Hunting Black Bear During a Closed Season in Ontario:

---

Last Updated: August 15 2026

---

Question: Who can help me respond to a black bear closed-season hunting ticket or summons in Ontario?

Answer: If you’ve received a ticket or summons for hunting black bear during a closed season in Ontario, DefendCharges.ca™ can help a paralegal review your specific offence wording and section number, confirm the Wildlife Management Unit and dates alleged, explain what the prosecutor must prove, and guide you on next steps before deadlines so you can make informed choices about your response, evidence, and possible outcomes.   Don’t rush to pay without checking the season table and location details, because conviction can follow and may affect hunting privileges or seized property depending on what was taken during the investigation.   For help with your document review and strategy, call (647) 559-3377.

Hunting Black Bear During a Closed Season in Ontario

Hunting black bear during a closed season may lead to a provincial offence charge—a non-criminal charge prosecuted under Ontario law—as well as a fine, court proceedings, and possible consequences for your hunting privileges or property seized during the investigation.

Many people also refer to this offence as hunting out of season.  Regardless of the wording, the allegation is the same—you are accused of hunting black bear when there was no legal open season for that activity.

Do not panic. Receiving a ticket or summons—a court document requiring you to attend court or respond as directed—does not automatically mean you will be convicted, meaning found guilty.  This page explains how black bear seasons and Wildlife Management Units affect the charge, what law applies, what must be proven, the possible fine and penalties, evidence, defences, and what may happen next.

I Received a Hunting Black Bear During a Closed Season Ticket or Summons.  What Should I Do?

Read every document carefully and do not ignore the response deadline or required court date. The wording and section number on the ticket or summons identify the exact charge that must be answered.

Before deciding how to respond, check:

• The exact offence wording and section number;
• The date and approximate time of the hunting activity described in the charge;
• The Wildlife Management Unit and whether the location was near a legal boundary;
• Whether a spring or fall black bear season applied in that area;
• What you were doing when the Conservation Officer says you were hunting; and
• Whether a black bear, firearm, vehicle, phone, hunting equipment, or other property was seized.

Keep your ticket, summons, seizure paperwork, Licence Summary, Bear Licence, Bear Tag information, maps, photographs, GPS records, messages, hunting notes, and any documents provided by the Conservation Officer.

A closed-season charge is different from hunting without a Black Bear Licence, hunting without applicable tag authority, illegal bear baiting, hunting at night, or another black bear offence.  One investigation may involve several charges, but each charge has its own legal requirements.

If the wording on your documents concerns a different black bear offence, see Black Bear Hunting Charges for an overview of the other black bear charges covered by Hunting.Legal.

Should I Pay the Ticket?

Paying a ticket will generally be treated as pleading guilty and will result in a conviction without a trial. Before paying, make sure the date, location, Wildlife Management Unit, season, and activity described in the charge have been correctly identified.

A person may believe they were in one WMU while the Conservation Officer says they crossed into another.  A hunter may also have relied on old season information or a general mapping application that did not show the legal boundary accurately.

The amount shown on a ticket is not necessarily the only issue.  A conviction may have consequences involving hunting privileges or seized property depending on the circumstances and any additional charges.

What Is Hunting Black Bear During a Closed Season?

This charge generally means that you are accused of hunting black bear at a time or in an area where no legally applicable open black bear season permitted the activity.

A closed season is the period during which hunting, trapping, or fishing for a species is not permitted.  An open season is the period during which the activity is permitted, subject to all the other hunting rules that still apply.

A closed-season charge may arise where a person:

• Hunted before an applicable spring season opened;
• Continued hunting after a spring season ended;
• Hunted before an applicable fall season opened;
• Continued hunting after a fall season ended;
• Hunted in a WMU where no black bear season was open;
• Crossed into an area with different season rules; or
• Relied on season information that did not apply to the actual location.

The wording on a ticket may say “Hunt during the closed season—bear” and refer to subsection 25(2) of Ontario Regulation 665/98.  The central question is whether your conduct legally amounted to hunting black bear and whether the applicable season was open at the relevant location and time.

How Do Ontario Black Bear Open Seasons Work?

There is not one single black bear season that applies everywhere in Ontario. Ontario Regulation 670/98, the Open Seasons—Wildlife Regulation, contains the legal black bear open-season table.

Table 2 establishes spring and fall opportunities for specified Wildlife Management Units and geographic areas.  Some areas have both seasons; others have a spring season but no fall season or more limited geographic opportunities.

The annual Ontario Hunting Regulations Summary presents the current season information in a more readable format.  Because the rules can be amended, hunters should check the current summary and regulation rather than relying on an old screenshot, calendar, social-media post, or memory from a previous hunt.

For a charge involving an earlier incident, the relevant question is what law and season table applied on the date shown in the charge.  A later change does not determine whether the earlier activity was lawful.

Why Does the Wildlife Management Unit Matter?

The same day can fall within an open black bear season in one area while black bear hunting is closed somewhere else.

A Wildlife Management Unit, commonly called a WMU, is a geographic area Ontario uses to organize hunting opportunities and wildlife-management rules.  WMU boundaries may follow roads, waterways, township lines, or other geographic features.

The prosecutor may therefore need reliable evidence showing exactly where the hunting activity described in the charge occurred.  Relevant evidence may include:

• GPS coordinates and digital mapping information;
• Conservation Officer observations and location records;
• Property records and legal area descriptions;
• Roads, trails, waterways, and geographic landmarks;
• Photographs, videos, and device-location information; and
• Statements from hunters or other witnesses.

A general navigation application may be useful in the field but may not establish the exact legal WMU boundary.  Seeing that “bear season is open in Ontario” is not enough; the season must be open for the person, date, and area involved.

Can a Black Bear Licence or Bear Tag Make a Closed Season Open?

No.  A valid Black Bear Licence or Bear Tag does not create, extend, or replace an open season.

A person may have properly purchased a Bear Licence, hold a valid Bear Tag, and satisfy the other licensing requirements but still be prohibited from hunting if the applicable black bear season has not opened or has already closed.

Party hunting does not extend the season, and another hunter's valid Bear Tag cannot make hunting lawful when black bear hunting is closed.  Licence authority, tag authority, location, season, and other requirements must all be satisfied.

Can the Season Be Open but the Black Bear Hunt Still Be Unlawful?

Yes.  An open black bear season does not make every form of black bear hunting lawful.

During an open season, hunters may still need to comply with:

• Black Bear Licence and Bear Tag requirements;
• Party-hunting rules;
• Bear-baiting restrictions;
• Night-hunting and lawful hunting-hour rules;
• Vehicle, firearm, and road restrictions;
• Non-resident validation and bear-operator requirements; and
• Spring restrictions involving cubs and female bears accompanied by a cub.

These are separate legal requirements.  For example, the spring prohibition on shooting a cub or a female bear accompanied by a cub, and the firearm restriction that applies in WMU 7A, do not become ordinary elements of the subsection 25(2) closed-season charge.  The offence wording and section number identify which charge must be answered.

What Law Applies?

The principal rules are found in the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997, Ontario Regulation 665/98, commonly called the Hunting Regulation, and Ontario Regulation 670/98, the Open Seasons—Wildlife Regulation.

The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 defines a closed season as the period during which hunting, trapping, or fishing for a species is not permitted.  It defines an open season as the period during which the activity is permitted.

Black bear are classified as big game, a legal category that also includes white-tailed deer, moose, elk, and woodland caribou.

Subsection 25(2) of Ontario Regulation 665/98 provides, except as otherwise permitted by the regulation, that a person must not hunt a species of game wildlife unless the person hunts in an area specified for the species in a table and during the open season applicable to the person and area.  Table 2 of Ontario Regulation 670/98 establishes the black bear open seasons and the areas to which they apply.

Section 101 of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 provides that a person must not be convicted if the person establishes that they exercised all due diligence, meaning all reasonable care in the circumstances, to prevent the offence, or honestly and reasonably believed facts that, if true, would make the conduct innocent.

Section 109 also contains evidentiary rules that may affect whether the prosecutor can prove hunting.  In some circumstances, possession of a firearm, hunting device, or certain other equipment in an area usually inhabited by wildlife may serve as proof of hunting in the absence of evidence to the contrary.

What Must Be Proven?

The prosecutor—the lawyer or representative acting for the government—must prove every required part of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. Beyond a reasonable doubt is the high legal standard that must be met before the court may find a person guilty.

For a charge of hunting black bear during a closed season under subsection 25(2), the prosecutor may need to establish that:

• You were the person involved in the conduct;
• Your conduct legally amounted to hunting;
• The game wildlife involved was black bear or the conduct was directed toward black bear;
• The activity occurred at the location and on the date stated in the charge; and
• The applicable open-season table did not authorize that black bear hunting for the person, area, and time involved.

Where the charge depends on a WMU or geographic boundary, the prosecutor must establish the location needed to identify the correct season.  Where the conduct occurred near the opening or closing of a season, the time and date may also become important.

An exception created by law, another lawful authority, or an Indigenous or treaty harvesting right protected by the Constitution may change the analysis.  Whether the prosecutor must address an exception depends on the law, evidence, and applicable legal burden.

Section 101 places the burden on a person relying on due diligence or an honest and reasonable mistake of fact to establish that defence.  Those defence burdens are different from the prosecutor's obligation to prove the required parts of the closed-season charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

Can You Be Charged if No Black Bear Was Shot or Killed?

Yes.  A person may be charged with hunting black bear during a closed season even if no black bear was shot, injured, captured, or killed.

Ontario law defines hunting broadly.  It can include lying in wait for, searching for, being on the trail of, pursuing, chasing, shooting at, capturing, or harassing wildlife in the circumstances covered by the statutory definition.

The charge could arise from tracking or pursuing a bear, waiting at a bait site, coordinating a hunt, or shooting and missing while the applicable season was closed.

Being outdoors with hunters does not automatically prove that you were personally hunting.  Your purpose, conduct, equipment, location, statements, and role in the group may all be relevant.

What Common Situations Lead to This Charge?

Common situations that may lead to a closed-season charge include:

• Using an old regulations summary, saved screenshot, calendar, or memory from a previous year;
• Planning the hunt using the season for one WMU when the activity occurred in another;
• Beginning to search for, pursue, or wait for black bear before the first legal day;
• Continuing to follow a bear, watch a bait site, or participate in a hunt after the final day;
• Crossing a road, trail, waterway, logging route, or property line into an adjoining WMU;
• Assuming that a Black Bear Licence or Bear Tag created or extended the season; or
• Disputing whether scouting, travelling, checking equipment, photographing wildlife, or helping another person legally amounted to hunting.

The legislation and official season information that applied on the date shown in the charge must be used.  Mapping, GPS, timestamps, purpose, conduct, and boundary evidence may become central to determining what actually occurred.

What Is the Fine for Hunting Black Bear During a Closed Season?

The current Ontario set fine for “Hunt during the closed season—bear” under subsection 25(2) of Ontario Regulation 665/98 is $500.

A set fine is the preset fine used when the offence proceeds by ticket.  It is different from the total payable, which may be higher after the required victim fine surcharge and applicable court costs are added.

The amount shown on a ticket is also different from the maximum penalty a court is legally permitted to impose after conviction.

Under section 102(1) of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997, the general maximum penalty for an individual may include:

• A fine of up to $25,000;
• Imprisonment for up to one year; or
• Both a fine and imprisonment.

These are statutory maximums, not the automatic or usual result of every black bear closed-season charge. The outcome depends on the charge, circumstances, resolution, any previous record, and the orders legally available to the court.

A conviction may also have consequences involving hunting licences or authorizations where an applicable court order is made.  Additional charges arising from the same incident may carry their own separate penalties.

What Evidence May Be Used?

A closed-season case usually combines evidence of hunting with evidence establishing the date and exact location.

Conservation Officer and Witness Evidence

Conservation Officer observations, notes, photographs, recordings, statements, and witness accounts may describe what you were doing, where you were located, who was with you, and what equipment was present.

Season and Location Evidence

The prosecutor may use the applicable open-season table, WMU maps, geographic descriptions, GPS coordinates, property information, roads, trails, waterways, landmarks, and other location evidence.

Electronic Evidence

Phone-location information, GPS tracks, messages, photographs, videos, trail-camera records, social-media posts, and timestamps may help establish where and when the hunting activity described in the charge occurred.

Hunting and Wildlife Evidence

Firearms, bows, ammunition, bait sites, tree stands, blinds, calls, hunting clothing, vehicles, ATVs, a harvested black bear, bear parts, blood, hair, tracks, or other physical evidence may be relevant to whether hunting occurred.

Disclosure is the evidence and information the prosecutor intends to rely upon.  The disclosure should be compared with the exact charge, the applicable season table, the location evidence, and any material supporting your version of events.

What Possible Defences and Legal Issues May Apply?

The available defence depends on the exact charge, location, date, season information, and evidence. No particular defence automatically guarantees that the charge will be dismissed.

The Black Bear Season Was Open

The applicable season table may show that black bear hunting was legally open in the area on the date shown in the charge.  An error about the WMU, geographic area, date, or applicable table may undermine the charge.

The Location or Date Is Wrong

GPS records, maps, photographs, landmarks, property information, messages, timestamps, vehicle records, or witness evidence may place the activity in an open area or on a different date.

You Were Not Hunting

Scouting, hiking, photographing wildlife, travelling, checking property, retrieving equipment, or being present with another hunter does not automatically amount to hunting.  The legal definition, statutory proof provisions, purpose, and surrounding evidence must be considered.

The Evidence Does Not Establish Black Bear Hunting

The prosecutor must connect the conduct described in the charge to black bear.  Evidence showing only general outdoor activity, possession of equipment, or the presence of another species may not establish every part of the particular charge.

Due Diligence

Due diligence means taking all reasonable care in the circumstances to prevent the offence.  Section 101 provides a defence where the person establishes that all due diligence was exercised.

The court may consider which official season information and maps you checked, whether you verified the WMU, what information was available, and what reasonable steps you took before hunting.

Honest and Reasonable Mistake of Fact

Section 101 also recognizes a defence where the person honestly and reasonably believed facts that, if true, would have made the conduct innocent.

For example, the issue may involve an honestly and reasonably mistaken factual belief about the hunter's actual location.  Misunderstanding the law is different from being mistaken about an underlying fact.

Problems With the Evidence or How It Was Obtained

Conservation Officer notes, statements, GPS information, photographs, witness evidence, mapping records, or identification evidence may be incomplete, inconsistent, or unreliable.  The legality of a detention, search, seizure, questioning, or statement may also require review.

Could a Black Bear, Firearm, Vehicle, or Other Property Be Seized or Forfeited?

Yes, where the legal requirements for seizure are met, although seizure is not automatic in every closed-season case.

Ontario's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 gives Conservation Officers seizure powers in circumstances set out by the Act.  Depending on the investigation, seized property may include:

• A black bear carcass, meat, hide, skull, or other bear parts;
• Firearms, bows, ammunition, and hunting equipment;
• Phones, cameras, GPS devices, or electronic records;
• Vehicles, ATVs, snowmobiles, boats, or trailers;
• Licences, tags, maps, and hunting documents; and
• Other property believed to provide evidence of or be connected to an offence.

Seizure means property has been taken into official custody.  It does not itself prove guilt and does not automatically mean the owner will permanently lose the property.

Forfeiture means ownership is permanently lost to the Crown.  If a person is convicted, wildlife seized in connection with the offence is forfeited, while a justice may order other seized things forfeited.  Different rules may apply when there is no conviction or possession of the thing is itself unlawful.

Keep every seizure notice, inventory, receipt, occurrence number, photograph, and document provided by the Conservation Officer.

What Happens Next?

The next step depends on whether you received a ticket or summons and how you choose to respond. A ticket usually provides response options and a deadline.  A summons must be answered as directed and may require a court appearance.

If you dispute the charge, disclosure should be reviewed carefully.  Important material may include Conservation Officer notes, statements, GPS information, season tables, WMU maps, photographs, electronic information, wildlife evidence, and seizure documentation.

The review should identify exactly where the prosecutor says you were hunting, which black bear season applied, how the date was established, and what conduct the Conservation Officer says amounted to hunting.

Some cases may resolve after legal, factual, or evidentiary issues are identified.  Others may proceed to trial, where the prosecutor must prove every required part of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.  If there is a conviction, the court determines the appropriate penalty and any additional order authorized by law.

How Can DefendCharges.ca™ Help?

DefendCharges.ca™ can review the closed-season charge, the exact offence section, the season information that applied, and the evidence concerning where and when the hunting activity described in the charge occurred.

The review may include examining WMU boundaries, GPS records, photographs, Conservation Officer observations, statements, licensing and tag information, electronic records, and whether the conduct legally amounted to hunting.

DefendCharges.ca™ can also review disclosure, searches and seizures, possible defences and legal issues, the consequences associated with the charge, and any additional black bear offences arising from the same investigation.

Have Questions About Hunting Charges?

Whether you have been charged with one hunting offence or several, understanding your legal options is important. DefendCharges.ca™ can review your case, explain the charges you are facing, and help you decide on the best course of action.  Contact us today to discuss your situation.

Key Takeaways

• Hunting black bear during a closed season is also commonly called hunting black bear out of season;
• The applicable black bear season depends on the location, Wildlife Management Unit, and legally applicable season table;
• A valid Black Bear Licence or Bear Tag does not make a closed season open;
• You may be charged even if no black bear was shot or killed because Ontario defines hunting broadly;
• The current Ontario set fine for “Hunt during the closed season—bear” under subsection 25(2) is $500;
• GPS, mapping, date, location, Conservation Officer, and electronic evidence may be central to the case; and
• Possible defences depend on the season, location, evidence, and circumstances of the hunt described in the charge.

Conclusion

Hunting black bear during a closed season is a location-and-timing offence.  A person can hold a valid Black Bear Licence and Bear Tag but still face this charge if the charge says black bear hunting was not open in the area when the hunting occurred.

The applicable season table, Wildlife Management Unit, location, date, and evidence of what the person was doing should be reviewed together.  Before paying a ticket or responding to a summons, make sure you understand the precise charge, the evidence, the possible consequences, and the legal options available in your circumstances.