Missed my first bandit.

[Furseeker]

Well guys I blew my first opportunity at a big bandit last night. I talked one of the dairy farm workers yesterday and he mentioned the raccoons have been pulling nightly raids on the corn and silage piles. He said they were becoming so brave as to simply move out of the way of the front loader when he pulls into the silage pits to mix feed. Upon hearing that me and my boy decided to go check things out at the farm after dark last night, and sure enough we were met with shining eyes when we hit the silage pit with the spot light. The shot was only about 20 to 25 yards and I could have swore the crosshairs were firmly settled between his eyes when the shot went off. At the shot the bandit hit the after burners and was behind the silage pit quickly, but I didn’t know if he flipped over because he was in such a hurry or if he was hit. But he came around the other side and made his escape before I could get loaded for a second shot and he looked pretty healthy the entire time. I can’t help but think if the CPHP had found it’s mark or even near where I was aiming the critter would have went down from the power of the 350.

I’m currently just sitting here waiting for a little more time to pass and then I will head back down for a chance at redemption. I will be armed with the same gun and be a little more humble this time so hopefully I will have some pictures to go along with the next post.

My question to some of you other night hunters is this. If I go down there and rig up some sort of lighting around the usually dark corn pile will the raccoons still come in after they get use to the newly lit up areas? And what type of lighting rigs do some of you guys use?

[RedFeather]

I think you is in the wrong section.   

[Furseeker]

I wondered where this post went, can one of the Mods move it to the hunting gate please?

[longislandhunter]

Moved your post for ya.  Sorry to hear the bandit got away.  A few years ago I used to do a lot of night hunting for deer when I was on a local farmers nuisance permit and one thing I learned very quickly is that your ability to judge distance accurately is severely affected at night, even though you're using a spot light.  The tendency is to judge the distance further than it really is.  You wouldn't think this would be the case but it is, things just look further away than they actually are when in reality they are much closer than you perceive them to be.  When I first started my night time nuisance permit shooting I couldn't believe how many deer I kept missing.  One night I missed what I thought was an easy shot at a big doe.  I came back the next morning in normal daylight, went to the exact spot where I took the shot from and paced off the distance to the spot where the deer had been standing and was shocked at how much closer the deer had actually been compared to my distance estimation in the dark earlier that night.  I got better with experience and after  a while my night time shooting got very accurate.  My long winded point is, perhaps you misjudged the distance due to the darkness and  held dead on target instead of holding a bit high to compensate for the closer range ?  

Anyway, I'm sure you'll get another shot at him

Jeff

[JimH]

With respect to lights.  My night time raiders will run off if I turn the flood light on while they are feasting on my seed, but if I leave the light on they come right on in and present themselves in the bright light.  So if you can get there early and set up your lights my guess is they'll keep coming.

[longislandhunter]

Ed (Shadow) sets up lights on  game trails during his night hunts, I'm sure he can advise you as to the best set up.

Jeff

[only1harry]

Dave, light up the area well.  They will come and feed, but never turn on a strong light when they are feeding.  They will take off with the sudden change.  What I would do is practice at that distance where you think the coons will be and practice a lot.  CPHP's have "frequent fliers" (not miles, hehe), so that's probably what happened.  You might have had a "bad" pellet.  I usually get 1 out of 12 or 15 that shoot way off.  Have you tried 15.8gr JSB Jumbo or 14.3 Express?  They are a lot more consistent.

[Atchman2]

Another thing I've learned after missing a few is to go out during the day and pace off your blind and shooting are for the range. 

I took some of those raccoon targets I made and put them on the game trail and took a few practice shots.  Found out that at the range I was shooting the gun was shooting high.  That is because I'm normally shooting down from my deck, once I got on the flatter ground the zero was off.  It was an easy adjustment and the next night was when I got my first one! 

The other thing is with a 350, you need to practice shooting like you are going to shoot while hunting. This seems self-evident, but if you forget and rest it directly on something it is going to shoot high.  On top of that the juices are flowing, the blood is pumping, and your hold and your grip are the last thing you are thinking about.  

Of course WE WANT PICTURES preferably video, but we'll take stills.  

[shadow]

Yup get your yard's set so you know what range your shooting at and I would go there during the day to set all this up. It sounds like the Bandit's are pretty fearless and I would strap several lamp's to the feeding area the Bandit's won't mind. Turn your lighting on at dusk and once in your snipping spot you can keep glassing the area to get your eyes adjusted to viewing a scope at night with lamps in the distance. Remember to place you lamps high enough so that when you glass the area you don't get a direct glare of the lamp's. I use two simple headlamps with strap's and just strap them to the tree's and adjust the intensity of light. As Jeff mentioned things like distances can through you off so get your yardage down. Here's a simple layout of how I have my blind and lamp's set up in the wood's click on pic to enlarge. Ed

[Furseeker]

First off thanks for getting the post moved to the correct forum. And thanks to everyone for all the advice and replys. I'm sure the was a little "buck fever" going on with the first ever bandit in my sights. As far as turning on a light when their already there goes, you guys are 100% correct. I went down again last night and as soon as I shined the light in the pit I saw 2 more raccoons in there and they shifted it into high gear the minute the light went on. One smaller one and one giant one came busting out of there in a hurry, no time for a shoot and I didn't want to risk a bad hit so I just watched them run off. But I gotta think the way they took off one of them was from the other night and as soon as he saw the light he thought "I know what's coming next" and he decided to get the *(&^ out of there. I will rig up some lighting system and make sure it's on before dark. It might take a few days for them to get use to it, but I've seen 6 raccoons in the last 2 nights so I have high hopes still. Thanks guys, keep the suggestions coming please.

[longislandhunter]

sounds like all you have to do now is start getting together some raccoon recipes

Jeff

[The Knot]

lights are great if on yes like others say they will come and feed and sometimes 2 or 3 at a time a sudden light will always scare them but they will come back if left on good luck .Your getting one for sure