Raccoons Who has hunted them ,Need advice .

I'll post photos after I get a critter or #40 . I ordered the Duke Dog proof traps Today . Last night was the straw breaking . Eyes all over My West lawn and the damn things DIDN'T run away like they normally do . Tonight I have MY 9mm Pistol loaded with Birdshot ,as I have NO light on it and MY fricken 5.56X45mm is just too LOUD . I do have several .22 LR pistols and birdshot for those as well . The ONLY neighbor within close proximity hits the sack about 8-9 PM ,so Don't want to muster them out of their slumber too badly .;)

Well, if you got that many, I'd be tempted to set out a 5 gallon bucket of corn with 3 or 4 lbs of tannerite inside and see how many I could take out🤣🤣
 
At first I trapped them:



Then I shot them:



And then these showed up but a Southerner never retreats and I showed them no mercy and gave them no ground and I shot them too:



And then fed their carcasses to the buzzards:



And then reinforcements arrived in the form of armored units but I gave no quarter and I shot holes in them too:



And this feller showed up one day and is my enforcer:



Because this gets kind of old in the cold:

 
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We have lots of ticks around in SW Missouri. Possums eat ticks and get a pass at my house.
I found bringing in the bird feeders at night pretty much took care of the Raccoon problem.

My SO killed a bunch of Raccoons with my 410 New England Firearms single shot shotgun while I was overseas. I posted it here before but, earlier this year I killed a Squirrel that was chewing on my back deck with my 410 shotgun. I couldn't find my ear pro quick enough so went without. Amazingly enough - no ear ring with 410 Winchester Super X 3 inch #4 shot.

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We have lots of ticks around in SW Missouri. Possums eat ticks and get a pass at my house.
I found bringing in the bird feeders at night pretty much took care of the Raccoon problem.
That's where the real problem lies, most of the time. People put out bait, and then call animals a nuisance when it works. If folks didn't leave bait out, especially at night, as you found, they'd have fewer raccoons.
 
I'll post photos after I get a critter or #40 . I ordered the Duke Dog proof traps Today . Last night was the straw breaking . Eyes all over My West lawn and the damn things DIDN'T run away like they normally do . Tonight I have MY 9mm Pistol loaded with Birdshot ,as I have NO light on it and MY fricken 5.56X45mm is just too LOUD . I do have several .22 LR pistols and birdshot for those as well . The ONLY neighbor within close proximity hits the sack about 8-9 PM ,so Don't want to muster them out of their slumber too badly .;)
I don't understand the birdshot; bows, airguns, and quiet/subsonic ammo are obtainable, the problem can be effectively addressed without disturbing the neighbors much at all, birdshot is just a bandaid when you NEED stitches.
 
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I don't understand the birdshot, bows, airguns, and quiet/subsonic ammo is obtainable, the problem can be effectively addressed without disturbing the neighbors much at all, birdshot is just a bandaid when you NEED stitches.

The PCP air rifle is more powerful (60++ fpe) than CCi Quiet (45 fpe) and more accurate out to about 50 yards and less expensive to shoot (well, that depends). There is also less tendency to ricochet. Another thing not considered often is that air rifles shooting the typical diablo style pellet is that the pellet itself limits range as they are pretty high drag whereas even CCI Quiet can carry much further. Now, if I go to shooting slugs in my air rifles then all bets are off as to ricochets and bullet flight beyond my target if I miss. Of course a Southerner never misses unless the miss is intentional ;) as in "shooting at" some yahoos, yahoo, ha!

Marauder Super Light .25 at 50 yards, 8 shots (one magazine):



I do like the CCI Quiet Segmented and wish CCI would release the Auto Quiet with the segmented bullet.
 
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Catch them in a trap and then dispatch them in accordance with local laws.

They're easier to deal with than skunks but if you've got a trap out make sure you check it a couple times a day so the things not suffering too much.

I shoot them in the trap with a 22. Works for me.
 
Raccoons and possums generally get a pass. It is skunks, armadillos and even rabbits that dig under my drive and foundation causing damage and I have killed a pile of them.
 
That's where the real problem lies, most of the time. People put out bait, and then call animals a nuisance when it works.
Yep, and sometimes the "bait" itself is not what attracts the nuisance animals. For example, my wife has a couple of bird feeders, and a couple more hummingbird feeders. Then she complains because every stray and feral cat within a mile and a half of our house hang out underneath those feeders just waiting for a bird or hummingbird to swoop down low enough for one of those cats to jump up and grab! :confused:
Oh, well. I love my wife anyway, and I kinda enjoy using my wrist-rocket slingshot to chase off cats. I very seldom actually hit one of them though. ;)
 
Yep, and sometimes the "bait" itself is not what attracts the nuisance animals. For example, my wife has a couple of bird feeders, and a couple more hummingbird feeders. Then she complains because every stray and feral cat within a mile and a half of our house hang out underneath those feeders just waiting for a bird or hummingbird to swoop down low enough for one of those cats to jump up and grab! :confused:
Oh, well. I love my wife anyway, and I kinda enjoy using my wrist-rocket slingshot to chase off cats. I very seldom actually hit one of them though. ;)
Yup. By far the worst nuisance animals for us are cats. I generally use a 12 gauge or .22 for them, rather than a slingshot.
 
I’ve used marshmallows and sweets smells to catch raccoons in dog proofs around pets.

Cats won’t mess with it.

A bat is a good dispatch weapon if you couldn’t shoot them.

Shoot a skunk in the lungs with an air rifle or a 22 they will usually just lay down and die wo spraying.
Shoot them in the head or hit shoulders etc they always spray.
 
I don't understand the birdshot; bows, airguns, and quiet/subsonic ammo are obtainable, the problem can be effectively addressed without disturbing the neighbors much at all, birdshot is just a bandaid when you NEED stitches.

Birdshot 9mm .22 .38 cal gives ME a shot in the dark . The direction the buggers are coming from prohibits MY shooting solid projectiles . My only real neighbor has a Big 5 Th. wheel parked out in his front of his property ( belongs to a relative I believe ) anyway NOT a safe direction . MY old Toyota Tacoma is also parked over in the general direction ,on our extra parking area . So minimal chance I'd do any real over shot damages .

I've NO light on MY weapons ,we have a pretty sophisticated property surveillance system, beam sensors motion detection wireless and wired local as well as remote recording . All IR/ Day capability ,if you know anything about cameras these lens are equivalent to a DSLR 14,700mm lens .
I can pull a license plate # at 1K Yd. easily ;) A long time Very Close friend of mine ,whom I did various projects for and with ,ran NASA / JPL major space projects for #5 decades . They were Bud's design and became reality prior to his demise and I ended up with them per his bequest .
 
Birdshot 9mm .22 .38 cal gives ME a shot in the dark . The direction the buggers are coming from prohibits MY shooting solid projectiles . My only real neighbor has a Big 5 Th. wheel parked out in his front of his property ( belongs to a relative I believe ) anyway NOT a safe direction . MY old Toyota Tacoma is also parked over in the general direction ,on our extra parking area . So minimal chance I'd do any real over shot damages .

I've NO light on MY weapons ,we have a pretty sophisticated property surveillance system, beam sensors motion detection wireless and wired local as well as remote recording . All IR/ Day capability ,if you know anything about cameras these lens are equivalent to a DSLR 14,700mm lens .
I can pull a license plate # at 1K Yd. easily ;) A long time Very Close friend of mine ,whom I did various projects for and with ,ran NASA / JPL major space projects for #5 decades . They were Bud's design and became reality prior to his demise and I ended up with them per his bequest .
Birdshot out of a rifled barrel is its own dilemma, still gonna be way better off with a trap and a hollowpoint.
 
Traps have arrived . Damn those springs are STIFF aren't they !. Gonna need to make a loading tool so as to depress them ,as that is excessive thump pressure . However have NO Doubt their sleazy little leg WON'T come out of that contraption :)
 
As traps go, the live catch cage traps will work better. Then just humanly dispatch them in the trap. And there is less chance of unintentional consequences. The neighbor kid likes to take the animals and make stuff from them.
 
I understand why the traps selected were picked, the cage traps do yield the occasional skunk and that's not fun close to a house. Personally we've always done well with the box traps, but lived/trapped where the skunks could be dealt with more easily.
Traps have arrived . Damn those springs are STIFF aren't they !. Gonna need to make a loading tool so as to depress them ,as that is excessive thump pressure . However have NO Doubt their sleazy little leg WON'T come out of that contraption :)
Good luck!!!!
 
Traps have arrived . Damn those springs are STIFF aren't they !. Gonna need to make a loading tool so as to depress them ,as that is excessive thump pressure . However have NO Doubt their sleazy little leg WON'T come out of that contraption :)

I have some 3/16” stainless wire bent in a “U”, that I use to set them. I leave them hanging nearby the places I use the traps, you have to have them to get the dead animal out of too.
 
I have some 3/16” stainless wire bent in a “U”, that I use to set them. I leave them hanging nearby the places I use the traps, you have to have them to get the dead animal out of too.
Due to the recommendations here, I too got a Duke trap but I also got the setting tool. It was only about $2.50 @ Scheel's. It works great.

Two nights ago I put it out and caught a half-grown possum. I checked my game camera and saw the mama avoid it.

Afterwards a coyote came up and completely ignored the trapped possum. When coyotes turn down a free meal, you know they are doing quite well.
 
I have some 3/16” stainless wire bent in a “U”, that I use to set them. I leave them hanging nearby the places I use the traps, you have to have them to get the dead animal out of too.

Today was Ranch chores and Water filtration removal replacement temporary fix . SO nothing else got done . Tomorrow using 11 gauge line wire loops , I'll secure traps to out lying T posts in the fence lines . Suckers Won't gnaw through that stuff ,damn one can barely cut it with Large fence pliers .
Got bait ready ,so tomorrow night Sunday AM should produce desired results .
They're still coming and dirtying up the Cat's water dishes ,NO food has been left out for #5 days but they don't seem to care . So Neither do I :mad:

I have those self ratcheting sliding bar clamps ,so I drilled a half circle big enough for the trap to set in ,out of a 2x2x 4" piece of wood and a 1x2 x 4" flat piece of wood for the spring side . Slap the trap in between the two pieces of wood ,squeeze the clamp DONE DEAL and I'm NOT killing My fingers thumbs or palms depressing those springs . I could injure MY trigger finger :eek::rofl:
 
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