I thought I remember reading there were specific laws in MA regarding coyotes or predators and shooting them. My question is; is there such laws? Is it specific only if you have livestock? Would a state law supercede a town bylaw that prohibits firing firearms?
Do you have a hunting license? If you do then you should be intimately knowledgeable of the hinting laws. 500 feet from an occupied building 150 feet from a road. If you don't have a hunting license.........you should get one before you hunt. 37 mgl if I read it right states you need to gain authorization from the director before taking any animals without a license or out of season (did I read that right?). Shooting a coyote is hunting.......no bag limit but there are seasons and hunting implement rules to abide by even on your property as it is a game animal in mass.
for example as we are in the middie of shotgun deer season using a rifle on a coyote right now is a no no......only shotgun with slug, sabot or buckshot.....or a muzzle loader is legal on coyote until shogun season deer season is over. additionally use of calls both electronic and manual as well as dogs is suspended during shotgun deer season. Read the hunting regs not just the mass general law with respect to setback limits........its a game animal and there are other rules.
from the fish and game website
Hunting hours
Hunting hours begin ½ hour before sunrise and end at midnight. There are two exceptions for this:
- Hunting hours start at sunrise and end at sunset on WMAs stocked with pheasant or quail during the pheasant or quail season
- Hunting hours start ½ hour before sunrise and end ½ hour after sunset during shotgun deer season
Click here for a sunrise/sunset table.
Required licenses and permits
To hunt coyote in Massachusetts you must have certain licenses and permits, which you can
buy through MassFishHunt.
Massachusetts residents:
- Hunting or sporting license
- No additional permits
Non-residents:
- Small game or big game license
- No additional permits
Bag limits
None
Hunting zones
All wildlife management zones
Hunting implements
Shotguns: Only shot sizes up to and including FF (.230 inches diameter). Slugs, single balls and buckshot may only be used during the shotgun deer season.
Archery equipment: Archery tackle is legal, with no minimum pull. Crossbows may be used by certain permanently disabled persons by permit only. Poisoned arrows, explosive tips, bows drawn by mechanical means are prohibited.
Rifles and handguns:
-Daytime hunting: During the period from ½ hour before sunrise to ½ hour after sunset, there are no restrictions on size or caliber of rifles or handguns.
-Nighttime hunting: During the period from ½ hour after sunset to midnight rifles are restricted to those chambered not larger than .22 long rifle and handguns are restricted to those chambered not larger than .38 caliber.
-Prohibited on wildlife management areas stocked with pheasant or quail, during the pheasant and quail seasons.
-Prohibited during the shotgun deer season.
Muzzleloader: Smooth bore muzzleloaders: Only shot sizes up to and including FF (.230 inches diameter). Slugs, single balls, and buckshot may only be used during the shotgun deer season. Rifled bore muzzleloaders: no restrictions on caliber size.
Hunting methods
Legal methods:
- Dogs (Prohibited during the shotgun deer season)
- Electronic calls (Prohibited during the shotgun deer season)
- Manual calls (Prohibited during the shotgun deer season)
- Decoys
- Bait
Illegal methods:
Shotgun deer season special restrictions
- Hunting hours are half hour before sunrise - half hour after sunset.
- You must wear 500 square inches of hunter orange on your head, chest, and back.
- Rifles and handguns are prohibited.
- Dogs, electronic, and manual calls are prohibited.