British Columbia Hunts

Hunting in British Columbia

Non-residents have the opportunity to hunt both big and small game in British Columbia.  All non-resident hunters wishing to hunt big game in the Province of British Columbia are required to be accompanied by a licensed guide outfitter, an assistant guide outfitter hired by a guide outfitter, or a resident who holds a Permit to Accompany.  All non-resident hunters wishing to hunt small game may do so unaccompanied if they hold an unrestricted non-resident or non-resident alien license.  If you hold a restricted non-resident or non-resident alien license, you must be accompanied by a guide outfitter or assistant guide outfitter while hunting small game as well.

A guide outfitter is licensed to guide resident and non-resident hunters in an exclusive guide area with clearly defined and legally described boundaries. Guide outfitters can also employ assistant guides to assist in providing guiding services. Guide outfitters set their own guiding fees.

It is suggested that you contact several guide outfitters in the area of your choice to obtain full particulars regarding:

• Species of game available
• Recommended period to hunt
• Rates
• Services provided
• Reservations

The assurance of a successful and enjoyable hunt is most dependent upon a clear understanding between the hunter and guide outfitter as to what each expects from the other.

A licensed guide may not have more than two hunters in the field at one time.

To bring firearms into Canada for hunting purposes, non-residents from outside of the country must:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Declare firearms at the first point of entry into the country

To declare firearms, non-residents must fill out a firearm declaration form which must be confirmed by a Canadian customs officer.

 

British Columbia Big-Game Animals

 

Alaskan Yukon Moose

The Alaska-Yukon moose (Alces alces gigas) is the largest of all moose. Adult moose can range in size from 800 pounds (small adult female) to 1600 pounds (large adult male), and they can be over 6 feet tall at the shoulder.  Moose can range in color from golden brown to almost black, depending on the season and the age of the animal. Newborn calves have a red-brown coat that fades to a light rust color within a few weeks. By late summer, the calves have shed this coat and grown one that is similar in texture and color to that of adults.

Moose are often easily recognized by their antlers, carried only by the males. These bony protrusions form within the first year and are produced every summer after that. Trophy-class bulls are found throughout Alaska, but the largest come from the western portion of British Columbia.  The largest antlers are usually produced when bulls are 10 – 12 years old, but bulls can reach trophy size as young as 6 years of age.

 

Canada Moose

In North America, the Canada moose (Alces alces andersoni) subspecies is exceeded in size only by the Alaska Yukon subspecies. Males are distinguished by carrying the largest antlers of any mammal, which can weigh as much as 75 lb. Antlers are grown in the spring and shed in the winter each year.

Pelage is generally dark, black to brown, with the lower legs being lighter. Their underfur and long guard hairs provide excellent insulation from the cold. The males range from 800 to 1300 lb. with antler lengths from 2.4 to 3.1 m. Females range from 600 to 850 lb. with lengths of 2.3 to 3.0 m.

Moose browse birch, aspen, and willow twigs and leaves, and in winter the needles of balsam fir. They survive well in logged or burned habitats. Moose frequent lakes to eat aquatic vegetation, at times submerging completely.

 

Black Bear

Black bears (Ursus americanus) are the most widely distributed mammal in British Columbia’s forests. Experts estimate the BC black bear population to be between 120,000 and 160,000. Black bears have short, stout bodies, small black eyes, rounded ears, short tails, and straight facial profiles.  Their feet are flat-soled and have five toes, naked pads, and sharp curved claws.  Black bears can be distinguished from grizzlies by their facial profiles, shoulders, smaller size, and shorter claws. They typically hibernate for three to seven months, depending on their geographical location and food supply.

Despite their name, black bears can be blue-gray or blue-black, brown, cinnamon, or even (very rarely) white. Black bears have very diverse diets, consuming vegetable matter in the spring and summer and small mammals throughout the year.  In the spring, black bears prey on young deer, elk, moose, and caribou.  In the summer, they feed on insects, fruits, berries, and salmon.  The black bear is the smallest member of the bear family found in North America. Adult black bears vary in size from 120 to 660 lb.

 

Black-tailed Deer

Black-tailed deer are a smaller subspecies of mule deer.  Their coat is slightly darker in color than a mule deer. They have a small rump patch and a tail that is mostly brown or black.  Black-tailed deer occur along the entire coast of British Columbia, west of the summit of the Coast and Cascade Mountain ranges.

Visible differences between the Columbia black-tailed (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) and Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) are slight. Sitka black-tailed deer are slightly smaller and darker and are only found on the Queen Charlotte Islands, other islands in the Hecate Strait, and along the coast of northern Vancouver Island. Columbia black-tailed deer are found on Vancouver Island and along the coastal territory from the International Boundary to Rivers Inlet.

 

Californian Bighorn Sheep

California bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis sierrae) inhabit the southwest interior of British Columbia and extend southward on the east side of the Coast and Cascade Mountains into northern California.

Normally a dark stripe extends from the dorsal area of the sheep through the white rump patch to connect with the dark tail. The horns of a California bighorn have more of an outward flare than those of the Rocky Mountain bighorn.

California bighorn sheep can be found in alpine meadows, grassy mountain slopes, and foothill areas near rugged, rocky cliffs and bluffs. Generally, bighorn sheep have distinct seasonal ranges, though most of the year is spent on the winter range at lower elevations.  Their skulls are double layered and have struts of bone for battle protection. The sheep also have a massive tendon linking the skull and spine to help the head pivot and recoil from blows.  The horns are never shed and grow throughout a sheep’s life. Because they produce a prominent line, or annulus, each winter when growth slows, the horn is useful in telling a sheep’s age.

 

Cougar

Cougars (Felis concolor), also known as mountain lions are only found in the Western Hemisphere.  Depending on food availability, the cougar generally resides in remote, wooded, and rocky places, though it may also venture into the subalpine.

Cougars have short fur that ranges in color from reddish-brown to gray-brown.  The tip of the tail, the sides of the muzzle, and the backs of the ears are all black. The cougar’s body is long and lithe, and its tail is more than half the length of the head and body.  Some cougars will have prominent facial patterns of black, brown, or cinnamon. The cougar mainly preys on deer, but may also prey on bighorn sheep, mountain goats, elk, moose, beaver, porcupine, mice, rabbits, and birds.  A cougar’s weight will vary from 70 to 200 lb.

 

Dall Sheep

Clinging to sheer rock faces or sedately grazing at the tree line, thinhorn sheep are a true mammal of the mountains. There are two subspecies of thinhorn sheep, Dall’s sheep (Ovis dalli) and Stone’s sheep (Ovis dalli stonei), both of which are native to North America.  Both subspecies live in the subarctic areas of Canada’s northwest, residing in close vicinity to rougher terrain for protection from predators. Dall sheep live in parts of the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and the extreme northwestern corner of British Columbia. Stone sheep occur throughout northern British Columbia and the Yukon. Where the two ranges meet in southern Yukon and parts of British Columbia, interbreeding has resulted in the Fannin sheep, which are classified as Stone sheep.

Dall sheep are pure white while Stone sheep are a darker slate color. Both subspecies have thick, curved horns that are yellowish in color. A ram’s horns may grow up to 122 cm from base to tip, while ewes never grow longer than 25 cm. The ram’s horns are roughly triangular in cross-section and grow throughout life. The horns grow rapidly in the summer and slowly in the winter; this difference in this seasonal growth rate produces a ring, known as “annuli,” that reveals the animal’s age.

The diet of a Dall sheep consists primarily of snow-covered grasses and sedges but will also include newly sprouted willow and poplar leaves in the spring and early summer. When the first vegetation shows in the spring, Dall sheep will descend as low as 3500 feet to natural openings like stream sides, rockslides, grasslands, small avalanche tracks, and burns. Thinhorn rams are much larger than ewes and will vary in weight from 100 to 240 lb.

 

Caribou

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) reside in some of the most severe environmental conditions in the world. In Canada, there are three subspecies of caribou: peary caribou, woodland caribou, and barren ground caribou. Peary caribou are only found on the islands of Canada’s far north, while barren ground caribou occupy the far northern boreal forests and arctic tundra in Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories. Woodland caribou reside in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and throughout the coastal mountains of British Columbia.

In the summer, caribou have grayish-brown coats with white on the edges of the tail and hooves. A caribou’s winter coat is thicker and much lighter in color. Both male and female caribou have beautiful antlers that stretch over their shoulders.

Caribou are grazers that migrate in search of food. Lichens are the central aspect of a caribou’s diet, but they also enjoy other greenery depending on the season and subspecies. Caribou often live in areas where the snow is too deep to dig through, and they will eat the tree lichen of old forest growth.

Caribou weights vary with gender and subspecies, but a mature caribou will generally be between 200 and 600 lbs.

 

Mountain Goat

Despite its name, a mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) is actually not a member of the goat genus. Mountain goats belong to a group known as goat antelopes. The natural range of the mountain goat includes southern Alaska and Yukon, British Columbia, northern Idaho, northwest Montana, and parts of Washington. British Columbia contains more than half of the world’s population of mountain goats.

Mountain goats have the thickest and longest pelage of any North American ungulate aside from the muskox. Their coats are white and usually shaggy, including hollow guard hairs up to 20 cm long and a fleecy undercoat that is 5 to 8 cm long. Both sexes sport a noticeable beard, which is longer in winter. Mountain goats have deep chests and well-developed shoulder muscles that give them great strength for climbing and pawing for food in the winter. A mountain goat’s cloven hooves have rough, textured traction pads that project past the rim of the hooves, which makes them able to live in rocky and slippery terrain.

Both sexes have long ears and narrow, black, short, sharply pointed horns. A nanny’s horns are slenderer at the base and a bit more curved at the tip than a billy’s horns. A mountain goat’s horns will grow continuously and never be shed. The growth rings or annuli on the horns indicate age. During mating season, a male often marks a female with musky oil from glands at the base of his horns by rubbing his head against her body.

Most mountain goats graze above the tree line and survive by eating a wide variety of plants including lichens, ferns, grasses, herbs, shrubs, and deciduous or coniferous trees. A mountain goat’s weight will vary from 120 to 265 lb., depending on its gender and food supply.

 

Mule Deer

Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) are distributed throughout western North America from the coastal islands of Alaska, down the West Coast to southern Baja Mexico and from the northern border of the Mexican state of Zacatecas, up through the Great Plains to the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the southern Yukon Territory.

Generally, mule deer are quite easy to identify, due to their large mule-like ears, for which they earn their name.  They usually have a distinctive black forehead, or mask, which contrasts sharply with a light gray face. The lighter facial coloration makes the eye rings and muzzle markings seem less obvious. Mule deer are brownish gray in color, have a white rump patch, and a small white tail with a black tip.

Mule deer are primarily browsers, with a majority of their diet being comprised of weeds, leaves, berries, grass, and twigs of woody shrubs.

Mule deer are generally larger than white-tailed deer, typically weighing between 100 and 300 lb, depending on its gender, season, region, age, and access to food.

 

Bison

Bison (Bison bison), also known as buffalo, are very large animals with a shaggy dark brown mane. Bison can weigh more than a ton and stand up to six feet tall and inhabit the northeastern regions of British Columbia and the southern regions of the Yukon and Northwest Territories. There are two subspecies of bison: the wood bison and the plains bison.

Wood bison are slightly larger and darker than plains bison.  Their heads and forequarters are covered with shaggy chocolate-brown hair that is shorter and lighter behind the shoulders. Wood bison have long tails that have a small tuft of hair at the tip. Bison appear to carry their heads quite low because of the shape of their beards and shoulder humps.  Both the male and female bison have short, round, black horns that curve upwards.

A bison’s diet consists almost entirely of grass, but will also include shrubs, lichens, and twigs.  Bison herds are extremely aware of their environments and can distinguish scents from several miles away.

 

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis) are more widely distributed throughout the United States than in Canada and are noted for their ability to survive in incredibly diverse conditions.  There are two subspecies of bighorn sheep: the Rocky Mountain bighorn and the California bighorn. Both species have concave hooves with rough footpads that provide traction in rocky terrain.

The two species of bighorn sheep look similar, with California bighorns being slightly darker in color than the Rocky Mountain bighorn. In late summer and autumn, bighorn sheep have a brown coat with a contrasting ivory-white rump patch, a white muzzle, and white trim on the back of all four legs. By late winter, the coat fades to a gray-brown.

The horns of a California bighorn have more of an outward flare than those of the Rocky Mountain bighorn. Bighorn rams have massive, brown, spiraled horns that curl back and down.  A ram’s horns can be 50 inches around the curve and as thick as 16 inches around the base, while a ewe’s horns will be around 12 inches long. The horns grow rapidly in the summer and slowly in the winter; this difference in this seasonal growth rate produces a ring or “annuli” that reveals the animal’s age.

A bighorn’s diet consists primarily of broad-leaved, non-woody plants and grasses. Bighorn sheep have an appetite for salt and many herds will travel miles to reach natural salt licks.  In the winter, most bighorn sheep will inhabit low-elevation grassy ranges. Migratory bighorns leave their winter ranges in May or June and move to summer pastures in the alpine zone.

The weight of a bighorn sheep will range from 120 to 340 lb, depending on sex and age.

 

Roosevelt Elk

Of the four subspecies of elk found in North America, two reside in British Columbia. Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti) can be found on Vancouver Island. Roosevelt elk are larger with larger and more rugged antlers than other members of the species.

Roosevelt elk have a golden-brown coat during the summer and a longer, grayish-brown coat during the winter. Their legs, head, and neck remain dark brown year-round.  Mature bull Roosevelt elk have rich brown antlers with ivory tips and long cylindrical beams that sweep upward and back. Bull elk will shed their racks every March.

A Roosevelt elk’s diet primarily consists of sedge, grass and ferns, but is supplemented by willows, elderberry, cedar, and hemlock.  In the winter, elk ranges are most commonly found in open forests, grassy benchlands, or floodplain marshes. In May and June, Roosevelt elk migrate to subalpine and alpine basins that support lush vegetation.  At maturity, a cow will weigh about 500 lb. and a bull will weigh about 700 lb. Roosevelt elk meat is leaner and higher in protein than both chicken and beef.

 

Shiras Moose

The Shiras moose (Alces alces shirasi) has the smallest body of any North American moose.  The body color is rusty yellowish-brown. This huge animal has very long legs, a large hump on its shoulders, and massive palmate antlers. The antlers grow out from the sides of the head, with the main beam dividing into two branches. The smaller branch (palm) grows forward, and the larger branch grows backward.

Moose are solitary animals except when mating, or a cow with her recent offspring, living by itself in a small home range. They mate in September and October and calves are born in May and June.

They mainly eat woody vegetation – notably willow, poplar, balsam, aspen, and birch – eating leaves, twigs, and bark. Moose also feed on aquatic vegetation by wading into lakes and streams.

Despite their ungainly appearance moose are nimble and surefooted. They are able to cross swamps and quicksand where other animals would mire. Their normal gait is a quiet, careful walk, but they can maintain a speed of 35 mph for a considerable distance. They have great endurance and are able to run up mountainsides or through deep snow and downed timber.

 

Stone Sheep

A mature adult Stone ram (Ovis dalli stonei) has a body weight of about 180 to 220 pounds, but occasionally they can be 250 pounds or more. Females (ewes) are considerably smaller.  They are handsome animals, differing from the Dall mainly by not being white. Individuals vary greatly in color and pattern, ranging from whiter in the north through shades of gray and brown to nearly black in some areas. Stone sheep with “lighter” coloring is often considered Fannin sheep.

Sheep of various colors may be found in the same group. The head, and often the neck, are a lighter color than the body. The muzzle, belly, back of legs, and rump are white. The tail is black and is usually connected by a dark band to the dark hairs of the back. Older rams sometimes have a dark band across, or partially across, the white belly. The Stone sheep are somewhat larger and chunkier than the Dall sheep, with a larger and relatively wider skull, and heavier, darker-colored horns. Horns are brown or dark amber and exhibit considerable variation in size and shape. Females have short, slender horns.

Stone sheep are usually found in alpine country, including glacier edges and below the permanent snow line.  Essential habitats are steep, rugged cliffs and rock outcroppings for escape from predators, and nearby meadows for feeding.

 

White-tailed Deer

The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virignianus) is the most widely distributed of North America’s large mammals. It can be found as far south as the southern tip of North America, and as far north as Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories. They also spread as far east as Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia to as far west as British Columbia.

White-tailed deer are tan or reddish-brown in the summer and grayish-brown in the winter. When sensing danger, the deer raises its tail – this is called ‘flagging.’ Showing this large white patch on the underside of the tail signals an alarm to other deer and helps a fawn follow its mother to safety.

White-tailed deer eat large amounts of food, commonly eating cultivated crops and foraging on other plants, including shoots, leaves, forbs, and grasses. Their diets vary by season and by the availability of food sources.

On average, white-tailed deer weigh approximately 100 lb., depending on gender, season, region, age, and access to food, though in some extreme cases, mature bucks up to 200 lb. have been recorded.