racoon help

[Bird Boy]

im mainly targeting racoon out here behind my house and i was wondering what i should look for when finding places to set traps? whats a/any sure tail sign(s) that i should put some traps in a spot? this is my first year trapping and i caught 1 and had 2 get out of the trap already, but now i havent been seeing any on my trail cams or anything. just trying to learn more :thup:

[mudmarlin70]

I'm probably more of a canine guy, but the coon up here have just not been moving much these past couple weeks. YOu guys may be different with the temps down there. They should be moving in this warm spell though.

Last January I had to hit the deer feeders when they moved well...our water was locked up with ice and it was dead. Otherwise, put on your walking shoes cause I had to hoof it out and find the den trees. You could catch em in the brutal temps but you had to be right on their front doorstep...and I mean right on it.

[grtwhthunter/fisherman]

mudmarlin hit a bingo.get near some deer piles or make some outta corn.ive got lotsa pics of 6 coon everynight chowing down.that is until it snowed they havent been back since.goodluck.also try walking some swamp or streams snow equals tracks.

[redneck]

I have to do this in 2 post

coons are the only thing I am good at LOL so here it goes a book

estell manor? you still have some white on the ground. your coon are denned still. you need to find the den areas . get out and start looking along the swamp edges and streams and walk, put some miles on your feet. the coon still move around but not far the will venture out alittle if you can find that double deep track in the snow most likly it will be coon follow it it will take you to a den site. these site are productive. may be a tree may be old foundation, barn, car what ever. set your cages at these sites you can get alot of coon this way. one method I use is, say it is a tree. I will set 2 or 3 cages at the base, and take a stick and just beat the crap out of the side of the tree.LOL my grandfather from Oklahoma showed me this trick. the coon may look out maybe not but you got their attention:wave: at night they will come down for a look see your traps are there waiting
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/TRAPPING_092.jpg

with the temps rising yesterday and today the bores will be moving they will move in snow just 10 inches is to hard on them. when it gets around 6 or less or crusts up they will move alot I was out this am looking for coon movement there was a few starting. again find your cross over spots like a woods road and a stream or ditch crosses or where a swamp hits it. the coon will be moving in these areas. the bores know the dens with feamales will be in these types of areas along with other den areas. the Ice will allow easier running. if you can find a trail where there are 2 or more tracks, find the spots and set up your snares or cage traps. I prefer sweet but alot of guys like fish. you can catch coon in the snow. like stated bait piles or carcass are great mid winter sites
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6204.jpg
these 2 was taken the same night off the above gut pile in snares on trails leading to it. stay back off the pile if using snares as critters become cautious close to the bait and law 30 feet for flesh baits
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6209.jpg

bore traveling in the snow
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6201.jpg

when the snow leaves go back to you normal sets and locations

double on red fox and coon on log crossing notice cage back off the log red in the snare from the log
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6079.jpg

properly baited cage and the next day results
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6151.jpg
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6150.jpg

[redneck]

some baiting tips for cages cubbies and the double pocket sets
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6167.jpg
a well furred mid winter coon can be caught in a cubbie set. this set hits all season. this early fall coon
well he tried to hide
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_3406-1.jpg
then said heck with it bring it on LOL
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/webpictures_001_010.jpg
hope this helps alittle.

[Bird Boy]

wow, that was alot of help! im gonna go back out and move some sets right now. i have my sets on bait piles but the piles are pretty far away from the swamp (200 + yards). how can i tell if its a coon track or not? will it most likely be in the deer runs?
thanks again guys, especially redneck. you should right a book on this! LOL :thup:

[Bird Boy]

also, what are those egg shells bait set ups you have there?

[redneck]

I use egg shells or marshmallows as a sight attractor in cages cubbies and pocket sets. the egg shells are filled with my coon baits. those happen to be sweet baits but I do the same if I am usein a meat or fish bait also. if you look at the pic of the cage trap the egg shells or marshmallow serve 3 purpose's. one eye attraction 2 baiting into the trap or pull, keeps them working the front of the trap rather than the sides. and 3 tells me if I had a visitor that did not go into the trap, or if I have a trap smart vs trap shy coon. also you will notice the bottles of lure on top of the cage that shows where I put lures in the cage. and how many different smells and tastes I have in a set. cubbies and pockets are baited the same way.

I have a saying if you want to see how good of a cage trapper you are put a camera on it and get ready to be humbled. watching coon work my cages at customers home taught me a lot on baits, placement and how a coon can become disinterested real fast:)

[redneck]

I tried to find some pics of coon tracks in the snow. every thing but coon LOL I will go out in the morning and see if I can't get some for ya. I set a 3 hole pocket set so maybe a coon will be in it in the am we will see.

[Bird Boy]

i think i may have gotten some earlier. i had to hurry up and get back in to go to a party, but i did take some pics. im gonna post em in a minute. lemme know what you think

[Bird Boy]

tracks?
http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz191/theosname08/DSC02128.jpg
tracks again?
http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz191/theosname08/DSC02133.jpg
possible den?
http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz191/theosname08/DSC02138.jpg

I set a cage about 15 feet away from this den. had these tracks all around
http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz191/theosname08/DSC02142.jpg


What do you think?

[redneck]

any hair on the bark of the tree? the tree looks alittle small for a den tree for coon. squirrel den ?. the tracks look like maybe squirrel. that would be a good cubbie set. hope those harbor freight traps hold up. or tractor supply? the more i look at the tracks looks squirrel can't really tell

[Bird Boy]

harbor freight wonders.
the tracks are too big to be squirrel i think. i really dont have anything to compare the size of them or the den to. i didnt find any nut or acorn shells around the hole so i figured it wasnt a squirrel

[redneck]

you will know tomorrow LOL

[Bird Boy]

nothin in the traps, but i found some frsh tracks in the little snow thats still left and the tracks lead from the den over to a deadfall then it looks like it ran across the deadfall and hopped off and walked through some more snow. i set 5 snares and still have those 2 cages in there. hopefully tomorrow or sometime this week somethin is in it. what do you tthink about these? im not a little guy either at 6 foot so my hand is pretty big
http://i827.photobucket.com/albums/zz191/theosname08/Photo0049.jpg

[mudmarlin70]

U can move those cages and snares bird boy.

The elusive tree rat has struck again!

[redneck]

Most likely squirrel. I found some pics in my trapping and tracking seminar and talk stuff
As a rule animals that hope like squirrel and rabbits will leave a 4 print track. animals that walk and are wide bodied for the lenght will leave a 2 print track next to each other and one slightly forward the other the back foot will be seen as the back foot steps into the front track. coon skunk grinners. fox deer yote dog cat leave a line of single tracks but they are 2 tracks in one, hind goes into front. yote and fox are more in line than the others. alot of time fox cat and yote will look like one critter then all of a sudden turns into 2 different track going different directions:eek: LOL
here is some coon tracks with some older squirrel tracks crossing
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6145.jpg
a coon walking down a creek bed

http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6143.jpg
Here is a couple coon walking this area

http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6144.jpg

here are 2 different spot, coon tracks leading to den areas
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6130.jpg

http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6133.jpg

this is mink coming out of the water going to a hole
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/100_6146.jpg

[Bird Boy]

U can move those cages and snares bird boy.

The elusive tree rat has struck again!
i will after this week. i wont have any time in the morning before i have to leave for school

[Bird Boy]

Redneck, looks like im gonna go back out sometime next weekend and see what i can find, maybe move those traps then. i think i got an idea of what you mean by the double print tracks. thanks for all the help though with this post, i really appreciate it :thup:

[Bird Boy]

well i finally moved those traps back to the old spot one morning before school. what do you know, this morning i had one raccoon in the bigger, more sturdy cage and had another escape from the other that broke on me before. im an idiot for putting it back out, i shoulda figured something would escape from it again. did manage to contain the one though, hopefully this is the start of a streak? :D

[redneck]

here are some more tracks i saw in the last few days of snow coon
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/007-3.jpg
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/008-3.jpg
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/009-3.jpg
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/003-3.jpg
http://i475.photobucket.com/albums/rr114/redneckspride/006-3.jpg

[Bird Boy]

i went back out sunday for 2 hours and still couldnt find any sign. i think they might be alot farther back