Raccoons

[preacherman]

I have a ton of trouble with the boogers, and have killed better than 20 the last two years. How many of them can an area hold?

Also they are getting bigger?

[preacherman]

How big can these things get?

[jayrod9528]

They have can have 5 kits per litter so it you killed 20 and say half are female and they were all breeding I would say you could have up to 50 new raccoon per year and that was just the ones you killed. Their range I think depends on food if there is enough food there will be a lot more of them. I would say get to shooting. 

[Special T]

I've seen them as big as 40lbs but those were fed dog food.  Just keep whacking and stacking them!

[jackmaster]

we killed a ratcoon a few years back that weighed 21 pounds, he was a biggen and i know there are guys that killed bigger ones than that back when the chicken farm was on canyon road. coons are just everywhere and there is no really getn rid of them, you can pursuade them not to come around by having a couple dogs to chase them off, but i will warn ya, coons can do a number on your dogs so keep their shots up to date and its best to have atleast one big ass male that is a tough nut. i have heard hangin their dead boddies after the skin is off around the perimeter of your property scares them off, but i have never wanted to try that, sounds kinda nasty and stinky 

[boneaddict]

I stuffed a booner a couple years ago.   I got the biggest form I could get, and still was way small.     I had a family of 8 of them decimate a whole section of pheasant pens one fall while I was off taking pics.  Went from pen to pen.

[lokidog]

They will travel a long ways in search of food.  I think the less food there is the more they will travel looking.  We often keep a trap set just in case one wanders by the chicken coop.  Our biggest here was 16 pounds.

[ouchfoss]

Seems like the population of coons never changes for too long no matter how many you kill. I use to have a problem with them when I raised chickens years ago and it seemed like I had to kill at least one every month and I would never have more than a month or two until a new coon would take the place of the ones I would shoot. Unfortunetly I did not know how good eating they are until two years ago. In my opinion they are better tasting than the chickens I was raising! Makes me sick to think of all the dead coons I just threw away in the bushes. 

[preacherman]

Jack master are you talking about canyon rd Puyallup?

[preacherman]

How do you prepare them? I have no aversion to eating them.

[preacherman]

The big one hit again last night I set a live trap, and it was broken when I woke up. I reinforced it and baited with tuna.

[lokidog]

How do you prepare them? I have no aversion to eating them.

Skin and quarter, remove as much fat as possible, slow cook.  You can add veggies and gravy or shred it for other uses like sloppy joes.

[BiggLuke]

They taste just fine if treated like beet in stews or chilli.

[preacherman]

Thanks lokidog. I hope to get him tonight. He is a smart one.

[Houndhunter]

I have the exact opposite problem, I can't find the damn things. They are no where to be found in the woods anymore...

[lokidog]

Heading to the beach tonight to see if we can find some out looking for crabs.

[Heredoggydoggy]

They seem to know where the food is.  One of my neighbors 2 houses down used to have a cat, and fed it on the patio.  A family of racoons visited every night for a free meal.  The lady at the other end of my 1-block long street fed racoons every night.  Here I sit, half way between and I have yet to even see a racoon track in my yard.  (Maybe they know how lethal it is to set foot onto my property  .)

[lokidog]

Heading to the beach tonight to see if we can find some out looking for crabs.

Well, braved the slightly windy, misty night.  Saw three sets of coon tracks and one set of mink tracks in the sand.  I think I should have been there at dusk.