NEED LOCAL HELP? We have wildlife removal professionals servicing 95% of the USA. Click here to hire a local raccoon removal expert in your home town. Updated 2018. But read the below advice first!
While I often find myself being a raccoon advocate, I do understand that they are fair game. I am talking, of course, about open land hunting, and not urban hunting, which would be insane. First of all, you need a raccoon hunting permit. Hunting any sort of animal without a permit is illegal, and will lead to charges if you are caught.
Coon hunting is most successful with dogs. You need a great coon tracker dog, and not all hunting dogs are a good fit. The dog needs to be properly trained, and this is no easy task, especially if you are a novice hunter. The hound is the best canine breed for raccoon hunting. The Redbone Coonhound, the Black and Tan Coonhound, the Bluetick Coonhound, and the Treeing Walker Coonhound are all great dogs that you can train for hunting raccoons. The hound must be trained to obey you no matter the distractions around it, and to properly chase and bay raccoons so that you have enough time to achieve a successful shot.
You can also try hunting raccoons without a hound, but this entails making the raccoons come to you instead of you chasing after them. This can be done through coon squalling. The benefit, if you will, of this method is that you can also hunt raccoons during daytime, as you’re calling them out of their den and into your shooting range. Different calls will make coons come out of their nest depending if it’s raccoon mating season or not. Pretty much the same rules that apply to coyote calling also apply to coon calling.
Proper hunting gear, finding good hunting ground, as well as educating yourself on raccoon behavior and general biology are also paramount to safe and successful raccoon hunting.
Raccoon population has skyrocketed these last couple of years, and people seem to be agreeing more and more with coon hunting. Raccoon hunting was pretty much a banality in the not so distant past, but became rather unfashionable once people started discovering more about this animal’s biology and behavior. So I guess we’ve just reached that period when we need to repeat the cycle, and raccoon hunting will again fall out of vogue in a couple of years from now.
In our civilized world, hunting is a sport. Treat the sport, as well as the animals, with respect. Disregarding hunting etiquette ruins the experience for other hunters, and gives the sport a bad name. Even more important than hunting etiquette, make sure you consult the laws and regulations that are applicable in your state regarding raccoon hunting. Violating hunting laws is dangerous and finable.
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