Does anyone know , Rabbits, Ontario crops...

bear.23

bear.23

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I know in Ontario it's legal to shoot bears harassing your bee hives (as a last resort) is it legal to do the same to rabbits in your crops..


They tease the dogs when they are leashed out back (get just out of reach and sit there)... (cheeky little buggers)

And pay no attention to them. otherwise.. ..

They have dug under fences or found other ways through the household garden and are far worse in the fields....

We've tried a couple different solutions in the garden.. They actually seem to like the hot sauce... the soap seems to work until it rains or dews.. and I can't do the field every day...

They Don't seem to scare with warning shots...

I'm guessing a 22 is more then enough... But my fear is that if I end up wounding one or two of them will I bring yotes or foxes..
 
According to my neighbour, who dealt wth this last year, he called the MNR and was told that if they were eating his crop (garden) they were indeed a Varmint (pest) and he could shoot them - BUT - he could not keep the meat as that would then be hunting them out of season. Seems a waste of perfectly good meat to me.

A .22 is more than enough to drop a cottontail You should be able to get a good headshot (or center mass) at 75+ yards. Bunnies in fields are one of the easier things to hit in my experience - just have patience ... once they get used to you being on the fence row watching them, they'll sit nice and still for you while they go back to eating your crops :)

And if you have rabbits, then the odds are pretty good that you already have coyotes and foxes.

Personally, I can't see a few bunnies doing any serious damage to a field worth of crop ... If you have enough bunnies to be causing that much of a problem, CALL ME!!! I've got a 223 I'd love to sight in :D

As for the garden, use chicken wire mounted on wooden stakes about 3" above the ground, then connect an electric cattle fence system to it. It's just high enough to tempt them, but low enough to "get" them ... doesn't take long for them to learn the fields are much easier pickings. And by fall, you'll have plenty of fat little bunnies just waiting to be the next guest on your BBQ :D
 
I am pretty sure you will need to get a permet from the MNR to shoot the rabbits out of sesone and you might be able to evan set up snares depending on were you are in ontario. One thing is you will have to eat them or give them to some one who will you cant let the meat of a game animal spoil in ontario. A call to the MNR will clear every thing up.
 
You can apply for permits to shoot just about anything in this province that is being a nuisance to crops or poses a danger to you. I have a friend who has a permit to shoot seagulls on a river behind his home as they pose a danger to his taking off and landing his floatplane. As well I hunt two farms that the farmers are permitted to shoot both Canada Geese and Sandhill Cranes that are ruining their crops. I would think a permit to eradicate a few bunnies would be available. A nuisance permit however DOES NOT ALLOW the harvest of these animals, in other words if you shoot them you must leave them where they fall, they are not allowed to be moved, harvested, consumed etc. or hunted!!.........They may only be shot as a nuisance on the area deemed in the permit and may not be baited, decoyed, shot from a blind etc.. As well the person named as the permit holder is the person who is allowed to do the shooting/killing and there is a maximum daily kill quota printed on the permit. In some cases you may apply for and have another person named on the permit as a shooter/killer but nobody else except the named persons may do the shooting/killing. I can't recall if the permit is available through the MNR or Ministry of Agriculture?
 
IMagius said:
According to my neighbour, who dealt wth this last year, he called the MNR and was told that if they were eating his crop (garden) they were indeed a Varmint (pest) and he could shoot them - BUT - he could not keep the meat as that would then be hunting them out of season. Seems a waste of perfectly good meat to me.

A .22 is more than enough to drop a cottontail You should be able to get a good headshot (or center mass) at 75+ yards. Bunnies in fields are one of the easier things to hit in my experience - just have patience ... once they get used to you being on the fence row watching them, they'll sit nice and still for you while they go back to eating your crops :)

And if you have rabbits, then the odds are pretty good that you already have coyotes and foxes.

Personally, I can't see a few bunnies doing any serious damage to a field worth of crop ... If you have enough bunnies to be causing that much of a problem, CALL ME!!! I've got a 223 I'd love to sight in :D

As for the garden, use chicken wire mounted on wooden stakes about 3" above the ground, then connect an electric cattle fence system to it. It's just high enough to tempt them, but low enough to "get" them ... doesn't take long for them to learn the fields are much easier pickings. And by fall, you'll have plenty of fat little bunnies just waiting to be the next guest on your BBQ :D
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I am pretty sure you must do things like this first to try and discourage them before shooting them.
 
"...considered vermin...'" Not in Ontario, unless they're damaging crops. Mind you, you can shoot all the bunnies you want and more will fill in the void. Ditto for ground hogs.
 
ONTARIO Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_97f41_e.htm

excerpt:

Protection of property
31. (1) If a person believes on reasonable grounds that wildlife is damaging or is about to damage the person’s property, the person may, on the person’s land,
(a) harass the wildlife for the purpose of deterring it from damaging the person’s property; or
(b) capture or kill the wildlife. 1997, c. 41, s. 31 (1).
Agents
(2) The person may use an agent to harass, capture or kill the wildlife under subsection (1) if the agent has the authorization of the Minister or belongs to a class of agents prescribed by the regulations. 1997, c. 41, s. 31 (2).
Exceptions
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to,
(a) a moose or woodland caribou; or
(b) a white-tailed deer, an American elk or other wildlife prescribed by the regulations, unless the person harasses, captures or kills the wildlife in accordance with the authorization of the Minister.
(c) Repealed: 2009, c. 33, Sched. 22, s. 2 (15).
1997, c. 41, s. 31 (3); 2009, c. 33, Sched. 22, s. 2 (15).
 
senior said:
Geeze some guys make things to tough.
.22 shoot them!
You still down by Hermon?
nobody down there is gonna care.
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Up and over a bit... But yeah...

We have some hippie ladies living across the street and they've made some noise about some of the rifle fire of late... I honestly think they've been feeding them.. I never saw them when I moved here (almost 10 years ago) and now we have about 50 of them running around... They get into something and it's gone took out about 200 strawberry plants over the last 2 weeks...
 
bear.23 said:
Up and over a bit... But yeah...

We have some hippie ladies living across the street and they've made some noise about some of the rifle fire of late... I honestly think they've been feeding them.. I never saw them when I moved here (almost 10 years ago) and now we have about 50 of them running around... They get into something and it's gone took out about 200 strawberry plants over the last 2 weeks...
Click to expand...

Best way of dealing with cop calling hippys is to fire often & a lot... legally.
LE will quickly get tired of the calls & tell flower people to FO :D
 
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