White-tailed deer hunting

Before hunting

• Choose the site at which you wish to hunt and obtain the necessary permission if you will be hunting on private land that does not belong to you.
• Identify the hunting zone in which your area is located, and the applicable hunting dates.
• Purchase your white-tailed deer hunting licence.
• Be aware of the rules applicable to the use of saline and urine.
• Where necessary, sign and submit the licence sharing agreement.
• Review the rules applicable to the handling, use and transportation of your weapon.
• Read and make sure you understand all the general rules and special rules.

Comply with the rules respecting:

• The baiting period for white-tailed deer.
• The hunting licence, including:
  • Carrying your licence with you and a photo ID, issued by a government or a public body
  • Sharing your licence
  • Forming a group to hunt white-tailed deer
• Bag limits.
• Wearing a bib.
• The times when hunting is permitted.
• The types of weapons and ammunition that may be used, and how they must be handled and transported.
• The restrictions applicable to certain hunting gear and materials (urine, sound amplifiers, etc.).
• Identification of your game animalbefore making the kill (antlered, antlerless, calf, etc.).
• Firing from a public road.
• The safety and handling of your weapon, and firing safely (do not endanger other hunters).

• If necessary, follow the rules for locating an injured game animal.
• In the event that an animal is illegally killed (by accident or by mistake), follow the applicable rules.
• When you have found the animal, affix to it, within the prescribed time limits, the unique number of the required transportation coupons.
• Transport your weapon in accordance with the rules (empty, in a closed case, etc.).
• When removing the animal from the kill site, make sure you comply with cutting instructions, where applicable.
• Take the necessary steps (evisceration, storage and transportation) to ensure that the animal’s flesh is not abandoned or wasted.
• Gather and eliminate your garbage properly (empty cartridges, waste materials from meals, etc.).
• Register your game within 48 hours of leaving the hunting site.
• If the animal was killed in an enhanced surveillance area (ESA) for CWD, you must comply with the restrictions on the transportation of certain anatomical parts of the animal and submit to mandatory sampling.
• Keep the unique number of your transportation coupon legible and attached to the game animal until it is cut up or placed in storage.

The white-tailed deer bag limit is now 2 deer per hunter per year, except in zone 20 (Anticosti Island), coming from two different zones, except in zones 4, 5 East, 5 West, 6 North, 6 South, 7 South, 8 East, 8 North and 8 South, where you may harvest your 2 deer, of which only one may be an antlered deer, within the same zone.

Some rules apply:

• The regular licence and additional licence each allow you to harvest one deer in any zone other than zone 20.
• Your first deer must come from a zone or part of a zone other than zone 20 (Anticosti Island).
• Once you have killed the first deer, you must then kill the second in a different zone from the zone in which you hunted (excluding zone 20). This requirement does not apply in zones 4, 5 East, 5 West, 6 North, 6 South, 7 South, 8 East, 8 North and 8 South, where you may harvest your 2 deer, of which no more than one may be an antlered deer, within the same zone.

The bag limit in zone 20 (Anticosti Island) is 4 deer per stay with a maximum of 2 deer with antlers. Specific provisions apply in the wildlife reserves and outfitters with exclusive rights on the island regarding the  sharing of antlerless deer hunting licences and group hunting of white-tailed deer.

The use of bait is permitted from September 1 to November 30 only. There is an exception to this rule for saline substances (e.g. salt licks), which are still permitted year-round.

This restriction on antlers applies to all hunting periods in zones 6 North and 6 South regardless of the hunting gear (crossbow, bow, firearm, shotgun or muzzle-loading firearm).

Refer to the white-tailed deer hunting seasons for all the details.