.

How come no pics of the raccoon? 

 

[heavy-impact]

I purchased one of these green LED flashlights and it is super bright https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CSQ65FS/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hurts my eyes to shine it at anything close indoors. You could shoot a coon in the dark at any air rifle range using the green light and a regular scope.

I mount it on the side pic rail of the Impact with a single QD 1 inch scope ring and use an LG MJ1 battery. Remote momentary switches are available also.

 

[Bob_O]

Both coons I shot were with a glass scope with IR reticle and small green LED torch.

 

[Quad82]

Dump a 1/2 can of Diet Coke in a dish. They will come to it. Not Legal, but a lot of farmers add ant bait to the Diet Coke or (Pepsi). Kills the coon on the spot and ISN’T suspose to harm the barn cats. Saves bullet holes in the barn too.

 

[TheIceman]

Thanks for the awesome tale, and for checking that paw width. Now I know.

How come no pics of the raccoon?

This is the only pic I took, after I skinned him. I'm going to try my hand at tanning some hides this year. 

James

 

[Bigragu]

 Nice job, iceman. Before I read the word “skinned” I thought that was a pic of a flying raccoon, something special you had in your neck of the woods!