Legal hunting times??

[Rodd]

Just wondering what everyones thoughts are on... the one hour before sunrise, and 1 hour after sunset are legal hunting times... My question is.. What if you are going into your stand 2 hours before sunrise, wouldn't you technically be hunting? Even though your intentions are to wait until legal time to shoot any animals..??? under the definitions in the regs.. Hunt or hunting
"Hunt and Hunting - includes shooting at,
attracting, searching for, chasing, pursuing, following
after or on the trail of, stalking, or lying
in wait for wildlife or attempting to do any of
those things, whether or not the wildlife is then
or subsequently wounded, killed or captured:
(a) with intention to capture the wildlife, or
(b) while in possession of a firearm or other"
weapon."

So does this mean if I leave my home at 4:30 to go to my spot, would that be classed as breaking the law?? Thoughts? Clarification... appreciated!

[mark]

Most of us head to the bush the day before season opens.....do you think that is illegal as well????
As long as you have no intention of killing something, your not hunting IMO!

[ARC]

If you follow the definition of hunting to the word as it is written, I believe alot of things could technically be illegal.
- walking into the alpine in the dark
- flying into a lake before the season starts and looking for sheep for opening day (or sitting on a ram until the opener)
- Heck, even spotting an animal while driving down any MOT maintained road, then parking and making a move on it, I believe would be a no-no as there is no 'hunting' within the road allowance

Searching and/or pursuing an animal with the intention of capturing it is pretty broad. It all depends on how someone defines intent I guess. If you dont intend to actually kill the animal until everything is OK, I think you are good.

I don't think I would worry about walking into a stand early.

[Rodd]

I think its all OK.... Just wondering what you guys thought.. just doesn't read that way is all.. "whether or not the wildlife is then or subsequently wounded, killed or captured"

[Banjo]

Good question...thought about it myself several times too. IMO you're waiting for it to be legal hunting time...THEN you will be waiting for a deer. I see this as getting yourself ready for the hunt.

I see no difference between waiting in your truck or your sleeping bag for legal hunting hours vs waitng in your favorite spot or tree stand.....

[Rodd]

Just something else a CO could hassle you about... I have done it for many years... The question was brought up by a fellow hunter, and I didn't know how to answer it... So I thought I'd check it out, to be sure...

[Barracuda]

Just wondering what everyones thoughts are on... the one hour before sunrise, and 1 hour after sunset are legal hunting times... My question is.. What if you are going into your stand 2 hours before sunrise, wouldn't you technically be hunting? Even though your intentions are to wait until legal time to shoot any animals..??? under the definitions in the regs.. Hunt or hunting
"Hunt and Hunting - includes shooting at,
attracting, searching for, chasing, pursuing, following
after or on the trail of, stalking, or lying
in wait for wildlife or attempting to do any of
those things, whether or not the wildlife is then
or subsequently wounded, killed or captured:
(a) with intention to capture the wildlife, or
(b) while in possession of a firearm or other"
weapon."

So does this mean if I leave my home at 4:30 to go to my spot, would that be classed as breaking the law?? Thoughts? Clarification... appreciated!


if you are not engaged in these things you are fine

shooting at,
attracting,
searching for,
chasing,
pursuing,
following
after or on the trail of,
stalking, or lying
in wait for wildlife or attempting to do any of
those things,

[wsm]

he has a valid point, however i try not to capture my animals. I prefer to harvest them:lol:

[Ogopogo]

don't worry about it

[Tim]

Just dont shoot the animal until legal time and I think you'll be ok.

I also dont know alot of CO's that will go from stand to stand at 430am checking to make sure you're behaving.

[birosj]

I think alot of this could be called "preparing to Hunt". As for what time I would take the shot or not is if I can readily identify the animal, Antlers or not, Mule or Whitetail. Points etc.
If it is a clear nite/morning, you would be able to see better as a dark and dreary day.
Also the gps's will tell you when sunrise/sunset.
When I'm in the bush well before daybreak, it is coffee time, not hunting time. Gotta wake up before you hunt.

[Drillbit]

Some guys locate Elk and stay till they bed down the day before the season starts, so they can get him bright and early on opening day. I think it's illegal, but they see nothing wrong with it because they aren't going to kill it that day. They are stalking/prusuing harrasing...etc.

[OutWest]

The 1 hour before sunrise and 1 hour after sunset refer to legal shooting light. Absolutely nothing to do with when you can/can't go into the bush.

[anethema]

What's amazing is 1 hour before/after the sun it is damn black. Pretty surprising. Most provinces list a half hour rather than a full hour.

[ryanb]

The light conditions one hour before/after sunrise/sunset can be dramatically different depending on a whole host of factors...Cloud cover, tree cover, moon, time of year. I would say 75% of the time it's reasonable to shoot 1 hour before/after sunrise/sunset.

[jetboat jim]

so you whack an animal , your looking for it in the dark and carrying your bow or gun.......ok?

[Ghillie]

The 1 hour before sunrise and 1 hour after sunset refer to legal shooting light. Absolutely nothing to do with when you can/can't go into the bush.

I agree with Nick. I believe its legal "SHOOTING" time. Not hunting time. Which means you can go out whenever, but only shoot after the legal light / shooting light or time. This makes sense because approx. 1 hour after sunset and 1 hour before sunrise, is more times than not, enough light to see if the animal is legal to harvest.
That makes alot more sense than not being allowed to go into the bush, or set up camp, or scouting before a certain light...

[scoutlt1]

This is what it says in the regs...

You should also know it’s unlawful:


27. to hunt game, except migratory game

birds (see #28 below), from one hour
after sunset to one hour before sunrise.

with the description of "hunting" being correct in the above posts then "technically" you are breaking the law by walking to your treestand 2 hours before before sunrise. I'm thinking it's worded that way to deal with someone driving around in the middle of the night looking to poach with a spotlight, etc...
I would be very surprised and find it highly unlikely that a CO would bother you (even be around to notice you) if you were walking to your treestand at that time...