Shot the biggest Raccoon I've seen in a long time, last night...

[979Texas]

Exactly MadMo, its been awhile since I've seen any that big, like since the 90's was when I saw that huge one I told about earlier. That was way before everyone had a cellphone on them at all times, and the cellphones that were out had no cameras on them. So if you didn't happen to have a camera on your person at the exact moment you saw a monster coon, than no pictures. And game cameras really weren't around back then, at least not in my neck of the woods.

I have extensively hunted coons, deer, hogs, coyotes, duck, dove, rabbit and squirrel in that exact area where I saw that huge coon at and till this day I haven't seen another one or heard of anyone else seeing one in years and years, and I don't expect too really see another one either.

And around here coons that hang too close to garbage dumps and stuff like that don't live long enough to get that big. I don't know about where your're at but down here they either will get trapped, shot, ran over, or alot of times a dog will get em down here hanging around dumpsters and stuff. If they wanna get that big they live in literally the most secluded parts of the country around here which is where a huge majority of the few huge coon sightings are at. And yes down here in Texas we hunt alot with corn feeders because its legal down here and that monster coon I saw was just 40 yards from one of our feeders. They get fat on that deer corn just like MadMo told yall. And thanks Guv for stating one of our many motto's down here in Texas, Everything's bigger in Texas.

 

[madmo44mag]

That hunt took place back around 1989 - 91 somewhere in there.
We were down south of Quitman TX
Heck I didn't have a cell phone till about 95 when I just had to give in to the new ways of the world.
Last coon hunt I was on has been at least 10 years ago.
Lost my buddy that had coon dogs and hunting coon without good dogs is just no fun.

 

[Guv]

My buddy said he had (40 pounder, his guess) one raiding their feed room that could make love to a turkey standing flat footed! I use to think he was just drunk, now, I still think he was drunk but maybe really did have a 40 pounder messing with him.

 

[scrubcedar]

I would have been in the show me the pictures category on this but,

I almost found out the hard way that an"urbanized" raccoon has at least the possibility of growing a lot bigger than the ones I was used to.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/raccoons.html

Walking down the my street at dusk on the edges of metro Denver (Aurora back when there was a lot of open/wooded area) I see the telltale shine of of coon eyes from a storm drain. As I get closer I'm struck by how wide apart those eyes are and as I get closer it starts the normal aggressive hissing, growling behavior and I can finally see all of the critter. It's huge! The stupid thing is standing it's ground and growling because it's too big and fat to get out through the standard storm drain opening! 50 or 60 pounds?, maybe, I certainly had no desire to get closer! It was certainly twice the size of the ones I was used to.

Notice this quote from the Washington DOW site in the link above. "Adult raccoons weigh 15 to 40 pounds, their weight being a result of genetics, age, available food, and habitat location. Males have weighed in at over 60 pounds. A raccoon in the wild will probably weigh less than the urbanized raccoon that has learned to live on handouts, pet food, and garbage-can leftovers."

Seems like a legit source citing weights that high.

 

[jason75979]

No they really do get that big at least down here in East Texas they do, and I imagine through most of the Deep South they do also. Now it never was very common at all to see them that big, and I havent seen any this big in the last decade but they really will get that big. A big ole boar coon can get that big.

Once upon a hog spotlighting hunt after dark way deep deep in the back swamps and sloughs of the Navasota River bottoms in northern Grimes County, Texas we came upon what we thought was a small pig in the spotlight. Upon checking the animal out with my scope while it was just 20 yards away from me I saw that it was just a huge ole boar coon about 50-60 pounds, biggest coon I have ever seen.

A bunch of the old timers in this area also will talk about seeing coons that big, but its been over a decade since I've seen one that big. Beavers also get big down here some weighing in at 80 lbs or a little over, and those are in recent times the last few years with the beavers. But these people on this thread aren't ''exaggerating" weights at all on coons, go get in some real woods and see what you can find.

Yep, we've trapped some big ones on the ANGELINA/neches wma. Caught some really big otters there as well.
I guess it would be hard for some of these guys to believe we have 14'+ gators here too.

 

[Clark]

I have seen big male coons.
I have killed ~ 36 coons, weighed them, and sexed them.

The big ones are 19.5 pound females.

I have never been able to break the 20 pound barrier.

I just got back from hunting 900 miles from here, and watched my brother get a coon and a skunk in traps behind the feed mill.

They regularly shoot coons and skunks there, and a pile they throw them on.

My brother can hit a skunk or coon between the eyes with a 22 pistol from inside his car 20 feet away. He comes back later and drags them to the pile with a rope.