I am heading down to Montana next fall for a muley hunt and need a bit of advice to be sure I can make it happen the right way with as little pain as possible. My questions are primarily related to the border crossing itself. So...the questions
1) Bringing the rifle and ammunition across the border
- I have done a bit of research and understand that you fill out the ATF form and submit well in advance to get the right approvals. Correct?
- Should I be going inside on the Canadian side before crossing to get some sort of paperwork identifying the rifle so it is easy to come back?
- Anything I am missing on this part? Do I need the exact boxes of ammo I intend to bring across?
2) Assuming success - bringing the meat / antlers back
- Is there anything that I can do in advance to make this smooth?
- What do I need to do in terms of handling the meat to make it easy at the border?
- I will probably need to take the deer down to quarters or even boned out to get it in the cooler for transit. Will that be a problem?
What am I missing? Do I have all / some of this right?
Any advice / input is appreciated - I am working well in advance so I can make life a bit easier in the fall.
Thanks
No need to stop at Canadian side but if you want to you can stop and register your goods to show they originated in Canada. Not needed though IMO
For meat, you cant bring back skull, brain, spinal cord etc so deboning is best. Stop on USA side on your way home and fill out a USFW export doc to export your animal.
Following this thread for sure. I have some interest in hunting Montana this fall.
Regarding the skull. Does that mean you just need to take the majority of the skull off and just have antlers attached to the skull cap?
That's the best is to have just a clean skull cap. Guessing you could bring the skull home as well if it was cleaned but BC is trying to avoid having brain and spinal tissue being brought back for obvious reasons.
Stop and ask on the Canadian side before you go over about the carcass. I brought back the entire elk carcass from Oregon a month ago, no issues.
Totally fine for Canadian import laws to import the carcass. CBSA wouldnt require anything else.
My comment about brain and spinal cord was in regards to provincial standards and their attempts to stop the spread of CWD by not wanting brain, spinal cord, etc to be imported to the province.
We brought a deer back from Montana last year and had zero issues. I asked for advice from Rackmastr beforehand and followed it(mostly). We had no bones from the buck besides a skull cap. Canadian border officer asked a couple of questions but never left his booth.
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If you look at the recent results for CWD in Montana I think deer hunters will be a little dismayed and shocked. Infected deer herds are now right up against the Canadian border and this has most likely lead to infected herds in Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Just a matter of time befoe CWD hits BC unfortunately. In the meantime, anyone choosing to hunt deer in Montana should be extra careful, because health authorities do not recommend eating the meat of a CWD infected animal.