BigGameHoundsmen.com

Hey all,
Just wondering if it is legal to hunt Bobcats and lions and such at night in Idaho? I'm in Mt. and it's illegal to hunt cats at night here and it's a real pain in the hind end because that is sometimes the only time I would have to be out there....I'm considering a move to Idaho and just wondering if it is the same way there. Thanks

you can coon hunt at night but not cats

Basco ,you might want to check bobcats again?

According to all I have read and heard, you cannot hunt bobcat at night. Please educate me.

Where did you read this , they are fur beares like coon ,not game animals.
You can pursue them in lion season and kill them in trapping season when bobcats are open.

i am pretty positive you cant hunt bobcats at night. i just sorta skimmed over the regulations to make sure in case i was missing out on something lol but i never found where it was legal at night. only thing legal at night pretty much was coon. best thing to do is call fish and game.

It is vague, but I think this means no bobcat hunting at night...
It is Unlawful...
To hunt any animal or bird by aid of a spotlight, flashlight or artificial light of any kind; except unprotected or predatory animals on private land after obtaining written permission and on public lands after obtaining a permit. It is lawful to hunt raccoons on public lands without a permit if such taking is not in violation of state, county, or city laws, ordinances, or regulations.

Predatory wildlife is defined as the following species: coyote, raccoon, jackrabbit, skunk and weasel.

Bobcats are defined as furbearers.

Pretty loose definition, but I think if you are doing any night time bobcat hunting with the use of anything but moonlight, technically you're poaching.

I have asked several F&G officers this exact question and answers varied. One stated absolutely not and another said yes except that no artificial light can be used. If you could see the bobcat in tree w/o light you can harvest it. So basically you can run them all night but you cannot use artificial light at harvest.

Isn't it great when rules and regulations are so ambiguously written that even the authorities do not know how to interpret them! You just have to love lawyers!

Thanks for all the info guys, I'm slightly less confused than before..lol I guess I'll talk to the local warden about it when I get moved over there. Take care

Big N' Blue wrote:Isn't it great when rules and regulations are so ambiguously written that even the authorities do not know how to interpret them!

Think that's "ambiguous" you should try to decipher the Wolf trapping regs.
Does it fall under big game regs or fur bearer regs was never really answered when I took the mandatory eight hour class. One of the MEMSA members the sent to enlighten us suggested we load 30/06 bullets backwards to dispatch trapped Wolfs since there's a caliber restriction for big-game animals.
I left that class pretty confused, but with a whole new respect for the word "Nuance".

Back on topic,,, NO, you can't spotlight anything but Coon so unless the moon's REALLY bright, you're SOL.

I understand that you can't use a light but, can a guy go out and look for tracks and/or rig during the night and turn loose on the track before daylight? Then, after light, walk to the tree and kill the cat? How about for lion? Do you have to wait until daylight before turning a dog loose or can you let the dogs go and just hold the tree until its legal shooting time?

You cannot turn loose on a lion track until daylight. You can run bob's at night but cannot shoot with artificial light.

Ok. Is it 30 mins before daylight like deer hunting? If you head west at all and hunt near the Grangemont, let me know. I'll make some coffee.

cant knowingly turn out on a lion at night. can turnout and run bobs at night. have met wardens at night several times with harvested bobs with no issues over the years. two cell light are not considered spot lights. maybe the wardens ive met are not anal? at any rate ive been running and killing bobs in Idaho at night for many year without any problems from the law. p.s. its not the law you have to fret, its the wolves in idaho