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I was surprised to learn that there's night hunting allowed in some states in the US?
Did you know anything about it?
Would there be interest in ON if it were allowed?
With large number of coyotes around perhaps the MNR would consider allowing night hunting?
It will never happen here in Ontario.....just too many things that could go wrong. The cons would not out way any benefits. It is hard enough to find a place to hunt during the day, I can't see too many landowners agreeing to go around shooting on their land at night.
Shotgun might be a viable option, but rifle hunting, never. It would only take one incident to occur and more hunting land would be taking away from us and it's tough enough to get permission as it is..... Besides, how many would even take advantage of if it? I don't think we have very many raccoon hunters around and they are the only ones that can hunt at night now....
Personally I wouldn't support such a thing in my area... but that's just me....
Landowners (farmers and/or their agents) are the only people who may shoot Coyotes/predators at night and only to protect their livestock. Other than Racoon hunters hunting during the open season,hunting at night will get you hung up by the short curlies.
Done in the States with lamps, and NV scopes... Always been in same general areas that I hunt in daylight so know where there are possible problems.
Sitting against a bank or hill when it's so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face, and the dogs start to howl can make you want to start digging a hole and pull a big rock over you...
In Nevada night hunting is legal for lots of things.. an air rifle or a .22 makes short work of those little long eared garden raiders.. Nothing like spending a couple hours sniping hares out of a rest area for the local officers. The hares dig holes in and around the rest area's lawn, people trip or twist their ankles in the holes....Guess who has to take a report and file paperwork when an injury gets reported?
If you subscribe to/read any of the Varmint Hunting magazines such as Predator Extreme, or Varmint Masters , you will find that there is a lot of "night hunting " done for predators in the U.S., and it seems to be quite a successful way of hunting them , but it won't happen here in Canada.
They let us hunt coon's at night why not yot's?
Thanks for the input so far. What's up with the attitude 'they won't let us'?
They did open doves.
People are resistant to change - regulators, hunters, landowners, but it can be done.
If safety is a concern, perhaps only hunting over bait should be allowed. The bait and sitting position are usually (hopefully always) set in such a way that any shooting happens in the safe direction.
Night hunting is allowed in some densely populated countries, like UK. It's open in some other European countries and not just for predators. Night vision (while expensive) made huge progress in the last couple decades.
if you're serious about any predator hunting, you have to consider night hunting.
it can be done very safely including rifle hunting.
I've done fox, deer and boar night-hunting overseas and the only dangerous thing I can think about is to fall asleep and freeze your toes off or fall out of the stand!
Regarding safety; There are a lot of people going to various booze camps every year that I would prefer not to see handling a firearm - day or night... A drive in dense bush during open season is at least as dangerous if you don't identify your target. So the problem is not the light, but trigger happy idiots.
However, I think it will be an uphill battle, because of public (city) opinion and that police/MNR who would not want to respond to shots in the woods in the middle of the night.
And don't forget, you know you cannot see colours (incl. blaze orange) at night. So, they would have to amend the regs on how much reflective material you have to wear. With the bureaucracy involved in that alone it'll take 'em a decade!
Blaze orange is only required during open gun seasons for big game,so really,that doesn't enter into the equation. Hunting,whether it's at night or otherwise,doesn't take place in cities,so,they have nothing to say,either (thankfully). Predator hunting at night would be a hoot. I think it's a concept worth exploring.Quote:
Originally Posted by Waftrudnir
I have done it in South Africa for bushpig over bait and this summer we will be hunting Hyena. Certainly over bait there is no issue with safety because you know exactly what you are shooting at. I have used night vision, thermal and spotter lamps. Safety is safety regardless of the time of the day. We also use suppressors which helps keep the noise down in the middle of the night (not that it really matters where we hunt as there are few to no people around), but could be a consideration for Southern Ontario.
Only with .22 rimfire. Since most coon hunting is done with dogs, you're shooting treed coons with a .22 which is considerably safer than shooting across a field with a CF rifle.Quote:
Originally Posted by fishhawk
I hunt my raccoons over bait at night. Still have the dog for tracking, just a lot nicer sitting 50 yards or so from a feeder bucket and shooting them on the ground. Warmer too for my old pup.. she just lays on her dog bed and I cover her with a heavy blanket.. cover myself too.Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche
suppressor are illegal in Canada, but it's a good point, they're used in the UK for night hunting and I think Aus and NZ allow them.Quote:
We also use suppressors which helps keep the noise down in the middle of the night
Even in Europe at least some countries allow them.
I have never really understood why we can't have them in Canada. They reduce noise and recoil, generally allowing better accuracy. My wife's shooting definitely improves with our suppressed rifles over there. I have them on the .308 and the .300 Win MAG and thoroughly enjoy shooting them. I will be using the .300 on a night hunt for Hyena this summer!
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I think it is because Canada views them to be the tools of criminals.Quote:
Originally Posted by KMG Canada
I think even having rifles with threaded barrels to accommodate this is banned here.
They view just about anything to do with a firearm as tools of criminals..Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche