Deer Hunting Info in Eastern Ontario

[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?

[werner.reiche]

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.

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.

[MikePal]

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

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.

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?

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.

[Cintax]

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.

[rf2]

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.

[Fox]

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.

[Cintax]

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

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.

[Hunter John]

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.

[kevjack6]

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!

[Fox]

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.