Treed racoon, dark night, .22 rifle

[JonnyB]

After barely going 2 for 2 in treed racoons, I'm done taking the bastages down with a .22 rimfire. I'm especially done with doing it in the dark, with a head-lamp and a handheld light and a .22 rimfire!

Tonight, I let the doggies out to pee, and the beagle-cross treed a 'coon that was bigger than he is (a post-partum female, it seems). I spotted it way the heck up in a cottonwood tree, so headed to the house for the rifle. After 5 shots (from a 5-round magazine), the dang thing finally falls - all were hits, as I heard and saw the resulting impact. My mag is empty, the thing is still alive, and I'm trying to stuff single rounds in the mag while holding the rifle, mag and light. Luckily, it's hurt bad, and not interested in eating me. It took two more to make certain it was most definitely dead. Three, actually, but the second failed to ignite - twice.

A couple years ago, I had the same thing happen, but that one was huge; 35 pounds if it was an ounce. It ran off but was only 40 yards into the grove when it died - again after multiple hits.

Those SOBs are damn tough. I told Mrs. B. that this is the last time for the rimfire. Next one, I go out with the M-4gery and a 30-round mag of 62-grain hp ammo! It has an EOTech holo sight on it; should mount a light, too, I guess.

jb

[TommyGunn]

Maybe it was a zombiecoon ....I hear they're especially tough to kill....

[Jim147]

I use 45 Colt on them most of the time. I got my last one with a .22 but I caught it in the garage eating the catfood. A head shot form one foot with a .22 hollowpoint makes short work of them.

If you have water close to you keep a close eye on the dogs. The racoons will try to drown the dogs.

jim

[CNYCacher]

What's wrong with a shotgun and some large pellets?

[charby]

Is it even legal right now to hunt raccoons?

In Iowa the season is 1st Saturday in November at 8am until Jan 31.

[JonnyB]

Is it even legal right now to hunt raccoons?

In Iowa the season is 1st Saturday in November at 8am until Jan 31.

Legal, schmegal. It's an agricultural pest. We have 60+ chickens in the shed, 30 feet from where it was killed. 58 of 'em are week-old chicks; prime raccoon prey. I wasn't huntin', I was killin'!

Truth be told, I'm pretty sure that raccoons aren't a protected species in Minnesota. You probably neeed a hunting or trapping license to sell the hides but... Skunks, opossum, and such are unprotected, and fair game year-around. 'Coons may be in that category but I ain't a bit worried about it.

jb

[JonnyB]

What's wrong with a shotgun and some large pellets?

Not a thing. I have the 870 stoked with single-aught buck, so that would do quite nicely. I guess it's no louder than a 5.56mm, and certainly as deadly at 20 feet, or so.

jb

[roo_ster]

Not a thing. I have the 870 stoked with single-aught buck, so that would do quite nicely. I guess it's no louder than a 5.56mm, and certainly as deadly at 20 feet, or so.

jb

And a mite more forgiving of hasty shots in poor light.

[Triphammer]

I've killed a couple hundred racoons, treed, over dogs at night back when I hunted hides in Upstate New York. Every one (most anyway) was a single headshot with a 22 long rifle. It helps a bunch to have a light mounted on the rifle.

[RoadKingLarry]

Everyone seems to be overlooking the obvious solution.

Detcord!

[seeker_two]

What .22 load are you using? Not all ammo is made equal.....

[zahc]

There's a big difference in killing efficiency from standard plinking ammo to something like Mini-Mags or Stingers

What's wrong with a shotgun and some large pellets?

Big. Heavy. Loud. Otherwise nothing. But for the critters our jack russel regularly trees, we don't even use the .22 rifle any more...just the Mark II.

[drewtam]

This past Saturday I went to the funeral of an older gentleman. One of the life lessons that a daughter wrote about her father was...

Don't go hunting treed raccoon in the middle of the night. Next thing you know, you'll be 20mi from home walking across a bridge when a car will catch you in the headlights holding a rifle and wearing only boxers and shoes.

[charby]

Legal, schmegal. It's an agricultural pest. We have 60+ chickens in the shed, 30 feet from where it was killed. 58 of 'em are week-old chicks; prime raccoon prey. I wasn't huntin', I was killin'!

Truth be told, I'm pretty sure that raccoons aren't a protected species in Minnesota. You probably neeed a hunting or trapping license to sell the hides but... Skunks, opossum, and such are unprotected, and fair game year-around. 'Coons may be in that category but I ain't a bit worried about it.

jb

According to the MN DNR website there is a season for Raccoon and Opossum in MN. Also if you got a particular game warden that is pissy, he/she will confiscate your firearm also. If you were in Iowa your firearm would be used as evidence then sold later at a auction to the highest bidder, not sure what happens in MN.

[JonnyB]

According to the MN DNR website there is a season for Raccoon and Opossum in MN. Also if you got a particular game warden that is pissy, he/she will confiscate your firearm also. If you were in Iowa your firearm would be used as evidence then sold later at a auction to the highest bidder, not sure what happens in MN.

Yabbut... It was coming right at me!! :-)

This rifle they can have. I bought it at the Coast-To-Coast store in ~1965. It's a bolt-action semi-auto. I mean that it's allegedly a self-loading rifle but almost always fails to cycle properly, and has been thus for 30+ years.

The ammo I have is bulk stuff - both Federal and Winchester; 40-grain (or so) HP. No hi-vel Stinger-type.

jb

[AJ Dual]

There was an epic thread on rec.guns on newsgroups/Usenet about a guy who had a raccoon tearing around in his attic keeping him up all night.

Around 3am he finally gets fed up, and goes into the attic hatch with a flashlight and a .22. Sees the eyes, takes the shot... A scream, some flopping about, and the raccoon is dead.

No way the guy's crawling through fiberglass insulation at 3am in his Fruit of the Looms to retrieve a raccoon that might just be wounded and not really dead. It's quiet, he can go back to bed, and that's all he cares about.

That was a mistake.

There's way more blood in a raccoon than you might think.

And drywall isn't very blood-proof.

Guy wakes up to a 6' wide circle of bloodstain over his bed. 

[zxcvbob]

Treed racoon, dark night, .22 rifle

"Knock him out, John!"

[Declaration Day]

Those SOBs are damn tough.

They certainly are.  Some friends and I were enjoying some fall camping a few years ago.  We were sitting by the fire, chatting, when suddenly we heard the trash can rattling and shaking, just 30 feet away.  Raccoon bastards weren't even afraid of us.   I had my Savage Mark II .22 rifle loaded and ready.  I asked my two friends to shine their flashlights on the trash can.

There were three raccoons; a big fat mom and two half-grown offspring.  The younger ones each went down easily with one shot.  The mom, not so easily.  I shot her, roughly at center mass.  She fell off the trash can, and climbed back up!  This happened AGAIN.  She finally got the message and began to run off into the woods, but not before I hit her a third time.  We heard her whining, off in the distance, for nearly two hours before she apparently died.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Apparently raccons are tougher then possems. Dad must have taken out a dozen over the course of several years.
His dog, Northwest, would roust them from under the trailer amd tree them. Dad would shoot them with his AR-7 and when they fell, Northwest would walk over and lift his leg on the things.

Dads other weapon of choice was a shovel upside their heads.

[charby]

https://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/rules/?id=6133.0050

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=97A&view=chapter#stat.97A.221

[AmbulanceDriver]

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/livingwith_wildlife/raccoons/index.html

Removal

In urban and suburban areas, cage or boxtraps are generally the most practical removal devices. Foot traps may be used in some areas, especially if they can be set in water. Some cities have ordinances prohibiting the use of certain types of traps, so local authorities should be contacted before any removal efforts are begun.

State law allows property owners to control raccoons that are causing damage or injury on their property. They may control these animals without a trapping license or permit. If the animal is killed, it must be reported to the local DNR Conservation Officer within 24 hours.

A live trap should be at least 10" x 12" x 32". It can be baited with fish, chicken, fish flavored cat food or canned tuna. The mesh must be small enough so the raccoon cannot reach through the wire and get the bait--one-half inch or smaller will be adequate. Most of the bait should be placed inside the trap near the back, but a few morsels should be placed in front of and just inside the trap. Live traps are available for rent or loan from rental companies and some animal shelters and nature centers, or they can be purchased or made.

Although shooting is often an effective control technique in rural areas, it is prohibited in towns and cities.

If a foothold type trap is used, a number one and one-half coilspring or "stoploss" trap should be used, preferably in a drowning set. These traps are best confined to water in semi-urban areas, and may be illegal in some areas.

[220_SWIFT]

That was the exact reason I switched to a 17hmr.  Tiny little .17 bullet going in, and it usually doesn't exit.  I have only had one coon take more than 1 round, and technically 1 would have done it I just finished him quicker.  As of right now, I am at 26 coons with 27 shots fired.  That includes 2 over 35 pounds.  I do love my little 17. 

[Pharmacology]

That was the exact reason I switched to a 17hmr.  Tiny little .17 bullet going in, and it usually doesn't exit.  I have only had one coon take more than 1 round, and technically 1 would have done it I just finished him quicker.  As of right now, I am at 26 coons with 27 shots fired.  That includes 2 over 35 pounds.  I do love my little 17. 

I've heard nasty things about .17hmr

[P. Torres]

This past Saturday I went to the funeral of an older gentleman. One of the life lessons that a daughter wrote about her father was...

Don't go hunting treed raccoon in the middle of the night. Next thing you know, you'll be 20mi from home walking across a bridge when a car will catch you in the flashlights holding a rifle and wearing only boxers and shoes.

I was travelling in Bangladesh and there was a forest with called SundarBan and it is the largest mangrove forest in the entire world. I was inside the jungle and suddenly the whole sky become black and i was quite lost at that very moment as well. I have found something not regular. You know what i mean..

[MillCreek]

^^^ What caliber for mangrove?