Cattle grazing on crown land

[Dave177]

I am looking to hunt an area of high ground that has had lots of signs of cattle grazing, poop, corrals etc. The area below is fenced off grazing lease however as far as I can fine the area I want to hunt has no such agreement. Can I hunt this area or can I only hunt if there is no cattle? Or is no hunting allowed?

Thanks for the help

[adriaticum]

You have to look in the regs to see if there is any mention of this specific area.
You can hunt a grazing lease by default, unless it's expressly fenced off and prohibited.
Or ask around, people of the area know things usually.

[Redthies]

Cattle grazing on public land should be outlawed.

[adriaticum]

Cattle grazing on public land should be outlawed.


It's beneficial for food production and for the environment.
Cattle add nutrients to the poor soils up in the hills that badly needed.
It should be properly regulated and people should be informed better.

[Treed]

It’s not beneficial for the environment. They are major spreaders of invasive plants and outcompete deer and moose for forage. I’ve done grassland assessments on well managed and poorly managed native grasslands, cattle can hammer the crap out of native grasslands if they are (more often) overgrazed. They wreak havoc on riparian areas and wetlands. That being said, I don’t disagree with good management of cattle on crown lands. Good fencing, rotations, water sources etc are important. It’s a tough business to be in for ranchers, so I don’t blame them. Most try to do a good job but it’s tough financially to make some decisions.

[Redthies]

It's beneficial for food production and for the environment.
Cattle add nutrients to the poor soils up in the hills that badly needed.
It should be properly regulated and people should be informed better.


I’d be happy to “inform you better”. I can take you to many spots that have been totally decimated by cattle. One of my favourite spots to camp and hunt was in the Anarchist Protected Area above Osoyoos. There used to be elk, moose, mule deer, white tail and turkeys all over the place. Now,there is just dust and cow shit. There were a couple of good water holes that had water through the summer, and now are full of churned in crap. It’s appalling. There are virtually no animals other than cattle left in the area. Then the big fire went through there last summer. Hopefully the grazing lease was revoked after that so maybe the land will have a chance to regenerate.

I am not opposed to properly managed grazing, but there is little to no management done aside from the paperwork part of it.

[adriaticum]

You guys both contradicted yourselves in the same paragraph.
Either you do think that cow dung benefits the environment or you don't.
Yes we've all had cows destroy our favourite hunting spots, but that doesn't mean that they are not beneficial for the environment.
The reason there are no more deer and moose is not the cows, it's the lumber industry cutting down everything they can get their hands on.
But of course if we flood an area with cattle they will ruin the spot in the short term, but in the long term they will add nutrients to the soil that will benefit the spot.
There is a new wave of farmers who follow the science of grazer rotation on the landscape and are revolutionizing farming.
In fact, in the absence of bison and other large grazers, cattle are the second best thing for the grasslands.

[DJK]

#53 in the ‘It’s Unlawful’ section of the current regs:

A person is not permitted to hunt on cultivated land or on Crown land which is subject to a grazing lease while the land is occupied by livestock, without the consent of the owner, lessee or occupant of the land

The iHunter app has an add-on (ihunterbc Publicland) that shows you the crown land in BC and the grazing lease holder on said land, if there is one.

[Redthies]

You guys both contradicted yourselves in the same paragraph.

The reason there are no more deer and moose is not the cows, it's the lumber industry cutting down everything they can get their hands on.

Show me where I contradict myself in the same paragraph? And the area I am talking about is a protected area with zero resource extraction permitted so you can’t blame absent wildlife on logging.

Good try Ad, but you’ve missed the mark. I usually agree with you on most of your points, but in this case, we will have to agree to disagree.

[Treed]

Yup, me too. I didn’t contradict myself and never mentioned cow dung. Forests and the plant communities are a reflection of the soil nutrient and moisture regime, altering that is not necessarily good for a plant community. As for why there are more or less ungulates on the land, that is multifaceted and not simply reflective of grazing pressure by cattle, but I agree forestry is an important factor. Ranching is improving and most (if not all) ranchers care a lot for their land; economics can be a bitch though when it comes to paying your debts or running less cattle on your grazing lands. We didn’t have bison in our grasslands in the southern interior (as far as I am aware) but you are right about the importance of grazers in the prairies. Different grassland though, with different soils and productivity. Bison would beat the heck out our grassland soils and ecosystems.

[HappyJack]

#53 in the ‘It’s Unlawful’ section of the current regs:

A person is not permitted to hunt on cultivated land or on Crown land which is subject to a grazing lease while the land is occupied by livestock, without the consent of the owner, lessee or occupant of the land

The iHunter app has an add-on (ihunterbc Publicland) that shows you the crown land in BC and the grazing lease holder on said land, if there is one.

There are still cattle running around the bush now, third week of October, and I've seen cattle still out on the range the last weeks of November. I'd like to consider that as a taxpayer of this province I am one of the owners of crown land and I just give myself permission. That's another goofy regulation that was poorly thought out, we have never had a cattle rancher object to us hunting while they are still out looking for their stragglers.

[dmaxtech]

When I see a rancher out looking for stragglers I always ask what their area is and will let them know where I've seen their cattle. Last weekend I even turn around a group that had made a wrong turn to get them back on track for the rancher. I'd rather help out and have the cattle off the range sooner.

[Dirty]

Old timers told me there was a law that the cattle have to be off the lease by a certain date or they could be shot and taken. Does anybody know anything about this rumour?

[Gateholio]

Old timers told me there was a law that the cattle have to be off the lease by a certain date or they could be shot and taken. Does anybody know anything about this rumour?

Coes off by a certain date, yes. Shot and taken, nope. Not legally, anyway.

[TimberPig]

The challenge here is there are two things being discussed
1) Grazing leases
2) Any other Crown grazing tenure (licenses, permits etc)

Grazing leases are under the Land Act, and are de facto private land for the purposes of hunting, despite what the Wildlife Act incorrectly says. Legally, you can’t hunt on a grazing lease without permission from the leaseholder, although most leaseholders don’t enforce it.

Any other grazing tenure confers the holder no rights beyond the forage and some associated infrastructure (fences, water developments etc). This is the majority of the Crown land grazing and you can hunt on these tenures without concern other than safety and not adversely impacting the grazing use (close the gates mostly/leave them as you found them).

If you are uncertain on which you are dealing with, call the Natural Resource District and speak with the Range Officer (or one of their staff) who can help you figure it out so you can know if you are legal or not.

[hunterdon]

My neighbor grazes his cattle on leased land. According to him, he claims the cattle has to be off by October 1st. Now it may not be the same date for other lands, but where he is that's the rule.

And I might also add that he laughs about the date, saying that if he is approached by anyone including the authorities, he just says he couldn't find his cattle yet. He has no intention of removing his cattle by that date. As of this writing, he has not retrieved a single cow yet.

It's no wonder hunters as well as recreationists get upset. I'd like to believe there are responsible ranchers out there and then there are other ranchers that I know couldn't care less about other folks. Not sure which group is the larger.

[tigrr]

Years ago the cattle had to be off the lease by Nov 1. Don't know the rules for today. I had to have the trailer fixed for the rancher.