racoon hunting

[mx_chick_42]

So are there any other coon hunters on here? My boyfriend got me into it and i really enjoy it. most the time we just go out with head lamps and spot them. We also have a dog Duke that we take out as well, just depends on where we are going that night and how many people are going. So far between my boyfriend, his buddies, and i we have already turned in over 50 coon!! i had a great head shot lastnight. He dropped like a rock out the tree

 

[Ed p.]

What are coons bringing this year?

 

[mx_chick_42]

well if its a nice big one with good thick fur I think its about $6. We just turned in 24 the other day and averaged $3.30 a coon

 

[treeman22]

Are those whole, or skinned?

 

[mx_chick_42]

whole

 

[XtremeVel]

i had a great head shot lastnight. He dropped like a rock out the tree

I'm not a coon hunter, but have went out a few times with a uncle... The one thing that shocked me and I will never forget is just how much of your front sight you don't see at night... LOL it took a few shots to get the coon out of the tree until I realized this...

 

[dieselrealtor]

Who buys them?
or is this a closely guarded state secret?

 

[BoilerWes]

I would encourage you to find a local coon hunter with dogs that would take you along for a hunt. Walking through the woods with a head light shooting out raccoons at $3.30 a POP is not coon hunting nor is it very sporting.

 

[VaGriller]

I would encourage you to find a local coon hunter with dogs that would take you along for a hunt. Walking through the woods with a head light shooting out raccoons at $3.30 a POP is not coon hunting nor is it very sporting.

And dogs treeing a coon is more sporting?

 

[BoilerWes]

Most certainly. And I would wager you have never been coon hunting nor trained a dog to tree one. But if your idea of hunting is walking through a woods with bright light and shooting a coon sitting up in a tree then have at it.

 

[VaGriller]

Most certainly. And I would wager you have never been coon hunting nor trained a dog to tree one. But if your idea of hunting is walking through a woods with bright light and shooting a coon sitting up in a tree then have at it.

I didn't have to train my german sheps to tree a coon. It came natural to them. We have 30 acres by the lake and we have a ton of coons. I've gotten trailcam pics of 4 deer and 9 racoons at one of my off season feeders.

Whats your opinion on still hunting for deer? I suppose you see running dogs more sporting? Or stalk only?

 

[ChrisK1977]

I have a buddy that took me several times. I must say it wasn't what I expected it to be like. I always had a blast.

 

[BoilerWes]

I didn't have to train my german sheps to tree a coon. It came natural to them. We have 30 acres by the lake and we have a ton of coons. I've gotten trailcam pics of 4 deer and 9 racoons at one of my off season feeders.

Whats your opinion on still hunting for deer? I suppose you see running dogs more sporting? Or stalk only?

I am not interested in getting into an ethics debate on hunting. Spotlighting is a legal means of harvesting many types of animals. In the case of a raccoon, sitting up in a tree, I don't see where it stands much of a chance.

In the case of still deer hunting, a deer has both the ability to see and smell you and despite man's best efforts to overcome these things (camo, scent eliminator, etc) most hunters would say the deer still has the upperhand.

If you think that training a dog to tree a raccoon is like falling over a log in the woods, then you are mistaken. Dogs are by no means perfect and even the very best ones I have hunted with still cannot produce a coon every time they tree.

Again, I would offer to anyone interested in coon hunting to go with someone that is knowledgable about the sport and has some decent dogs, you will have a blast.

 

[VaGriller]

I respect your opinion but truely for the life of me can't see how running dogs is more sporting than spotlighting them at night with a lamp. Either way the racoon has a very slim chance at survival.

Appears to be similiar to the still hunting v running dog for deer debates that happen in states where you can run dogs.

 

[BoilerWes]

It's ok to disagree on things. Hunting with dogs is an experience for sure. Just like people...some smart one's some not so smart...some do one thing good but not another...etc, etc. I think if you were to ask beagler's or bird dog guys if just because they are using a dog do they believe they have an extreme or even unfair advantage they would say no. I think the same applies to coon hunting with dogs. Perhaps even more so with a coon dog as you are basically asking it to do three things: go hunting, trail the coon, and tree it (and oh yea stay until I get there).

 

[mx_chick_42]

Most certainly. And I would wager you have never been coon hunting nor trained a dog to tree one. But if your idea of hunting is walking through a woods with bright light and shooting a coon sitting up in a tree then have at it.

Wow do u just know nothing about coon hunting?!!! It takes far more skill to find a coon with just head lamps. Plus I wrote that we do have a dog just don't always take him. It doesn't matter if the dog found the coon or me it brings in the same cash.

 

[BoilerWes]

Wow do u just know nothing about coon hunting?!!! It takes far more skill to find a coon with just head lamps. Plus I wrote that we do have a dog just don't always take him. It doesn't matter if the dog found the coon or me it brings in the same cash.

I have coon hunted for 25 years of my life. I would venture to say that I have forgot more about it than you have ever known. I am not attacking you or anyone else that spotlights. It is my opinion that it is not a very sporting way to harvest a coon. I would say your last sentence reinforces the attitude of most spotlighters. I would understand that attitude if it were the 70s or 80s when a large coon could bring $30 plus dollars. Now you can work a minimum wage job and make double the average of what one coon brings. So, doing it for money just doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[mx_chick_42]

I have coon hunted for 25 years of my life. I would venture to say that I have forgot more about it than you have ever known. I am not attacking you or anyone else that spotlights. It is my opinion that it is not a very sporting way to harvest a coon. I would say your last sentence reinforces the attitude of most spotlighters. I would understand that attitude if it were the 70s or 80s when a large coon could bring $30 plus dollars. Now you can work a minimum wage job and make double the average of what one coon brings. So, doing it for money just doesn't make much sense to me.

i dont do it for he money i do it for the sport. sitting on the edge of the woods while a dog does all the work is not fun. even when we do take the dog we are right there with him tromping in the woods. and i dont use a spot light i use a head lamp. my last sentence was to enforce the fact that you made a comment on doing it for such lil money with using light lights when the fact is the fur buyer still pays the same.

 

[blackoak]

Most certainly. And I would wager you have never been coon hunting nor trained a dog to tree one. But if your idea of hunting is walking through a woods with bright light and shooting a coon sitting up in a tree then have at it.

Are you beyond popping one if you happen to shine one while your waiting for your dogs to hit a track and put one up a tree? Maybe so now that prices are down, but back when coons were bringing 18-25 bucks and even more if you put them up. I bet you thought nothing of it. It is not illegal to shine coons and take them this way in Indiana. You probably don't like trappers either.

 

[Cain71]

Vermin, shoot them kill them anyway you want, dead is dead.
For me the expense of using dogs went the way of the dodo bird when the fur market took a bath, I enjoyed using dogs for many years with my grandfather, and they were expensive dogs.
If you think spotting is bad what do you think about trapping?
Its just a different means to an end.......dead coon.