Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Trapping Bait for trapping racoon

Captain Crunch.

a little milk replacer works good to attract

corn on the cob ,

The actual bait doesn’t matter a bunch if it smells or makes them wonder. Cheapest Vaseline with Watkins flavoring of many sorts; anise works really well. Very cheap and affective. Place a couple large marshmallows outside of trap, one in trap before pan, and one or two in back of trap...1 has your pure rubbed on it. The white marshmallow baits the smell and easy to see... they munch them down all the way to the back of your trap. I would suggest a Wickenkamp trap. Made for coon trappers by a trapper. My brother and him caught up to 190 some coons opening night and roughly 800 in a week to 10 days. My first year I caught 256.

corn and Minnie marshmallows

Best bait i ever used was persimmons and grandma's molasses stirred to a paste with stars removed first. Paid college tuitions that way.....

I use cheap cat food, open can a little bit, punch a couple of holes in the side, tie wire to back of cage.

Have wired t-bones to back of cage too

New Jersey must grow smart raccoons or I'm a dumb Pollak. I have been trying for months to catch a coon in a Hav a Heart and he either rips it apart to get out or grabs the food and tip toes out. I'll put some honey on the trigger tonight. Last nite he went in, took the sushi, and backed out. Can't shoot him here.

Never had any luck with the box traps. Can't legally transport live critters here either. Went to dog-proof (DP) traps and scored after they started to go after our layers. ZTraps with diced hot dog just over the push/pull trigger. Going to try small marshmallows with a slather of grape jelly as the weather dries out more. Get an old baseball bat from a thrift store if you can swing but not shoot....

That raccoon may have beat you home.

Tried baiting box traps with sardines/tuna, luck was so-so. Dry dog food got 'em every time. Leave a trail up to the trap and a hardware cloth bag full of dog chow wired to the back of the cage.

If you are near a residential area, I would be careful using dog or cat food or sardines as you might end up with a dog or cat in the traps. I use DP traps and marshmallows or jelly. Usually only a coon will go to something sweet like these.

Is there a bait that works on raccoons that doesn’t attract possums?

This works like a charm

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THIS

Marshmallows work great for coon and skunk and probably other critters.

A coon cuff trap is the best I seen yet. I use some old peanut butter.

before you reset your have a heart trap dig a small hole put half of the sardines in the can and bury them around a half inch deep,but before you bury these sardines put the other half in bowl ,then stake the trap down once its set, now put the rest of the sardines in the back past the trip pan pour all the juice on the ground back there too. this will catch any smart coon or opossum . deal with this problem a lot other wise i use a movement lite on my bird post and feed a few away and shoot coon,possum or whatever at nite but you gotten then leave window cracked and rifle ready i use a 22 Hornet always, 22 L.R. just is not enough to kill coons or possum as easy we get some good sized coons in Minnesota.

My favorite and most productive method was using a plastic pickle bucket with a fish wired to the back of the bucket. in the opening, I cut two notches to placed the cocked springs of a 220 conibear. I used some wire to keep anything that lived from dragging my bucket away. In two seasons using one bucket right out in plain sight I caught 35 feral house cats, 3 skunks, 20+ coons, a mink. and a beaver yes, a big beaver, by the head. Nothing was ever found alive, and nothing got away.
It was a lot of fun and the nearby neighbors thanked me for doing it.
If I was younger and could get around like I used to, I would do it again. I almost forgot-----I caught a hen Mallard there also.

I also used that same set up catching cats that were eating my son's chickens at night.

The pickle bucket was one of the 5 gallon variety---a similar bucket like a paint bucket would be the same. The 220's jaws filled the opening perfectly.

We have strong raccoons here. One literally pried open the back of the have a heart trap and squeezed out. Now he's educated and won't go near it.