I caught a raccoon & another & another ***GRAPHIC PICS*** pic heavy

[Chadsky]

The blowgun is a good idea to tim wells on relentless pursuit (hunting show) has taken numerous animals with them!

 

[keirys]

I like the blow gun how hard it it to use?

 

[keirys]

Ok I brought up the 22 & the high powered rifle to my DH. He brought up that he needs a silencer and a 45

I am thinking he has his own agenda

..

 

[bowen012]

There are several ammunition options for the blowgun (stun darts, broad head, multi-dart, etc). For a live captured coon/opposum/etc you'd want to use the broadhead. Flying predators a bit trickier I suppose (I've yet to deal with them) but I'd probably start with a stun dart to bring it to earth. From there blunt force or any of the hunting arrows would make for a quick dispatch. You can browse around Cold Steel's webpage to check options - also youtube, etc. Broad head darts easily dispatch snakes, squirrels, and other small to medium targets. I think a raccoon is probably as big a target as you could take down via projectile (there's always striking with this thing though).

I use the 4' professional version because I also use it for hiking and it's the perfect size walking stick. I keep it loaded with a stun dart and have on numerous occasions deterred aggressive large breed dogs (pitbulls, boxers, mongrels so far) while out walking. I've never had to do more than place a stun dart in their chest to get them to go away and because I don't load a sharp dart for this, retrieving ammo is easy. I can't imagine any dog breed withstanding a full on strike from the blowgun itself when used as a 'club.' They make a 5' professional that I'll pick up soon to keep around the house (and coop). It supposedly hits much harder and is accurate from further distances. I can't recommend the 4' pro enough; I'll review the 5' pro once I buy it.

As for difficulty of use, I don't think the learning curve is that sharp. I've had mine for about a year and only sporadically practice. With that little of dedication I use it all the time to shoot wasps that find their way into my home (from up to about 10' away). Sometimes it takes a couple of darts, but I can live with that. If someone were to shoot say, 30-60 minutes a day, I'd say they could become quite proficient - enough to humanely kill a trapped animal - within a week or two. Maybe kill a moving target within 2-4 weeks.

They're virtually silent. There is a sound sort of like breathing into a plastic soda bottle upon release and the stun darts make a small 'smack' sound if they hit a relatively solid target (muscled pitbull for example). I don't have an airgun so can't compare the noises, but the blowgun is pretty quiet.

Really all there is to do is practice. The aiming is simple: Whereas you close an eye and aim a gun (to get rid of the 'double vision', you do the opposite foe the blowgun. You actually want to see the double vision when looking down your blowgun barrel. You aim by simply putting what you want to hit between the two barrels that you see. After that it's just practice to work out velocity and such. I'll try to post videos soon, but there are probably a lot on youtube (search 'cold steel big bore blowgun' or 'cold steel .625 magnum)

 

[Shellz]

Thanks for sharing the info. Sounds like something to check out.

 

[Heidisgran]

I hate raccoons...so sorry about them getting your little fluffs!!

 

[keirys]

Ugh caught another one this morning....They are probably never gonna stop coming but hey a girl can dream cant she?? LOL I am getting really tired of dispatching, cleaning up, re baiting, & resetting traps...

 

[ChicKat]

What a nightmare. Glad that you are going to hang in there. You REALLY have an infestation. We've killed 13 in the last year. But only set the trap when I see them. The electric wire idea with 1 joule sounds like something I am going to look into.

Here is one of the earlier ones:

They are so cute...but they are like a miniature bear in fierceness.

 

[redneck farmer]

Wow great trapping skills! Ya I don't live in the city but for some reason my neighbors hate guns... So just to be nice we use my dad's crossbow (I have a bow but have not killed a coon with it yet) I actually did coon control before we even had chickens an we were planning on getting some we did coon control an my dad shot one with his cross bow. But now my little chicks are 20 weeks old an yesterday a coon reached its hand into my coop an grabbed my pipe feeder an turned it around a full 180 an then spilt 5$ in feed all over the ground,..... Lets just say that in about 24-48 hours from now... Ill be posting a pic of a dead coon here...

 

[horsesnchkns]

HOORAY for the raccoon catchers/killers. I'm truly an "animal lover" - so it feels a bit against my nature to feel so good about the deaths of raccoons, but I lost 3 more chickens, so yeah... I'm on a mission. I use the live traps (because those + marshmallows + my father in laws .22 = a sure death) - I've only caught 2 now, but then, I've only put my trap out 3 times. Well, 4. I set it again last night, I'll go over later to see if I caught anything. Both we've caught were females. Hopefully that will help cut down at least a tiny bit on the reproduction rate around here. GO RACCOON HUNTERS!! (ok, so we dont' hunt them, but...)