Bow-hunting raccoons, legal or not?

FiReSTaRT

FiReSTaRT

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Right off the bat, I'll tell you that the situation is hypothetical.. While I have yet to repair the wiring damage that they caused and it'll take a while for the flies to stop feeding on whatever they left under the deck, I found the entry point (they pulled out a board that was just nailed in) and blocked it while the family was out, so I don't need to kill'em.. I was just reading up on ways to get rid of them, and the city site stated that it was illegal to hunt'em because discharging firearms is illegal in Toronto.. Well, a bow is not a firearm, the city won't help the homeowners and animal control service charge in the ballpark of $500 to catch it and release it back in my yard, neither of which is a good option for most homeowners. While it was easy for me to complete the exclusion process, some other homeowner might benefit from the ability to just hunt'em down with a bow and arrows and let the animal services pick up the carcasses. Assuming it's done safely and legal, of course :cool:
 
Get yourself a racoon trap. Trap it and move the trap to a farmers front yard. The farmer will be concerned for the raccoons welfare and will immediately book it an appointment with Dr. 22.
 
DaveOke said:
Get yourself a racoon trap. Trap it and move the trap to a farmers front yard. The farmer will be concerned for the raccoons welfare and will immediately book it an appointment with Dr. 22.
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Trapping and moving raccoons is illegal, believe it or not

SLaP said:
A shovel isn't a firearm either...
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Yeah, but there are circumstances when you can hunt with a bow within city limits and be in the clear. That's why I'm asking.. As for that guy, he was whacking them with a shovel and wasn't very effective with it, so it did turn into a bit of torture
 
I wouldn't even think of it in the city...
Back home, we are in town. Have a nice big back yard that slopes in to a hill.
This hill is enough to stop any arrows that might miss our target, but the neighbours don't like it, and if they called the cops I'm quite sure I'll be on the losing end of that battle. We only shoot in the fall to tune the bows up and knock the cobwebs off for Deer season.

As for shooting coons with a bow... Are we talking something with some power? Or a cheapo fiberglass kids bow from crappy tire.
The cheapo would do nothing but torture the animal, but it would kill it. A compound bow, well the arrow would just rip through and not even slow down and who knows what trajectory it will be on as it comes out the other side.

Plus, you have to be a decent shot to hit something coon size, it's not nearly as easy as shooting a gun... I was once in the top few in the youth age group in ontario at 3-D archery competitions.

With all the yuppies you have in the GTA I wouldn't try it.

Funny note. A buddy of mine had skunk problems at his house here on base (like a subdivision). Goes outside and blows it in the head with a 12 gauge in his back yard. Wasn't long before the MPs showed up and confiscated his fire arms lol.
 
^^ I came home on foot one night last summer and noticed skunk smell. a home owner took a shovel to one and then dropped the carcass off across the street into a baseball diamond trash can. I don't think the police were called, and I can't say whether or not the animal suffered, or whether the guy doing the whack-a-mole got sprayed.
 
DaveOke said:
Get yourself a racoon trap. Trap it and move the trap to a farmers front yard. The farmer will be concerned for the raccoons welfare and will immediately book it an appointment with Dr. 22.
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10-4, or maybe 410....
 
if you end up going urban coon bow hunting can I come along?
 
Update: The coon is determined. The board was screwed in decently (I didn't wanna go TOO crazy as I'll have to remove it again to fix the wiring) but she still pried it off and I'm sure they're all under the deck. Time to bust out some ammonia, my work-light and ask my neighbors if they wouldn't mind putting up with a bit of 24hr talk radio... Still not planning on going medieval on their *****...

As for the bow thing.. What about a crossbow? Wouldn't it be easier to handle in a suburban setting?
 
Crossbows shoot harder than compound bows, more expensive, but generally easier to shoot. Still way overkill, the coon will hardly slow down the bolt as it comes out the other side.

There used to be small crossbows, they looked like toys but were actually serious little weapons and would for sure kill a coon, but I'm pretty sure they are illegal now.
 
My yard would be perfect for this due to its size, topology and being fenced off. I'm still personally in favor of an exclusionary solutions but would like to see other homeowners have more options.
 
Go to Lee Valley and buy a CatStop. It's a motion sensitive ultrasonic 120Db siren. It's the only thing that has consistently worked to keep raccoons out of my yard. They're around $55, but I spent around that much in ammonia, pepper mixes and all other sorts of crap that just didn't work. Although some chicken wire might help in your situation too.

I'm right with ya on the bow idea though. I considered staying up one night to greet them with my paintball gun
 
Explosive tip bows then? Seeing as how anything else wouldnt slow them down..im sure that would.
 
In my case, as long as they're out of the shelter, I'll make SURE they don't come back. I took a few shortcuts because I knew I had to take out the board later to fix the wiring, but this time around, I'll go extra-redundant on it and deal with the consequences later. It'll take very little work to have a permanent solution, without resorting to loud noises that'll (rightfully) piss off my neighbors.
 
The catstop thing is ultrasonic; people can't hear it. Just wasn't sure if your 'loud noises' comment was referring to that or the explosive tipped arrows. =)

But like you mentioned, it should be much easier to block them out of a nesting site than to keep them out of the yard entirely
 
racoons ALWAYS return to a family nest.....every generation....
there a machine when it comes to getting themselves back into their nest area
if there is any ****, (they always **** near where they sleep)....get rid of it
the stink.....it acts as a scent beacon to them and all their relatives to come over, have sex and party all day
after 2 years, you'll have many coons around......forever...or
1 dig hole
2 get dressed in camo
3 kill coon at night (get night vision cams....a neat toy)
4 bury
5 rinse and repeat

6 oh ya....piss around your house yourself to keep them away also....
 
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Sniper riffle with a silencer no one will ever know.

Ask jamie how he used to hunt in his backyard. He has videos.
 
just get a paintball gun and fire a few shots at them. should scare them away and they don't get hurt. just dial the FPS on the gun back so it's doesn't shoot too fast.
 
gixxer_flexx said:
Explosive tip bows then? Seeing as how anything else wouldnt slow them down..im sure that would.
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He's not talking about stopping the coon, hes talking about the bolt, the arrow.

I'm a ROPSSAA archery champ ;) Maybe I rambo your yard? Never killed something before though...save for that guy who step on the grass. NEVER step on the grass dawg
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