School me on calling coons

[Okanagan]

Pat, in another current thread you mentioned going out to call coons (and got squirrels).  I assume that means this is a good time of year to call coons.  I have an Icotec electronic with some coon calls on it plus all kinds of prey distress sounds.  What sound should I play?  Anybody with coon tips please chime in. 

Tips on set up of my ambush, wind direction, etc.?  I assume a creek bottom should be a good place to start?  We are mostly evergreens: fir, hemlock and western red cedar, plus lots of alder and some spruce.  In the lowlands among houses are occasional cottonwood and even rarer maples, but too many houses for me to hunt there with a firearm, even though there are more coons there than higher up the watersheds. I will try to think of a huntable place along the nearby salt water shores. I have seen coons on shore rocks and ledges when boat fishing for salmon in close. 

[5 SHOTS]

These guys were the go to people for anything about coon calling.

The Borland brothers.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/195499722178?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28&srsltid=AYJSbAdti8pesl5hZFNbEwLizbyG0BmiAvrJRKSHc2Byc0tsm0bm1tw6jWI

[coyote101]

Clyde,

I'm still pretty new to this and certainly not an expert, but here goes:

I have been using young coon distress and coon fight sounds. Look for hollow trees, or trees with holes or splits large enough for a coon to den in. Put the caller fairly close and play it pretty loud. If they are going to come, they normally come quick and hard. A couple of times they have literally knocked the caller over. I usually only call for eight or nine minutes, then move. In my limited experience, it seems that adult females come to the baby coon distress sounds, adult males come to the fight sounds, and juveniles run away. Give it a try, it is great fun.

Pat 

[nastygunz]

I got into coon calling a long time ago after seeing a random video by the Borland brothers on YouTube! They used to make the Minaska game calls which were really good. As coyote101 said you need to find the places where they are nesting up during the day. Den trees where there are holes or hollows in them. Check the trunks for hair and claw marks on the bark to see if they are being actively used. Old abandoned properties and buildings, houses, barns, sheds etc. are gold mines for coon calling, and big brushpiles. Up here when the leaves are gone is a prime time to cruise around scouting for den trees. When you find a good one write it down, after a while you will have a whole list of go to spots. If you shoot the coon out of a den tree don't worry because eventually some other coon will find it and move right in. The best places where I live are the huge cornfields beside the Connecticut River which have enormous oak and maple trees bordering them and some excellent den trees. I use my Foxpro ecaller with coon fighting and baby coon distress and mix in some dying cottontail. Play it LOUD! I also use a furry motion decoy. I use a 12 gauge or .22, or if somebody is with me one person takes the shotgun and one person takes the 22.



     As coyote101 said sometimes they come in fast and furious looking for a fight, and sometimes they'll come out of the tree and sit there and you have to shoot them out of the tree. Half the fun is hunting around for den trees which you can do anytime of the year look for claw marks and hair and write down the location or mark it on a GPS.

[1snafu]

A friend & I were perched on some rolling hill pasture ground calling. That area had a lot or oak trees scattered around. Friend was sitting down-wind of me over the slope of the high hill we were on. I was using a Crit'R call Pee Wee & started squalling in a somewhat deep rasp as I used my other hand for back pressure. Moments later here came this coon running hard right at me. I thought it was going to pile on me. So I thumped him on the head with my AR barrel. Coon backed off a few feet then stared at me.

Finally it turned around & waddled back over the hill ridge. I waited a few minutes then started calling again. Here came that coon back running hard right at me. So I thumped his crazy ass again with my barrel. Tired of that coon, we moved to another area.

I wasn't in the market for coon fur. Or I would've blasted him/her at point blank. Coons be crazy ;)

[Okanagan]

Great story, 1snafu!
 
Good info from all.  Thank you! I've got a mild flu bug or something so am holed up out of our cold wet winds or I would be out trying some calling today.

PS:  just stepped out for 30 seconds to check weather and now it is an icey rain on the edge of snow.  Gonna take a comforter to the couch and sleep through an NFL game.

[nastygunz]

NFL ?.... that sounds vaguely familiar  🇺🇸

[JohnP]

If my memory is correct I thought you had a Minaska.  If so you should have some coon calls on it.

Are we still allowed to use the word "coon(s)"?

[Okanagan]

Good memory, John.  Yep, I had a Minaska for ten years or more but it died on me.  I tried to find another, and wound up buying an Icotec Sabre.  The Icotec has 22 coon sounds on it if I counted correctly. 

I like the Borland brothers and spoke with them by phone several times.  They were hunters, and IMO good designers in terms of function, and not so good at cosmetic design and business.

Ten or so years ago when grandson Code was about 13, he and I called a coon one evening in the creek bottom right near where I now live on his parent's property.  About the time the coon showed himself in a maple tree, a neighbor came out in the woods with a flashlight looking for what was making the call sound.  We shut it off and sneaked away, giggling all the way home. 

That was one of my two attempts to call a raccoon.  The other was in British Columbia on a creek in snow with a young man along.  Within seconds of the first call sound a blacktail doe charged up within 20 feet of us snorting and stomping.  It was the first calling stand for my friend and he was impressed.  No coon showed though there was a single large coon track in the snow.

And, no, I'm sure we are not.