I've got some public ground locations that I'd like to set some 160 boxes for raccoon.
Has any one had success using deep recessed boxes for raccoon?

I've had good success with recessed boxes and 160s. I think I got the building instructions from a NY DNR (or whatever they call it there) site back in the day. A bungee cord around the back linking the springs together is pretty important as it keep the set trap tight without rocking.

However, I would be a little hesitant on using them on well used public land. Even with the recessed nature of them, domestics can and will get into them. And they take up a good amount of space. Otherwise, they are pretty fun and effective. Pretty decent skunk and grinner takers. None of the folowing pics have any of them but I have a bunch.

Some samples of the results.

I have about four more pics that I want to share but the software has bugged out on me. Maybe later..

I caught 3 in a square bucket set last year using 160s. I wasn't even targeting raccoons. Should work fine.

Have done them horizontal and vertical and far and away prefer vertical. Pre-set and pre-bait them. Once trained to go in, they will race each other to see who gets whacked first.

Horizontal, they may setup shop at the mouth and try to reach in before going in. Vertical, if bottom of the box is only 4 inches off the deck, there is only one way in and that always results in a perfect strike behind the ears.

Recessed boxes work great for me only good coon is a dead coon and they are always dead in my 160 boxes. In Pa. we have strict laws regarding conibears so check your game laws.

Thanks for the responses guys.

HayDay, I'm not understanding ,
Are you saying the opening should be on the bottom 4 inches of the ground?

i think he means to screw the box to a tree, or whatever, with the open front 4-5 inches off the ground. coon has to crawl under and up into the box. excludes most all dogs that way, and eliminates reach-ins, which can be very common, and frustrating.

Thank you, I've had some reach in an horizontal boxes.

This is a vertical box setup in my barn. If larger than a 5 x 5, our body grips have to be inside a building and off the ground. But concept is the same. To get in, they have to be pushing forward with back feet, while pushing up with front feet and leading with their forehead. Still, they can slither under that 4" opening faster than water. Watching them on game camera video, only concern they seem to have is while dining in private is Charlie sneaking up on them. They back out often.......check the perimeter around them and if all is well, go back to it.

Box is modified to include a bait shelf, and to make it easy to place the bait, the closed up end is hinged. It recesses inside the sides. They don't even try to open the lid. I found you only need thicker solid wood for top and bottom to screw into. Sides can be thin plywood like 3/8".

As an aside, entry into that barn is thru a split box stall stable door. Bottom half is closed, top half left open. The door is about 6 feet or so to the right. Coons will step off top of door to that box stall transition from solid wood bottom to metal top. They walk down the side of that box stall wall standing upright on transition top, holding on to the metal bar uprights with front paws. Kind of a jungle gym side to side move. Others will climb to top of the stall and walk down the pipe, coming down face first. Coons are incredibly agile.

But if legal, you can do the same on ground outside. Lash the box to a tree or fence post or anything upright. In addition a good neck strike, it eliminates almost all non targets.

Nice

That's quite an engineering project there, HayDay. Nice action!!

I can see those for more fixed sites, such as your barn or your own woods. I don't know how deploy-able they would be in any numbers elsewhere. But they do look like a good way to keep major domestics out of the boxes.

P.S. Does anyone know why I could post 4 pics to this thread yesterday but then it appears to have bogged down and now it just goes black when I try to upload from my machine and won't progress? I've logged out and back in at least once.

Usually don't mention this much, but the vertical box wasn't my first idea. Went after a coon that was sneaking into an enclosed shop in that barn. Set a 160 Belisle in a square bucket. Good sized coon somehow managed to get shoulders past the trigger wires before the trap fired, and she got suitcased. I found her dead, but game camera I had setup to monitor things proved it took a while. Nothing I would ever want to repeat. Vertical method gets a good neck strike. They fall out the bottom and that is that.

Not clear from the photo, but the side lashed to the wall out of sight is longer than the other three. That is the 4 inch spacer to keep box up off the ground and carries all the weight. The tarp straps are just holding it in place to keep it from falling over. Once the boxes are built, that could be set anywhere. Even lashed to a wire fence at a trail crossing. But like a baited anything, works better if that is the destination and not on the trail to the destination.

Very cool explanation.

HayDay, that's cool.
My 160 boxes already have a 4 inch overhead top so I will try wiring some to some Russian olive trees that they are feeding at . They don't have a bait holder. But I'll try and run some screws through the sides to stick some bait on for a starter. I'll post the results in a week or so.
Thanks again for the replies.
I'll post pictures if I have success.

Bait shelf not very clear, but is a 3/4" x 1 1/2" with a 1/4" x 2" strip of plywood nailed to inside edge to create a lip. That is then held in place by drywall screws run thru the sides. Could do the same with 3 inch triangles in the corners. Helps to pre-bait them a bit to train em to not fear the box. When bait is reliably gone, time to set traps. Bait is normal stuff......dry cat food, marshmallows, etc.