Small Game, Predator and TrappingFrom shooting squirrels in your backyard to calling coyotes in Arizona. This forum now contains trapping information..
Our property is LOADED with coons. Big, small, i hate them all, lol. Anyways, they have little to no predators that they need worry about, just an occasional red fox who im sure doesnt bother them too bad, if he even bothers them at all. Im trying to determine the best method by which to trap them. Live boxes/cages would work well i think, but would they get accustomed to the box cage and just avoid it after awhile or would it still be affective over a given period of time, say 6 months? I wouldnt kill them where i caught them, i would carry them off somewhere and kill them there, then clean the cage and set it again. Would that be sufficient or do you think the coons would still catch on to the live box/cage trap?
What traps or styles of traps do ya'll prefer for strictly coon hunting. I am a novice at best with trapping but Im willing to read and learn, something i have done an awful lot of on the subject recently. However,I feel thatexperience from people who have done it before trumps any book or article you might read so Im hoping i can get some advice on what styles of traps work best.
Bait buckets with a 220 will work great. You wont have to worry about killing the coon somewhere else it takes a matter of seconds to reset one. Box traps will also work. I dont like them because it takes longer to kill the animal and reset the trap. I also hate catching skunks in box traps[:@]. I have never had coons catch on to using box traps. If the trap is big enough its common to catch two at one time. Always gang set for coons. There is usually several running around together.
The woodlands texas, just north of houston. i will shoot a few just to thin them out a little, but i have a little boy who im sure would love to see some of the racons, possums, armadillos etc that are in area and so I wont shoot all of them.
Primary Purposes:
1. Thin them out a little
2. Catch a few so the boy can see them, learn about them, have some fun looking at them without having to pay a premium at a zoo to look at them from behind glass 20 feet away, etc
One thing you can do is tie the trap door up and keep it baited for about a week.They will get comfortable walking in there.Then after a week cut the rope holding the door open and you'll wear them out for a couple weeks or more.It should'nt be hard to catch a coon without doing anything though.Just throw some dog food or sardines in there and you should have a coon in no time.Possumes are suckers for the sardines also.If trapping gets slow then you can try the method above.Good luck,let us know how it goes.
James
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06 AR34 55lbs
Trophy Ridge Guide Series Drop Zone
Toxonics Sights
Carbon Force 200's
Grim Reaper Mecahincal BroadHead
Bait buckets with a 160 to a 220 conibear work good. Also, you may want to look into some coon cuff traps. These traps are dog proof and are a leg hold trap that coons will not knaw there leg off in. If you do set any coil spring traps, make sure they are big enough to hold the animal and be sure to check the traps as early in the morning as possible.
my gf's sister (she's a dog breeder/avid coonhunter) say that marshmallows, poptarts, and jelly work really well for coons. you'd probably be okay using table scraps since they are foragers. never heard of a coon getting smart to a box trap..
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My Wife - "I want to try Turkey hunting"
just go to tractor supply they sell box traps pretty cheap and i always bait w sardines or tuna in a can i also use a .17 and a 3 mill candle power spotlight to do a lil long distance practice
Coon Trapping
