WIN card in AB...tiered levels?

tokguy

tokguy

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
93   0   0
Location
Buffalo Republic
My gal and I were talking about the coming deer season. Me, I hunt...I enjoy it. She doesn't mind the cutting & wrapping...is thinking about maybe getting a deer this fall.
She is about like me, middle aged rural upbringing...her in SW Sask on an Elk ranch.
Naturally I assume she will need to get online hunter training... she has not ( that she remembers) had it. Yet she possesses a WIN card?
Are WIN cards like driver's licenses and have different levels? I'm wondering if she forgot about a course from school or maybe is Grandfathered ( Grandmothered?) that she possesses a WIN card?
Me, I'm Grandfathered...never took the course. Wasn't a thing when I started hunting. I guess it was assumed that we possessed sufficient knowledge to harvest deer, handle firearms, drive a manual transmission and actually knew what that thing behind our zipper really did... at age 14. It was early 80's... things were different then.
Is her WIN going to GF her in?
And please, don't get snarky on replies...raised on an Elk ranch...remember?
 
WIN cards are not exclusive to hunting. You need a WIN card to get a fishing license, or one of the new recreational lands camping permits.

So it's totally possible to have a WIN card without the hunting safety course. But you won't be able to buy a hunting license.
 
I’m like you in that I didn’t need the course as I starting hunting long before it was required. She can take the course on line, it’s not all that difficult, my nephew took it with the instruction manual beside him. They want you to be informed and have set it up to be user friendly.
 
OP - not sure that I can provide useful information - sort of up to Alberta authorities to sell that license or not?

My own experience - 2018 - I grew up in Sask. I now live in Manitoba. Never hunted or had any paperwork from Alberta. My brother in Grande Cache got a moose draw and asked me to come up to lend a hand. I did not want to be in those mountains hauling moose meat, without a rifle - would still be the odd grizzly out and about, lots of cougar, etc. Maybe just me, but I wanted to be carrying a rifle. I applied for and got a WIN card - do not recall what I had to provide to them - I did take "Hunter Safety" in 1969 in Saskatchewan - still have the certificate - but do not recall having to submit that. The WIN card expires Sep 2023. With that WIN card, I then got a coyote/wolf tag for a season that was open in same area and same time as his moose draw - for us out-of-province people - something to do with him as my "sponsor" or whatever.

I spent 9 days or so with him - stayed at his house in town - out into bush before daylight - he did not get a moose while I was there, although he pushed a very nice one out to me. On 10th day, I drove home to Manitoba - about 9:30 AM he phoned me - I was still West of Edmonton - he was in his pickup on a trail we drove every morning - had just shot his moose and it was right beside the truck - he was waiting for a buddy to come out from town to help to load it into the truck - so my best hunt ever - and got out of all the recovery work!!!
 
She must of had a WIN card in the past but they are only good for 5 years and then you need to renew them. You can't purchase any hunting licenses without a valid WIN card. This is a good reminder for me as mine expires this coming September.
 
tokguy said:
My gal and I were talking about the coming deer season. Me, I hunt...I enjoy it. She doesn't mind the cutting & wrapping...is thinking about maybe getting a deer this fall.
She is about like me, middle aged rural upbringing...her in SW Sask on an Elk ranch.
Naturally I assume she will need to get online hunter training... she has not ( that she remembers) had it. Yet she possesses a WIN card?
Are WIN cards like driver's licenses and have different levels? I'm wondering if she forgot about a course from school or maybe is Grandfathered ( Grandmothered?) that she possesses a WIN card?
Me, I'm Grandfathered...never took the course. Wasn't a thing when I started hunting. I guess it was assumed that we possessed sufficient knowledge to harvest deer, handle firearms, drive a manual transmission and actually knew what that thing behind our zipper really did... at age 14. It was early 80's... things were different then.
Is her WIN going to GF her in?
And please, don't get snarky on replies...raised on an Elk ranch...remember?
Click to expand...

There are no tiers. You need a Hunter Safety Course though you previously did not. If she got her WIN before Hunter Safety was required and it subsequently expired, then she would have to complete Hunter Safety, or certify that she previously held a hunting license in Alberta or elsewhere, to get her WIN for hunting.

I had a WIN in the late 90s, before HS was a requirement. It expired somewhere along the way and when I renewed it I had to attest to having HS or previously held a license. By then I was living in NS and HS was required to get a license here. So at 32 year of age, with 25 years of hunting experience in 5 Provinces and two foreign countries, I did HS.

Not I have beaucoup preference points in Alberta which I am looking forward to starting to burn this fall.
 
I have let my AB. win card expire a couple of times and just asked for a new one at a vendor outlet, just provided ID verification with address...never have taken the "course" nor have I ever been asked to provide proof.
 
fingers284 said:
I have let my AB. win card expire a couple of times and just asked for a new one at a vendor outlet, just provided ID verification with address...never have taken the "course" nor have I ever been asked to provide proof.
Click to expand...

I suspected this...but decorum dictates that I read politely to folks chiming in...although it's vague to them as well.
Thanks Fingers
Edit ; talked to someone who knew the little details. When they digitalized the system.... if the right box got checked, you are gtg. If you acquired your WIN after digitization, you must provide proof of hunter training. Clear as mud.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom