Can I carry a gun while bow hunting?

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Originally Posted by rick_iles

Once again.....it says "use or carry"....on your person or vehicle or boat....dissected, it says, use a gun, or carry it physically or in your truck or boat WHILE hunting for deer, moose or bear....a gun stored in your truck, encased, is neither used or carried !

That paragraph simply says, if you are hunting bears and deer and moose at the same time, you have to use or carry a firearm that is legal for moose and deer. It says nothing about storing a gun in your truck...

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This might just be nitpicking but just to be clear, with regards to the Firearms Act, a firearm left in an unattended vehicle is not considered to be in storage. It is considered to be in transportation.

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Regulations 10(2), 11(d), 12(e), and 14(2) all speak of "transportation" in "an unattended vehicle."

Obviously, that terminology means that a firearm in a vehicle does not come under the "storage" regulations simply because the vehicle is not moving and is "unattended." It still comes under the "transportation" regulations -- no matter how long it has been sitting there.

There is no point in time set in the law when that situation shifts from "transportation" to "storage." Therefore, at any time, the accused could well be convinced that he is in perfect compliance with the "transportation" regulations, and that that is all that is required of him. He then lacks mens rea, the "guilty mind."

Therefore, when the Crown charges that "storage" in a vehicle contravenes one of the "storage" regulations, the Crown has laid the wrong charge. The accused has not committed that offence. He is innocent of that charge.

There might be a feeling that a firearm "in an unattended vehicle" becomes a "stored" firearm at some point in time. That can be fought by pointing out that the accused reasonably concluded that the Regulations did authorize him to do what he did, and can be read in that way by a reasonable person. Therefore, under the rule of statutory interpretation that the statute must always be read in the way most favorable to the accused, the accused is innocent.

As well, the accused -- by thinking that he is in perfect compliance with one Regulation -- is innocent of violating another, by virtue of his lack of mens rea.

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https://nfa.ca/resource-items/storag...cc-s-861-cases

It's important to distinguish between the Firearms Act and the Ontario hunting regulations (Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act).

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Originally Posted by rick_iles

Once again.....it says "use or carry"....on your person or vehicle or boat....dissected, it says, use a gun, or carry it physically or in your truck or boat WHILE hunting for deer, moose or bear....a gun stored in your truck, encased, is neither used or carried !
That paragraph simply says, if you are hunting bears and deer and moose at the same time, you have to use or carry a firearm that is legal for moose and deer. It says nothing about storing a gun in your truck...

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You are not "storing the firearm in your truck". You are transporting it (even if the truck is stopped). Transporting is pretty close to "carrying" as stated in the summary.

"use or carry (on your person, in a vehicle or boat) a firearm of the type permitted for deer or moose"

But do whatever you like and write the laws however you want. It'll all be fine until you meet up with a CO - which I have.

i'm not sure why everyone thinks this is a terrible law. it makes perfect sense to me. it's immediate proof of intent for an officer on the scene. if you only have bow gear on you, there is no guess work for the officer, you obviously only used a bow. but if you have a bow and another (or several) firearms in the truck, he can't definitively know what you used (let's assume you're loading a deer into your truck when the officer arrives.) it's a simple case of making scenarios black and white for officers.
we don't want officers to have to use their judgement, speculate, or theorize grey areas. this law makes it black and white, yes or no. it's a great law. sure it restricts you slightly as a hunter, but it's a fair trade off, getting to hunt is a privilege, i'm personally willing to give up some convenience in order to KNOW i'm legal, and in order for the officers to know definitively as well.

this sort of law exists in the fishing world as well.

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Originally Posted by werner.reiche

You are not "storing the firearm in your truck". You are transporting it (even if the truck is stopped). Transporting is pretty close to "carrying" as stated in the summary.

"use or carry (on your person, in a vehicle or boat) a firearm of the type permitted for deer or moose"

But do whatever you like and write the laws however you want. It'll all be fine until you meet up with a CO - which I have.

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yep, you're spot on. it's a clear law. not sure why anyone is fighting it...

i've created a new market! call me companies, i'm full of genius ideas like this

we have over-under 22-410s 22-12s and so on. would an over under xbow-30-06 be legal? haha solves everyones problem here! it's only 1 firearm technically? haha probably exists already in the states somewhere...

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Originally Posted by Fox

You were given a warning because there is no law that states that you cannot store a firearm in your car while you are hunting with your bow.

If you are bow hunting for deer then you are in pursuit of a deer with a bow, you are not in your vehicle with a rifle.

If you were to be charged for having a rifle in your car during a deer season that is bow only then every single deer hunter who goes up in the Sunday before the hunt will have to be charged as they all have their rifles in their vehicles as they go to the camp. Heck, anyone who shoots their gun to sight it in must be charged as well, pretty much all of Ontario has an open bow season for deer from Oct 1st through at least the end of November, so every single person who hunts or shoots or even has a gun in their vehicle during a bow only season must be charged.

The CO was warning you to not have it out.

This is like being charged with illegal hunting when you are sitting in a diner with camo or orange on, unless you are hunting you are not hunting.

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^^^^^^^^^^^THIS!!^^^^^^^^^^^^ Common sense,at last.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

^^^^^^^^^^^THIS!!^^^^^^^^^^^^ Common sense,at last.

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Common sense or a CO on a happy day.
it's like jaywalking, if it's obviously safe you're never going to get ticketed, but the fact remains, on paper, it is against the law. COs are reasonable human beings, not robots.

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Originally Posted by flytyermiller

Common sense or a CO on a happy day.
it's like jaywalking, if it's obviously safe you're never going to get ticketed, but the fact remains, on paper, it is against the law. COs are reasonable human beings, not robots.

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Ok, so I live in an area where deer hunting is allowed, I can shoot them behind my house, right in my yard.

If I take my shotgun into the backyard during a bow season for deer can I be charged with hunting deer with a shotgun? See how stupid this discussion is? What about my 22LR, can I legally shoot a pop can in my backyard? Can I legally take it outside of my residence in a case and put it into my car without being charged for illegally hunting deer during a bow only season?

You need to be hunting to be considered hunting.

You can hunt coyotes with a centerfire rifle during a bow only season for deer. You can hunt ducks with a shotgun during a bow only season for deer. You can hunt turkeys in the morning with your shotgun loaded with #4,5, or 6 shot then go back to your vehicle, switch to your rifle and leave your shotgun in the car and go hunt groundhogs with a rifle during a turkey season.

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Originally Posted by Fox

Ok, so I live in an area where deer hunting is allowed, I can shoot them behind my house, right in my yard.

If I take my shotgun into the backyard during a bow season for deer can I be charged with hunting deer with a shotgun? See how stupid this discussion is?

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Absolutely,but,you'll still never convince some people.LOL

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Originally Posted by Fox

Ok, so I live in an area where deer hunting is allowed, I can shoot them behind my house, right in my yard.

If I take my shotgun into the backyard during a bow season for deer can I be charged with hunting deer with a shotgun? See how stupid this discussion is? What about my 22LR, can I legally shoot a pop can in my backyard? Can I legally take it outside of my residence in a case and put it into my car without being charged for illegally hunting deer during a bow only season?

You need to be hunting to be considered hunting.

You can hunt coyotes with a centerfire rifle during a bow only season for deer. You can hunt ducks with a shotgun during a bow only season for deer. You can hunt turkeys in the morning with your shotgun loaded with #4,5, or 6 shot then go back to your vehicle, switch to your rifle and leave your shotgun in the car and go hunt groundhogs with a rifle during a turkey season.

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this conversation is with regards to the guns plus a bow, in a hunting situation, the gun alone (as in your example) is not an issue obviously. re-read all the posts. my comments are within the context of this conversation. yours is not.