Raccoon Hunting Habitat and Tactics

M

Marc Johnston

Member
Hey guys, new member here. I posted this on another part of the forums and didn't get any hits on it. I’ve lurked around for years but never really took the leap to join. Anyway, I recently became addicted to calling raccoons. First time I went out I called a big boar into 15 yards on a dead run with the coon fight on the foxpro and have been hooked ever since.

In a few short hunts of calling about 5 minutes per stand I’ve called in or saw 10 and killed 5 coons. I got into it at the end our season. I have the general idea of it down but know there’s a lot of room for improvement.

My post is basically about what habitat I should call to coons in. The big boar was called in and killed in my uncle’s gulley that is loaded with coon tracks all over it along his creek bottom. The other spot where I killed 4 was just some mature hardwoods along a big river near my house. I didn’t have any knowledge of where coons den trees were in either location but it worked out good enough. I have noticed that having a creek, river, or other water sources generally mean raccoons are probably around. Would it be worth my time to call hardwoods with mature trees but no water around? My buddy took me to a spot that had water around it but more pine trees than anything and we didn’t kill any. Night time seems to be a lot better for me in my few hunts that I’ve done but I’d still love to shoot more during the daylight hours as well.

I was also wondering what kind of sounds you guys like best. I’m looking at buying some more raccoon sounds like the jabber coon off of another website and some other various ones off the foxpro site. Thanks for any advice!
 
Ive called them from bale piles, old tree piles and even out of old farm equipment, I tend to run 2 minutes of baby coon distress then 2 minutes of coon fight, then 2 minutes of adult coon distress. The best calling i have is in the cottonwood trees that surround silage piles about every farm yard has a silage pile for feeding cattle and most of the neighbor's are more than willing to let me rid them of a bunch of coons. I have shot 6 adult coons out of one hole so be ready for mutiples
 
Hi , I have been daytime coon calling for about 6 years . My son and I go to public hunting areas and walk the timbers along streams and look for den trees . Set your caller behind the tree and away from the hole you think a coon will come out of . If the caller is in front of the hole and a coon looks out and sees nothing but hears the sound , it is most likely to just sit in the hole and watch and not come out . We use coon distress sounds , coon fight , and big boar coon sounds (all FoxPro sounds ) and alternate as we call because you never know which sound will trip their trigger to come out of their hole . A lot of them never come out and on still days the sound carries so far we have had them come out of holes and leave their den tree up to 200 yards from the caller to head to another place of safety . We seldom have them come to us but once in a while they do . Most are getting out of dodge on a dead run . It helps to have someone with you to cover all directions as we see and kill more in trees we aren't set up on than the trees we are . After we call we walk at least 100 yards before we will try again to call because the sound will travel at least that far and all that are going to come out will have already . We only call a woods once a season as they get wise to the call and the ones that are going to come out , will have and the ones that don't , seem to be satisfied to just look out of the hole and not come out no matter how many times you try to call them . Be quiet in the woods as a lot of them will be sitting in holes just looking out and if the see you coming or talking or making noise , then they will never come out . We skin them as we shoot them so that gives the woods time to settle down after the calling and gunfire . It is the most fun we have ever had hunting or calling anything and with lots of coons and places to call it beats trying to call canines here as they don't come to a call much during the day and we can't call or hunt with lights in Iowa . Jim
 
Coons are the the devil to farmers. Any corn farmer or dairy farmer has a coon problem. Also, if you have a season in your area these farmers maybe your off season ticket to calling. Most landowners or their agent can kill depredatious animals and coons are usually top on the list.
You'll have to check your regs in your area. But there is some thoughts
 
We can kill them out of season without any tags or written permission if they’re being a nuisance so I’ve been trying to find places to kill them!

One last question, how often do you guys scan for them with your lights when calling? I know red lights don’t bother them as much as white lights, but I’m curious as to how often I should be turning the light on and looking for eyes. I have a Sniper Hog 40kap on order that I’m excited to try out!
 
if calling at night i run my light the whole time i am calling casue they come in hard and fast and if your not shining all the time they can slip in and out without you knowing
 
Thanks for the help guys. I’ve been running woodpecker in distress, then coon distress, then finish off the stand with coon fight. It has worked pretty well but at times I feel it’s too aggressive for the younger coons. I guess it’ll be a fun learning curve!
 
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