Tips on calling Raccoons?

JCL

New member
When I upgraded my FX3 to an FX5 I saw a few raccon sounds so I ordered them thinking it might be fun to try calling a raccoon. My question is what are the best times to call raccoon. I assume early morning, late evening and at night. Do I call continously or run it off and on? About how much time should I spend at a stand? Volume level high med or low? Any hints or tips will be appreciated. I have called coyotes and fox for over 20 years but this will be my first attempt to call the wiley raccoon.
 
Coon calling can be easy and hard, at the same time. You should talk to the boys from Minaska and get their insight. Check out their DVD called "Crumblin' Coons" It's a daytime hunting video, but I bet they tell you their best luck comes at night. I personally set-up about 50 yards from a treeline or large stand of trees along a creek. Turn the caller on full blast, and shine occasionally with a red lense covered spotlight. Eyes can appear instantly or after 15 or so minutes. Rarely do I stay that long unless I don't have alot of areas to cover that night. If your in an area that doesn't have a bunch of 'calling pressure' the coons can be on the ground and barreling to the call, just be ready. Sometimes they will climb a tree to check out the sound, let them be curious for a few minutes, at this point you can try a different style coon sound. I prefer to walk (or run) towards the tree and take the shot. The most coons I've ever had running towards the call at the same time is 5, I'm sure others have had more. The most coons I've seen in a tree at one time (that I remember) is 7. Be careful when approaching a tree, if it's a den tree they will high tail it to their hole, never to be seen again. That's my $.02 worth anyway, hope it helps. Good Luck.
 
Much of your nighttime success will depend on your "legal" ability to use lights. I've talked with Steve over at Minaska and he indicated that whne calling at night, 75% of the coons they kill are in trees. Basically, you use the E-caller to get them to look at you. Only about 25% of them come into the E-caller.

I'm just starting the daytime coon calling and it is proving to be very successfull and down right easy. Find a well used denning location whether it be a brush pile, den tree, junk pile, or old building. Then set your caller out (using coon puppies not coon fight) and wait for the action. The biggest thing we are noticing here, is the site must be well used. Look for crap and trails. Not just any tree or pile will hold coon and why waste time at an empty spot.

Keep good notes. When you find spots that produce you should be able to get coon out of those locations year after year as long as you leave a couple coon for seed.

CB
 
Find denning trees and holes in the ground or evan old buildings. If their there they will respond during the day. I have called at about every time of the day and had them respond. Coon fight and coon kit distress are good sounds.
 
My son and I have been (last two weekends) using the foxpro in the daytime with the coon distress 2 sound near den trees but have seen the most action from hollow , broken off , tree limbs . The coons seem to be this years hatch. We have had two out of eight killed ,come down the tree and take off running across the ground for parts unknown. The shooting can be fast and you have to watch all around you because we have spied several 50 yrds away in trees we werent' really expecting to see action in. Chris...are the coons you are calling in with the baby coon sounds all females???? We were wondering about bird sounds at dusk to call them in????? SM
 
Don't mean to hijack but I think the orignal poster and I can help each other out and both learn more.
How long does it "normally" take to get a response? My biggest hunting weakness is lack of patience. That is why I prefer Crow hunting over K9 hunting. Do Coons respond quickly like crows? I don't necassarily need or expect to get a shot opportunity at every stand but I need to atleast see something during most stands to keep my mind in the game. Also, what calls are best during fall, winter and early spring? I'll do some more research (search is my friend)on my own but maybe you guys still feel like helpin' out? Thanks!
 
Hey Smokin, how did your Iowa hunt go this year? Just curious.

Allpredatorcalls has a hand "coon call" made by Burnham Bros called the B-1. It's a bird distress call. You might also get some "coon squallers" and practice making them sound like some of the coon puppy sounds that are out there. The biggest disadvantage I see with hand calls is that you are very close to the den location (daytime calling) and when the coon comes out he will be looking straight at you. You'll need a second person to act as a "gunner" and the caller will have to be/stay well hidden.

As for response time: I can only speak for daytime hunting (I've tried but have yet to call any coon in at night and we can't use lights), Response time has been immediate. Last stand we made at a junk pile a sow came out within 5 secs and about 10 feet from me. I've decided that 5 min may be too short at a daytime stand but 10 min is too long if no action has happened. No need for patience with these critters.

Spiderman: We haven't called in any big boar coon yet. Mostly young coon and a couple sows. Fur is finally getting prime up here and I'm (hopefully) gonna start hitting them harder. I'm betting that in a couple months when the coon are breeding that a "coon fight" sound should start bringing the boars in.

CB
 
It usually don't take long to get a response. I have had them come out as soon as the sound starts. All I have called came within two to three minutes. I don't stay longer than 10 minutes. If you can hunt in the early fall the kit distress is suppose to work the best. I use coonfight and thats about all I get any responses to. Most of the coons I have called are the young of the year. They didn't charge down the tree, they came out and looked. I have heard people do a coonfight imatation on an open reed call. I never could get anything with a coon squaller. I used a mp3 player with a small speaker with the minaska brawling bandits, until I got a foxpro. I got a dvd from a guy at the expo about calling in the daytime. The only good tip I got that you won't get from Crumblin Coons is when you injure a coon and he gets back in the hole, keep playin and he'll come back out if he ain't injured to bad.
 
How about this.....has anyone used one sound and not seen anything and changed up to another sound and have coons appear ?????? or is it all or nothing??? and we have seen them look out of the hole and not come all the way out...has anyone changed the tune and got them to come out. And , how does the placement of the sound affect your success ???? near the den trees, away from ,behind the hole so they can't look out towards the sound??? Just a bunch of questions that have come to mind. SM
 
I really appreciate all the input Im getting fired up to try out my call. We can shoot predators at night on private ground with the written permission of the landowner here so I may have to give it a whirl. Thanks
 
I have been trying kit distress first then to coonfight, but I only got one set in this year to see if it works any better. I think changing the sound would work. I did get one to come out using rabbit distress. I think setting the call to the side of where you think they will come out works best. That way they have to come all the way out of the hole and they have less time to escape back in if they see you. Both videos I have watched had the calls pretty close to under the tree. The ones I have called didn't take much movement to head back home. They can come out of a tiny little hole also. From what I have read and the few that have responded on videos about night calling they can come like anything else. They come to rabbit distress ,but Bird distress is one of the most common sounds used and the coonfight is another. I don't know if you set up on creek bottoms and call or target denning sights like the daytime?
 
Im glad someone started asking coon callin questions already because I was going to so this saves me some time.I just ordered a coon calling card for my JS Preymaster the other day and I cant wait to try it out.Coon season starts December 1st here.
The only thing that worries me is that it doesnt have the kit distress sounds on it.And thats what I've heard most about so Im kind of worried about how much success I'll have.I feel like I might be wasting my time but then again I might be suprised.Hopefully I will be. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
When I was a kid , we coon hunted and some hunters had coon squallers and I have seen treed coons come out of a completely safe hole , climb down the tree surrounded by dogs barking , with lights on the dogs and coon , and it came right down into the dogs mouths , pulled from the tree and killed. The distress sound just flips out some of them. Not all of them do this and probably just a minority but I guess the ones we had come out in the daytime to this sound are that kind of coon . Now we would like to find sounds and techniques for the rest of them as we are still trying the same ares , knowing there are still coons in the trees ...just ones that don't respond to what we are giving them now. SM
 
Just my .02 worth, but when calling coons out of a den tree, set your caller on the back side of the tree so the coon have to come out of their hole to see what the commotion is all about. Sure beats shooting one and having it fall back down the hole and dying. Will definitely spoil the den from being used again.
 
Back
Top