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Can anyone tell me if there are hunting regulations on or around railway lines?
There is a track that runs along the property line of the farm I hunt.
It leads into thick bush and is nowhere close to any other house or farm for miles down the track.
The track runs along the property line of all the farms. Am I trespassing if I walk the tracks to the next concession?
Am I allowed to shoot along or across the tracks staying within the properties I have permission?
Tracks are owned by CN or CP rail and it's trespassing to walk on them. I am positive you can't shoot across them or hunt off them as owned by the railway comany.
You can risk it but I have heard of CP rail getting hunters in a load of crap by the police during the controlled hunt
Makes sense.
Thanks.
Around here, the CP Police enforce the trespassing on railway property fairly aggressively.
You will get charged for sure a few weeks ago some guys got charged with trespassing down our way. Twice they got caught and twice they got charged.
Funny hearing about trespassing charges
Railway lands
(7) Despite the Trespass to Property Act, the occupier of railway land,(a) shall not prohibit hunting or fishing on the railway land and shall not prohibit entry to the railway land for those purposes; and
(b) shall not charge any fee for hunting or fishing on the railway land or for entry to the railway land for those purposes.
this is from the fish and wildlife conservation act
I'm a bit confused, does this mean you can or can'tQuote:
Originally Posted by trappermatt
Rail company's own more land the just the active tracks
cn cp police are federal there rule over rides provincial act. all of the old railway land up north you can but cn cp tracks are under federal jurisdiction .. if you have old train tracks that have been taken out of use you can hunt them .. at least thats the way i see it
After some research , I've found there is a federal act concerning railway lines , it refers to the word "line work "
“line work”
« ligne de chemin de fer »
“line work” means
(a) a line of railway, including any structure supporting or protecting that line of railway or providing for drainage thereof,
(b) a system of switches, signals or other like devices that facilitates railway operations, or
(c) any other structure built across, beside, under or over a line of railway, that facilitates railway operations,
but does not include a crossing work;
it it says you cannot enter line work , so not being a lawyer I'm not sure if this encompasses the whole right of way or just the actual bed that the track is set on , as far as railway police they have no more or less power then any other police and can enforce the railway saftey act as well as provincial statute
Quote:
Originally Posted by trappermatt
According to a friend that's a rail cop and my SIL (rail safety officer) with whom I've discussed this issue,both of the above posts are right. It gives them lots of leeway when dealing with hunters. Generally,it depends where you are. In the south,especially between the major rail line corridors that run between Montreal and Ottawa to Chatham and down to Niagara,if you 're caught on railway lands,you'll be arrested and charged as many times as it takes to get your attention,that is if you don't get run over. However,there's thousands of miles of tracks in central and northern Ontario that are used very little (meaning once or twice in a 24hr. period) or even not at all,where a blind eye is turned unless there's an incident. It's not uncommon to see folks from kids and Dads to seniors out for a stroll plinking ground hogs on a hot afternoon or evening or hunting Coyotes in the winter,along the tracks out in big sky farm country. Unless there's a serious occurrence that needs immediate attention,you won't see the Police. They've got enough on their plate.Quote:
Originally Posted by mark270wsm
I did a quick look in the regs and didnt find anything, that is why i asked about the railway.
When I asked a few other hunters nobody knew the answer.
This track used to be for a tour and dinner train but it still has the odd train use the tracks.
Coyotes use the track more than the trains!
Im not about to take any chances but its good to get the information I needed about this issue.
Thanks for all the feedback.
Hunting bunnies about a dozen times on the rails and so far never seen a cop or been charged. Guys have been doing it for years. Unless you are causing trouble I am sure police have better things to worry about. But this was a good post to read.
The coyotes they have studied down in the GTA use railbeds as travel routes a lot of the times.Quote:
Originally Posted by RyanO
Down in the States they call Rail line Coyote "Super Highways" there are so many track along them..Quote:
Originally Posted by Gilroy