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Raccoon Tips

  Raccoon

Muskrat

                The raccoon is probably one of the easiest furbearers to trap next to the muskrat. The raccoon is my favorite furbearer to go after though I may have more sets out for the other animals, not counting the double on possum  the raccoon was the first animal I caught.

                The raccoon is probably caught in more kinds of sets than all other animals combined while most are not intentionally set for them. The top 4 coon sets are the dirthole, pocket set, trail set, and the cubby set. There are other sets that catch 'coon but not actually set for them.

                The raccoon does not seem to have any kind of food that it does not like. They will eat anything that won't eat it first and a big boar coon won't hesitate to take on a turkey. The best types of bait to use for 'coon is a real sweet lure for land trapping and a fishy type bait for water sets.

                When trapping coon near ponds, rivers and creeks the pocket and trail set will take 'coon  by the bag full when you find enough sign. These bodies of water are vulnerable to periods of high water. So when high water washes out your traps what do you do then?  What you do is find those small ditches and feeder creeks and when high-water comes those creeks will be high on the night it rains and most likely when you come back the next day it will be low and time to punch in a couple pockets and most likely when you come back the next day or two you'll have a coon or two waiting for and don't forget to gang set.

                    When looking for places for to set your trail sets look for trails larger that deer trails and enjoy. If the corn fields are not picked yet there should be plenty of trails to choose from and it would be a good idea to find out when the farmer is going to pick his corn since a tractor or combine can flatten a trap . When scouting for coon trails near corn fields it is a good idea to scout before and after the corn is picked. One of the hot spots on one of my lines for a trail see where a ditch ran down to a medium sized stream that  had a lot of raccoons moved through and  I caught 5 coon there but probably more if I found the spot earlier and had some snares to set up along the ditch.

        Another good set that I have used with success is the shelf set that I learned for Tom Miranda. When looking for a spot to make this set you have to find a spot where there is a small projection from the bank into the stream.  After the spot is found, cut this projection off  so that there is at least a one foot high vertical wall and use the piece you cut off and push this into so that your trap can fit between the wall and the block.  After this is done take a regular 35 mm film canister and put some cotton balls or other absorbent material  into the canister and add your liquid bait or lure onto the canister and this attractant should have a fishy smell to it to keep the set more natural. The last step in this set is to place the trap which is attached to a slide wire or drag. This set can be used as a trail set too without the lure but it helps to keep the coons attention.

Set Making