I may need a different trap to deal with a super raccoon. Two nights the step on trigger plate was lifted up, instead of being stepped on and pushed down, preventing it from activating and closing the door. Last night more problems. The bait was gone. There is 3 inches of dirt in the trap. The trigger bar that closes the door was severally bent last night and now partially outside the trap. although the door is closed the trap is empty. The raccoon must have put his paw through the door and pulled the door release while pushing to door open. A solid plate is needed on the door.
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This enormous and long-running thread is just proof of one of the most obvious social problems facing us today: The chronic Coonhound shortage that year in and year out confounds America.
If there are Black and Tans or at least a Redbone in the neighborhood the problem goes away.
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Have never saw a racoon that cannot be trained to leave stuff alone with an electric fence. If you leave the racoons alive and shock them they remember. If you trap them or kill them more move in who dont know any better. Usually the racoons cut a wide path around me for years after i put an electric fence up around a corn patch. They are not dumb animals and can be trained even if wild to leave things alone. I like racoons myself and have no desire to kill what i dont need to kill. They can eat wind fall pears here if they dont mind sharing with all the other wild things. Mulberries are some of their favorites.
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Air rifle pellet should be okay?
Not in my experience, but maybe it depends on what kind you get. When I first got mine (Crosman CLGY1000KT Legacy Variable Pump .177), I thought it would be faster/better than drowning the raccoon. 6 shots to the dead just made it mad and I went back to drowning them. Works well on rabbits though.
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You have zombie racoons!!! 
I have no qualms with dispatching vermin if the need arises. I notice several people referencing trapping and killing possums, but I’m of the opinion they are on balance beneficial. They do eat some fruit, but also lots of bugs and rodents. Ditto skunks. I leave both alone and they seem to cause little in the way of damage.
I have to deal with raccoons this year, though. They did a number on my mulberries, and then ate my entire kiwi crop last fall- 3 mature vines worth- in no time flat.
One thing I will say is that on balance I think it’s beneficial to have as much diversity as possible. Since starting my plantings 17 years ago, Ive watched the amount of and diversity of wildlife blossom. Some get out of hand for a time, but they tend to balance one another out to some degree. Not so in places where one is surrounded by built environment. Those places stand to benefit the most but have the longest way to go.
I’ve recently seen a healthy sized fisher prowling around a couple of nights amidst my gardens. I’d noticed that raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, etc. had all become rather scarce, and now I think I know why.
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No problems at all with my .22 airgun.
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I have only managed to do this with squirrels, but I’ve used the have a heart trap. Once the animal is caught, the cage goes into a trash bag. I then run the lawnmower to blow exhaust into the bag. Squirrels were asleep in about an hour. I’m curious now if that would work for racoons as well since last year they were posing some “challenges”.
Bought a Squirrelinator trap last week. So far, I’ve caught a skunk (the first night out) and one squirrel a day for 3 days in a row. Immersing them in the pond for a minute has sent all on their way…
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I was shooting raccoons with a .22 pellet gun but that was not easy with the gun I had. Sometimes I would get lucky and succeed on the first shot but it would usually take several shots. Now I am a confirmed trapper and I can usually get them with enough persistence. I have three of the large havaheart traps which I bait with a whole bunch of different stuff.
My gun died not long ago and I got a new one which was rated the same power but is clearly a much faster pellet. Maybe my old gun was too weak.
For squirrels I have some squirrelinators which work well but recently the tube traps have been my favorites. I learned how to tune the triggers on them, they were either going off too easily or not at all but I found I can tune them by bending the metal plate that the pin is pressing on. I also heavily grease up the mechanisms. Those traps are some of the easiest to get the squirrel to go in to.
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My havahart type trap was easy to tweak. I ran a thin piece of copper wire from the trip lever (outside the cage) to a peanut and wrapped the wire around the peanut. Smear PB on the peanut. The squirrel will grab the peanut, tripping the trap. And grabbing the peanut slows down the critturs response time so it’s harder for it to beat the trap.
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Curious Lucky, how did you deal with the skunk and not get sprayed?
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I’m not Lucky (or rather I’m not the “Lucky” you are referring to…), but I usually just held a small tarp in front of me so that it couldn’t see me approach, then tossed it over the cage, picked it up, and put the whole thing in the wheel barrow. The tarp stays on the whole time, only slipping off as the cage falls into the barrel of water.
The skunk would often spray in the water (area could smell a bit), but I never got sprayed myself that way. Something could always go wrong (drop the tarp at the wrong time, etc), but over the years it went OK for roughly half a dozen skunks. Or rather, OK for me. The skunks weren’t pleased.
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I’ve done that too. But I’m always a little worried I’ll get sprayed one of these times. I’m always looking for other ideas on how to deal with them.
Air rifle ok if solid pellet. No hp. Penetration issues
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Last year i caught a 40lb monster that tore up my trigger plate rod and truly tested the cage. It held the racoon though.
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This is my method. I have a fairly powerful pellet gun. Even so, raccoons are very tough and it can be frustrating trying to kill them with a shot through the fur. The best kill shot is in the ear to the brain. Next best is into the heart / lungs from the soft underside.
FWIW, I use the heaviest non-lead pellet I can find. The heavy pellet is sub-sonic / relatively quiet, and the no-lead pellet is better for the environment. Also the pellet gun is especially quiet if the muzzle is held close enough to the target.
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What’s the brand of the non-lead pellets? I would like to do the switch too. Can you buy it online?