I had coons eat the corn without taking it off the stock...nasty creatures...in the country 20 or 12 gage work...But best is a live trap, bated with jam or jelly in an empty margarine tub(you only need a couple of spoonfulls of jam) ...just make a hole in the margarine tub and tie it to the bottom of the cage...they get smart and reach over and pull the margarine tub out without triggering the trap lever...then drown them...nasty predators, I hate them, as they ate more of my chickens than I did. The will also kill rabbits and cats if they can..carry rabies...and eat any barnyard fowl..except geese. My live trap has been used for years, by me on the farm and also in the counry, (no farm) my son’s have borrowed it for use in sub-divisions. You don’t need the large one, a medium size one works, the small one is way too small. A good investment. I think they run about 30-40 dollars..
Thanks. Good to know.