Smoking out a racoon

[Rebel]

You know coon skins bring fairly good money.

 

Trap with a tasty bit of fish in it? Yep, did that before when we had one in the barn, then threw trap and coon the pond. But didn't like watching it drown (took a hell of a long time), so swore I'd try to shoot the next one.

Coons'er danged good swimmers , so no wonder it took a long time ta drown,.... better to shoot'em!!

"Sardines in oil" makes darn good coon-bait!! :thumbsup:

YMHS
rollingb

 

I could smoke him out but don't want a forest fire. I could sit for hours all night in minus 20 C waiting for him. Any better ideas? :huh:

What the sam he11 kind of beer ya been drinking?

:shake:

Ya sure it is a coon? :youcrazy:
Last I knew coons were hibernateing at this temp on most of this planet! :blah:

Woody

 

[Rebel]

Coons don't hibernate. We catch them in the winter here in Or. and it gets cold and snowy here in the winter. Maybe them eastern coon ain't as tough as our western ones are and need to stay in out of the weather. ::

 

They do for sure here. Try and sell a pelt from one that has been sleepin and then wakes up during a warm spell... the hide is worthless.... turns a pale yellow color from the peeeeeein he does during his sleepin

Woody

 

[Rebel]

Stange, i know it gets colder here than in VA. and we hunt and trap them in the winter. The hides are worth a bit of money. Not sure what they are going for this year, since i'm not trapping this year.

 

Coon hide is in abundance on the market right now.
Good heavy goods of the northern varity are bringing in 12 to 15 bucks. while the southern goods will bring 6 to 12 bucks. (prices from FF&G Magazine. the Magazine for Practical Outdoorsmen)
I am originally from Pa and will soon be returning their in 3 weeks or so. retireing for the time being. And you never see a coon their in the winter. like i say unless their is a freak warm spell.
Woody

 

[RussB]

I find this thread interesting. I never knew Coons hibernated?? ::

Of course it's only occasional that we get the snow, and extended cold of the folks in the Northeast.

I'm seeing Coons every evening right now. Shine a light off my back deck at night and you see nothing but eyes!

When the snow does get deep, I even put out dog food for 'em on the boat dock. My vet said that was the thing to feed 'em to keep 'em away from the house, and it is very high in energy for 'em....they sure seem to love it.

Russ

 

[Rebel]

Better not let yer neighbor see ya feedin' them wild critters. :crackup: He will probably accuse ya of having the problem with them beavers eatin' his trees.

 

[flaming canvas]

My two English Shepherds found a racoon in the base of a big old hollow cedar today, and after a bloody battle it retreated up the inside of the tree. I've blocked off the entrance at the base but can't persuade the damn thing to come down so I can get a shot at it.
I could smoke him out but don't want a forest fire. I could sit for hours all night in minus 20 C waiting for him. Any better ideas?

You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Not about trying to catch a coon but not knowing the right way. I figured all of us on this board knew about Davy Crockett. He always grinned them out of the tree. Of course, there was the time he took a bend in a limb for a coon and sat there grinning for half the night. No coon, but the bark was all off that lump.

 

[aragorn]

Plenty of coons up here in Ontario during early winter. I think they freeze up and thaw out like the rest of us. This year we've had one really cold spell during December, then a thaw when all the snow melted, now back in another minus 15-20 cold phase with lots of snow for several weeks, prob like this now until March. I think the early winter months up here are when the animals are still not settled in, then maybe the hibernation thermostat kicks in about January.

 

[aragorn]

I am deeply ashamed. Speaking of Davy C and his hat, is it true that someone wearing a cookskin hat once got killed by a Great Horned Owl that sank its talons into his skull? I have this from a birder friend who is a pretty reputable source, but he only heard it second-hand.

 

[Huntinfool]

Raccoons are not true hibernators they've been known to lay up in times of sub zero weather they do not like to move about much in super cold and snowy times.

But they are not true hibernators such as groundhogs and chipmunks. There whole system slows down to one heartbeat a minute. Even bears are not true hibernators they can be easily awakened.

Coons are up and moving at all times during the winter here in WV they only lie up during very extreme weather as many animals do.

YMH&OS, :redthumb:
Chuck

 

coons are IMO about the easiest things ever to trap
As kids we would do it one of two ways .
1) hang a coup-le pieces of tin foil on a string just above the trap with a fishing sinker to keep it hanging strait in a wind . They seem to love the flash and sparkle and cant resist finding out what it is .

2) we used a soup can on a dog chain . We would take a knife and cut a X in one end ,push the 4 points in and have lunch . After lunch we would cut a hole to put the dog chain through . Drop a peice of a apple inside and then pull the points of the X out so you couldnt shake the apple out .
When Mr coon came along he would reach in for the apple but couldn

 

[2nd artillery]

I wouldnt smoke it out. Last sunday i was chaseing a squirl around and I ended up burning down a big old locust tree. And i never got the squirl.