Butchering at the cabin / Transporting to the cabin

[sed8ed]

I know this has been brought up before but I'm not sure about the applications now.

My partner and I just bought property between Ft nelson and FSJ in 7-48 and are in the process of setting up to build a house/cabin there. This place will have a walk in cooler/cutting room for future use but for now we are planning on spending June through to October 10 up there building our retirement home but also hunting.

Both our fixed addresses are in Maple Ridge but we are considering changing her residence address to up there but not right away due to custody issues, I can't change mine for a while for the same reason, plus I own a house down here and have to deal with the homeowners declaration / tax.

When we head up, we will be bringing one of the freezers with us full of elk and deer that I butchered at my house from last season for general eating purposes plus when we are there we will be hunting spring black bear as well as regular big game during GOS. If one of us takes an elk in say September, what are we expected to do with it until we head back down for the winter work season? We are around 3.5 hours from either Fsj or Ft nelson so I wouldn't necessarily want to transport it to either location in the heat for an inspection but I am going to have to cut it to fit it in the freezer for the rest of the time we are there.

Also, what about the meat we are bringing up or back down if there is any left from the year before?

If we make that property her residence, what about any animals I take? Can I cut them at her place of residence?

Thanks

[guntech]

This really sounds like a question for Fish and Wildlife...

I would think the wrapped meat that belongs to you now should be no problem transporting by you.

Possibly your cabin will be your home, cut and wrap any harvested game there... and then transport back when you are finished hunting...

That's my guess.

[sed8ed]

Also, we usually go halfers on a cow share every year but there is no receipt from a cutter since I do all the cutting myself... how would this work for transport?

[eatram]

I don't have any legal advice for you, but what I can share is of great value. From the time you pull the trigger, video tape a few things. Video tape all of the meat that you will pack out along with naming the date in the video. When you get to camp, video the meat hanging including the evidence of sex and include the date again. This way if you have a bear problem, you have evidence to back up your claim.

Similarly, when you load up your elk from your house, do a short video with timestamp with your intentions. Etc, etc, etc. This all saves you some hassles if sh*t ever does hit the fan. I have been saved much hassle on multiple hunts following this advice.

[Steeleco]

Taken from the book!!


Anyone having wildlife butchered and
packaged should obtain from the butcher a
receipt which indicates:
4the Fish and Wildlife ID, the species
licence number, and the species, and sex of
the animal taken

And if you cut your own? More rules that create more questions than answers!

I've always assumed once cut an wrapped its just meat. Odds are you'll make the trip no issues but a call to Victoria wouldn't hurt. When you get answer let the rest of us know.

[canishunter22-250]

I dont know about the letter of the law, but as far as I can see your primary residence for the summer season will be your house up here. Once it's in your deep freeze then it's just groceries as far as I'm concerned. When you "move" south at the end of the season and you take the contents of your deep freeze with you, I can't see anyone getting too wound up about it. Keep all your records etc and I wouldn't overthink it. You clearly aren't out to pull a fast one here and you are making the effort to ensure you're on the right side of the law. I would just make sure your harvest is legal then carry on and you'll likely never have an issue.

[Downtown]

I don't have any legal advice for you, but what I can share is of great value. From the time you pull the trigger, video tape a few things. Video tape all of the meat that you will pack out along with naming the date in the video. When you get to camp, video the meat hanging including the evidence of sex and include the date again. This way if you have a bear problem, you have evidence to back up your claim.

Similarly, when you load up your elk from your house, do a short video with timestamp with your intentions. Etc, etc, etc. This all saves you some hassles if sh*t ever does hit the fan. I have been saved much hassle on multiple hunts following this advice.

Good advise for everybody.

Cheers

[Fella]

Honestly, just keep the tags you cut for whatever animal is in your freezer. Maybe stick em in a ziplock that is taped to the door or something. I don’t think a CO is gonna nail you for having a legally harvested animal in the freezer at your cabin.

[jamfarm]

Your primary residence would be your home in Maple Ridge unless you moved to your cabin for more than 6 months.

Get your animal compulsory inspected then you can butcher at your cabin. I started a thread on that and got confirmation from the CO service that you can remove evidence of sex once the animal is inspected. You’d still need the cut tag, letter from the CI and antlers/horns of the animal when transporting.

[lovemywinchester]

This was 10 years ago. My friend shot deer on the way to a hunting camp at Tunkwa Lake Resort. We were there for a week so buddy butchered it and froze it. When he was on his way back to Squamish a week later he was stopped near Lillooet and was fined for transporting the deer cut up. $150 iirc. Still had the head but not attached of course.
I will ask him what the actual charge was, I don't recall.

[chris]

I contacted a co about a similar situation. I asked if I could cut my deer at my cabin and bring it back to my primary residence. He told me that it has to be inspected before cut up. He said according to the law my cabin is just some place I go to and that unless you live at your cabin for 6 months plus a day it is not considered your residence. But I'm not a lawyer, call the co and ask.

[ACB]

I would say if what ever you harvest that is supposed to be inspected should be inspected and ask for a receipt then go back to your cabin and then process the harvested game. As for the bringing the harvested game from a previous year for consumption I would think you would need to have your canceled tag and a receipt for inspection if it needed to be inspected. All I'm saying is you have to cross your "T"s and dot your "I"s (CYA).

[HappyJack]

I would say if what ever you harvest that is supposed to be inspected should be inspected and ask for a receipt then go back to your cabin and then process the harvested game. As for the bringing the harvested game from a previous year for consumption I would think you would need to have your canceled tag and a receipt for inspection if it needed to be inspected. All I'm saying is you have to cross your "T"s and dot your "I"s (CYA).

Lets not get ridiculous, last years meat doesn't require any nonsense like that.

[HappyJack]

This was 10 years ago. My friend shot deer on the way to a hunting camp at Tunkwa Lake Resort. We were there for a week so buddy butchered it and froze it. When he was on his way back to Squamish a week later he was stopped near Lillooet and was fined for transporting the deer cut up. $150 iirc. Still had the head but not attached of course.
I will ask him what the actual charge was, I don't recall.

I shot my deer in October, and moved in November....are you saying they could ticket me for moving my deer that was cut up?? I doubt this information is correct.

[browningboy]

I know this has been brought up before but I'm not sure about the applications now.

My partner and I just bought property between Ft nelson and FSJ in 7-48 and are in the process of setting up to build a house/cabin there. This place will have a walk in cooler/cutting room for future use but for now we are planning on spending June through to October 10 up there building our retirement home but also hunting.

Both our fixed addresses are in Maple Ridge but we are considering changing her residence address to up there but not right away due to custody issues, I can't change mine for a while for the same reason, plus I own a house down here and have to deal with the homeowners declaration / tax.

When we head up, we will be bringing one of the freezers with us full of elk and deer that I butchered at my house from last season for general eating purposes plus when we are there we will be hunting spring black bear as well as regular big game during GOS. If one of us takes an elk in say September, what are we expected to do with it until we head back down for the winter work season? We are around 3.5 hours from either Fsj or Ft nelson so I wouldn't necessarily want to transport it to either location in the heat for an inspection but I am going to have to cut it to fit it in the freezer for the rest of the time we are there.

Also, what about the meat we are bringing up or back down if there is any left from the year before?

If we make that property her residence, what about any animals I take? Can I cut them at her place of residence?

Thanks


Relax, go shoot your game, eat your game and I certainly wouldn’t be worried about a CO in this case.. don’t overthink it

[notyalc]

I emailed a game inspection couple years ago asking if I could butcher and wrap game at my cabin and this was the response;

We do not conduct inspections to allow hunters to remove evidence of sex and species unless exceptional circumstances apply. The current regulations provide a great deal of flexibility, allowing proper care and transportation of wildlife meat so that it arrives at your permanent residence in excellent condition.

The purpose of the current possession and transportation regulations is to allow Conservation Officers to identify the number, species and sex of harvested wildlife to ensure they were taken lawfully.

The current regulations allow you to debone, part and freeze a wildlife carcass provided you leave naturally attached to one piece of the carcass the required parts as outlined on page 20 of the hunting and trapping regulations. I would recommend leaving the pieces as large as possible and providing ready access to the evidence of sex/species to ease potential inspection by an officer. If an officer is not able to verify the legality of the animal(s) by visual inspection they may seize the animal and conduct testing to ensure compliance with the regulations.

The regulations do not allow the final processing of wildlife meat at a hunting cabin. Your options are to transport the carcass to your permanent residence or to drop off the animal at a meatcutter.

Regards,


Daniel Lirette, R.P.Bio.
Senior Wildlife Biologist
Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations
Cariboo Region
(250) 395-7885 (tel:(250) 395-7885)

[jamfarm]

This was my question and the response I received when I emailed about this topic. I have removed the CO's name.


Hello,

I have a question about removing evidence of sex & species.

If I brought an elk (or any other species of animal) in to have an inspection done by a Compulsory Inspector, after it has been inspected could I then butcher the animal in camp (not at my place of residence)?

Thanks,


Hi James, I have attached a copy of the section from the hunting synopsis that speaks to your question. Please see the 3rd bullet under “Removing Evidence of Sex & Species”. So, the short answer is yes. I would also add that if a person choses to do this, they would still need to provide a copy of the CI information as well as any species licenses and documentation that might be associated such as limited entry requirements. I hope this answers your question.



Conservation Officer
Thompson Fraser Zone / Conservation Officer Service
3840 Airport Road, Merritt, BC V1K 1B8
(250) 378-0569 / Fax (250)378-8372

Report All Poachers and Polluters
1-877-952-7277 (RAPP) or www.rapp.bc.ca (http://www.rapp.bc.ca/)

[Gateholio]

Designate your cabin a meatcutter shop. Make your self an invoice for transport. :)

[j270wsm]

This argument came up a few yrs ago….as the regs state, your animal can be butchered/evidence of sex removed, once the animal is at your primary residence, at a butcher or it has been inspected by a CI. This isn’t rocket science. Harvest your animal, have it inspected/butchered then transport it home to your house. Just keep the receipt/inspection papers.

[ACB]

Lets not get ridiculous, last years meat doesn't require any nonsense like that.
You're right it is ridiculous, but it wouldn't hurt to have receipts and canceled tag from previous year, like I said cya. The thing with CO's is when they stop you, they just assume you've done something illegal. CYA! Do what ever you want it's your butt on the line.

[HappyJack]

Can you imagine, "license and tags please, do you have any wild game meat in your possession?" I hope you can prove to me it's moose meat and was legally shot on October 3rd two years ago. How goofy.

[OOBuck]

Also, we usually go halfers on a cow share every year but there is no receipt from a cutter since I do all the cutting myself... how would this work for transport?

I bring beef back from Williams lake and get issued a purchase receipt and transport slip

[balian]

I might be off here, but what if you butchered cut and wrapped your animal but have the hind quarter with the tail and proof of sex attached as a whole in the freezer along with the other meat? you can have 80 % of your animal all done and just deal with one hind quarter at home. Would that not be ok for transport from the cabin to your main residence?

[guntech]

I think the key to the problem of butchering at your cabin is to have the kill inspected (before butchering & by a game warden) and keep the receipt. This would be similar to having a licensed meat cutter inspecting your kill and giving you a receipt for butchering. Then your wrapped meat would have a dated receipt to show when transporting if stopped.

[lovemywinchester]

I shot my deer in October, and moved in November....are you saying they could ticket me for moving my deer that was cut up?? I doubt this information is correct.

100% correct. My buddy cut it at a resort. The charge was transport of game not butchered at home or butcher. Your situation may be different if it was butchered at home.

[HappyJack]

100% correct. My buddy cut it at a resort. The charge was transport of game not butchered at home or butcher. Your situation may be different if it was butchered at home.

How could they prove it wasn't cut 'at home or by butcher', the onus is on them to prove guilt isn't it? I'd think if you got ticketed and didn't dispute it that would be an admission of guilt.