Hunting near trails?

[Tytalus]

So I've been in an area with marked hiking trails. I've looked at the reg books, and I must be missing something because I'm not seeing anything. I figured I'd ask a stupid question rather than get in deep shit with the law. So, what are the regs around hunting near marked hiking trails in the bush?

By marked I mean "this is xyz trail - here's a map!" and then seeing the 1k/2k/ markers on the trail. I saw them and went somewhere else, but figured I'd check.

*Edit to fix: "hunting trails" ha! My mistake for posting so late at night.

[boxhitch]

Depends on the area designation. Open public lands or a park or a reserve or a protected area ?
Hiking clubs do have designated trails in some areas but that doesn't give them tenure at all , no exclusivity .
Info on hunting in Provincial parks used to be in the Regs , but now you have to go to the Gov't site to find out if a particular park allows hunting.

[brian]

The hiking trail system will have restrictions to shooting and or hunting if they are covered by municipal bylaws, federal park, some provincial parks, protected wildlife refuge, private land (without permission), or by the hunting regs. If none of these apply then you are generally good to go. But you are going to have to gauge how comfortable you are hunting close to hiking trails. Personally I prefer areas that are not popular with the hiking crowd.

[Sofa King]

why on earth would anyone want to hunt on hiking trails?
plain laziness is all I can think of.
or they're actually scared to get back into the remote areas.

I remember last off-season someone on here talking about hunting the kane valley x-country ski trails.
hell, they are right between farm properties.
put some effort in and go find a nice area to hike and hunt.

[knighthunter]

why on earth would anyone want to hunt on hiking trails?
plain laziness is all I can think of.
or they're actually scared to get back into the remote areas.

I remember last off-season someone on here talking about hunting the kane valley x-country ski trails.
hell, they are right between farm properties.
put some effort in and go find a nice area to hike and hunt.

You think the critter's don't travel or cross the trails.

[two-feet]

There is an area in the Bulkley Valley here that was hunted by my great grandfather and used as cattle range by my grandpa, hunted by my dad and I. Now there is a popular hiking trail placed right along the same route we used as our go-to moose hunting grounds. I am sure it would be legally OK to go hunt there but I would feel pretty bad about leaving a gut pile in a spot frequented by both hikers and grizzly.

[aggiehunter]

...a marked hunting trail...that's better then HBC....

[Weatherby Fan]

I've hunted along the Centenial trail and or hiked it going to and from hunting areas, if the trails are remote you won't see many hikers come hunting season, best to check and ensure marked trails are not within a park.

[reach]

why on earth would anyone want to hunt on hiking trails?
plain laziness is all I can think of.
or they're actually scared to get back into the remote areas.
Thank you for your helpful and constructive comments as usual.

Nothing special about hiking trails - only MoT maintained roads have shooting / hunting restrictions. As others have pointed out, parks may have special rules depending on the park, but on crown land you're good to go.

[Trophyslayer]

why on earth would anyone want to hunt on hiking trails?
plain laziness is all I can think of.
or they're actually scared to get back into the remote areas.

I remember last off-season someone on here talking about hunting the kane valley x-country ski trails.
hell, they are right between farm properties.
put some effort in and go find a nice area to hike and hunt.

Lots of people hunt Kane valley trails.... Duallie there's a lot of land between the ranch properties I have seen dozens of people hunting them and I have too. Never a problem I personally know two of the ranch managers in the valley and they have never had an issue with hunters only quaders.

[XPEIer]

If they are Legally designated under Sec 56 of FRPA as a Public Recreation Trail, managed by Recreation Sites and Trails BC, then they MAY be closed to hunting. If so, they need to be posted and a list of such trails made available to the public at the District office or via web page. I know there are some ski trail networks that have been closed due to safety of having tight loops of trails meters from one another that you cannot see.
Traps and firearms11 (1) In this section "firearm" means a rifle, shotgun, handgun, spring gun or any device that propels a projectile by means of an explosion, a spring or compressed gas.
(2) Unless authorized by a designated forest official, a person must not set a trap, discharge a firearm or shoot a bow or crossbow
(a) on or into the developed portion of a recreation site or interpretive forest site, or
(b) on or into any portion of a recreation trail, if a prohibition against doing so has been posted at the trail.
(3) The authorization granted under subsection (2) may specify conditions including the type of devices, time and area, supervision and purpose.
(4) The regional manager must make available in district and regional offices a list of trails within the region that are subject to the prohibition under subsection (2) (b), describing the nature of the prohibitions.

[Tytalus]

Thanks for the info guys. I see it depends and I'll do my HW so I don't cause any problems either way.

[Cordillera]

the question is a good one; sometimes hiking trails are in (or go to) really good hunting areas. There are almost no hiking trails that are closed unless they are in a national park, a municipality, or very heavily developed area (downtown whistler) or a special situation listed in the access parts of the regs. Many trails are not used for hiking when the hunting is good, so feel free confident to use them if you just use common sense and keep an eye out for hikers, try not to leave gut piles right on the trail, etc......