just curious seems that most here hunt during the daytime. I do both here in pa. awesome rush having them red eyes bouncin to ya.
Only coons/possum w/dogs allowed to hunt nights in NC. It was discussed last year as a possible change in the regs, but got shut down.
Night huntin is for SISSY's jus kiddin
In Ohio the fur season just started so I will be heading out before long. Caught a couple of coon and the fur is pretty good, but not as good as it will be in a couple more weeks. When that happens I will be out there calling and shining.
Now about that night hunting being for sissies, we have lots of polar and grizzly bears in Ohio and they just love to eat night hunters. It is one of the ways that we keep the number of hunters in control. Just send them out at night with a candle for a light and a .22 LR for a gun. They are never heard from again. :laf:
Jerry
Night hunting is for those who know how.... AR's are for sissys. :hahaha:
I night hunt quite a bit, more this year than ever before, it can be done succesfully in certain situations. Terrain dictates a lot of your night hunting effectiveness... as does the residential population (Ambient light).
In NH, only coons are allowed to be hunted at night.
coyotes also but it has to be on private property with WRITTEN land owner permission filed ant NH F&G.
I have been thinking of trying my luck at coons at night.
QuoteNight hunting is for those who know how.... AR's are for sissys.
:roflmao:
Yes. Its taken a while to get the right setup but its one of our favorite times down at our place in Texas. With the addition of an electric golf cart, light force lights and the FX3, we have a blast.
Criner, ....I'm gonna kick your Ass :sneer:... :innocentwhistle:.........................................................jus kiddin...LOL
Sorry, I got off on a tangent in my last post....
Bigben.
I haven't night hunted for years because the coyotes have reaked havoc on our fox population. I used to hunt fox at night for many years and you are right. What a blast!!! :yoyo:
I don't coyote hunt at night much for a couple reasons: 1: Can't film at night right now. 2: Like JRB says, coyotes are rather different at night versus a fox. I found that they were hard to get a shot on. Probably cause I huned alone, no one else was man enough to go out at night :hahaha:(Criner Included).. That's my story...LOL
I will however be gettin with KeeKee and were gonna try some fox this year.
JD
Just got some Coon sounds on my caller and ordered a light from cabelas. Been thinkin of doing some night Coon callin. Any tips would be fantastic!!
Thanks guys
get a coon fight sound and a coon puppies sound. use one or the other and be ready. i like to place the call or speaker between my legs and scan the whole time. I keep my light on all the time also. I do not like to turn it off mainly because of the critters sneakin in so close and scarin us both. I got a 6 volt light from eveready that uses the big 6volt block style batts. then painted the lens red with red dykem. worked out great. it acts like a shooting light also. just hold the light normal and hold the gun normal. a buddy showed me this. awesome. 10.00 light and I have been able to see eyes to 300yds mst fields here are not long. and I am able to identify at 200yds.
I got the light that connect to the rifle scope. I did get the following sounds for coons
raccoon adult distress
raccoon baby calling
raccoon babies fighting
what types of forest do coons like? hardwoods, softwoods, swamps?
Bigben, you should get that package saturday or monday. thanks again!!
Coon like about everything. If you can find an area with a creek or small stream going through it you might check it out. They like the easy pickings along them. Old growth trees are also a plus since they can den up in a hole in the tree. Just stay awake and keep looking. Like BigBen said, they like to come in rather quickly. They also like a fight and if there isn't another coon to fight with they will take after the person making the sounds. FUN!
Jerry
Can't do it here either.
Coon with dogs is about all that's allowed.
I got to experience it in Texas though with Randy Watson and Randy Buker, December before last. I'd give my left leg to be able to do it again :eyebrownod:
ok Hawksfeathers, thanks for the info. We have a mixture of hard and softwood trees, plenty of swamps and creeks (run offs).
When I get the light that I ordered in, I go out and give it a shot.
Are coons most active and any particular time of night???
I have never gone out much before 9:00 p.m. and it is usually 10:30 to 11:00 when they really get moving. They are a little funny in that one night you will see several and the next night with the same conditions there will be nothing. They will usually move just before a snow. They don't like cold feet.
Jerry
Coons are actually like cornflakes... their made with a mixture of corn and water.
Find cornfields that border some water. Perhaps ponds, swamps, creeks, drainages or rivers. You can find a coon about ANYWHERE but the big numbers lie amongst water and corn. What we call riverbottom rowcrops.
Coon will often come into the area of my setups and climb a tree for a better look. That's where they catch a 22 to the skull. Some guys let them pile up amongst the stand, waiting on 3-4-5 coon to tree up around them before they start shooting. I have no patience and I can't stand waiting so I shoot them as they come in.
We killed 14 one night last week, 6 another night. I just kicked off my muddy britches after spending the last three hours climbing the banks of the Ohio River in search of coon. I was alone, hunting solo in honor of that wussy Criner, and had no luck. It's a little windy tonight and I probably should've waited until later to even leave the house.
Something else about coon calling, the weather is important. At least when you get into "Big" number nights. During the winter I like to watch for a little warm spell, sometimes this means rain, and hit them hard then. It's not uncommon for my partners to get 30-40-50 and even 60 coon a night when weather permits and the corn/water mix is just right.
Jrbhunter,
No wonder the price of coon around here is low if you are getting those numbers. The guy I take coon to had one guy bring in 29, which was the highest number from one hunter. Then he told me that the guy had been "dog" hunting and then putting them in the freezer since opening day. That made more sense for around here. Even years back when I hunted with a guy that had good dogs we never got over 10 in one night. With fur, it seems that muskrats are the name of the game this year. $5 for a large coon and $5 or $6 for a rat.
Jerry
We just sold our coon for a flat $5 in the round... kits and all... buyer said the market looked reasonably strong. Rats are much more efficient, we just have a low population in my area. I have to travel 150 mile to get into good rats. Then again, I have to travel 250 mile for all those coon! LOL!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/jrbhunter/58_coon_004.jpg)
Nice looking "fur lined" driveway you have there. :laf:
Jerry
Well that's about all I can stand... after all this talk about coon calling I'm going back out. It's 11:20 now and the rain has lightened up, maybe they are running now. I've got the equipment already in the truck, just needed a little prodding to get out of this chair by the woodstove. Glad I saw this thread- it light another fire under me! :sneer:
jrb hunter gave sound advice. if ya wanna take it a step farther. find a field that borders a decent water source. walk the edge and look for big patchs of corn knocked down. this is coons goin in there and crawlin up the stalks till they fall over. then it is dinner time. and that is a true that alot of times if there is no coon to fight then it will get after you. another thing that you will wanna watch is shooting a coon with a shotgun. it lowers the fur value considerably.
night hunting fox is about the most fun you can have at night with your clothes on. :laf: in my areas we have more fox then coyotes anyhow. plus I am normally up till 11 at night watchin tv. why not put good time to use hunting. anyone that has not night hunted is missin out truly
well I was gonna give it a try tonight but there is no way that I will be able to hold a light and shoot at the same time. Plus my girlfriend gave me a little bit of a cold.
Maybe next time, it sucks that the only thing that we can night hunt is coons exept coyote but we have to have written land owner permission and all that junk.
all it takes is a little light to light up there eyes. just put the crosshairs between the two red dots and squeeze. one more thing is if you think you are a crack shot during the day with a rifle. try it at night when the animal looks away from you and you loose em in the scope. that is what hurts most people. I though it was easy until I tried it this year. so far I have missed 6 fox this year at night. that I felt certian I would have got with a shotgun and a little more callin. up until this year it was all shot gun. but wanted somethin quieter so I went to a hmr. now I am findin out i might wanna switch to the shotgun again. this callin in an missin sucks.
For calling coyote and fox at night you need a lightforce. I wish there was another company out there competing with them but there simply isn't. I've had some technical problems with my lightforce but there just aren't any real options out there for GOOD scope lighting equipment.
For coon about any light source will work... even a little LED flashlight to give you eyes. It takes a while to get used to night shooting but coon is a great way to break the ice! I'm going out after fox and coyote here in about an hour.. I slept all afternoon so I'd feel good and energized when the weather breaks at 10-11pm tonight.
nite lite has good products. around here that is all you need.
here is my light setup lense has red dy kem on it. the plug plugs into my wizard head lamp batt through the charge port. switch still works. also thanks to my father for the crash course in solderin. the yellow eveready light is what a buddy on mine came up with for a cheap scanin light. also works good as a shootin light just hold the light normal and put your gun on top. most are wonderin why I do not have a scope light. well in pa they aint leagal yet. so we gots to do the next best thing. most put a broom handle in where the scope mounts then they just hold the broom stick under the forarm of the stock. what I do is put the light that is black on a belt and the head un hooks from the batt. it goes on a hat with a shroud close to what the guys in texas use for their night force. then I scan with the head lamp. mainly because it is less movement which means less noise. when I locate a animal i use the yellow one.
(http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/2324/light2xn8.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/8668/light1wt2.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
(http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/6351/light3aj3.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)
Pretty slick Ben. You boys are set up :wink:
Jim,
I got sick of not being able to hunt with lights here too. So, I got the law changed. Get out there and get it taken care of!! :D
Seriously?......it took finally? :shck: