Hunting using animals

The use of a dog to hunt small game is permitted. 

You must be present throughout a hunting activity involving a hunting dog and supervise it. You must also make sure it wears a collar at all times, bearing the owner’s name and telephone number.

The use of a sound communication system between you and your hunting dog, or even a GPS emitter carried by your animal, is permitted during hunting activities.

It is forbidden to:

• use a dog to hunt white-tailed deer, moose or black bear.
• use a dog to hunt wild turkeys, except during the fall season, when only pointing or flushing dogs may be used. 
• allow a dog to roam in an area frequented by big game.
• engage in training or field trials of hunting dogs carried out using an animal, or to hunt with a dog in zone 20 (Anticosti Island).

Training and field trials of hunting dogs (retrievers, pointers, flushers, hounds) carried out using an animal other than a moose, black bear, white-tailed deer or musk ox are permitted from July 1 to April 1 of the following year, provided the person practising the activity is not in possession of a weapon. 

Training and field trials for beagles (dogs that specialize in hare and rabbit hunting) are permitted year-round, provided you:

• are in a private wooded lot;
• have permission from the landowner; 
• are not in possession of a weapon. 

Hunting while training and field trials of hunting dogs carried out using quail, northern bobwhites, pheasants, black francolins, rock partridges, chukar partridges, red-legged partridges, rock doves and guinea fowl are permitted year-round, provide they take part on private land and outside a big game range. If you are hunting, you must have a small game hunting licence.

During any training activity or field trial for hunting dogs, other than retrievers, pointers or flushers, the owner or custodian of the dog must be present, must monitor the dog, and must make sure it wears a collar at all times, bearing the owner’s name and telephone number.

Raccoons may be hunted at night in zones 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, provided you use a .22 calibre lateral-fire rifle and are accompanied by a hound-type dog that wears a collar at all times bearing the name and telephone number of its owner.

Before 4 p.m. on the day of the hunt, you must also contact the Wildlife Protection Directorate (in French only) for the region concerned to notify it of:

• the date and place where you intend to hunt;
• the names of the people who will be with you;
• the name of the person responsible for the group, and the number of his or her hunter’s certificate.

Additionally, you are permitted to use a portable, battery-powered lighting device with a moderate beam, such as a flashlight or headlamp.

Hunting with a bird of prey is permitted in Québec, except in zones 17, 22, 23 and 24 (see the zone maps).

To do so, you will need a licence to hunt small game with a bird of prey and a licence to keep birds of prey in captivity. You must use one of the following birds of prey:

• Goshawk
• Buzzard
• Kestrel
• Hawk
• Falcon
• Or a hybrid of any of these species

You may also engage in this type of hunting if you have a licence to hunt small game with a bird of prey and are accompanied by someone who has a licence to keep birds of prey in captivity. The bird must be equipped with a transmitter, and the hunter or the keeper must have a receiver through which to locate and remain in contact with the bird at all times while hunting.

The species that may be hunted with birds of prey are as follows: 

• All birds that are considered to be small game;
• Hares
• Eastern cottontail rabbits
• Woodchucks

The hunting season is the same as the firearm hunting season for the species concerned. However, hunting with birds of prey is permitted year-round for the following species:

• Chukar partridge
• Francolin
• Guinea fowl
• Northern bobwhite
• Pheasant
• Quail
• Red-legged partridge
• Rock dove
• Rock partridge

Please contact a regional wildlife management office (in French only) to obtain a licence to hunt small game with a bird of prey.

Hunting migratory birds with a bird of prey

If you wish to use a bird of prey to hunt migratory birds that are considered to be game, you must have a licence to hunt small game with a bird of prey and a federal migratory bird hunting licence. You must carry both licences with you when hunting.