What did the raccoon do to you to shoot it? Seems like a wanton action.
What did the raccoon do to you to shoot it? Seems like a wanton action.
In Michigan you can shoot raccoons year-round if they are "doing or about to do damage." To quote Uncle Ted (Nugent), "Have you ever met a raccoon that wasn't about to do damage?"
With the fur market crash, our raccoon population has skyrocketed with a corresponding impact of crops and small bird and animal populations. Now we have distemper moving through the raccoon population. Too many coons is always a bad thing. JMO
I haven't eaten coon since I was a kid. Maybe with soy sauce, rice wine, green onions and noodles it might make an OK wonton.
I don't shoot raccoons, I trap them. I use the "beer can" trap with marshmallow or CHEAP canned cat food.
I ALWAYS catch a coon within 48 hours of setting the trap. *Tells you how many are really out there.
I have seen up to 20 on my deer feeder at one time.
I wonder how the Lee 230 gr. FP would do? A friend of mine has a mold.
Mrs. Hogwallop up and R-U-N-N-O-F-T.
Or a duck hunter, or pheasant hunter, or grouse hunter, or any nesting animals in general. South Dakota even pays a person $10 a tail for every nest raiding varmint you kill in the spring and early summer. Trapping is the best method, but when one randomly walks out of your wood pile, that's way less work.
Every animal that I can legally shoot off my property that eats eggs dies. I removed over a 100 raccoon and over 50 possum last year off my my property along with a bobcat(drew a permit) and grey Fox. I have grouse and woodcock all over vs none on about 20 years. I have heard more Toms gobbling on one morning than in the last 5 years combined as well. In years past I found dead turkeys with scattered feathers all over my property and raided nests. It’s called managing your property and wildlife. Good job! Kill them all! Now if I could figure out how to scare the red tail hawks out of the area life would be good. I had three swoop down and hit my turkey decoys the last two spring seasons.
Ironically, I think racoons are probably the best way to limit hawk populations. I have no idea how to scare them away. I don't worry about it too much. Hawks and owls don't appear to get into nests too often. I'm sure they take their share of young birds. I'm pretty sure hawks and owls eat each others nests too. There's no clear cut answer, and I definitely don't want to kill them all. I just don't want 50 racoons living in the same slough grass as where all the pheasants and ducks are nesting. That might even be an underestimate. I've gotten at least 30 raccoon in one trail camera picture before. They are out of control here, or were. There are less of them now.
I cleaned all mine off on a 32 acre property. I would have them on trail cam non stop. I haven’t trapped any nuisance raccoon and possum this year and know I have some that came back into my property this spring by all the scat I was seeing during spring turkey hunting. I will start in on them pretty soon again.
By whatever mechanism, I find the Lee H&G #68 style SWC to give the best “on game performance” of any large projectile.
My first experience with it is actually using it in a Muzzle Loader in a 50/45 sabot. I found that sized .450” and loaded in a MMP sabot that they’re 3MOA accurate at 100yds and easy to quickly reload.
The first deer I shot with it was 130lb doe at about 40yds. The deer ran to my right in a sprint, pumping blood out of two 1/2” holes leaving a double blood trail. Trail was short. About 25yds, and deer dropped without a kick. Load is 80gr of Pyrodex and chronographs at 1,600fps. 70gr of 777 gets 1,700fps.
Second deer was an 8pt at about 17yds. I’d sat down in an oak grove on a ridge with crest to my back. I kicked all the leaves out for a circle of 6’ or so to prevent rattling leaves if I needed to shift position. I’d also rattled my folding stool setting it up. About 5min later, I heard a loud grunt, directly behind me, and the oak tree I was leaning against. I slowly peered to my left and spotted the buck facing me, but looking over his shoulder. He was partially shielded by a log lying 90deg, between us. I waited for him to put his head down eating acorns and swapped sides with my gun to my off hand, and raised the barrel. Upon getting a sight picture of the fire sight, I released the safety with an audible “click”! The buck snapped his head up looking right at me. I touched off the round. Through the plume of smoke, I could make out him pitching backwards and flopping to the ground. Not a single kick.
There was no exit wound. Dressing the deer revealed the bullet struck just below the throat patch, broke the spine, passed between the shoulders, and restruck the spine, an then downward into the paunch. I estimate about 30” of penetration. Never found the slug. I’ve also used the 200gr SWC in .45Colt in both a Win M94 and a S&W 625 to shoot pigs.
The only small game I’ve used it on are armadillos. Several years back I was camping out and hunting with friends in E. Georgia in the Clark’s Hill WMA the week before Thanksgiving. It was atypically warm, with warm sunny afternoons. The armadillos were out in force! I shot over a half dozen with the .45 with the 200SWC over 5.7gr of #231. Likewise, my buddy was using the Lee 255gr RFN over 8.2gr of Universal in a Taurus Thunderbolt.45LC pump w24”bbl. The Thwack of the bullets hitting was louder than the thump of the guns going off. A shoulder/spine hit was immediately fatal. Body hits resulted in them jumping and flopping on their backs and “running” till they’d waved goodbye. Together, we got over a dozen! Three pigs too! 50-80lbs.
No need for tedious hollow points and molds cast 6-slugs at a time!
Last edited by GooseGestapo; 08-26-2022 at 02:08 PM.
Armadillo load in the early 80's, had a Lyman #450229 modified to be a hollow base wadcutter and then loaded it backwards in the 1909 Colt. That way they didn't run off and stink later.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |