Can I carry a gun while bow hunting?

[Fox]

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.

There are 2 threads in one here, the first is from the OP, it asks if he can have a gun when bow hunting with him, that is a simple answer and the answer is no in Ontario based on the regulations.

The other thread that came from this was the idea that a gun in your vehicle while you are in the bush hunting with a bow would make you illegal, which makes no sense at all. It is like the one where the CO gives you a warning for not having an orange hat when you are riding an ATV to your hunting spot or in your truck, sorry, you cannot legally hunt from a vehicle so there is no way that they can tag you with no hunter orange hat while on an ATV as you cannot be hunting.

You cannot have the gun on you while hunting unless it is on you while hunting, end of story.

The OP, no, you cannot legally have a gun with you when hunting for deer during an open season that is bow only. If you are hunting coyotes during an open season for deer that is bow only then have at it with a shotgun and a rifle, you are not deer hunting so you can small game hunt with anything as long as you meet any municipal bylaws or other caliber restrictions as the case may be.

[werner.reiche]

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.

None of those cases show much intelligence. The paragraph of the summary deals with travelling between your home and your hunting location in a vehicle or boat during bow season with both a rifle/shotgun and a bow. It's a law that doesn't make much sense, but it is the law.

[rick_iles]

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.


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).

You are absolutely right.....poor terminology on my part !

[rick_iles]

None of those cases show much intelligence. The paragraph of the summary deals with travelling between your home and your hunting location in a vehicle or boat during bow season with both a rifle/shotgun and a bow. It's a law that doesn't make much sense, but it is the law.

Just to verify, I contacted MNRF. It is perfectly legal to hunt with and/or transport my .243 during our bows only deer season, for the purposes of coyote hunting.

[trimmer21]

None of those cases show much intelligence. The paragraph of the summary deals with travelling between your home and your hunting location in a vehicle or boat during bow season with both a rifle/shotgun and a bow. It's a law that doesn't make much sense, but it is the law.

What Rick said. I believe the paragraph in the summary is deliberately vague to give the impression that travelling with both archery and firearms during a bows only season is illegal. It is quite clearly NOT. Actively hunting (walking throught the woods, sitting on a watch or in a boat) with both is absolutely illegal and that is what the paragraph attempts to convey. One has absolutely nothing to do with the other.

[seabast]

Just to verify, I contacted MNRF. It is perfectly legal to hunt with and/or transport my .243 during our bows only deer season, for the purposes of coyote hunting.

Well, nothing new here! This is absolutely not what we are arguing about......

[rick_iles]

Well, nothing new here! This is absolutely not what we are arguing about......

It went off the rails when you posted that the OP couldn't even have a gun in his vehicle while bow hunting deer. I responded by asking if that were the case, how is it legal to yote hunt with a rifle during archery season. You in turn, posted that it was illegal........and off the rails it went ! Lol

Good discussion though. Other issues were raised that can be discussed on another thread, like "hunting" from a vehicle !

[Fox]

None of those cases show much intelligence. The paragraph of the summary deals with travelling between your home and your hunting location in a vehicle or boat during bow season with both a rifle/shotgun and a bow. It's a law that doesn't make much sense, but it is the law.

The problem is that there is no law that you have proven to be a law, you wrote about carrying a firearm while hunting, since you cannot hunt from a vehicle how can you be hunting while your firearm is in your vehicle?

My examples don't show intelligence? You have got to be kidding me. I have a firearm, I am moving it around my yard, my yard is an area for which game can be found, therefore under your logic I will be going against the hunting laws if I have a rifle in my yard during a bow only season for deer. I would also under your logic be against the law for hunting with a rifle while I take my firearm from my house to my car in a case and then go down the road in my car as I am carrying it.

Like I said earlier, with your logic anyone driving into their camp on the Sunday before the season in Ontario for the first week of November should have all of their gear taken away as they are all traveling to their hunting location for the purpose of hunting with a rifle during a bow only season.

If you are traveling to a location to hunt with a bow and you only take your bow out and carry it to your stand then you are fine. Then you go back to your vehicle and carry your rifle to your coyote hunting stand. No where here have you ever carried your rifle while deer hunting or carried your rifle to your deer hunting location, it has stayed in your vehicle.

With the way you guys talk on here sometimes I cannot believe it is even legal to fart in the woods without being charged for chasing the game (hunting as written in the regulations).

[seabast]

It went off the rails when you posted that the OP couldn't even have a gun in his vehicle while bow hunting deer. I responded by asking if that were the case, how is it legal to yote hunt with a rifle during archery season. You in turn, posted that it was illegal........and off the rails it went ! Lol

Good discussion though. Other issues were raised that can be discussed on another thread, like "hunting" from a vehicle !

e.g. Is shooting a deer leaning on the tailgate or hood of a truck legal or not?

And if it is illegal, what about shooting targets?

[rick_iles]

Fox, care to start a thread about "hunting" from a vehicle ? There is no law making it illegal.