Ontario party hunting
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Party hunting rules have nothing to do with WMU...... as long as your fellow hunters are within reasonable range and actively part of the hunt such that they can be called over to tag the animal you are good to go.....
Exactly - as long as party hunting is allowed for the game you are after (ie- can't party hunt turkey's, but you can call for someone else as long as you don't have a gun but have a licence).
In your situation you could be party hunting bear with one group and deer with another or both (and various combinations) as long as you otherwise follow the rules (be in contact, have enough tags left etc).
In your situation you could be party hunting bear with one group and deer with another or both (and various combinations) as long as you otherwise follow the rules (be in contact, have enough tags left etc).
There is a probably a number of scenario's which all come down to following the particular regs for what you are hunting.
The gun season for bear overlaps the bow season for deer. It would tough to be believable if you said, while carrying a rifle, that were really party hunting with guys bow hunting deer (if they were relying on your tag).
Or if one WMU as a shotgun area and the other a rifle area for deer and you were likewise carrying a rifle - you could carry a shotgun which would be legal in both of course.
Basically, if you were "legal" in both (or more) groups on a given parcel of land, all should be good.
The gun season for bear overlaps the bow season for deer. It would tough to be believable if you said, while carrying a rifle, that were really party hunting with guys bow hunting deer (if they were relying on your tag).
Or if one WMU as a shotgun area and the other a rifle area for deer and you were likewise carrying a rifle - you could carry a shotgun which would be legal in both of course.
Basically, if you were "legal" in both (or more) groups on a given parcel of land, all should be good.
I am assuming you are referring to the upcoming December controlled deer hunt. I believe that technically the answer to your question is no. Your validation card will state only one wmu which is where you can legally hunt. It's unfortunate your property is divided by a wmu boundary. It might be worth asking your local CO about your particular situation because that is a pita. Good luck hunting.
Assuming you are referring to deer hunting, you need to provide more information, otherwise I would say you are treading a very thin line.
If both groups were relying on your tag (was the last tag) what would you do if they both called you to come tag a deer?
Could you hunt with group 1 some days and group 2 other days? Absolutely.
Controlled hunts are a different story as pointed out by Scamaniac- your tag is only good for a specific WMU
Better read the regulations
But in general, for an open season for deer, your over the counter deer tag is good for any antlered deer in any WMU where there is an open season for the hunting method of choice. And party hunting is allowed.
If both groups were relying on your tag (was the last tag) what would you do if they both called you to come tag a deer?
Could you hunt with group 1 some days and group 2 other days? Absolutely.
Controlled hunts are a different story as pointed out by Scamaniac- your tag is only good for a specific WMU
Better read the regulations
But in general, for an open season for deer, your over the counter deer tag is good for any antlered deer in any WMU where there is an open season for the hunting method of choice. And party hunting is allowed.
Is the WMU boundary a road? If so are you planning on dogging deer across the road because it's easier to get a doe tag on the other side or maybe one side is controlled the other not? Personally I wouldn't find it very ethical to endanger motorists on purpose and you might be held liable and maybe charged with something if a motorist hit a deer you were purposely pushing across the road. I don't know if it's illegal for hunters in an adjoining WMU to be party hunting with hunters in a controlled hunt but you might want to check with a CO on that one. If you're not crossing a road and neither WMU is controlled then probably all you need to worry about is that your doe or fawn drops dead in the WMU where you have a tag for it.
I should have explained myself better in my OP.
There are not two different groups just one group spilt between two WMU with some of them close enough to talk to one another.
We have done this before but alway had multiple tags this year we had one tag.
After reading the hunting summary I phoned the area CO and got the low down on this.
On page 29 of the regs it says.
{All members of the party hunt together in the SAME WMU or portion thereof for which the game seal is valid}
So in this case we would all have to hunt in the same WMU.
There are not two different groups just one group spilt between two WMU with some of them close enough to talk to one another.
We have done this before but alway had multiple tags this year we had one tag.
After reading the hunting summary I phoned the area CO and got the low down on this.
On page 29 of the regs it says.
{All members of the party hunt together in the SAME WMU or portion thereof for which the game seal is valid}
So in this case we would all have to hunt in the same WMU.
Yes you are correct in having to stay in the WMU specified on the tag. I know of a group, many landowners, who own property on both sides of the controlled hunt boundary. They jumped back and forth for years as they thought their landowner tag covered all property they had. Lets just say that 2 years ago it did not end well, that was decided in front of a judge and the result was 15 guys got popped for hunting out of their WMU, many dragged into it by the landowners who thought they knew better than the MNR
The ones saying "No" are wrong...
To party hunt, you only need ONE viable tag for the WMU in question, but all party members must be licenced to hunt that species (eg. Deer).
If the OP is licenced to hunt deer, and has two parties, each with at least one viable tag for each WMU, he/they can hunt as a party, provided the animals taken are in the WMU for which the tags are specified.
For example, if they only possess one tag for each of the two WMU's, the OP could hunt in party with both groups, but only one deer could be harvested in each WMU and then only by a member of their cooperative party (or group)... if the OP, as the land owner, was hunting in party with both groups, he could shoot both deer, but only one in each WMU. Once the number of tags are filled for each WMU, that party is done hunting... UNLESS, the second party agrees to hunt cooperatively with the new members to fill their tags in their respective WMU... they could not cross the border into the WMU where the tags had been filled.
To party hunt, you only need ONE viable tag for the WMU in question, but all party members must be licenced to hunt that species (eg. Deer).
If the OP is licenced to hunt deer, and has two parties, each with at least one viable tag for each WMU, he/they can hunt as a party, provided the animals taken are in the WMU for which the tags are specified.
For example, if they only possess one tag for each of the two WMU's, the OP could hunt in party with both groups, but only one deer could be harvested in each WMU and then only by a member of their cooperative party (or group)... if the OP, as the land owner, was hunting in party with both groups, he could shoot both deer, but only one in each WMU. Once the number of tags are filled for each WMU, that party is done hunting... UNLESS, the second party agrees to hunt cooperatively with the new members to fill their tags in their respective WMU... they could not cross the border into the WMU where the tags had been filled.
In the controlled hunts you are specified a WMU sub unit. That controlled hunt validation tag is not valid for any other sub units other than the one specified, for the dates specified. Your deer licence is valid for all WMU with an appropriate open season.
I hunt on the border of 92A,B,C. The only WMU I can hunt in is 92C even though I can cross a road in either direction and be in A or B with a muzzleloader. I cannot go hunt in A or B with another party with available tags, as you have no validation tag for that area. To take it one step further, if you have a controlled validation for WMU 93 it is not valid for WMU 92 during the same controlled hunt happening this week
Yes you can party hunt until the last tag is filled in your Sub unit, but you cannot hunt with another party, in another sub unit even if you own the property or there are tags remaining in a party out of your assigned area.
This confuses the best of them as the controlled validation tag is not a licence but an assignment of when and where you can hunt
I hunt on the border of 92A,B,C. The only WMU I can hunt in is 92C even though I can cross a road in either direction and be in A or B with a muzzleloader. I cannot go hunt in A or B with another party with available tags, as you have no validation tag for that area. To take it one step further, if you have a controlled validation for WMU 93 it is not valid for WMU 92 during the same controlled hunt happening this week
Yes you can party hunt until the last tag is filled in your Sub unit, but you cannot hunt with another party, in another sub unit even if you own the property or there are tags remaining in a party out of your assigned area.
This confuses the best of them as the controlled validation tag is not a licence but an assignment of when and where you can hunt
