With deer and moose gun seasons open across northwestern Ontario, the Ontario Conservation Officers Association is reminding hunters to put safety first.
“I would like to remind all hunters planning to head out into the field this fall to make safe hunting a top priority,” association president Bill Ingham said in a Nov. 10 release. “Wear hunter orange, always handle firearms safely and responsibly and respect landowners and other hunters while you are out in the field enjoying our beautiful natural resources.”
The association is a non-profit group of active and retired Ontario conservation officers, who enforce the province’s hunting, fishing and other natural resources laws. Its vice-president, Brendan Cote, is based in Fort Frances.
In the wildlife management units around the Rainy River District, the resident gun season for white-tailed deer runs until Dec. 15, as do most moose gun seasons in the region. Hunters can check the dates for their unit in the 2026 Ontario Hunting Regulations Summary.
While a deer or moose gun season is open, every licensed hunter — including bow hunters and those after grouse or other small game — must wear a solid hunter orange garment covering at least 400 square inches above the waist and visible from all sides, plus a hunter orange head cover. Camouflage orange and open mesh don’t count. Hunters after ducks, geese and other migratory birds, except woodcock, are exempt.
The association also reminded hunters of the two firearm safety acronyms, ACTS and PROVE:
ACTS:
- A — Assume every firearm is loaded
- C — Control the muzzle direction at all times
- T — Trigger finger must be kept off the trigger and out of the trigger guard
- S — See that the firearm is unloaded – PROVE it safe
PROVE:
- P — Point the firearm in the safest available direction
- R — Remove all ammunition
- O — Observe the chamber
- V — Verify the feeding path
- E — Examine the bore
Hunters who cross into Minnesota or Manitoba should also know the rules on bringing game home. Chronic wasting disease, a fatal illness of deer and moose, has been found in every province and state bordering Ontario but not in Ontario wildlife. From animals taken outside Ontario, hunters can bring back only deboned and packaged meat, antlers or a cleaned skull cap, tanned hides and finished mounts, all labelled with the species, owner’s name and address, and where they came from.
“We wish everyone a safe, enjoyable and successful hunt,” Ingham said. “By remembering and practicing these safety rules we can ensure that the sport of hunting will continue to be enjoyed by future generations.”
Anyone with information about a natural resources or public safety offence can call the ministry’s TIPS line at 1-877-847-7667, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Fort Frances work centre at 807-274-5337.
