Stupid questions

[dru88]

My buddy and I were having a conversation about waterfowling and the revolved around two things.

#1 Is it lawful to hunt waterfowl with your bare hands meaning if you got close enough to a duck or goose could you grab it and ring it's neck ( this is hypothetical obviously) but just wondering where one would find that kind of info I couldn't find anything in the regs. Again just hypothetical so no bashing.

#2 can you shoot at waterfowl that has landed and either on the ground or in the water? I though the answer was no but couldn't find anything in the regs I never have shot something that has landed unless it was injured just looking for clarification.

If you can answer these questions please post a link to where I can find the info please.

Thanks
Dru88

[Ron.C]

Not 100% about question 1, but pretty sure the answer would be no. Look at legal hunting methods on pg 16 of the regs.

Yes, you can shoot waterfowl that are not flying and have landed on land or water.

[dru88]

Thanks Ron.C where can I find the info about shooting waterfowl that has landed? Or is more that it just doesn't say anything about it so landed birds .

[Ron.C]

You may not find a specific reference and usually if it isn't mentioned as being "unlawful", you are good. For example, when you search the regs for swimming , you only get 1 hit on pg. 14 It's unlawful:

23. To hunt, take, wound or kill big game while it is swimming unless it has been previously wounded.

No mention of a swimming waterfowl.

And when you search for waterfowl, no reference or mention of landed, swimming, walking etc.

As waterfowl are federally regulated, each province needs to follow federal laws Migratory Birds Regulations (justice.gc.ca) (https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._1035/page-4.html#h-477057). Each province can add their own restrictions/rules (if they choose) but have to follow the federal guidelines.

If you just can't find a written reference anywhere and still don't want to make assumptions or believe what you read on internet forums, never a bad idea to emial/call the BC CO service or send an email to a fish and wildlife policy analyst.

[dru88]

Thanks again for the quick reply.Well I guess I learned something today. I had never really given it much though as it doesn't happen very often.

[russm]

You can shoot them on the ground I think its just kind of frowned upon by waterfowlers

[Mulehahn]

Never thought about catching them by hand. Would have to ask a CO.

As for shooting a duck/goose that has landed that is most often referred to as water swatting or ground pounding. It is legal, but severely frowned upon. Most hunters will try to get the bird to take off either by throwing something or yelling. I will let you decide if drawing a bead on a duck and and shooting it when it is 3 feet off the ground is any better..

[mastercaster]

You can shoot them on the ground I think its just kind of frowned upon by waterfowlers

I won't shoot birds on the ground or water mostly because their wings act like plates of armour so unless the bird gets hit in the head you often have a cripple. Anytime I've tried it in the past, at least when they've been on the water, I end up having to take at least one more shot to kill the bird. My buddy will sluice birds, though, so to each their own.

I don't think I've ever made an attempt to hit one on the ground. Usually when you stand up to shoot they leave the ground before you get a shot off.

Over water I MUCH prefer to hit them just as they are trying to land; when they're almost stalled in the air. It's like hitting a sitting duck! Hmmmm,,,,,seem to be contradicting myself here! haha

[Ron.C]

Thanks again for the quick reply.Well I guess I learned something today. I had never really given it much though as it doesn't happen very often.

we actually let singles/pairs come in and land in the decoys quite often if larger larger flocks are working the decoys. Or the bird is one that we are not targeting that day (which is always mergansers, sometimes teal/widgeon if its a banner day and allot of mallards or pins flying).

As stated by others, I refrain from sluicing birds that have landed, just more fun to target them in the air (even though I miss allot). And I hate peppering my decoys. But I don't frown upon those that choose to shoot birds that have landed, to each his own. Nothing illegal about it. I know one guy that gets bent about shooting ducks on the water but he'll pepper a grouse in a ditch with a 12 gauge????? Anyhow, Id rather see guys wait and shoot every one of their birds off the water then waste the day, go home with nothing and educate the birds by skybusting.

[walks with deer]

The problem witb ground shooting if you stalked them is unless your head shooting them with a turkey choke you are litterly spraying into a flock most times and one dead bird and how many wounded?

[KodiakHntr]

BC game laws are kind of vague, in that if it isn't specifically listed in the wildlife act as being illegal, it is legal. That's why spear hunting, slingshots, air guns are now specifically listed as being an illegal method of take for big game. Until recently they were legal by default.

Using shot for waterfowl that isn't non toxic, is specifically listed as being illegal. If you wanted to hide under the water and grab geese by the feet as they swam over (and I would pay to see that...) it would be a legal way to take geese. You likely won't ever see it being illegal to dispatch a duck or goose with your hands simply because a lot of cripples get killed that way after being returned to hand. Should it become illegal to do so, then there would be a definite rise in the number of close calls when a dog returns a lively mallard to the boat and you have to shoot him because you can't ring his neck....... Although, it would probably make the excuse of "boating accident" way more believable when the Federales come to the door to take your shotgun if a bunch of boats have had holes shot in the bottom of them....

Water sluicing, legal. But as said, frowned upon by some.

[Beachcomber]

I won't shoot birds on the ground or water mostly because their wings act like plates of armour so unless the bird gets hit in the head you often have a cripple.

My approach to shooting cripples that are fast putting distance between us is to aim low so that the shot hits them below the water line and stops them. I have made the mistake of trying to take them out by aiming at the body and am surprised how their wings shield them from mortal damage.

[Foxton Gundogs]

Not sure about by hand but I have seen a Spaniel who would flush ducks from a shallow field pond and actually catch one every now and again as they jumped. That is ok for sure. Ground sluceing is legal but imho and that orf most serious waterfowl hunters not the most ethical thing to do.

[Modeltwelve]

Check the migratory bird act

[Weatherby Fan]

Grouse, Pheasants and those dam Ducks all fly way to fast for my shotgun.....way easier when they're on they're aren't moving :wink::mrgreen:

[mastercaster]

Grouse, Pheasants and those dam Ducks all fly way to fast for my shotgun.....way easier when they're on they're aren't moving :wink::mrgreen:

Especially if you're shooting from a moving truck.

[silveragent]

More sporting to shoot them in the air. That is the art of waterfowling. However, an argument can be said that you are also sporting by getting them to land due to your use of decoys, calling, your use of camouflage and positioning and your scouting to get in the right spot. That is all part of the coterie of skills you can employ.

As others say, it is incredible the amount of shots a downed bird can soak up. There is a thought that when you shoot a bird out of the air it is often the shock of landing that kills (or incapacitates them), not the shot itself.

Swatting them on ground and water is necessary if it is crippled but is still getting away and you lack a dog to get it for you. Letting a cripple get away means you are not doing all you can to retrieve downed game. If you don't have your shotgun on you, you can get a heart attack trying to run down a duck that won't ever be able to take off but nevertheless is scrambling far faster than you can across the mud flats while you are sinking in mud in your waders. Ask me how I know.

Swatting can be a safety concern if you are not aware of what is beyond your target. For those reasons I would not swat unless it is out to the open. Also water does weird things to projectiles and may even send rounds at 90 degree angles or even back at you.

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

Re the "hand wringing":

https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._1035/page-4.html#h-477057

15 (1) Subject to subsections (4) and (5) and section 23.1, no person shall hunt a migratory bird


(a) except with a long bow and arrow or with a shotgun not larger than number 10 gauge;

[KodiakHntr]

Interesting, I stand corrected on hand wringing. Federal Law supersedes provincial laws, so there you go. Migratory Cripples have to be executed by shotgun or bow, not by hand. Wonder if they get stood in front of a wall and blind folded?

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

Hmmm Interesting indeed. I am not sure if this means "dispatching when cripped" has to be done with a weapon.

if he retrieves the bird while it is still alive, immediately kill and include it in his daily bag limit.

While I don't personally like the neck wringing as a method of dispatching, I would think one of those "dispatcher doohickeys" to the brain is quick and as well as it gets. I am not reading the regs as that not being allowed

[silveragent]

What is stated in the regulations isn't the be all and end all. How they are interpreted goes to enforcement and if need be to the courts. Whether or not dispatching an already crippled bird is defined as 'hunting' would be the question. Generations of hunters wring necks. It is not some hidden dark practice.

If there was some surge in ambushing birds by hand then I suppose we would hear about it from the COs first who might try to make it a case. If you recall, the regulations against primitive methods of hunting only came up because of that fellow who got into social media for killing bear with a spear. When it was on the down low it flew beneath the radar and so was legal. It is interesting the "except by" is there specifically limiting it to those methods.

I also stand corrected about the methods not showing up in the federal regulations.

[MichelD]

Hmmm Interesting indeed. I am not sure if this means "dispatching when cripped" has to be done with a weapon.

if he retrieves the bird while it is still alive, immediately kill and include it in his daily bag limit.

While I don't personally like the neck wringing as a method of dispatching, I would think one of those "dispatcher doohickeys" to the brain is quick and as well as it gets. I am not reading the regs as that not being allowed




The little marlin spike on my knock-off Swiss army kife kills 'em quick when jammed in at the base of the skull.

[Would Rather Be Fishing]

Same idea... someone gifted me a knock off version of this guy (I forgot what it was called in the post above): http://www.cutemdownwaterfowl.com/products/hunting-gear/accessories/adrenal-line-the-finisher-waterfowl-dispatching-hunting-tool/

[mastercaster]

Same idea... someone gifted me a knock off version of this guy (I forgot what it was called in the post above): http://www.cutemdownwaterfowl.com/products/hunting-gear/accessories/adrenal-line-the-finisher-waterfowl-dispatching-hunting-tool/

I've got a couple of the "Finishers",,,one is for ducks and the other is for geese and while they work, the death is not as instantaneous as I would have thought it should be. Plus sometimes you'll get quite a bit of blood on your hand during the process. It does save the head from falling off/ being torn from the neck so I still prefer to do it as oppose to wringing the bird's neck by swinging it in a circle.

[silveragent]

I horrified a newbie this year when he couldn't seal the deal with one of his cripples and he handed it to me to finish. I swung it around hard and the head ripped off, spraying everyone. I used to be better at it.