A buyer in Pa held a heaviest contest.
If I remember right, all the 40s and most 30s
COON
Shrunk
Hugely
In
Transit
to that guys shop.

This season half of mine are 3x or better.
How where and when I trap has a big effect on this.

Long Island,i fleshed a bunch of coon from here,coney island-duck farms and such.the coon were not only huge but pretty colored to boot.i broke 30 once in pa and never close again but that one in 30 yrs.

Freakishly huge is right!!

These were the only two I got that were 30+

I've only caught 3 coons. I hate skinning them so I don't try and catch them since I only trap as a hobby. My smaller 2 were around 20 and 25 while my bigger one weighed 36 pounds.

Don't know if NAFA still uses the 6X grade, but when they did 2013-2014, I was usually getting a couple Northern MN in that lot. Had to stretch 41 inches I believe.

Here are a couple big ones. LLL

I call them saucer butts.

bucket butts here.

Yep, a lot of guys who've caught plenty in the 40 lb category have never actually weighed them.

I recall one guy on her awhile back claiming he took 3 coon out of a farm house with 4" walls that were over 40.

I caught ONE at 40 years back and had to pry its head out of a #220. Just short of having to grind the rivets out of the jaws. And we wonder why the bigguns go around, under or over a #160.

The biggest coon, I've ever seen was in the city, behind a dumpster. I've also taken my best coon behind a city restaurant dumpster years ago. Would be good for a dozen of the nicest coon I'll ever see, every year.

I don't catch much fur because I'm a hobbyist who doesn't have a lot of time at present but I do live in good coon country according to the NAFA grades I get. The largest on an old bathroom scale with me holding it was in the high 20s. I don't think I've sent an easy 5XL to auction yet but I'll take a 4XL "linebacker" coon in the 22-24 lb range anyday over a 2xl beach ball. I don't have a buyer yet for excess coon fat...

i am eager to go out and see my sons place in Minot and the area around it,just saying.plus he spends everyday driving around the state on the AF's dime so he should know a little.

What I found on very large coons is stretched out belly fur. Lol

And on the males the tail was always damaged on either being bit off or scar tissue.

I believe that's from breeding season from other males but that's just a guess.

Got an Alabama coon one time at a feed lot that went 24 pounds and went almost 8 in wide at base and 37 long at the end of hide. Look like a darn coyote. Because of all the deer feeders in the woods now days we're trapping more and more coons over 32 in.

How long are your boards?

There is a yard stick beside it. I believe those boards are 56" and are wider than my normal board. They are for my "big" coon. LLL

I don't target coon. The ones I get are big ridge runners I get in my coyote sets. I don't know what they weigh but they will stretch 4x-5x. I get a few that go 6x. A 6x is 41 inches. I have taken a few that stretch a couple inches bigger than that.

Back when George Sovy was buying coon in the late 70's he paid by the lb ($1 a lb) and was still disgusted that he had to pay $45 for a coon that lived next to a broiler chicken operation. Had a belly chock full of dead chicken! (That would have been in Washington).

i've also caught hundred pound beaver til i got them on the scales.with them the weight seems to greatly increase in comparison with the distance from the truck.

I've done some too and your exactly right beav they're awful.

must be like mississippi beaver.