Shooting Clays off the Boat

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Originally Posted by rick_iles

You can't have a loaded firearm on any conveyance, motor running or not, motorized or not. The Act specifically exempts a motorboat when hunting migratory birds. The sticking point with the OP is the " where wildlife is present" part. If a LEO interprets being out on the lake as being a place where wildlife is present, a charge would likely be laid. I know 10 miles out in Erie, there are lots of gulls and cormorants. I'd imagine L. Ontario isn't any different.

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Rick, a canoe is a conveyance that you can shoot from legally . You can't have a loaded gun in a boat that has a motor attached and is capable of being used as a means of propulsion.
So technically I was wrong to say Jeff could shoot from the boat if the motors not running.
However, putting the motor inside the boat or removing the prop may not be practical, it would suffice the rule.

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Originally Posted by onelessarrow

Rick, a canoe is a conveyance that you can shoot from legally . You can't have a loaded gun in a boat that has a motor attached and is capable of being used as a means of propulsion.
So technically I was wrong to say Jeff could shoot from the boat if the motors not running.
However, putting the motor inside the boat or removing the prop may not be practical, it would suffice the rule.

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Agree.....however your second sentence is not entirely accurate. A boat that is not a motorboat is specifically exempted, as well as the motorboat while migratory bird hunting. The OP was not about a non-motorized boat, nor was it about duck hunting.

Are cormorants protected ?

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Originally Posted by Hunter John

Are cormorants protected ?

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Unfortunately !!

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Originally Posted by jaycee

Yes that is what the law states, however it was the lead contamination in the water that started all the controversy on the use of lead, hence even lead sinkers were banned.
The lead shot ingested by waterfowl that we hunt, also cormorants [deep divers] were found dead after ingesting fishing sinkers all these reasons led to the banning of lead shot for waterfowl.
A long time ago when all the controversy on lead shot was coming to a head, the Guelph Office of the MNR told me that the lead contamination in the water was also a large part of the issue as many cities get their drinking water from large bodies of water ie. the great lakes and also large rivers such as the Grand River.
Just to be on the safe side , I would not want to be discharging any lead shot into the Great Lakes .

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I should have added to the above, that there are Environmental Laws that you can be charged with, which the fines for those are often much higher than hunting, fishing or fwca law infractions .
Lead after all is considered very " toxic " that is why it is being done away with in it's once former many uses.

In the U.S. especially California, there are many Skeet /Trap and Sporting Clays shooting clubs that have made it mandatory to use non toxic shot for clay bird shooting for environmental reasons ,in the not to distant future you will be seeing it happening here in Canada

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Originally Posted by rick_iles

Unfortunately !!

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Oops. My bad

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Originally Posted by JeffBondar

15-18 km off shore, birds are few and far between so I don't think this rule will apply. However, it's a nice find as I haven't seen it before. :-) Thanks.

I have had a few conversations with a local by-law officer around Christmas so I'll likely email him this scenario for his opinion. I imagine a few boxes of target loads and a case of clays would be rather self explanatory but I don't want to chance anything...

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Wrong Jurisdiction, Wrong mandate, Wrong Enforcement officer. That's like seeing a proctologist for an earache.

Lmao fishy,

Thanks for most of the comments and friendly "back and forth". I have thought of most of what's been mentioned but didn't think about some other stuff. I think there is a valid argument to be made that this is likely an illegal event if we are shooting with the boat under power.

It would be a fun way to pass the time on some of the slower days but not worth the possible consequences. For now we will stick to fishing.

Thanks for all the comments and insights.

Ask the local po po , they do it off moving cruise ships so whe knows.