possum with a recurve?

[Ian johnson]

we have a possum in our nieghborhood that keeps eating trash and pet food, cant use a shotgun, gotta use my recurve, so, has anyone ever shot a possum with a bow?, if I succeed, it will be my first trad kill!, we also have a few coyotes that ate a few small dogs around here, I have spotted them in my yard also, mabey I'll get a shot at them, how do you hunt possum?, sit and wait over bait?, can the same be done for the yotes?

[D. Key]

Bait 'em in close.  Any uneaten food or dogfood will normally do, as Opossum's will eat just about anything.  Also, they typically don't move too fast so if you see him, you can generally stalk up for a close shot.

I live in the country and run into them (on occassion) in the afternoons while walking thru my woods.  They don't seem to be in much hurry for anything.

Depending upon where you are, be careful with local laws and animal lovers.  If you are seen doing this you might be in for some trouble.

Good luck in any case.

[Lost Arra]

As much as I enjoy bowhunting I think I would stick with a trap for this possum. I bet he comes late at night.

A possum running thru the neighborhood with your arrow sticking out of his side would be a recipe for a big disaster.

Suburban coyotes are so smart it probably doesn't matter. It's tough to hide from the coyote and your neighbors.    

[Yankee Bill]

I would tend to agree with Lost Arra. They are slow, but they are tough little critters.

I live in the 'Burbs also and we had a surge in the Possum population here this spring.. I dispatched 3 in my yard (at night)  by pretty much just walking up to them and wacking them with a steel garden rake.

Wouldn't hurt if you set out a can of Sardines or cat food for bait    .

YB

[Ian johnson]

first off, behind my house is nothing but woods for miles, my niegbors to one side see me shoot all the time and dont mind, to the other side is a weekend home, they have not been there in months, I could use a gun, because I shoot my 22 behind the house all the time, niegbors dont care, they shoot too, I just dont want to shoot at night and wake anyone up, thats why I,m using my bow,

[Coon007]

hey all

I once had a really big problem with a possum where i live before we built our house. I had a tack and feed room and this possum would hit the feed barrel every evening. The problem was he was living under our trailer. So one day when night rolled around I waited for him with a .22 revolver and i shot him 3 times inside the feed barrel at point blank and shut the door to the tack room. About that time with all the comotion my wife come's out and want's to see the dead possum. Being a good husband I said yes I will show it to her,( figured it would be good for a laugh)
Well as luck would have it, as soon as I opened the door of the tack room the darn thing flies out like a bat out of hell making all sorts of wierd noises and jaws snapping at us I pushed my wife aside and I took 2 more shots at it and but didn't hit it (hard to shoot with a grown woman crawling and screaming on your back). and the darn thing made a beeline and went up the sewage drain pipe and die inside the trailer house insulation. or atleast that was my theory. Two weeks later I was right lo and behold we couldn't stand the smell we had to bring people to rip out all the insulation and reinstall new insulation but smell still lingerd until I sold the trailer house (almost set a match to it)Insurance purposes you understand.

Well the moral of this story is if you shoot a possum shoot it again and again then chop its head off, And make sure you don't live in a trailerhouse.

Oh by the way if he does happen to run and die under your house Fabreeze doesn't work and try not to get arrested for arson.

[Ian johnson]

he wont have anywhere to run but woods, I'm using zwickey eskimos

[Aeronut]

My method is a .22 pistol loaded with birdshot.  I can usually get close enough to literally put the barrel on its head.  No ricochets and a very dead possum.  Another quiet method is the traditional wooden baseball bat.  Never liked messing up a good arrow on a possum.

Dennis

[Ian johnson]

I like the birdshot method

[TRADITIONAL ONLY]

ok i shot one a point blank reange in the head with a 17HMR. dead opossum right? NOOOOOO! i shot him again and he STILL swam down the creek a ways before he started slowly sinking!

shoot him in the head with a broadhead and then go get the 30-06 and take care!

better yet, just warn you neighbors that your gonna shot a opossum and that your sorry about the gunshot in the night and to brace thierselves for it, and when he comes by, let the ought 6 have fun!

[Blackhawk]

Birdshot from a pistol is virtually ineffective unless you can touch him with the barrel.  Shoot the sucker with a sharp 3 blade...like a Woodsman...and send him to possum heaven.

[RC]

I`ve killed possums with field points , judos and broadheads. He ain`t a bear. I live in the swamp and they come on the deck and eat my mutts food.

[Jason Lester]

The first animal I cilled with a bow was a possum. If your close you'll somewhat pin it to the ground. No need for a BH. But if you don't mind using one it will help kill it a little faster. The one I shot I believe was with a field point. It didn't go anywhere and died fast.

If you decide to use the 22 get some CB ammo its like a high powered pellet gun sound wise. Won't wake anyone up. And is plety to put down a possum. I shot a big racoon with one out of a tree once. They work great but get in close with it too.

[John Scifres]

Possums are slow and stupid.  The easiest way to kill one (by the way, you don't have just ONE possum    ) is to step on its head or club it.  They aren't hard to kill.  Sometimes they're just too stupid to know when they are dead.

But, you won't solve your problem by killing the possums.  Store your trash and pet food so they can't get at it or your just killing them for fun.  There is an endless line of them waiting to take the place of the ones you kill.

[Aeronut]

Birdshot ineffective?  Hmmm.  Don't tell that to the bunch I've shot.  They played dead so long they started to rot.    :D

Dennis

[pintail_drake2004]

ive done it with field points, he didnt go anywhere killed instantly, the arrow was also buried in the ground about 6". a .22 with cb's will do the trick and wont wake the neighbors.