Bear Hunting. Why are hunting shotguns limited to only three rounds when centre fire rifles get five?

savage112 said:
During the Southern Ontario shotgun deer hunts, the C.O.'s always check for 3 round limit.
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Well, thats in your Provincial Hunting Regs. and as bcsteve mentioned we are afforded a couple extra rounds here in BC.
As for the OP hoping that a Provincial Wildlife Officer will answer is a stretch and a phone call to the Ministries Office will likely garner a quicker and more official response.
 
milkbone96 said:
That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Sorry for your luck.
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I'd say the same for your general 3 round shotgun limit when not hunting migratory waterfowl, along with the retarded .270 calibre restrictions. I believe Alberta is the same as BC, no limit when using slugs on big game in manual actions, 5 round limit with semi's.


Mark
 
DogTazmania said:
I'd like the MNRF and CO's to answer this question, considering this revealing statistic and problem:

"Rate of fire is another criterion that isn’t on most hunters’ radar. Statistics vary, but most police officers don’t exceed a 50% hit rate. Even if you train regularly, you might not hit a bear on your first, second, or third shots, especially if the bear is charging. “If you think you’re gonna go out and shoot a moving target with 100% accuracy, you’re one brick short of a full wheelbarrow,” said MeatEater’s Clay Newcomb."

Reference the article "The Best Bear-Defense Guns and Cartridges"
https://www.themeateater.com/gear/g...tridges?rbid=da06c7bdabd14ad86998d4c0cdb3ac0d
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OP, if you're a member of the OFAH, send in your question to them and ask if it can be one included in a future "Ask a C.O." column. If you're not a member, draft your question and PM it to me and I'll send it in.

In the meantime, maybe have a look at their archive to see if a similar question had already been asked:

https://oodmag.com/category/qa/ask-a-co/
 
Thanks for all the input on this. I didn't expect that volume of response so quickly. Its truly appreciated. Ontario terrible is right. Or maybe Ontario wierd. It is definitely three rounds for a shotgun regardless of game in Ontario. Why I asked is I'm scouting an area for whitetail in the spring heavily occupied by black bear. I've had encounters. Most of them escape if you keep an eye but encounters with ornery boars who are hungry and sows with cubs are common. If they're startled they can be dangerous. Nobody wants to kill a sow with cubs. I'll be in an open season WMU and carry bear spray plus other precautions. If it's a last resort I'll justify it to the CO after. The usual glib answer is "carry a rifle." Well the shotty is quicker, lighter, I'm better with it and the slugs at close range are a stopper. I wrote the MNRF. I'll let you know what the answer is.
 
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savage112 said:
If you're shooting at a running whitetail and miss with the first 3, a 4 and 5th shot aren't going to do you any good.
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You got it. But, I was also introduced to hunting using single shot 12gauges and .22lr so making the first shot count is what it’s all about.

Getting the odd double and triple on waterfowl and deer sure is fun. I’m sure there’s been a few times where I could have pulled off a quad or quint if regulations allowed more shells 🤣
 
canadian hunter312 said:
You got it. But, I was also introduced to hunting using single shot 12gauges and .22lr so making the first shot count is what it’s all about.

Getting the odd double and triple on waterfowl and deer sure is fun. I’m sure there’s been a few times where I could have pulled off a quad or quint if regulations allowed more shells 🤣
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You're right. It's bear defence I'm wondering about?
 
mmattockx said:
I'd say the same for your general 3 round shotgun limit when not hunting migratory waterfowl, along with the retarded .270 calibre restrictions. I believe Alberta is the same as BC, no limit when using slugs on big game in manual actions, 5 round limit with semi's.


Mark
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One thing that's goofy in Ab is still being limited to 3 shells for ANY game bird.
 
canadian hunter312 said:
You got it. But, I was also introduced to hunting using single shot 12gauges and .22lr so making the first shot count is what it’s all about.

Getting the odd double and triple on waterfowl and deer sure is fun. I’m sure there’s been a few times where I could have pulled off a quad or quint if regulations allowed more shells 🤣
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Yup. You're right. I like it. I went from .22 LR to 20 Ga single then to a 12 Ga Rem 870. My concern, here is the attack scenario with dangerous game, close range and little time.
 
As I've said 'somewhere', I'd prefer a 'reliable, short semi' for 5-chances instead of 1-or-2 from pump if I'm being attacked. . . No matter what or who is attacking me or mine.
 
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