Need advice for coon trapping

Carl Olmstead

New member
River Runner,
I'm looking for advice on what I could/should do to make my coon boxes more appealing to the raccoons in the area I've set my traps. I put out some box traps with a #220 conibear inside, and put some commercial coon bait at the very back of the box. Today, I found a skunk in one of my boxes, but also noticed that the coons just went right past the boxes according to the tracks.
I'm trapping on a game management area around a fish hatchery where these coons are doing a lot of damage. I also found out from the wardens on the management area that some of these coons had been trapped at other locations and dropped on the management area, which would make them trap wise to a point.
Anyway, I have my boxes set near the two track roads the coons are using to travel to/from the fish hatchery, but as of yet no coons in my traps. My boxes are fairly well camoflaged with surrounding vegatation. Is there a different type of bait/lure I should be using or is everything I'm doing thus far wrong? Be gentle, this is my first year ever trapping, and I'm really needing some advice for these raccoons.
I guess I can't be totally messed up, I did manage to catch a skunk. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank You!!
 
Carl, Try fish for bait with a commercial lure near the entrance so the wind will carry the scent and get them interested in the box and then they will find the fish. Make sure your traps are on the upwind side of the road so the scent will carry to the coons. You can use some eye appeal too like egg shells. If you have the traps where the coons can smell it, they should get in the traps. Canned tuna can work but I like to use perch that I've caught for bait. Hope this helps. You can e-mail me at lonnie@provalue.net if I can help you more.
 
Carl,
First thing is make sure you can set conibers on dry land I don't know the laws where you are trapping but here in Oklahoma you have to have them completly submerged.(strickly beavers and muskrat). Why are you using box traps a good leg hold is easier to set and in my experience will catch more coons, but if a box trap is the way to go the canned tuna works great. I have trapped coons on a fish farm in the past and they seemed more interested in the fish food that washed up on the bank than the did the fish so maybe try some fish food. Just a thought hope it helps
 
I can't give you any better advice then these guys, Carl. I'm not the trapping specialist in here
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Tim's the big trapper.

I have seen my brother use cut up fish from the river for bait on his coon sets before, like Lonnie mentioned. And he cashes in an average of 200 coon per year if i remember correctly.
And come to think of it I recall him mentioning to me one day something about either using fish for bait, or maybe it was just bait all together...the trap had to be in a box or completely submerged. Local laws were concerned about eagles and hawks getting into the traps. Gtrappers point, I'm sure.

~River Runner~


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www.predatormasters.com
 
If there is any chance at all there might be a pet cat or a beagle sized or smaller dog in the area. I'd avoid any meat based baits. Public lands are prone to pet toting visitors, so be very careful. Conibears don't forgive.

The best box trap bait I've ever found for coons is jumbo marshmallows. They don't attract dogs and cats, but they are pure coon candy.
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Don't buy the little ones, get the jumbo, fifty cent piece size. Toss a big handful in the back of the cage, and 3 or 4 out on the ground in front of it. Set the trap right on the coons trail. If there are a lot of coons in the area, you can come back every couple of hours and remove another from the trap, all night long.
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If those coons have been cage trapped and relocated like the Wardens suggest, you may be wasting your time with cages, It may take weeks to coax one back inside a cage again. Your best bet then would be a foot trap set up close to a dirt hole, just like you would do for trapping fox.

[This message has been edited by Tim Behle (edited 10-12-2001).]
 
Carl,
If you don't have to worry about pets getting in to your conibears, listen to this. I used to use #220 conibears in wooden boxes with very good success. What I did was go to the fish market and buy their fish heads, skins and innards to use as bait in the boxes. I had driven a nail way up front and inside the box to impale my bait and make it hard for a coon to reach in and steal said bait. I set the trap in said box so that trigger was on the bottom, and I always bent the trigger in a U shape about three inches wide. Out line of the trap was concealed by shoving natural vegetation between box and trap. I also carried a bottle of that maple flavored pancake syrup to make a trail of syrup from coon trail to my box entrance. Pure death on coons. Good luck
 
Sweet trick Rich! I use to set conibear's on the coon trails where they go under a fence or a tight spots. Blind sets no bait. But it got very expensive when people would take a few every year. So I started using snare's with great luck. Be sure to set 3 or 4 on the same path. But spread them out a short distance so they don't knock the next snare over. It's great walking up and seeing a double or triple.
 
You may not believe this but... I've caught more coons using sardines right out of the can, than anything else. (Mustard or regular sauce - they don't care!!)
Make a drowning set, if you are near the water, with a slide wire.

Catch Me If You Can!!!
 
OK, the big question, if you are using a coni why not use DPs and dispatch them? Trap wise, I'd be catching them, not re-enforcing the education.
 
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