The Guide to Buying the Best Coon Hunting Light
The best coon hunting lights are going to be geared towards nature's premier varmint: the raccoon. There are several key attributes that make a good coon hunting light, and we are going to discuss those attributes in detail. The first step in understanding what requirements to look for in a coon hunting light is to understand the animal itself.
Raccoons, commonly referred to as "coons", are nocturnal varmints that hang out near water sources and favor pecan trees. Their diet is largely dependent upon their environment, but for the most part they prefer fruit, nuts, plants, insects, berries, rodents, eggs, and fish among other items. In urban areas, coons will sift through garbage and eat just about anything they can get their paws on.
The Guide to Buying the Best Coon Hunting Light
Choosing a Light Color for Coon Hunting
Coons are very aware of their surroundings. They have great night vision, they are smart, and they can see white, blue and green colors very well. When hunting with any of these colors, if a coon is spotted, it is common for them to cover their eyes with their hands or to look away. Especially if the light source is relatively close. The one color coons have a hard time seeing is red. A red LED coon hunting light is the the best color light for coon hunting.
Functionality to Look for in Coon Hunting Lights
When far away, blasting a coon with a spotlight will probably not hurt your chances at finding the coon. Eventually, the coon will probably look away or re-orient itself so it is not blinded by the light. However, if you are up close (within 100 yards), this is a great way to spook a coon and trigger him to go down into the trunk of a tree or into his burrow. In order to prevent from spooking a coon, it is important to have adjustability intensity on your coon hunting light. When far away, the intensity can be dialed up just to see eye shine off in the distance. As you come in closer, the intensity will have to be dialed down so there is just enough eye shine to locate the coon but not enough to spook it. After all, if the coon believes he's not spotted, he will most likely carry on with business as usual.
Long Range LED Lights for Coon Hunting
Unless you are hunting with dogs, the likelihood you are up close and person with a raccoon while night hunting is minimal. When spotlighting coons at night, it is important that your coon hunting light is capable of shining long range. This has helped us many nights to find coons we would not have found otherwise. Shining a tree from a couple hundred yards away is the best method to locate the most cautious coons. A long range red coon hunting light will easily let you know how many coons are in the tree, and allow you to put a plan together on approaching the tree without spooking them to run to their burrow or into the trunk.
We mount Predator Cannon Light Bars on our side by sides to light up coons off in the distance. Once we get close, we'll dial the intensity of the coon hunting light way down and set the light up to flood the entire tree. Once we have eyes, we turn the intensity up and take our shot.
Where to Shine Your Lights for Coon Hunting
One of the most unique characteristics coons have is their sense of touch. Coons have highly developed nerves in the pad of their paws, and those nerves are even more precise when wet. Thus the reason coons are often seen wetting their paws or rolling their food in water, so they can better identify it. Coons primarily live in hollowed out tree trunks, rock crevices, or even burrows dug out by other animals. The best place to shine your coon hunting light is at the base of fruit- or nut-bearing tree branches, near hollow openings in the tree trunk, near water sources, feed bins, and fields or gardens that are full of crops.