Q: Is it legal to hunt from a boat and if so, under what conditions? I’ve been talking to a lot of hunters lately and they all have different answers as to what is legal.
Mark MacMillan, Kitchener
A: Yes, it is legal to hunt from a boat. The conditions that apply will depend on what you are hunting:
Migratory birds (ducks and geese): You may hunt from most types of boats. However, you cannot hunt from a sailboat or a power boat unless the boat’s motor is turned off.
The boat must also be stopped before loading your firearm.
The Migratory Birds Regulations define a power boat as “any boat, canoe or yacht equipped with an electric, gasoline, oil or steam motor as a means of propulsion.”
Cormorants: If a person is hunting double-crested cormorants, the same rules around hunting from a boat apply as do for hunting migratory birds.
Any other game: If you're not after migratory birds or cormorants, you cannot have a loaded firearm in a motorboat but can in any other type of boat. A motorboat is defined as “a boat with a motor that is attached to the boat and that is capable of being used as a means of propulsion, and includes any floating object being towed by a motorboat.”
This applies whether the motor is turned on or not.
Answers by: David Critchlow and William Johnson, Provincial Enforcement Specialists, MNR
Originally published in the Nov.-Dec. 2025 issue of Ontario Out of Doors
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