how do I catch this stupid coon!?!

[al6517]

My choice on bait is sardines with a dab of jelly on top, served in a bowl I have very diserning coons, the bowl has a purpose.

 

[panner123]

I know you are using a have a heart trap or you would have caught it by now. So put that thing aside and cacth it. Go down to the local sporting good store and get a real trap, yup a catch um by the leg trap. On the pedal put a piece of mirrow or polish the pedal. Since you don't have a stream there, put the trap in a pan of water. The next morning you should have the coon. Dear ole grand dad taught me that trick went I ran a trap line as a child.
All the other kids wanted to know how I was catching all the coons, for their pelts were worth more money at the time. Now I think a coyote is up to three hundred dollars.

 

[HillCountryMomma]

Thanks everyone. I have learned so much about catching critters here it's just amazing.

I managed to catch the coon. Had to put a solid bottom under the trap so it couldn't dig under, then caught it right away (with marshamallows!). My neighbor thinks I've just caught one of a pair though (it was a female). He's picked them up chattering at each other on his outside security cameras.

My husband is in town working for the week and I had to take care of the coon by myself. Ugh! That was really hard. Something about shooting an animal in a trap vs. out loose just rubs me wrong. I did it though, and thanked the amazingly accurate aim on my Ruger once again. I know a .44 is total overkill, but it's what I'm accurate with. I sure wish I knew how to skin a coon. My 7 year old son wants a coon skin cap so bad! Nice thing about the have a heart traps is that it allows for a clean kill and a perfect carcass. Total waste though as I just don't know the first thing about skinning. Loved my daughters response when I told the kids I was going out to dispatch it... she looks up at me and says 'Are we gonna eat it'. Ugh!! I know we're a little country and all, but that just cracked me up. The kids sure have the right idea, just wish I hadn't been raised such a city girl and knew how to actually use every bit of what I have to kill. Would have made me feel better.

Didn't set the traps last night. Needed a break after dispatching that one. Will set them again tonight and hope I get the male.

Do they actually stay together in pairs? I'd always thought they had home territories and aside from coming together for breeding were rather solitary animals. I still don't feel like I can let my guard down, but at least I know I've gotten one of the confirmed chicken killers. I'd seen that girl in action and had taken a couple shots at her in the middle of the night with my shot gun (and missed!).

Thanks again!
Liz

 

[yotetrapper]

<< Now I think a coyote is up to three hundred dollars.>>

Hahahahahahahahahaha don't I WISH. If you average $15 per coyote pelt, you're doing good. Coons worth way more than coyote now.

Hill, if you caught a female coon this time of year, you more than likely don't have ONE coon to kill left, but probably 3-6. They're in family groups this time of year. Mom and younguns. Keep that trap handy lol.

Skinning coons is easy. With a sharp knife, cut the skin ( not into meat if can help it) in a ring around all four feet. Starting with the back feet, cut a straight line from the ring you cut, up the leg to behind the vent... in between vent and tail base. Do the same for the other leg, so both cuts meet up between tail and vent. Now, grab onto the skin that is loose up by the back feet, along the cut down the leg, and PULL down HARD. The skin should tear away from the meat of the leg, leaving you what looks like a big chicken drumstick LOL. Do other back leg the same.

Now you'll need to do a little knife work. In the cut you made above the vent, you'll need to use your knife to peel away the skin. Keep skinning it down with your knife until you can poke your finger in between the freed skin and the top of the base of the tail. With your knife, split the tail on the underside 3/4 or so way down (since you dont have a tail stripper). grab on to the bone and pull the skin from the tail bone. When you get to the tip, slow down, and try to pull the tail bone out of the tip. Not too hard, or it'll break off. If it dont want to come, cut the tail all the way to the tip.

Once the tail is free, use your muscles and YANK the skin all the way down to the front feet, no knife involved. you'll be able to feel the front legs through the skin, get ahold of one of them at the joint and try to pull it up. Some people use a knife here but I dont life to cos when I try to I always make a cut in the fur here. Stick your thumb inbetween the fur and the meat below the elbow joint, and pull the feet out.

Now yank your pelt down to the head. You'll be able to feel ear cartiledge under the skin... when you can't pull it any further, cut through that cartilidge to free the ears. Now, feel for the eyes, and cut as close to the eyes as possible. Once you have the eyes done, use your knife to free the skin down to the nose, then cut off cartildge of nose.

That's it. I can skin one in about 5 minutes. Here's a link to detailed pictures of skinning a coon (and most other critters). WARNING if your are squeamish or a vegetarian Animal Rights type folk, please do NOT click this link. http://www.traps4kids.com/Furhandling.html

 

[Birdsonghill]

Squirrel, Rabbit, Raccoon and opossum were staple foods around here until the 1960's. Still a lot of people eat wild game around here! My uncles would suck the brains out of boiled squirrel heads, while drinking beer and watching a ball game, when I was a boy! My great grandfather (my Mother's grandfather) died (1950's)from Tularemia he got from skinning and eating his last Possum! Evidently he had a scratch on his hands or didn't cook it well enough! Barbecued raccoon, roasted/smoked and glazed on the grill with hot/sweet barbecue sauce was a favorite at cookouts and is still popular with a lot of country boys! Roasted possum with sweet potatoes, corn bread and fresh greens was a good Sunday dinner for my Dad's family. If they caught a coon or possum getting in the chicken coop, it was dinner that day! I confess less enthusiasm for the taste of most game animals! But I have eaten them all, at least once! BTW, skinning a coon is easy work, curing and working the skin properly to preserve the skin holding onto the fur , being workable and not going funky or deteriorating, is the real work involved in using skins from your kills! I applaud you if you learn to clean, cook and eat raccoons! They are plentiful and not too bad when cooked as mentioned. But if you learn how to or send your scraped and dried fresh skins promptly to be cured/tanned made ready to use, I admire you for not wasting the life of one of God's smarter creatures! I at least cook them well for my dogs to eat, even when I do not want them for food.