Deer Hunting Info in Eastern Ontario

Hi, I'm new to the forum and I'm hoping to get some information. I'm interested in establishing a yearly deer hunting trip to Eastern Ontario. I say Eastern Ontario because I already hunt in Quebec and I live in Vermont; I only want to drive up to maybe 6 hours from my home.

As a starting point I've kind of picked Smith's Falls as my home base in hope to hunt in the surrounding area. What are the deer hunting numbers like in that area? Is there any Crown Land available? I would also be interested in paying an access fee or lease to hunt private land if you know anyone that may be interested in that type of arrangement.

Any help that I can get will be very much appreciated. I've looked online and can't seem to find harvest information for certain areas and I find the maps of locations of Crown Land to be difficult to follow.

Thanks in advance for your time,

Kevin

There is the Ontario Crown Land Use Atlas, it is not exact as there are places that show as crown that are actually not and there are areas shown as private that are actually public lands.

There is not a lot of crown land around Eastern Ontario, at least not close to the river and not until you go a ways from Ottawa. If you want to get into big woods deer hunting in Eastern Ontario I would suggest going further into the Addington Highlands, tons of crown land out that way.

As for land leases, I do not know too many people around here who do that as there is a big liability once you accept money from someone. Also, a lot of the property around this area has been hunted by the same families for a long time, it is hard to crack that egg. I moved away from the city and getting property for deer hunting has been tough as almost every property already has people hunting on it.

As Fox said Eastern Ontario from Ottawa down to Smith falls is tough. However just step over on the other side of Highway 7 and it begins to get easier. Especially the closer you get to the Algonquin Park area.

What kind of hunting..Bow? Rifle ? Muzzle loader ?..

Crown land in Eastern Ontario is VERY busy the opening week of Rifle season, then drops off significantly for the 2nd week (we have two weeks of Rifle season in most areas).

If you hunt other than rifle, the crown land in the Kemptville area is actually pretty good for Deer and is accessible.

Hi Fox, thanks for the info. I find the Ontario Crown Land Use Atlas difficult to navigate to say the least. Is the "general use" considered Crown Land? If so, it looks like I have to go quite a ways further NW. One more question if I may; do you know where I can find harvest details?

Hi MikePal, thanks for the info. I was thinking of rifle but would consider muzzleloader, I just have to check the dates of that season. Thanks for your help!

Crown land - not a lot of it near Smith's falls, but there's a bit of it on the nw side of white lake near Arnprior. If you go a bit further - up to Pembroke - the south and east sides of the Algonquin park (outside the park) have tens of thousands of acres of crown land and it's not too crowded. WMUs 55A, 55B and 48.

Not 100% sure, but I think you'll find WMUs with crown land usually don't have mz seasons.

The ML season for 2015 is Nov 30-Dec 6th.

What are you looking for in a Harvest report, because harvest reporting isn't mandatory for Deer, the numbers are usually meaningless.

Here is what the MNR releases:

http://www.ontario.ca/document/resid...nting-activity

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Originally Posted by werner.reiche

Not 100% sure, but I think you'll find WMUs with crown land usually don't have mz seasons.

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Smith Falls is WMU 66A and WMU 64....the Limerick Forrest (although not Crown land but essentially treated as such see; http://www.limerickforest.ca/en/faqs.asp) and the Marlborough Forest are both great places to Hunt deer and both have ML seasons.

I didn't realize that deer didn't have to be reported so I agree, the numbers would be useless! I just don't want to go to an area that doesn't have many deer taken; I'm not a trophy hunter. While I'm somewhat selective, I hunt for the enjoyment of it and for putting meat in my freezer; I have 3 kids and they love venison! Thanks again for your help.

MikePal, thanks for this information. Do you personally know people that hunt Limerick and Marlborough Forest? Is there a lot of game and I would also assume that it's crowded?

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Originally Posted by MikePal

Smith Falls is WMU 66A and WMU 64....the Limerick Forrest (although not Crown land but essentially treated as such see; http://www.limerickforest.ca/en/faqs.asp) and the Marlborough Forest are both great places to Hunt deer and both have ML seasons.

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County forests like Limerick, Marlborough (and Larose) aren't crown land - they will have a lot of hunters and since they are in settled areas (farmland or grown over farmland), they will have mz seasons. When I said WMUs with crown land - well - I meant crown land - like in the WMUs I listed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by werner.reiche

County forests like Limerick, Marlborough (and Larose) aren't crown land - .

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I believe that is what I said in my post...I wasn't disputing your observation, just clarifying that the County forests are 'treated' like Crown land for hunting purposes for the OP.

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Originally Posted by kevjack6

MikePal, thanks for this information. Do you personally know people that hunt Limerick and Marlborough Forest? Is there a lot of game and I would also assume that it's crowded?

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I've hunted the Limerick, I had a buddy whose back yard butted against it. Lots of deer. Only really busy, like I said earlier, on the 1st week of the Rifle season. But like all public places....you have to get back in off the beaten paths.

Do you need to be a member of the OFAH to hunt in Limerick or Marlborough? I ask because you do for Simcoe County Forests.

I hunt some private land near Smiths Falls and I've started hunting the Marlborough forest recently. The deer population in the last few years has not been great, that's for sure. Marlborough forest is open access to all, but be aware that there are some groups there that have been hunting the same areas for a while and don't look to kindly on "new" folks. As with all public land, scouting will be important for success and also to avoid conflicts.

If you are looking to put meat in the freezer then you have to really think about any import laws as well.

I find it interesting that you want to come here to hunt, Ontario is really expensive for a non-resident hunter and the population has dropped significantly in the last 10 years, a lot of guys here talk about going to PA to hunt for the freezer, a lot more deer down that way.

The General Use in the atlas is crown I believe, you will notice very little of this around Smiths Falls, move the map over towards Denbigh and you will see crown land, that is about 120 miles west of Ottawa.

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Originally Posted by Fox

I find it interesting that you want to come here to hunt, Ontario is really expensive for a non-resident hunter

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I was going to disagree with you but I decided to look it up again.

Deer licence tag and game seal: $241.61 + $2.26

Yeah, not that cheap. I thought my $128 for a white-tail was expensive. The up side is there is no need for a guide or hunter host.

A buddy of mine hunts the Limerick forest with his longbow and usually does well during the bow season and he says its not crowded. Cant comment on the rifle or muzzleloader seasons. From some of the pictures he has sent me it looks like beautiful country.

I already hunt in Quebec so I'm aware of the expense and import regulations. I like to hunt new areas. My wife is Canadian and I want to hunt some of the Canadian provinces that I can without needing a guide. I've been to PA, it's not all that it's cracked up to be and there are a TON of hunters. It looks like I need to broaden my range and travel further west to get to some hopefully less crowded Crown Land. I have a lot of friends that travel over to the Dryden area but that's a 24 hour haul and I don't have enough vacation time to warrant a trip of that length unfortunately. Thanks for your help!

Take a look at Denbigh, Bancroft, Griffith, they are north of Hwy 7 and far enough north to get away from private land. This is big bush, you can stalk for a long time in those areas.

You can also camp on crown land, not sure how it works for non-residents of Canada but it would be something to look into.

I used to hunt the big woods with dad, we used dogs, it is a lot different than sitting on the edge of a farmers field that is for sure.

May mention you hunt the big woods you can very easily go for a week and not see a deer. Area around Algonquin are taking a beating from heavy snows and out of control wolf population in my opinion.

South/East of Algonquin there are a few deer around. Winters haven't been that bad lately, but the wolves are always there. You should be able to see at least a couple if you spend the entire week out. It sure won't be like farm country though.