Goldfinger Raccoon Hunt

[longislandhunter]

Had a doctors appointment right after work this afternoon so by the time I got home it was a little after 3:30 pm. I changed quickly into my camo hunting outfit, grabbed the .22 Goldfinger and headed the truck to the same tract of woods I hunted yesterday.  

Within 5 minutes of still hunting down the dirt road I saw 2 large grey squirrels feeding on the ground among the large oak trees.  They spotted me and made a bee line for separate trees where they quickly disappeared somewhere in the branches.  I backed off 25 yards, found a comfortable seat at the base of a small tree and waited.  I waited for 20 minutes but the tree rats never made another appearance.  I think they each must've found a hole to hide in because I scanned every singe limb and branch on both trees and I couldn't find them.  With the light starting to fade fast I decided to go back on the hunt and try to locate some different squirrels.

I finished hunting the line of oak trees without seeing any more squirrels so I decided to walk slowly down the dirt paths that meandered through the pine forest.  As I was walking down a path I came to a huge, very tall pine tree that had numerous freshly cut off groups of pine needle branches lying at the base of the tree.  I stood there looking at the freshly cut branches  and figured some kind of critter had been very busy up in the top of this tree.  

I backed up about 10 yards from the base of the tree and started scanning the top of the tree which was about 35 to 40 yards up.  As I slowly visually scanned each branch my attention was suddenly drawn to a large  round ball of something "furry" lying in the wedge where 3 large branches came together.  I couldn't tell what it was but I knew it wasn't part of the tree.  I put the scope on 9x and took a peek.  Yup, that's fur alright.  As I was looking at the ball of fur it suddenly shifted position revealing the tell tale striped tail and masked face.  It was a large raccoon nestled into it's daytime bed.  

I moved around the tree until I had a clear line of sight and clear shooting lane through the tree top branches. I put the crosshairs on the outline of the coons head and fired.  As the pellet slammed home the coon stood up revealing a full, clear head shot.  I had another  predator already loaded so I quickly put the crosshairs on the side of his head and fired.  I heard the pellet hit home with a  loud "POP", which was shortly followed by the sound of the coon crashing through tree limbs and he plummeted to earth.  He hit the ground with a large thud and laid there doing the "death boogie".  He stopped moving after a few seconds but I put another predator into his head just to make sure.  After getting bitten by that black squirrel last week I wasn't taking any chances,,,, this critters teeth were some serious looking fangs  :)

Convinced he was dead I examined my kill.  The predators hit just where I aimed em and they did their job well.  He was a large male raccoon that appeared to be well fed and very healthy.  I didn't weigh him but he had some heft to him and  my estimate would be 20 - 25  pounds.  When I skinned him out I couldn't believe how thick the layer of fat was on this coon.  

I had my daughter take some pics of me and the coon, then I took a couple extra pics of the coon and the Goldfinger.  Hope ya like em......  

Jeff

[Gene_SC]

Totally fantastic Jeff... And you say he was around 35 yards away?  And we are talking roughly about 700 to 800 FPS?  Great placement buddy.. Dang, I wish I could of been wiff you when you got that cridder..:) So now do you have a recipe for coon?  

This account looks as though you are gonna have a great winter hunting season...:)

Thanks again for sharing with all of us Jeff...

Gene

[longislandhunter]

Thanks Gene,,,,, yup, 35 yards and those predators did him in   :)

As you know I love my Goldfingers, both of em shoot exactly where I point em.  

I was so psyched when I saw him keel over, fall from the tree and crash his way down through the branches.  As for the raccoon recipes,,,,,, yup,,,, have a couple tucked away in the recipe book.  Got a ton of meat off this critter, should be enough to try a couple of recipes, and you know you're always welcome for dinner if you're in the area  :)

Jeff  

[Big_Bill]

Great account of your hunt, Jeff,

GREAT SHOOTING as usual !! And what a fur ball !! Sweet meat and Great eating !

I totally enjoy your hunting accounts, and thank you for sharing them with us..

Bill

[shadow]

NOW THAT'S IMPRESSEVE JEFF!. Wow what a day's hunt and what a find since those guy's can be darn sneaky and are rarely out during the day. I'm not surprised though that you got him buddy, great shootin and they can be tough to take down. GREAT STORY! and what a TROPHY! to harvest with a Air rifle. Fine hunt for sure, I'm impressed and the pic's are SUPER!. I've been looking for em here myself but they keep on the move from farm to farm looking for food, I'll get one off guard one of these day's hehe. Again super all around my friend.") Ed

[longislandhunter]

Thanks guys,,,,,was an exciting day for me  :)

Jeff

[BigCat1]

I know how tough they can be I used to coon hunt with my dad all the time back when you could get good money for the hide's.
I've  seen many coons back down some good coon dogs even after they've been shot out..........Troy

[Gene_SC]

The same here Troy, when I was a young lad I would go with my uncle hunting coons, and they can be very vicious. Especially if they have young ones around. And they hate to be backed in a corner..:)

Gene

[shadow]

Yup, any varment with sharp fang's like a coon's know how to use them and Prey become's Predator real fast hehe. Very impresseve Jeff, fine harvest buddy. :) Ed

[PeakChick]

Very nice account of your hunt Jeff, as usual. That Raccoon is quite a prize with an air rifle at that distance, acutally just about any distance. He is certainly a big, healthy male 'Coon.  Raccoons can be quite tough prey to bring down, and as mentioned are very vicious if they are cornered. Well done!

Great shooting!Raccoons are certainly big game for airgunners. I remember Robert Laws airgun catalogs my dad used to get mentioning hunting game that size with the airguns they had available back then. The one I managed to save has an article in it, of a guy who shot a bobcat with a .177 that had been treed. Those  guns he was selling back then were only a little more than half as powerful as your Goldfingers. Things sure have progressed some!

[dw33]

Great story and a very large racoon also!  Nice shooting.  Will you keep the pelt?

[only1harry]

Awesome!  nice job Jeff!  Now that's a hunt.  To me a racoon is the ultimate prey for a magnum springer.  My coon has been very elusive and only comes out at night and disappears out into the night but the season is young, he 'll run into me again.

I think I 'm going to move my hunting grounds up to the Hamptons :-)  Only about 2.5hr drive.  Need a partner?

[longislandhunter]

I didn't keep the pelt, I thought about it but I settled on the tail instead :)
It'll look nice hanging in the shop, or maybe off of a huntin hat  :)

Harry, hang in there, that coon will present himself for a shot one of these days.  Lookin forward to seeing the pics ....

As for the Hamptons hunting grounds,,,,,  plenty of wide open spaces near me for airgun small game hunting.... If you get out this way and wanna hunt let me know, perhaps we can coordinate a hunt.  

Jeff