Hunting gear and special provisions

Other gear permitted

Snares are solely authorized for hunting snowshoe hares, Arctic hares and Eastern cottontail in certain zones. Clubs, darts, gates, hands, hooks, landing nets and pits may be used to hunt Northern leopard frog, green frog and bullfrog.

Laser guided sights (red dot) are allowed to hunt.

Electronic devices used to call an animal are now authorized for hunting. The same is true for in-ear sound amplifier to facilitate listening. However, recordings of calls are prohibited for hunting migratory birds (except for snow geese).

Non-toxic shot

In the following text, the expression "non-toxic shot" comprises steel shot, bismuth shot, pewter shot, tungsten matrix shot, tungsten-bronze-iron shot, tungsten-iron, tungsten-iron-nickel-copper shot, tungsten-nickel-iron shot and tungsten-polymer shot.

When hunting for migratory game birds anywhere in Québec, only non-toxic shot can be used. Moreover, no person shall possess, for the purpose of hunting a migratory game bird, shot other than non-toxic shot. These restrictions do not apply in the case of the American woodcock. In national wildlife reserves, only possession and use of non-toxic shot to hunt any migratory game bird is permitted.

For information on hunting for migratory birds, contact Canadian Wildlife Service at
1 800 668-6767.

It is prohibited :

• to hunt caribou using 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28 or .410-gauge shotguns;
• to hunt any animal using traps or snares. Hares and Eastern cottontail may however be snared in certain zones;
• to hunt using a means or a device (electronic or other) making it possible to reveal, detect or indicate the immediate presence of an animal in order to hunt it. However, an in-ear sound amplifier to facilitate listening is authorized;
• to hunt using a live animal as a decoy;
• to use any mechanism that would trigger or discharge an arm without discharging the arm oneself;
• to use poison, explosives, toxic substances or an electrical discharge to hunt;
• to use tracer bullets, military-type hard-point bullets or bullets with non-flattening tips to hunt
• to hunt under the influence of alcohol.
• to hunt migratory birds:
  • with more than one gun. Each additional gun must be unloaded and disassembled, or unloaded and stored in a case;
  • with a gun that can contain more than three cartridges;
  • with the help of live decoys;
  • using recorded bird calls (except for the snow goose);
  • with a single-bullet cartridge.