{"id":2635,"date":"2019-03-15T19:27:08","date_gmt":"2019-03-16T02:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gregg57.sg-host.com\/hunting\/?p=2635"},"modified":"2019-02-02T13:07:18","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T20:07:18","slug":"calling-raccoons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/2019\/03\/calling-raccoons\/","title":{"rendered":"Calling Raccoons!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many years ago I had an experience that opened my eyes to a new hunting opportunity that I\u2019d not realized existed. I was out squirrel hunting in the woods of central Indiana on an overcast and very cold morning. Sitting in the shadows at the base of a shaggy oak as morning broke over the forest, I thought I\u2019d heard a squirrel moving through the trees. But after a half hour of searching the canopy, could not locate the bushytailed rodent. After what seemed an inordinately long time with no squirrels showing themselves, I decided to break out a call. In the past this approach had yielded less than stellar results, but I figured there was nothing to lose. I don\u2019t remember why, but rather than the using the bellows to create some chatter, I flipped the call over and blew a baby squirrel distress sound. After a few minutes I took a short break to look around, and picked up some movement heading in my direction. Out of the early morning gloom emerged a big boar raccoon heading directly at me. Either he didn\u2019t see me sitting at the base of the tree or didn\u2019t care, but at any rate didn\u2019t seem inclined to turn or slow down. I had my gun up and was not hiding my movement, and still he came on, until at about 5 yards it apparently sank in that I might be a problem best avoided. He spun around to run, and before moving two steps my pellet slammed into the back of the coons head dropping him. So raccoons will come running to a call, who knew? Well I guess some of the more experienced predator hunters even a few years back did. But I didn\u2019t, and was really impressed by how aggressively that masked bandit made his approach!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was out hunting squirrel one morning when I spotted a tuft of fur up in a tree. I started calling and this coon poked his head over a branch for a look-see, and down he went!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Up until then, I\u2019d shoot these animals opportunistically\naround grain bins, trash cans, or would sometimes lamp up in the trees for\nthem. My approach towards raccoons had been in the context of pest control, and\nno doubt airguns are great for this application because they are quiet and effective\nand can be used in more populated areas. And this is exactly the type of\nenvironment where you\u2019ll often find raccoons. After this initial experience, I\nstarted approaching raccoons as a predator rather than a garbage raiding pest,\nand began working in earnest to call them in. I had some immediate success with\ndistress sounds produced on simple mouth blown calls.  About this time I started hunting with a\nreally outstanding predator hunter by the name of Brian Beck, who was already\nseriously into calling coons. Brian introduced me to using the raccoon fight\nsequences on my FoxPro, which until then I\u2019d only used occasionally when trying\nto throw something new at the coyotes. I now prefer the e-caller for a couple\nreasons, first it\u2019s the only practical way to get a coon fight sequence (at\nleast for me), and it allows the sound source to be moved away from where I am\nsitting. This appeals to me because that first raccoon was not the only one\nthat has almost landed in my lap! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brian Beck lives out in the farmlands of central Indiana, and this guy knows where to go and how to call. He was using his marauder .25 the night he shot these (the picture was taken the following day).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You can hunt raccoons in daylight or at night, though where\nallowed hunting at night is far more productive. However, I have had pretty\ngood results early in the early morning and later afternoon leading into dusk.\nI\u2019ve even managed to coax them in (though infrequently) in the middle of the\nday, especially when it\u2019s overcast. I like calling at night when there is snow\non the ground and the moon is reflecting enough light to allow them to be\npicked up in the scope without artificial light. If calling in daylight I try\nto find a den tree, finding that a fight sequence will bring the big boars\ncharging down the tree in daylight, if he\u2019s in an aggressive mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lamping is an effective means of hunting raccoons, that I\u2019ve\noften employed on the large ranches in Texas (where the use of spotlights is\nlegal). This falls into the category of pest control, but is a more active\napproach than shooting pest animals off the trash heap. The method consists of\ncovering large areas in a truck while lamping the treetops, brush, and agricultural\nareas. We will drive likely looking areas with a high powered spotlight\nsweeping the tree branches, surrounding brush and fields, looking for the\ntelltale orange glow reflected from the eyes of watching raccoons. This can be\ndone with or without the use of a call, however combining the two methods\n(lamping and calling) will often produce the best results. When the glow of\neyes are spotted, the hunter jumps out and follows up on foot. I have taken\nsome of my biggest hauls of raccoons this way, and on several occasions have\nracked up well over a dozen in a night. Another cool aspect of this is that\ndepending where you are calling, you never know what\u2019s going to show up. I\u2019ve\nhad the usual suspects come in; coyote, bobcats, fox, but also some unexpected\nvisitors such as ringtail cats and coatimundi!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A good electronic call that can do not only prey distress, but also raccoon fights, is very effective.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Airguns that I think are appropriate for these tough little\ncritters generate at least 25 fpe of energy, and can be either spring piston or\nprecharged pneumatic power plants. My preference however, is a PCP generating 35\nfpe or more, and while I\u2019ve taken many with .22\u2019s I much prefer the .25\ncaliber. And more recently the .30\u2019s are impressing me with their outstanding\nterminal performance. One reason I prefer a PCP is that they are more powerful\nand easier to shoot accurately, but more importantly springers are single shot\nand many of the PCP\u2019s are magazine fed multi-shot. In the cold weather and dark\nshooting hours when coons are often hunted, you don\u2019t want to fumble for\npellets with frozen fingers or when there\u2019s not enough light to see what you\u2019re\ndoing. Additionally, raccoons will often come in two or more at a time, and a\nfast follow-up shot can be a good thing to have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just about any air rifle generating 35 fpe or better, with\nthe accuracy to print sub one inch groups at 50 yards would be a reasonable\ncoon hunting option. As a point of reference, I\u2019ll give examples of guns that I\nuse and can recommend for those wanting to hunt raccoons. My little AirForce\nTalon-P was designed as an air pistol, but to my way of thinking serves much\nbetter as an ultracompact carbine. Though it\u2019s a single shot, this .25 caliber\ngun has adjustable power and is capable of generating around 50 fpe. It\u2019s\nperfect for jumping in and out of trucks, has an accessory rail for mounting\nlights, along with the accuracy to deliver consistent kills at 50-60 yards. The\nHatsan AT-44 QE and the Benjamin Marauder in .25, are both moderately powered,\nquiet, full sized rifles that are attractively priced. My go to gun for\nraccoons is the Brocock Bantam or Compatto, though I\u2019ve also been using the\nDaystate Renegade quite a bit lately. I\u2019ve taken many raccoons with all of\nthese guns, and even though not as compact as the Talon P, the fact that they\nare so quiet makes them the perfect options for use in suburban settings or\naround small farms where you want to keep the noise down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another call I’ve quite liked is the Primos Alpha Dog series, good sound quality, an extensive sound library, and effective pre-programmed call sequences.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The scopes I use on my raccoon rigs are in the lower\nmagnification range, as shooting can be close and fast, and this type of optic\ndeploys quickly. Quality glass that has good low light transmitting\ncharacteristics is a must. And an illuminated reticle is also helpful; on a\nmoonlit night with snow on the ground it is bright enough to hunt without\nartificial light. But it is easy to lose the crosshair against the dark silhouette\nof your quarry, and a red or green illuminated wire can fix that problem right\naway!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For projectiles, my choice is generally a Diabolo roundnose\nof mid to heavy weight down the lines of the JSB Jumbo\/Kings. These are accurate,\nhit with authority, and provide the right balance of penetration and energy\ntransfer. As always, accuracy is the primary concern, so achieve that first then\nworry about other factors. I have been using a couple of the hollowpoints\nrecently with good results; H&N Hunter Extremes are a hollow point with a\nsmall mouth and a crosshatch cut into them. I have found this pellet very\neffective on heavier bodied quarry when coupled with a powerful gun, they hit\nhard, penetrate well, and expand to increase the size of the wound channel.\nAnother pellet worth looking at for use with mid-powered guns is the Predator\nPolymag; which is a hollowpoint that has a polymer tip bonded to the head. This\npellet penetrates well and expands on heavier bodied animals, and when shot from\na gun that digest them well can be devastating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With respect to shot placement, my preference is a headshot when\navailable. However with the more powerful rifles a chest shot will work fine, so\nlong as there is not an immediate risk of losing the animal if it runs a few\nyards before dropping. Whether you are doing pest control in an urban\nenvironment, or calling in the wide open spaces, airguns are an effective,\nefficient, and quiet method of take. My respect for the raccoon has grown\ntremendously: this is the perfect starter predator for airgun hunting. They\u2019re\nthe right size, they can be found almost anywhere in the country and in sizable\npopulations, and they come aggressively to the call. Not everybody has the\nopportunity to pursue coyote, bobcat, or fox close to home: but almost\neveryone, no matter where they live, can grab an airgun, a call, a light, and\nbe onto raccoons without traveling too far from home!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many years ago I had an experience that opened my eyes to a new hunting opportunity that I\u2019d not realized existed. I was out squirrel hunting in the woods of central Indiana on an overcast and very cold morning. Sitting in the shadows at the base of a shaggy oak as morning broke over the … Continue reading »<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91,122,66,119,63,26,161,7,1],"tags":[188,28,189,190],"class_list":["post-2635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bullpup","category-compact-guns","category-distress-call","category-effectiveness","category-electronic-calls","category-pest-control","category-raccoon","category-smallgamehunting","category-uncategorized","tag-calling-raccoons","tag-pest-control-2","tag-raccoon-hunting","tag-small-game-hunting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2640,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2635\/revisions\/2640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.airgunsofarizona.com\/hunting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}