Oops... I caught a coon

[Boyd]

I usually have my small rifle with me for doing this type of work.

If I am just rambling around and need my hands free (like brush clearing or chopping wood) I'll have a .38 handy. Now with having small hands, I can shoot larger handguns, but for a smaller handed person you have to find a gun in your comfort range thats why I go smaller.

I use the rifle because I can stand back, poke the barrel in (and its always angled 35-45degrees away from my body) and not miss. Anything over that size is overkill IMO for a trapped animal.

 

[Lollipop]

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Its the gun of choice for a lot of us guys too!!!!! They are lightweight and practical firearms. Ammo is inexpensive and will take down any varmint that you can get in the cross hairs.

if you have a have a heart type trap, just poke the barrel in and make a clean shot up close.

Agree 100% with .22. Until last year, I lived on a coon highway. Lot`s of construction nearby and every time they cleared a little piece of land, I would catch 5-6 coons a week for months on end. On 2 occasions I had 2 coons in the same trap at once. I use an old single shot .22 and dispatch them with a center of the head shot. I use .22CB shorts. They sound like a twig snapping and because there is almost no powder they are safe in most locations. Whatever you do, don`t turn it loose and don`t relocate it. At best it will be someone elses problem and at worst, it will return to your flock and be trap smart, as mentioned before. Do the right thing and kill it.......Pop

 

[Uzuri]

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Yup, no argument from me there. I feel bad for catching something that was doing me no harm, but that cat's out of the bag now, and there's no stuffing it back in.

 

[cmjust0]

When we saw coyotes attacking deer across the road from our house (and our goats), the first purchase was a little .22 semiauto rifle that my wife could handle in my absence. The next thing we got was a 6mo Sarplaninac...a monster of a livestock guardian dog...whom we named Ivan.

We've not seen any predators nearby since Ivan's been around, so she's not had to use the .22 . It's come in handy for me a time or two, though..

IMHO, everybody with chickens or any other livestock needs a .22 rifle. Even if you've got other rifles, get a .22!

Heck, I don't even care if you can't legally fire a weapon where you live -- get one anyway. At least then you could load the trapped coon (or whatever) up in the car, drive it out to the sticks, THEN shoot it.

 

[mxpres]

a 22 is the best for dispatching varmits,I have roamed the hills and hollows for 50 years during hunting season,I have harvested gazillions of rabbits and squirrels over the years with the 22 short,and lately several coons in my hava-hart trap,one shot to the back of the head will put them down,and with the longer barrel of a rifle you don,t have to stand as close as with a handgun,and the noise is nothing more than a faint pop,

 

[mominoz]

Fill a large trashcan with water. Drop in trap, put lid on, go inside for 30 minutes. Empty trap into trash bag. Dispose.

 

[Morgaine]

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I don't think I could do that, seems cuel, imo.

 

[jjthink]

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Ditto. I couldn't either.

 

[rancher hicks]

Well I hope this don't get me in trouble but for my skunk problem, (got in my garage) I used crushed up Oxicotin and antifreeze in a peanut butter sandwich. It went to sleep and didn't wake up. My trap is too small for my cats to get in so I wasn't worried. In your case you could just pass him a half sandwich through the side of the cage with some tongs.

 

[Boyd]

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if I had to go out, this would be the way

er...... well ..... yeah