Brothers hunt a 35-pound raccoon in Missouri, officials say. ‘That’s a monster’

Two brothers were hunting in Missouri when one of them killed a giant raccoon, officials said.

It was so big they called for a Worth County conservation agent to weigh it with a certified scale, according to a Dec. 16 Facebook post from the Missouri Department of Conservation.

The raccoon weighed in at 35 pounds, officials said, meaning it was 6.5 pounds heavier than the current record raccoon.

“Congratulations young man,” one person commented. “That’s a monster.”

“An absolute unit of a raccoon,” wrote another.

“Oh my that is a big one,” another Facebook user said.

Brothers Couper and Hunter Simmons won’t know if Couper’s harvested raccoon officially broke the record until the end of hunting and trapping season, when the new records are determined, officials said. The season is over at the end of February.

It’s likely to break the record, though, given that the current raccoon record holder was hunted about seven years ago in December 2015. Dennis Nelson hunted the 28 pound, 8 ounce raccoon in Gentry County.

If you think you’ve trapped a large furbearer, experts said you should contact the conservation department’s regional office in your area. Your kill must have been legal to qualify.

Raccoon hunting and trapping season in Missouri is open through Feb. 28.

Adult raccoon usually weigh 10 to 30 pounds, according to University of Missouri Extension Fish and Wildlife.

Worth County is in the northwest county of Missouri, about 120 miles northeast of Kansas City.