How to get into hunting in Ontario

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CanadianMarksman

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So I'm not at all new to firearms and have a few suitable for hunting, along with a crossbow and my hunting license.

My problem is actually finding a place to hunt. Living in the GTA I don't have any connections to farmers with vast acreages, and I don't have any partners to go with that could help me. Am looking for an opportunity to hunt anything including waterfowl, turkey, deer, or coyote.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
 
Like you, I had a long hard search to find both ground and hunting partners up north. Fortunately, one buddy had a friend who had a great deer hunting property near Baysville. The guy who owned the place was a bit of an a-hole, but at least we had someplace to hunt and we hunted there for about 15 yrs. before the guy lost the property to his stupidity. Now, my best bud has the old family home near Minden and he and I hunt there. Your best bet is to check out the outdoor magazines for hunting camps looking for new blood or look at paying an outfitter to get out hunting. Sometimes you can advertise in local papers asking for hunting rights to properties or gangs that will take new members, but that's iffy. Join a gun club and you may make contacts that way and you can try contacting gun shops up north of us to see if you can scare up any leads. Lots of luck in your search.
 
CanadianMarksman said:
So I'm not at all new to firearms and have a few suitable for hunting, along with a crossbow and my hunting license.

My problem is actually finding a place to hunt. Living in the GTA I don't have any connections to farmers with vast acreages, and I don't have any partners to go with that could help me. Am looking for an opportunity to hunt anything including waterfowl, turkey, deer, or coyote.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
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If you are looking to hunt waterfowl there are lots of places you can try. Deer hunting can be done on crown land and sometimes conservation management lands. You have to use your resources! Because you are in the GTA you will likely have to drive somewhere to hunt. For waterfowl try Long point region conservation authority. And look into Simcoe County forest for possible opportunities????? Up to you to do the rest! PS: you can try some salesmanship and ask. You may get lots of no's but eventually if you present yourself correctly someone will say yes...and that's all it takes !
 
CanadianMarksman said:
So I'm not at all new to firearms and have a few suitable for hunting, along with a crossbow and my hunting license.

My problem is actually finding a place to hunt. Living in the GTA I don't have any connections to farmers with vast acreages, and I don't have any partners to go with that could help me. Am looking for an opportunity to hunt anything including waterfowl, turkey, deer, or coyote.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
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Waterfowling is a piece of cake. With so many lakes loaded with ducks and geese,all you need is a few dekes,a canoe or small boat and motor and your good. Scouting and knocking on doors in farm country is the tough part. Get yourself some good binoculars,current provincial and regional maps and have at it. People skills is a definite asset. Good Luck.
 
I'm a late starter to hunting and have hunted in Ontario for 12 years -mostly deer and turkey. As the others said the biggest challenge is to get permission to hunt private property. I lucked out last year to hunt a very productive property for deer 25 minutes from home, saw 4 deer in 3 trips and killed a nice buck with my cross-bow the last trip. This property has now been sold and I have to start over hopefully the new owner will agree. I also lucked out in joining an established hunt camp through my gun club. I lucked out on both and wasn't the result of scouting, knocking on doors, making contacts and selling yourself which is what many do and what I should be doing next. You can also hunt public land but in my experience the deer can be nocturnal and you're competing with other hunters although many public land hunters stick close to the roads and their vehicles. One thing I'd add is you'll learn to be a good hunter best by bow hunting deer and turkey hunting although in my experience learning mostly by error. You can also pay a guide/outfitter to take you on a hunt which I did 1X for turkey.
 
Other option is to buy some land, consider it an investment and hunt on it... it's basically what I have decided to do. Living in GTA you will be looking at a two hour drive minimum basically.
 
Ive been blessed with lots of land to hunt in and around the gta for varoius species of game, some you can even see the cn tower from. for the last season i was taking fellers out as a guide but its stressful. So Ive been tossing around the idea of starting a members only hunt club that gives you access to land and equipment. Would there be any interest in joining such a thing?
 
killswitch said:
Ive been blessed with lots of land to hunt in and around the gta for varoius species of game, some you can even see the cn tower from. for the last season i was taking fellers out as a guide but its stressful. So Ive been tossing around the idea of starting a members only hunt club that gives you access to land and equipment. Would there be any interest in joining such a thing?
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absolutely...:) Count me in!
 
Look up the crown land atlas online for Ontario. You can scout out all the crown land, nature reserves etc. I use it all the time, and on the weekends my wife and I will just take out our rifles, camping equipment and GPS and just go explore and shoot whatever is in season. Some of the first pockets of crown land are about 1h north of Peterborough. I live downtown Toronto, and this works for us.
 
killswitch said:
Ive been blessed with lots of land to hunt in and around the gta for varoius species of game, some you can even see the cn tower from. for the last season i was taking fellers out as a guide but its stressful. So Ive been tossing around the idea of starting a members only hunt club that gives you access to land and equipment. Would there be any interest in joining such a thing?
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yes I would be interested. careful dont want to get stung for 'market research' though. I got stung yesterday :(
 
Sometimes you just have to go to the Farmer and ask Present yourself well.Some Farmers look for a person to hunt their land that will keep other Hunters off such as ones that simply trespass like they own the land throw garbage on it usually you will find this person has No Trespassing signs all over their own property at home These are the guys you do not want hunting your property.Most Farmers are good hard working guys does not hurt to ask.
 
superstock said:
Sometimes you just have to go to the Farmer and ask Present yourself well.Some Farmers look for a person to hunt their land that will keep other Hunters off such as ones that simply trespass like they own the land throw garbage on it usually you will find this person has No Trespassing signs all over their own property at home These are the guys you do not want hunting your property.Most Farmers are good hard working guys does not hurt to ask.
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You are absolutely correct, wildlife can be a real pain to a farmer this I know from personal experience and the worst they can say is no.
 
Go out and ask landowners. Dress normally. Jeans and a collared shirt for instance. If the landowner isnt familiar with hunting then explain that you have taken saftey courses and are licensed. Get insurance that specifically covers firearms. This could be NFA or OFAH for instance. Explain that coverage to the landowner. Be polite.
 
I would also be VERY interested in joining a hunt club.



killswitch said:
Ive been blessed with lots of land to hunt in and around the gta for varoius species of game, some you can even see the cn tower from. for the last season i was taking fellers out as a guide but its stressful. So Ive been tossing around the idea of starting a members only hunt club that gives you access to land and equipment. Would there be any interest in joining such a thing?
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Post a "resume" of sorts on your gun club bulletin board, seeking a hunting camp to join. Describe yourself, your demeanor, your physical abilities, any equipment you have access to... lots of gangs are getting long in the tooth. Looking for young strong whippersnappers to help share the load. And when you find one, leave everything you know (except safety) behind, and focus on learning everything they're willing to share. In the words of the wise fellow in my sig line: "Just listen, cuz nobody ever learned nothin' while their gums were flappin'"

That's not to say that you don't have knowledge to contribute to the gang, but there's a time and there's a place... and the first hunt with a new gang is neither.
 
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