Ran into a farmer the other day who mentioned how much damage the coons were doing to his corn crop. He said he was there one evening with night vision stuff and observed what he thought may have been over 100 going at it. Harvested almost no corn from that field (maybe 20 to 30 acres). Am aware of another guy who planted over 5 acres of sweet corn for himself and the neighborhood, and coons got almost all of that. Like 90% of it. Field was just riddled. Party animals came from miles around.

Historically, that would be a gold mine for a fur trapper, but not today. So in that scenario, what would be a reasonable amount to ask the guy to pay per coon.........and then what do you do with them? Guess this question applies to those doing this type of work for some of the hunting clubs, etc. How do you handle it? Considering the size of this one farm, we could be talking 300 to 500 coon. He has nearly 1000 acres in a near perfect coon habitat location.

Also, most of this would likely be done outside of trapping season as that is then the damage occurs. What would be the legal / trapping regulation issue to avoid any imperial entanglements with fish and game?

My plan would be to outfit a young man living in the area with traps and putting him to work for the landowner.

There's going to be a large difference in price between a young guy looking for side cash and a professional ADC guy with a legit buisness and overhead.

Probably be best to find someone willing to do it for deer hunting permission or something like that.

We got farmers that complain about severe deer damage, but won't pay a nickel to fix it.....so there's that.

Seriously doubt there would be that many coon on 1000 acres. If that were the case I'd say distemper outbreak only days away.

I'm seeing several dead and sick coon here now and not that near thick.

Agree with Donnersurvivor about pro and someone with little experience.

well back in the day when coon where still some what still worth actually targeting and they sold them i actually hunted two similar farms the one i did some work at and noticed the damage and got exclusive hunting and trapping rights even dated the daughter for a bit the other one i had hunting rights and kept my hounds there for free(25 at one time) by the time i was done there the farmer had no damage but than the coon prices went to crap and the auction houses couldnt move them both farms have been sold since than one turned into a sod farm the other has tons of damage again but and the guy deer hunts himself so cant even justify doing it for the fur because he has no desire to let anyone into hunt/or trap

but if your looking for access to trap the 1000 tell them your going to target the coon along with with the coyotes this will get you almost on farm at least you will have full traps off the start

Charge by the day, not the animal. Or if you charge by the animal, charge enough where it’s going to be worth it for you to stay and get the last couple. Landowners think they want you to charge by the animal so they get their moneys worth, but that encourages the trapper to take the cream and let the tough ones stay because it becomes unprofitable to keep coming back for a handful. But maybe he would be ok with that since a few coons are going to do less damage than a few beavers

Habitat is a creek bottom......at confluence of a large feeder creek. There are mature woods (den trees galore) on both sides of meandering creek.......wooded area runs 1/4 to 1/2 mile wide and at least 10 miles in both directions..........feeder creek runs for at least 5 miles upstream. So there is going to be backfill of any coon you are going to take out of there.

Kid in question is about 15 and has an interest in trapping, but is not going to do it for free........nor is he going to try to make an ongoing business out of it....at least not at this stage in his life.

My thought would be a bounty of $10 per coon..........then see if kid and farmer could agree. If farmer says no, guess he gets to live with the damage. May have to switch to beans and wheat.........except deer would hammer the beans and geese would probably wipe out the wheat. Farming inside what amounts to a wildlife sanctuary/paradise is tough.

BTW, this is a family farm........guy bought out his distant relatives......who allowed any and all to hunt on it. So guy has is tasked with cleaning up and getting control of what amounts to public hunting and trespass issues. Finding people in deer stands and no clue who they are.......and guys in deer stands having no clue on whose land they are hunting.

His sentiment at the moment is hunters are causing him more problems than the wildlife is. Trying to get rid of both and not finding it easy to do. I told him his solution was probably to lease it......but to the right people.......and let them help him clean it up.

15 year old kid with no trapping experience will not accomplish much.

Don't think I would want to do anything for a guy that sat there with night vision on, watched 100 coons destroy his crop, and do nothing about it himself...........maybe he should not be a farmer if he went to the trouble of locating the problem and doing nothing about it upon discovery........I am only quoting back what you told us.

Can trap until April 14th and again August 1. Generally most corn damage will not occur until corn is in milk stage - likely in August.

Ide do it for $10 a coon if the numbers are what you say, just toss 10 dozen dog proofs out and check them on the way to work, with no skinning involved it'd take mins a day to make over a grand a week

check your state laws

in WI I need a signed statement defining , when , where and for what duration and what species I am trapping as an agent of the land owner.

notice the line where they are also giving me full permission to shoot , they can always set limits I just make it easy to give me all the access.

I made it super simple a worksheet

Trapping & Hunting Permission

I
______________________________________________________________________
Owner or lessee of

______________________________________________________________________
Property(s)
Phone _____________________________________________

Hereby Give permission to Pete and Jak
my address and phone number here . to hunt and or trap.


Open season
all open season species or select from list all that apply by circling
Deer Rabbit Pheasant Raccoon Coyote beaver muskrat mink weasel ermine
game birds possum
unprotected species other___________________


Nuisance or during closed season
(select from list all that apply by circling)
Raccoon Coyote skunk pigeon crow beaver muskrat mink weasel ermine possum
unprotected species other ______________________

I am also giving permission for Pete and Jak to shoot in and around my buildings including my primary dwelling.

Permission is extended from Date ___________________ to _____________________

Signature _____________________________________________________________

Date ___________________

I get that, but in this case, it may have something to do with the farmer......in this case a squared away kid in his 40's, owns hundreds of acres himself......farms thousands with his dad and that is a sideline. He runs a commercial business when not farming. Told me has never owned a gun in his life......no time for it. I'd put it in same category of drug addict or drunk........first step to doing something about it is discovery you have a problem. I told him I'd help him out with the weapons part, but that still does not help him with the time factor, and I live too far away to be of any help with trapping or plugging myself.

He has concluded he can live with most wildlife damage and that being less of a concern to him than liability and nuisance of public trespass on his land........but the coon damage was another thing entirely. He was having serious heartburn over that.

If he's already there observing with night vision, how much more time does it take to pop a bunch?
I get being busy, but still...

Lose the fur trapping mindset of body counts and pelts put up.

The primary goal is problem resolution, and that may not even require trapping. For instance, if he changed crops would he still have a coon problem?

The job of a good nuisance wildlife guy is to explore all options and offer the best solution based upon the facts in play. That may be trapping, shooting, and site manipulations such as crop rotation/fencing/exclusion/hazing, toxicants, etc.

As such, you are being paid for your knowledge and labor, not how many pelts you put on a stretcher. It's a different mindset.

Also, why landowners struggle with the idea of paying for a service they once got for free when pelts were actually worth something. Their mindset needs to change as well.

Both sides here need to put pen to paper, break out the calculator, and nickel and dime out the the whole thing and do a cost analysis on it.

BTW, it sounds to me like the controlled lease is his better option. Get in a bunch of hunters that will be tasked with and have incentive to patrol the property against trespass. That same lease can as per lease requirement have them cost share wildlife management to include trapping (particularly if one of the wildlife goals is turkey/waterfowl).