Coon Hunting

Raccoon hunting surged in the ’20s when automobile coats exploded in popularity. A failed attempt to breed raccoons on pelt farms in the ’40s, coupled with the release of Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier in the ’50s, cemented the raccoon as the most profitable wild furbearer in North America. Although the seasonal hunt reached it’s peak in the mid ’70s with 5.2 million animals killed in 1976, raccoon hunting is still practiced on a smaller scale in the United States.

Coon Hunting (photo by Benjamin Hoste)
Coon Hunting (photo by Benjamin Hoste)
The dogs are eager to run into the woods, their bodies jerk in every direction as they bark and smell continuously, nearly knocking over their masters. Finally, Larry Allen and Jeff Jackson release their dogs, John and Boder, who crash through the brush and disappear into the darkness. Raccoons are nocturnal and so hunts take place late at night in densely forested areas.
Coon Hunting (photo by Benjamin Hoste)
Hunters use dogs, mostly coonhounds, to track and corner raccoons in trees–called treeing–where they are then shot from the ground by the hunter. After about fifteen minutes of waiting in the dark, a unique bark pierces the night's silence and Larry and Jeff head into the woods to locate their dogs and see if they've treed a raccoon.
Coon Hunting (photo by Benjamin Hoste)
Finding Boder first, they hook him to a nearby tree while he continues to bark incessantly. Larry and Jeff spend the next fifteen minutes scanning the overhanging canopy with their headlamps for a raccoon but there aren't any and Boder is scolded with a nearby branch.
Coon Hunting (photo by Benjamin Hoste)
Jeff relays directions to Larry from a handheld GPS device as they track down John. With John wearing a GPS collar locating him isn't as difficult, though it does require crawling under bared wire to enter private land. Coon hunting is legal, however, it's currently not raccoon season and trespassing to retrieve a coonhound isn't permitted off season.
Coon Hunting (photo by Benjamin Hoste)
Larry and Jeff search for a treed raccoon with both search lights and a wooden call whistle to grab the attention of any raccoons. If there is a raccoon in the tree it will turn towards the sound, into Jeff's headlamp, causing it's eyes to glow.
Coon Hunting (photo by Benjamin Hoste)
Success. A raccoon has been treed by John. If raccoon hunting was in season, Larry would have shot the raccoon, skinned it on the spot, and discarded the carcass. In a single evening of hunting, Larry and Jeff may release their dogs half a dozen times.
Coon Hunting (photo by Benjamin Hoste)
Larry Allen with his dog coonhound John.