Iowa's Most Wanted

[Fine Figure of a Man]

"The Iowa Natural Resources Commission has approved a Department of Natural Resources proposal to create a continuous open season for raccoons."

Hides are worth nothing so almost no trappers and chasing coyotes with hounds has pretty much replaced c00n hunting.
I can now confess to enacting an open season decades ago.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Yeah, even though Kansass considers them a "Fur bearer" and as such requires a special/additional license for trapping.
They are a pest so,if caught,the three S's apply...

 

[AJC1]

A state agency starts off with a management plan, and charges a willing group a fee to play. The state will never abandon a fee even if the animal becomes a problem. Revenue rules the day.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I don't know yet if a fur harvester license will still be required. I doubt that it will be, there is a continuous season on coyote with no fur-bearer license required.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I don't know yet if a fur harvester license will still be required. I doubt that it will be, there is a continuous season on coyote with no fur-bearer license required.

Same here for coyotes, also,oddly enough, rabbits.

 

[Barbaroja]

In Alabama it’s similar. Fox, bobcat, coyote and racooon are fur bearers as well as open year round without bag limits to hunting. Coyote raccoon beaver swine and opossum can be trapped year round but if you trap a fox or bobcat outside of fur season, then you must release them.

 

[bigpower491]

Nothing is more fun than a small piece of plywood, 2 cinder blocks, a can of cat food and some tannerite.....

 

[21H40]

It is about time. The only effective population control for them near me has been cars and trucks for too long.

Next big tread discussion: What caliber for Iowa racoons? Is 5.56 enough?

 

[Patocazador]

Although coons are overpopulated almost everywhere, the most wanted should be coyotes. Coons don't kill calves, fawns, or turkeys.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Although coons are overpopulated almost everywhere, the most wanted should be coyotes.

There has been an open season on coyotes in Iowa for decades now. There used to be a bounty on them in my county. That was dropped quite a few years ago, mostly because the girls at the courthouse hated cutting the ears off.

 

[BigBlue 94]

Same here for coyotes, also,oddly enough, rabbits.

Can only trap em during trapping season and only with a FB license. Can shoot em all year though and can even use vehicles and radios. If i remember right from my FB course... If furs were worth even my time, id pick it back up.

I have a resident population of corn fed fatty c00ns on my property that need dealt with.

Ive got a buddy down past Burlingame that shoots rocky all year long. But he has free ranging chickens and geese.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Yeah, I forgot that you can shoot coyotes year but only trap them during trapping season.

 

[buck460XVR]

In Wisconsin, landowners and/or occupants of the land can and could as long as I can remember, shoot/trap/kill raccoons on their land at any time of year, as long as it is legal in the local jurisdiction. I have a live trap and DP traps out everytime I am down at the cabin....and generally get at least one large coon every weekend. Used to be, I couldn't count the number of coon hunters I knew on both hands and my feet. Now, I couldn't tell you the name of even one. They have become the number one predator on ground nesters in the area and are the number one reason for the recent decline in Wild Turkey populations. There really needs to be a bounty on them of some sort, to promote a renewed interest in trapping/hunting them.

 

[Barbaroja]

I’m new to trapping and even though the fur is ALMOST worthless. I’m still putting it up to sell. It’s more for the fun of learning something new. The main focus is removing some the the predators from my area but I feel a touch of guilt in killing an animal and not harvesting something from it so I’m harvesting hides and starting to collect glands and urine from the carcass as well. It all has value. I understand I may be a bit of an oddball but I like what I like.

 

[IALoder]

It is about time. The only effective population control for them near me has been cars and trucks for too long.

Next big tread discussion: What caliber for Iowa racoons? Is 5.56 enough?

5.56 is nowhere large enough for the giant corn fed trash pandas here in IA!

All joking aside, I've found a .22mag with 40gr hp's to be quite effective.

 

[Obturation]

There's a kid about 19 or so that's a member of the same hunting lease as me. He only traps , for a living (so he says). I was shocked anyone is out here trapping for a living selling pelts and eating what he catches, let alone a young guy . might be more common in rural areas but we're in the Chicago suburbs .
I never seen raccoons by my house but I declared war on the skunks a few years ago, helped 9 find their forever home and have only seen 1 since. Skunks are my most wanted

 

[FL-NC]

Are the coons that big of a problem on their own in Iowa? I know pheasants and turkeys may be a concern, since I imagine the coons raid nests and kill poults. Here in Fl., we have plenty of coons that could be a turkey threat- but so are the armadillos, bobcats, hogs, possums, skunks, coyotes, foxes, and predatory birds like hawks.

 

[Jakemedic]

I shot a couple of raccoons out during the day last summer for my neighbor. 870 with whatever bird shot I had handy did just fine. They obviously were sick. Yes raccoons are a problem here. They get into my peach trees and into the garden too. There is quite a population of them here.

The coyotes are a problem as well. Heard a rabbit screaming the other night as it was getting killed. They are getting more bold here. Hearing them yip back and forth, quite close. Seen 3 on the road the other evening while I was outside with the dog.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

There's a kid about 19 or so that's a member of the same hunting lease as me. He only traps , for a living (so he says).

He must be eating and wearing them.

Are the coons that big of a problem on their own in Iowa?

I suspect DNR and law enforcement offices were bombarded with calls about raccoons in garbage cans and pushed for the open season.

we have plenty of coons that could be a turkey threat

Makes me wonder if coons could be trained to seek and destroy turkeys.

I shot a couple of raccoons out during the day last summer for my neighbor. 870 with whatever bird shot I had handy did just fine.

I have shot many with bird shot and 22lr, never thought they were very hard to kill.