.22 LR for coons? I did it with one shot....

[357wheelgunner]

So something has been eating my trash for the last two weeks, scattering it around the yard. I had plans to go out and get a live trap this coming weekend but I took care of the problem last night.

At around 10PM I heard rustling outside, and I opened the door (with my sidearm and a flashlight) and saw a coon sitting on the porch eating my dog's food. Instead of running away like a normal animal did it reared up and snarled. I did not want to use the .357 with it's full strength ammo, so I went to the safe and got my Savage .22 bolt rifle (the one with a heavy barrel and a 4x scope). It was loaded with some Aguila 60 grain .22 shorts, very strange ammo. Anyway I opened the door and nailed him right between the eyes. I had no idea how hard it was to aim through a scope at a critter that is 10 feet away from you, I need a second rifle with iron sights. Anyway it dropped him in one shot, the coon fell down the steps and expired at the base of the porch. My wife said that I threw the door open, and before it even hit the wall on the other side I had nailed the critter and had a fresh round in the chamber.

The thing is, when I told a friend at work today about it he said something about how you should never use a .22 for coons because it was way too weak and how I'm lucky that the little rimfire did not just piss it off. I don't get it, half the thing's head was gone.

So what do you think, is a .22 too weak for serious pest control on a racoon?

 

[critter]

Forget it. Coons are not armored! Good ole southern boys have seccessfully hunted coons for decades with the .22 rimfire.

 

[Hoppy590]

the 22 has plenty of hurt for coons, just make sure you get it, not wing it. a rabid coon bite would ruin your day

 

[riverdog]

I'd recommend .22 Long Rifle though, .22 Short is a bit on the light side.

 

[Freddymac]

I'v hit a coon with a .223

I hit him right behind the front shoulder from about 20 yards with a 45gr Fed Vmax out of a 20"bbl XM15. That thing ran almost 100 yards before dying. The post mortem revealed an almost non-existent entry wound, but an exit wound bigger than a grapefruit. There were broken and displaced ribs, entrails that looked like they spent some time in a blender… lungs, heart, intestines… all liquefied. But this bugger ran like the dickens.

 

[Sam Adams]

My father dropped a big woodchuck about 30 years ago with an iron-sighted 10/22 round to the head from about 10 feet. Shot placement is key - these rounds will penetrate a human skull, so there's no way that a relatively small animal like a 'coon or a 'chuck will survive a similar shot...if its placed well.

BTW, its a good thing that this was 30 years ago. You see, it was in the PRNJ, and I'm sure that if someone did that today in a housing development they'd find the local SWAT team breaking down the door within 10 minutes, and they'd become very familiar with the local prosecutor soon thereafter (assuming that said person fared better than the 'coon or 'chuck).

 

[sm]

.22 short.

Some state Regs limit hunters to .22 short for coon hunting at night.
Always check your regs.

Rabid Coons are serious threats.

Iron sighted .22 rifles are great for too many things, and this is one example.

I'm partial to iron sighted single shots that allow use of short, long and long rifle .22 rim fire ammo.

 

[redneck2]

If you hit a glancing shot, a 22 LR can bounce off a coons head.

That said, I just had a similar experience Sat morning. Neighbors dog is barking like crazy at 5 am (I was already up anyway). Their rottie is over their fence staring at a coon. The coon is all wobbly and starts up the utility pole. I put the rottie back inside the fence and get the BLR 22. Whack him with a LR, then hit him again on the ground for good measure

Lots of coons get distemper. Bad stuff. If you see a coon either acting weird or out in the daylight, whack 'em

 

[Outlaws]

I shot my first coon in my grandpas chicken coop with his old Remington model 34 .22LR.

5 shots!

The first shot was right between the eyes while he was looking rigth at me about 5 feet away. He fell out of the ceilings insulation and rolled around and spazismed while I put another 4 into him. He didn't know *** happend IMO.

 

[carterbeauford]

Try these. I have been using them for nighttime rabbit hunting with success, should clear up any "power" questions regarding this caliber on raccoons. These badboys fly.

 

[357wheelgunner]

I had a box of CCI stingers and a box of the Aguila subsonic 60 gr ammo. I grabbed the subsonic because the shot was 10ft away from my living room door of an apartment, didn't want anythign too loud. BTW I live in a 4 unit apartment, full of shooters, on 7 acres of woods so no worries about police coming, except for the cops who live next door

 

[Kymasabe]

I too have eliminated a 'coon, in my carport eating catfood, with my old Marlin 60, 4x scope, and a single .22LR shot to the head. Scared the heck out of me, I was amazed how loud a .22 between houses and in a carport can be.

 

[Roadwild17]

Ilve always used the winchester wildcats HP i think like 44 grain, killed more coon and possim than I can remember.

 

[TMM]

I have no idea how you killed that coon so fast with such a small round!

The other day i plugged a bugger POINT PLANK, in the head and neck, with 4 rounds of .22LR from a rifle and it was still kicking around when i ran to get more ammo!

i guess this is a case of "YMMV"

~tmm

 

[357wheelgunner]

I really think that it was the ammo, that 60 gr bullet, even though subsonic, from 10 feet away absolutely blew the back of its head out, and all over my porch. It was disgusting, took 10 minutes with a hose to clean it all off

 

[kjeff50cal]

Here is what 357wheelgunner shot the racoon with. It is the two in the middle, Aguila Sniper SubSonic (SSS) 60 grn bullet atop a .22 Short case.
I have a (left to right) Aguila Colibi, .22 Short, SSS, and .22 Long Rifles (Rem. HPs) for comparison.

 

[JesseJames]

Avoid the mess

A coworker once had an encounter with a furry home invader. Of course it was a raccoon that somehow got into his basement via the basement window.
He didn't have firearms, but, he was an archery enthusiast. Yeah, you know where this is going.
He got his compound bow and loaded a field point. Took aim. The first shot skewered the critter right in the middle and the beast started flopping around. He reloaded the bow with another arrow and walked over and aimed square at the head.
He carried the expired beast out by the protruding arrows and buried it in the woods with one arrow sticking out of the ground as a sort of makeshift marker.
His kids were safe, his neighbors weren't disturbed, and he didn't have a mess to clean up save for a little blood because he used field points. If he had used hunting broadheads, there would have been blood all over the place.

 

[Terrierman]

I've taken more than a hundred coons with .22 LR. The Aguila SSS is not a favorite, as for anything other than a head shot (like the one you made) they drill a .22caliber hole and don't do much other damage. Plus none of the guns I tried it in would stabilize it. Regular high velocity LR ammunition works better. Hollow points or solids, can't tell much difference. I've settled on Super X and it definitely gets the job done. Mini mags are good too and I'm sure velocitors would be the ticket as well. My rifles and pistols don't much care for the mini mags, but velocitors group pretty well. I'm going to give them a whirl this year.

 

[geekWithA.45]

Some state Regs limit hunters to .22 short for coon hunting at night.
Always check your regs.

It's reasonable to believe that an animal acting strangely is rabid.

Putting down an animal on your porch that you have reason to believe is rabid isn't hunting, it's defense. (Hopefully, all levels of your government agrees with you on that, ymmv)

Just remember that the brain matter of rabid animals calls for the appropriate sanitary precautions when cleaning up the mess with bleach.

 

[gezzer]

In the late 70's and early 80's I killed thousands of coons with a 22lr. I found the best rounds were standard vel lead bullets. Body shots were iffy with any 22lr but head shots 100%. These were treed coons and my dog was never torn up with a head shot one.

Wish the days of 35-40 dollar coon would return. They would be a great addition to my pension.

 

[kjeff50cal]

The Aguila SSS is not a favorite, as for anything other than a head shot (like the one you made) they drill a .22caliber hole and don't do much other damage. Plus none of the guns I tried it in would stabilize it.

My rifles (CBC 122, a Remington 511 clone and a Savage Mod 6) don't like the Aguila SSS but my Ruger Standard 6" and strangely my H&R 622, 2 1/2" barrel likes them.

 

[dfaugh]

.22 will do fine...

IF you get good head shots

...But body shots, even to center of mass can be real iffy, especially on big 'uns. I put several rounds into one (the first was right in the chest, then he started moving, but several others hit) on a HUGE coon once, He ran about 40 yards, up a dead tree, and into hole in the tree. We had a heckuva time climbing up and retrieving him (he WAS dead by the time we got him out). After that I limited myself to clean head shots, used Hi-vel hollowpoints, and they always got the job done.

 

[rangerruck]

i must admit , i'd be a littl eworried with a 22 on a raccoon. would not watn that little devil chasing me around.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

This is a good example of perfect shot palcement.

When I had to shoot a rabid racoon it absorbed several chest shots of Winchester XPert .22 LR HPs without expiring. It didn't die until my friend put a round through its brain.

The Aguila Sniper Subsonic loads pack a wallop, especially if you modify them to a flat point.