Trapping a racoon - can anyone share their experience with this?

[Sally PB]

I assume you put the end of the pistol barrel thru a hole in top the of trap?
Do you worry about the animal moving so the bullet misses and ricochets...
..or the bullet going thru the animal body and wrecking the trap wires??

I put the muzzle opening at an opening between the wires of the trap. Aim for the head (back of head or into mouth are the safest). The animal isn't going anywhere, so I can stand there for a while and wait for my opportunity. Which means "watch and be ready."

I make sure the trap is on soft ground. Chances are very good a 9mm bullet will exit the animal. If the first shot doesn't kill it, I'm ready with a second.

With a head shot, the animal will probably be dead, but if not, it's severely incapacitated, so I have more time to line up a better shot if I need a second.

I have a couple of broken wires in this trap that are from the bullet exiting the animal, but they don't compromise the integrity of the trap.

Ear and eye protection are mandatory when I'm shooting.

 

[TOR]

If you cannot shoot them order one of these for $15

Barker's Skunk Sleeper Syringe Dispatching Injector​

You put acetone in it and attach to a broom handle.
View attachment 3568923

Like they all said, stop training the raccoons they are pulling my chickens through the wire!

I live adjacent to a a cypress swamp and some woods, I have serious Raccoon issues. I only trap right by the coop, but trap them 24-7 I have a HavaHeart raccoon trap and a 5' 30" x 24" coyote trap because I had a HUGE one, 35+ pounds, that could reach all the way to the back of the regular one with only his head and front leg in the trap. I also have 4 Dukes dog proof coon cuffs around the coop baited with marshmellows and licorice with a golf ball on top to keep out mice and to get their attention. The dogproof traps are much cheaper and more effective than the live traps. Only about $17 each.

Here is one bandit in a coon cuff wedged under the wire floor of my chicken run with a flipped over empty live trap next to him. After he raids the live trap he gets caught in the coon cuff. I have only ever lost one from a coon cuff and he ran off with the trap and chain because he jerked so hard he snapped the quick link attaching it to the run.

View attachment 3568935

Put up some hardware cloth and they will not pull your chickens thru or some 1inch chicken wire. 1/2 inch hardware cloth is better. A weasel can go right thru that fence.

 

[mossyoakpro]

If you cannot shoot them order one of these for $15

Barker's Skunk Sleeper Syringe Dispatching Injector​

You put acetone in it and attach to a broom handle.
View attachment 3568923

Like they all said, stop training the raccoons they are pulling my chickens through the wire!

I live adjacent to a a cypress swamp and some woods, I have serious Raccoon issues. I only trap right by the coop, but trap them 24-7 I have a HavaHeart raccoon trap and a 5' 30" x 24" coyote trap because I had a HUGE one, 35+ pounds, that could reach all the way to the back of the regular one with only his head and front leg in the trap. I also have 4 Dukes dog proof coon cuffs around the coop baited with marshmellows and licorice with a golf ball on top to keep out mice and to get their attention. The dogproof traps are much cheaper and more effective than the live traps. Only about $17 each.

Here is one bandit in a coon cuff wedged under the wire floor of my chicken run with a flipped over empty live trap next to him. After he raids the live trap he gets caught in the coon cuff. I have only ever lost one from a coon cuff and he ran off with the trap and chain because he jerked so hard he snapped the quick link attaching it to the run.

View attachment 3568935

I run chain with a stake swivel on my DP's....every now and again I use cable and wrap it around a tree if the ground is too soft for the stake. Cheap cat food with a shot of fish oil will get them everytime. I catch a bunch every year and it benefits all ground nesting birds. They are pretty vicious critters....not at all cuddly like some folks think they are.

 

[McChooky]

I assume you put the end of the pistol barrel thru a hole in top the of trap?
Do you worry about the animal moving so the bullet misses and ricochets...
..or the bullet going thru the animal body and wrecking the trap wires??

X2!

 

[Magnumchicken]

Releasing the raccoon in someone else's area is a completely illegal and immoral thing to do. Now they are wary of traps and killing someone else's chickens. Poison, shoot or take to animal control but never never never release them. I know of no area in US that it is legal to release them. But even if so it is highly immoral.