I’m not sure if there’s an answer for this,,
But does anyone know why the larger, dryland coons prime up faster than their smaller counterparts? 3x coon and larger are usually prime ( not all) right now in my area…when caught in sets intended for coyotes or in dogproofs set up on timber ridges..

I’ve been trapping for over 45 years and I still don’t know why this is.

I have no idea. Our season opens this Saturday. I have been wondering if ours are getting prime yet or not?

Good question! Here are my two cents. I think the young of the year are still near the food sources they used during the summer and early Fall. That's why those early water sets produce smaller raccoons. Those smaller animals don't have the fat layers and prime later than their full-grown counterparts. They are still putting their energy into growing instead of priming up. Those full-grown raccoons especially the boars or barren sows put their energy into surviving the winter and prime up faster. Sounds good in theory.

Not that far from you probably 70 miles Sw . I don’t start till about thanksgiving week but I’m deer hunting also

No Idea, but the coon here are usually blue until after Thanksgiving....

The last 5 coon that were caught this last weekend are fur prime and the leather is going to dry white.
Not sure about the size of coon and the prime factor but I caught a dink Saturday and It's prime and leather is going to dry white. I find that sow coon seem to prime up later than the males I think it's due to rising a litter.
Primness is caused by less daylight and the pituitary gland.

My thoughts are this. Fur and hair are made up almost totally of protein and this older more mature coons don't need to use protein to grow bones, muscles etc. and other parts of the body that demand a lot of protein and thus less protein for fur development for a growing smaller coon. There could be other reasons as well.

Bryce

When I ran a river line, I found that 2x (medium sized ones) primed first over the dinks and larger ones.

Where is it written in stone that there are ridge coon and creek coon? I believe they are the same, just eating in 2 different places. Ive got dinks up high and monsters in the creeks. Dont forget a dry coon looks huge.

Good thinking. I believe this applies to other species as well.

Always found larger coons no matter where caught were more prime than smaller coons in the same areas

Prime depends who is talking.
Fox rancher ---> 4 days
Trapper/seller---> all season
Fur buyer---> never

Also depends on snow


job and warm rains.

I just used ridge coon as an example… usually ( but not always) the bigger coons tend to be running those timber ridges. At least that’s my experience.

It’s not just coon, beaver are the same way. I’ve heard a few different theories, but the only one that makes sense to me was -short version- the older they are, the quicker their biologically responds to the shortening of daylight hours.