Finding park information

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ggpr

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Ive used the crown atlas and have found a park near me (Queen Elizabeth 2 Wedlands) and was wondering who to call to get specific information about using it. Something a little more then point-form ideas from the atlas site. Its supposedley has something to do with Bancroft/Perry Sound. On a side note, I can't find the migratory birds regulations this year. I'm sure it was with the deer/moose/etc... previous years.

What I would like to do:

Go with a friend upstream with a canoe, fish and hunt birds and come home at the end of the weekend. <- weekend trip.

Looking for: am I allowed to have a fire, camp with a tent, shoot anywhere I want, fish, a good place to start the journey, anything else, etc...

Thanks

note: This got moved from the legalese section. Understandable. In my defense, my original thought was to have it there to avoid the legalese aspect.
 
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Ive been browsing for this type of information for about a year now and have usually been met with nothing or 'go see the atlas'. Ive also asked people in conversations...but they don't know and/or they have a spot thats been handed down to them through the years.

The atlas is great, but you find tidbits of exceptions that make hunting illegal in those parks from websites etc...which the park in question doesn't have one.

My Story:
My grandfather will take me deer hunting on his property but it kinda upsets the neighbours. One of his neighbors was showing me how to use my firearms by shooting a round or two in each firearm just to show me they were safe to shoot. This caused him to deal with the police shortly after I left (noise disturbance) [7 guns...2 rounds each = 14 shots in total]. (FAC instructors scared the hell out of me with my inherited firearms because they sat for many years and convinced me they were volatile dangerous things ready to blow up in my face at any time...so they sat for many more years until my grandfathers neighbourly gent showed me it was safe [At the time...in my eyes, he was doing the daring experiment]). So, hunting deer I will do there...but anything else...I can't without probably creating trouble. I joined the peterborough club (pfga), but they seem to be focused on hand guns. Ive been there a few times in the past year and a bit with my membership and its only the odd time there was someone else at the rifle range (and they usually were leaving as I was showing up). So I didn't get to meet any hunters there. I'm going to let my membership finish and then join the one in Haliburton. It's closer and hopefully the range is busier so I can meet experienced people willing to share. Haliburton only has a 100 yard range, so finding crown land to shoot on for the rare occasion I need more then 100 yards would also be nice. My only real connection at this point is my grandfather who I sadly think is near the end of his hunting career and when he is done, I will probably nead a fallback place (crown land). I know ofah apparently has a farmer/hunter program...but being a finishing student....money is tight and I figure its more for coyotes and groundhogs anyways. <- not something I would eat, so not something I want to go after. I have a save the animals attitude, but at the same time...not all the animals need saving (population control etc...). I think its safe to leave in the MNR's hands...at least I haven't heard anything outrageous yet. for example: I don't mind the "Seal Slaughter" just as long as the someone keeps track of it and minimal is wasted.

What I want:
A place to hunt without getting into any trouble. Being a newbie, I don't have much money and think guides are way to expensive (I would easily drop the sport I never/barely started before trying a guide). At this point I want to really try starting out with something small like birds. If someone would take me out birding or bunny hunting and showing me how to talk to the right people about permission would be supreme. I have the arms to take down pretty much anything in canada with the exception of bison, grizzlys etc...might be out of my range. Unless 308,12ga or antique 45-70 is good enough for them. But I'm not interested in them...at least at this point.

Something I want to try:
While I was looking at elizabeth park, I saw how big it was (330 km^2) and thought it would be great to try one of those hiking/hunting/fishin week adventures with a friend but obviously my logic tells me 'NO' because of my lacking experience and legalese doubt, no matter how much the other side of me says 'YES'. <- I would do this with an experienced person as well.

Thats my story...pretty much just looking for a remote place where I won't run into any hassling strangers (or a lot of you would probably say "liberal strangers" and can hunt with ease. I think that elizabeth 2 provincial park enables that...but I don't know who to call to find out the specifics on it. If I can't find information I only see 3 options at this point and most likely end up with #3. 1) You will find me in the newspaper shooting in a no shooting place 2) I got lucky 3) I give up on hunting and continue plinking at the range with a 22lr.

Sorry for those who spent the time reading this jarble...it was primarily a way to let out a bit of frustration.
 
I'd love to help GGPR, but obviously you need someone in your area. I could give you spots in bc easily enough but that won't help you much ;) (tho you can actually come to bc and do that stuff if you like without a guide).

My suggestion would be to contact the local CO's in the areas you are thinking about. I don't know much about ontario CO's, but here they're very appreciative of people calling and asking so they don't wind up in areas they're not supposed to be. They can probably give you some good ideas of where you can start looking for good sites that are in legal shoot areas. Then the atlas starts to be a heck of a lot more useful, all you have to do is find a little terrain that matches the species your interested in. Grouse is always a great way to start hunting - they're fun and easy and they don't take a lot of effort to find or clean.

I bet if you called some co's they'd put you on to some great places to start scouting and hunting for small game.

Wish i could be more help but like i said - kinda hard from bc :)
 
Quote-- (FAC instructors scared the hell out of me with my inherited firearms because they sat for many years and convinced me they were volatile dangerous things ready to blow up in my face at any time...so they sat for many more years until my grandfathers neighbourly gent

Yes, yes, it is terrible dangerous to shoot those old guns. And two shots each out of them just set the steel at the right degree of fracture to blow up with the next shot!
I will send you the money to ship them to me, to get the dangerous things far from you!
I won't even instruct my heirs to sue you, when they blow u p with me!
 
"...something to do with Bancroft/Parry Sound..." They're a long way apart.
"...Queen Elizabeth 2 Wedlands..." As in Queen Elizabeth 2 Wildlands? It's a "Natural Environment" park. No facilities whatsoever. Apparently administered by the 'Central Zone' office at Arrowhead Provincial Park. I doubt hunting anything is permitted. If it's not in the Hunting Regs, there's no hunting or even having a firearm with you. Call the MNR though. 1-800-667-1940
Start here. http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/quee.html
Arrowhead Provincial Park
451 Arrowhead Park Rd.
Huntsville, Ontario
P1H 2J4
(705) 789-5105
The Migratory Bird Regs are here. http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/publications/reg/index_e.cfm
 
Thank you for your replys.

Foxer: What does CO stand for. That way I can figure out their phone number. Are they something todo with the MNR as mentioned by sunray. I looked at other provinces for hunting as I would like one day to try Caribou/Bison/etc... I made it as far as Alberta and Northwest Territores. If I can hunt in BC without a guide, I will most likely do it some day. I want to be able to open the freezer and go 'Do I feel like cow, highland cattle, Venesine, Bison Steaks or Caribou...Maybe Ill settle for the chicken' . :)

H4831: That was about 2 years ago. They haven't been fired since (I treasure them for inheritance reasons) but have bought a few new toys since. And now that I have been to a couple shows, seen some things etc...They are in very Good to Excellent condition. That guy just new how to make a guy ignorant to the new sport very paranoid. But he was literaly saying the barrel could explode killing you, the guy next to you etc... (my imagination was able to go wild at that point [I was 16 or 18 at the time]).

sunray: That link did exactly what I was afraid of. Gave limitations of camping areas not allowed not mentioned on the atlas. As for the hunting thing...The Atlas states there there are numerous hunting camps and hunting is a 'YES' with the note of checking the hunting regulations.
 
If your grandfather has property, I say hunt it and poo-poo on the neighbors. The police may show up once, but you are not doing anything wrong, and they likely won't be back. Assuming you have all your paperwork in order.

CO = Conservation Officer.
 
ggpr said:
As for the hunting thing...The Atlas states there there are numerous hunting camps and hunting is a 'YES' with the note of checking the hunting regulations.
Click to expand...

There may be hunting in some areas, but most camps are likely leased and you can't just walk in there and hunt. At least I wouldn't.;)
 
ggpr: I'm not from your area so can't comment on your hunting question. Each province has different regs and areas that are off limits to hunting.

It's tough to get into this late with no experience. I never had a 'teacher' when I was younger either as my father and relatives were not into hunting or guns.

As for old guns, many will definitely blow up on you when used with modern ammo. I don't mean to freak you out but maybe that is what the FAC instructor was trying to impress on you. Old guns used different steel and are not up to modern pressure requirements. Old shotguns are the worst offenders as current shells fit and will fire... Rifles are not as much to be worried about as most ammo currently loaded is loaded to the old specs or are so obscure as to require handloading.

The short version is that guns made after WW1 are probably perfectly safe if not in obvious poor repair. Around 1900 was the change from low pressure black powder to higher pressure smokeless powder. Also they went from lower strength Damascus steel to higher strength carbon steel. More to it than that, of course, but that the basic version. My advice to you on old guns is know what it is and what it was designed to shoot... the internet has lots of info.

As for the gun clubs, most of them are in the business of staying in business. That means helping out new members. Contact your Club Exec and ask for some help. They can probably set you up with a more senior member who would love to take you under their wing. Most fellas love a shooting buddy they can impress!

Our club is mostly trapshooters but I know we have members into other things and who know a lot. Trying to catch them at the club is next to impossible without an appointment!

Good luck to you.
 
I keep hearing how good crown land is...but it keeps sounding worse and worse the more I dig in. From the overview it sounds like a public place where anyone can do what they want...but leasing, no shooting, no camping here or there, storys of hikers getting p1ssy, etc... really makes it seem like something completely different.

The guns I am speaking about (which I showed the list to the instructor) are stuff like 99eg, No4mk1,No4mk2,Savage 340, Rem 870, etc.... Stuff that should be able to shoot any factory loaded rounds from the store with safety to spare. I must note that the instructor at the same time was asking about buying one or two. I don't think he was intentionally trying to scare me into selling...but he definately made it so I didn't touch them for the next 5-6 years.

Well, my first gun club there was rarely anyone around on the rifle range. Hoping the new one I'm looking at will be better. The pic's on the clubs website show a lot of guys with grey hair; so they must have experience....right?
 
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Foxer: What does CO stand for.
Click to expand...

Ooops :)

It means Conservation Officer. Each area will have Conservation officers that are responsible for the area. They're basically 'hunting police'. They know their areas intimately, know where the animals are, and want very much for you not to accidently go into the wrong areas with a gun :) They won't likely tell you PRECISE areas to hunt but they'll say things like "up around this river there's some deer, there's grouse in this valley here, lotsa rabbits down this forest service road, ' etc. They'll give you shoot zones and no shoot zones etc.

Then it's up to you to go do your scouting :) You drive around the areas looking for sign, walk into the areas looking for sign, and generally poke your nose around till you start to see what you're looking for. If you're after grouse for example, find out where the like to live, what they like to eat, what times of the day they're out, etc. and start to look.

Remember - it's hunting, not 'shopping' :) The whole point is to get to know how and where the animals live, to learn an area and become intimately familiar with it's life and biosphere, as well as finding the game and harvesting it. So expect to spend some time just learning about an area. The more you know it - the more success you'll have. Getting to know a few areas will open your eyes amazingly when you visit somewhere new.

Word of advice - whether you're scouting in a car or on foot - Go slow. In fact - here's how to know if you're going slow enough. Start off, and whatever speed you're at, slow down to the point where you feel you're going as slow as you should be, a speed where you're sure you'll see animals if they're there. Then slow down a bit. Then take THAT speed, and cut it in half. At that point, you're probably only going a LITTLE too fast.

Road hunting (PROPER honest roadhunting) is used for scouting mostly, and isn't done much faster than walking. Walking should be about the same speed as crawling. Drunk.

Most people go way too fast and don't see anything. Slow. Go slow :) Look at the ground lots. If you're on the road and there's a puddle or mud - go look in it. There's probably tracks. If there's a light dusting of snow - look at everything that even might be a print. Watch for scrapes, scat, prints, etc.

The funny thing is - the more game you see, the more game you'll see. It takes a while for your eyes to get trained, but once you get used to seeing animals or birds, you'll start to see them more and more.
 
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