night time coon calling tips

D

djdj

New member
Can you guys give me a few tips about called coons at night. Maybe Some Do's and Donts of this style of hunting. thanks
 
I'll tell you what works for me.
Find an area that has a creek or pond in the general vicinity and make your stand. If you are targeting Coons' then start out using raccoon squalling sounds. I have found if I use other types of calls meant to attract larger predators then my success goes down.
Give several loud and obnoxious squalls trying to imitate two Coons fighting and then set back and wait. They usually come in pretty quickly and are not shy of the light. If nothing shows in 10 minutes let out another set of squals. I can say with all honesty that I have had at least a 95% success ratio one or more coming in to take a peek.
It is very common (at least in my area) to call in multiple animals at one time so after the shot sit still and wait for the next one to show up.
It seems so easy getting them to come to the call that one needs to consider placing personal limits on how many to take from a particular parcel of land.
Have fun!
 
I have a jonny stewart calling and i just bought the coon puppies 2 cd, I have the baby coon puppies and i also have the chicken and coon fighting tapes. I have not had much luck calling. So I hope that this coon puppies 2 tape works. I know there are some guys in the area where im from that are getting a lot of coons using this tape.

The area I hunt is many cotton wood den trees next to creeks and ponds. There are many wild grass field ( CRP patches) and I also hunt thick timber near the river. If I was just to go out and shine for eyes I could shoot 5-10 a night but I would really like to get some coons by calling.

Luvthemtorts, you say squall at them, do you mean like a rabbit in distress call?

Thanks for the help so far
 
I use hand held calls. Almost any call designed to make rabbit in distress sounds will work.
Instead of blowing it and making the "whaa, whaa, whaa" of a dying rabbit place your tongue on the roof of your mouth and blow out which should make sort of a rolling vibration.
Kinda like you were trying to imitate the sound of a rattlesnake rattling.
The Coon Pup sounds (and digital callers for that matter) never really have brought me much luck. I call aggressively which in turn usually brings in the big boars instead of the youngsters.
Choose your stand AWAY from the denning trees or all you will succeed in doing is having them stare at you from up in the tree. I hunt in the woods but pick areas that are free of undergrowth and approximately 100 yards away from areas they are likely to be bedding in. That way they come to the sound instead of just peeking out to investigate.
01-18-07RaccoonDouble.jpg
 
The coon puppies should work. I use a coon distress on my Foxpro. Don't set by the caller unless you want to club them with your rifle. Sometimes they come to the call agressively. Had one bite my caller this year. I personally like calling to the big trees. If I have a creekline or woods I find the bigger trees and set the caller 20 or 30 yds in front and back away 20 or 30 yds away. Sure your taking a chance it's a den tree, but in my experence I find they like the safety of a big tree than a small tree to look around. Stay there a while if there in the den tree. Sometimes they come out for a better look. Use a soft red light. Bright lights can make them hide their eyes. When you have them sighted give them full power to shoot. Keep calling after you shoot as another might come in. Coon distress works great. Grower.
 
Don't really see the need to pay for something than can be learned easily by asking a few questions and simple experimentation. In fact I taught myself quite by accident and as I said above it is a rare night not to have several come in for a shot.
I also like actually being in the woods trying to crumble my own instead of watching someone else do it while I sit on the couch getting fatter.
Course' maybe I am cheap.
 
Keep in mind that it's guys like them (Minaska) that pay the bills here at PM. If we don't patronize them, PM will be no more and all that free learning will be gone!

Also, keep in mind that some guys like to watch others hunt and they pick up tips and techniques from watching it.

When a person starts out hunting something like coons or coyotes, there really isn't a more valuable tool to learn from than a video.
 
One more questions fellas, is it important to know the direction of the wind and set up with the wind in your favor. So what I am asking is do you need to sit down wind from the den trees?

Thanks again for all the great tips
 
I really haven't had much issue with scent when hunting coons'. Matter of fact I usually target them when the wind is swirling or preventing me from making a stand for fox or bobcat.
They aren't particularly shy and will often hang around even if you miss with your first shot. Also the worry of educating a missed animal is non existant since they will come back to the same stand over and over provided you don't actively chase them off.
Once again these methods work in MY area and may need to be fine tuned a little to work as well for you. Discovering the best method for your area and then succeeding in your goal will make it that much more rewarding.
 
I just bought the crumblin coons video, and although I did like it for the most part, there were no night hunts on it, they said it would have been too hard to shoot, or something of that nature.

But I will agree, they are a good tool for educating the beginner, and I buy as many as I can cause I needs the learnin! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Dave
 
I have a question as well, how cold does it get to where they start to hole up and not come out, In ND its been below freezing for awhile now, and last weekend it was nice (mid 20's) and didnt see any at all?

the creeks are mostly frozen over, should I find a open area and try calling around that?

are they still more active at night or should I give it more of a try around midday when its warmer?

I know your weather is a bit warmer but in general how has your winter calling success been?

Dave
 
I was wondering the same about winter coons. Thursday and Friday here in Wisconsin are supposed to be warm(25-30F steady day/night). Would I have better success midday when temps are hovering around freezing or calling borders of cut corn fields at night while temps are still up? Supposed to get cold again this weekend(lows in single digits). I thought I might try calling coons for the next 2 days then get back on the yotes when its cold.
 
Here in Va. when our temps drop below 30 dgerees or so at night there is a noticeable reduction in raccoon movement. They tend to "sleep in" and wait for milder nights to start moving again. If extreme cold is expected for several days in a row you can switch strategies and try calling them during the mid afternoon hours. The sun has raised the temps all day and they may take the opportunity to get in a quick meal before the sun goes down and the temps drop.
An ESPECIALLY good time to call them is right before a front is blowing in. Check your local weather and keep an eye on weather patterns and barometric pressure. If you can narrow down an evening where the temps are relatively mild but are expected to plummit the following day you will be in business. Better bring a friend because you are likely to be covered up in them LOL!
If you are fortunate enough for all this to line up on a moonless night then the action should be absolutely insane.
 
I don't know if this is an old wives tale or not. I don't hunt coons. You guys that do can be the judge. I've been told that it is very rare to see a coon out when there is snow on the ground, and I can honestly say I have never seen one while bow hunting deer in snow.
 
coons are not made for going a very long ways in the deep snow. They leave funny looking tracks when they do. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif They won't typically come out to travel very far until they start breeding. But, they will come out of a den to see what all the fuss is about when they hear a coon fight or kit in distress.
 
I tried calling coons last night and made about 5 stands. at one location we had a coon look out of a tree after we started walking back to the truck. After giving up on calling we went hunting and shot 4 coons. two of the coons were shot at spots where we called. We went back to these spots only about an hour later and shot coons. So I am frusterated only not being able to call these coons out yet. I know there are coons in the den trees I am calling at because they are on our land and no one else is allowed to hunt it, and I see tracks around the trees all the time.
 


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