I need some education on coon and water sets.

Is it preferable to have a set drown a coon?

Is a trap (#1 1/2 coil or long spring) heavy enough to drown a coon or should a slide wire/cable with a lock be used and how deep should the water be?

Ok, the water depth part of the question was dumb and after thinking on it I figured it out, so never mind that part of my earlier question.

But I would still like to know if a #1 1/2 size trap is heavy enough to hold a raccoon down or does that always require a slide wire/cable?

I have zero experience trapping raccoons near water (and not much land trapping experience for that matter).

Yes it is preferable to drown a coon if your trapping next to water, a 1 1/2 can drown a coon in the right situation but I like using a slide wire,


I like the water to be about 2 foot when drowning coons, and I use double jaws on my coon traps, and i really like 11 long springs for coon.

If you dont want your set location destroyed, youll want to drown em. Not that they wont partially destroy it before going down the wire.

Good info, thanks for the help.

Hopefully, this weekend will be my first soirée trapping coon in/near water. I have some 1 1/2 coil and long springs I’m itching to set.

Good luck.

As a beginner trapper, I cannot offer the same caliber of advice, but what I can do is tell you what i've learned from the month i've been trapping in and around water. If you set a trap in sand, I like to put some sort of footing so the trap wont sink and not fire. There may be some other kind of voodoo magic to prevent this from happening, but sandy grit will prevent the trap from firing so just something to think about. Also, There are only a few areas where I could technically drown a raccoon, but it's really close, so most of the time I just anchor him real close to the water line reverse setting the drowning rig. I cannot use a firearm or bb gun to put my animals down, so I just always have a good beaver stick and hit them in the top of the head 1-2 times. You want to aim at the part where it starts to slope down into the back of the coon's head, that is going to cause a ring fracture immediately and make him lights out instantly, or send him into the muscle spasm mode..Both render the raccoon unconscious instantly, and are some of the most humane methods.

Goodluck, let us know!

Thanks fellas.

I'm headed for a spot along a river bottom this weekend that may be pretty swampy (hope my waders are ok). It will be interesting.

When it's cold, you don't need to drown them. If they can't get out of the water they will expire from hypothermia. It only takes a few inches of water.

That's good to know. It's supposed to be cold this weekend

I caught a coon last week in a beaver castor mound set. He got into an MB750 and went down the rod.
Go figure...

I rarely use drowning sets. It's very fast and easy to make a pocket set and just anchor the trap with a disposible stake. The big soft ground berkshires on about 30 inches of cable will hold anywhere - no wasted time trying to get rebar to hold. An anchored in place coon will rearrange your location, but it is easy to kick out or dig another hole.

I'm loading the truck when I get home this evening so I can head out first thing in the morning. I figure between the forecast and the new area (swampy river bottom) tomorrow ought to be interesting.

Spot on. No need to drown them unless you are using extended check times.

No extended check times here (24 hours) so the disposable stakes will make life easier.

Good luck. IMO a blown up pocket, re-dug after a catch, adds a lot of sight appeal for raccoons, so I don't see it as a bad thing. Another tip, squirt fish oil over the pocket like it's free, a big thick rainbow that leaks down in the water and sends an "oil slick" down the creek will draw coons to your set.