There's Something Out There

[Mortblanc]

I killed a nice fat little raccoon last night at about 03:00. Caught it in the spotlight, trying to get into the hen house, and punched a couple of holes in it with the .22 from inside the house, then went out and insured the kill with a head shot.

It was thoroughly dead. I left it where it was intending to dispose of the carcass this morning.

Woke this morning to find the critter gone! 8-10 pounds of raccoon gone without even a tuff of fur on the ground.

I suspect a coyote, since we do not have stray dogs in my area. A small critter would have eaten it in place.

Whatever it is, it is big enough to tote off a 10 pound coon over the fence of the chicken run and I am out there running around in the middle of the night with it.

Gives one pause to think.

It's a jungle out there.

[NorthernRaider]

Any tracks, was reading about a guy in west TX who knew something greedy was in his neighbourhood, turned out to be a hog.

[Scythe13]

mountain lion!!!

[Tartar Horde]

The jersey devil gulp

[Arnie72]

aliens....you'll see it again tomorrow fully alive....eek!

[uks]

Is there not a saying playing possum.

[Mortblanc]

(18 July 2013, 16:11)uks Wrote: Is there not a saying playing possum.

It was dead. You do not want the grizzly details.

The ground is baked hard so there are not tracks.

No mountain lions here, but we have spotted bears in this area.

I set the trap last night and it was empty this morning. Bait was still intact.

I know I still have at least one raccoon out there and it will mess up eventually.

I also know I have coyotes, and have intended clearing them out for a few months. To do that I must situate a blind near the house so they can not circle behind me, where I have good fields of fire and the proper range for my shotgun using buckshot. I have an electronic predator call that does a good job fetching them in.

Would you believe that I have one rifle set up specifically for shooting raccoons?

That scope is a very clear BSA "Sweet .22", the right hand device is a reflex sight for use of the red dot in low light and the little black thing on the left is a high intensity LED light.

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[Barneyboy]

(18 July 2013, 16:40)Mortblanc Wrote:

(18 July 2013, 16:11)uks Wrote: Is there not a saying playing possum.

It was dead. You do not want the grizzly details.

The ground is baked hard so there are not tracks.

No mountain lions here, but we have spotted bears in this area.

I set the trap last night and it was empty this morning. Bait was still intact.

I know I still have at least one raccoon out there and it will mess up eventually.

I also know I have coyotes, and have intended clearing them out for a few months. To do that I must situate a blind near the house so they can not circle behind me, where I have good fields of fire and the proper range for my shotgun using buckshot. I have an electronic predator call that does a good job fetching them in.

Would you believe that I have one rifle set up specifically for shooting raccoons?

That scope is a very clear BSA "Sweet .22", the right hand device is a reflex sight for use of the red dot in low light and the little black thing on the left is a high intensity LED light.

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may be 7.62 comes to mind

[Scythe13]

You have a rifle for shooting coons. Sorry, couldn't resist a quick Southpark reference!

[Mortblanc]

Got a bear rifle, a deer rifle, a squirrel rifle, a hog rifle. Got an assault rifle for shooting assaults, a riot gun for shooting riots and a hand gun for shooting hands. Got a goose gun and a rabbit gun. Got a pocket gun and a truck gun. I even have a grease gun, a rivet gun and a glue gun around here somewhere.

Why not a dedicated raccoon rifle?