A Meadow Heights extracurricular: Coon hunt night

Meadow Heights High School FFA is hosting its 20th annual youth coon hunt Saturday beginning at dusk, with $1,000 worth of rewards in store for those who �tree� and bring back their prized raccoons.

Raccoons are nocturnal animals and a special dog breed of coonhounds is responsible for running the prey up into a nearby tree. This assists the capture and killing of the animal by the hunter.

Meadow Heights High School FFA adviser and agriculture education instructor Sarah Burgfeld said there are usually about 80 participants each year, including youth and adult supervisors.

�I�ve had 100 people in the building before,� she said. �The basis of having it is to support youth hunting.�

Burgfeld said in recent years, hunters have even traveled from Illinois to join in.

Hunters from associations including Castor River Coon Hunters Club and Daisy Coon Hunters Club participate from year to year, she said.

For the entirety of the event�s duration, Castor River Coon Hunters have sponsored the event, Burgfeld said.

�I�m not a coon hunter; my dad was. ... You go after dark and take dogs with you,� she said. �They have headlamps, and basically follow the dogs. The dogs will tree [the raccoons] and then they�ll shoot them.�

The students will bring their harvested raccoons back to the school, at or before midnight, and scores will be tallied.

�At midnight, we stop weighing,� Burgfeld said.

The evaluated raccoons are divided into four categories, she said, each worthy of a prize: largest sow coon, largest boar coon, smallest sow coon and smallest boar coon.

�We separate them by male and female. The smallest and largest of each get first pick of prizes,� Burgfeld said. �We have a couple tables of prizes; sometimes it�s shock collars, GPS systems, and we have smaller things like dog food.�

She said each year there are usually enough prizes for everyone who buys a ticket, including adults and children.

Large, online suppliers donate the prizes for the event, Burgfeld said.

�My students are responsible for going out and asking for items,� she said. �We�ve gotten hats, bags, scopes, gun ammunition. Anything related to hunting, people have donated.�

Food also will be available at the event.

�We�re going to have chili, stew, ham and beans this year,� Burgfeld said. �We have a gentleman who�s part of Castor River Coon Hunters who cooks it all, with big roasting pans full of chili or stew,� she said.

Last year�s winners were: Matthew Yamnitz with the largest sow, 16.8 inches; Michael Wolfe with the smallest sow, 3.15 inches; Lauren Strong with the largest boar, 21.4 inches; and Wyatt Hamlin with the smallest boar, 5.8 inches.

Cost to participate is $5 at the door.

jhartwig@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632