Hunting Without a Moose Licence in Ontario:

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Last Updated: August 04 2026

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Hunting Without a Moose Licence in Ontario

Hunting moose without a valid Moose Licence in Ontario 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 and seized property.

Applying for a Moose Tag, holding an Outdoors Card, accompanying a tag holder, or being part of a hunting group does not automatically provide the Moose Licence required to hunt moose.

Do not panic.  Receiving a ticket or summons—a document requiring you to attend court or respond as directed—does not automatically mean you will be convicted, meaning found guilty.  The prosecutor—the lawyer or representative acting for the government—must prove the particular offence beyond a reasonable doubt, meaning the evidence must leave the court firmly convinced of guilt.

If your documents list several moose-related allegations, start with Moose Hunting Charges and compare each charge with the wording on your documents.

I Received a Ticket or Summons.  What Should I Do?

Read every document carefully and do not ignore the response deadline or required court date. The exact wording and section number matter because hunting without a Moose Licence is different from hunting without a Moose Tag, failing to carry or produce hunting documents, or failing to comply with a non-resident or party-hunting rule.

Paying a ticket will generally be treated as pleading guilty and will result in a conviction without a trial.  A summons is not an ordinary payable ticket and must be answered in the manner stated.

Before deciding how to respond, check:

• The exact wording and section number of every charge;
• The alleged date, time, location, and Wildlife Management Unit (WMU)—a numbered area used to apply local hunting rules;
• Your resident or non-resident status;
• Whether a Moose Licence appeared on your Licence Summary;
• When the licence was purchased, issued, suspended, cancelled, or expired;
• Whether party hunting, apprenticeship, or a tourist outfitter was involved; and
• Whether a moose or other property was seized.

Keep your ticket or summons, Outdoors Card, Licence Summary, Moose Tag, purchase confirmations, allocation records, outfitter documents, maps, photographs, messages, hunter reports, and seizure documents.  Do not delete or alter information that may be relevant.

Consider obtaining legal advice before paying the ticket, entering a plea, or giving an additional written or recorded statement.  What you say after the incident may become part of the prosecution evidence.

Should I Pay the Ticket?

Paying the ticket will generally be treated as a guilty plea and will result in a conviction. Before paying, make sure you understand whether the officer alleges that no Moose Licence existed, that the licence was invalid, or that you failed to carry or produce proof of a licence that you actually held.

Those are not necessarily the same allegation.  A person who held a valid Moose Licence but could not immediately display the Licence Summary may face a different charge from a person who never purchased the licence.

The amount printed on the ticket may not be the only possible consequence.  A conviction may affect hunting privileges or seized property.  The licence allegation may also appear alongside a Moose Tag, closed-season, party-hunting, vehicle, possession, or transportation charge.

What Is Hunting Without a Moose Licence?

This charge generally alleges that you hunted moose without holding the valid Moose Licence required for your participation in the hunt.

The allegation may arise where:

• No Moose Licence had been purchased or issued;
• The person held an Outdoors Card but no Moose Licence;
• The person applied for a Moose Tag but did not purchase the licence;
• The licence was purchased only after the alleged hunting occurred;
• The licence had expired, been suspended, cancelled, or become void;
• A party hunter relied on another person’s tag but held no Moose Licence; or
• A non-resident hunted without the required licence or other hunt-specific authority.

What Is the Difference Between a Moose Licence, Licence Summary, and Outdoors Card?

These documents are connected, but they are not interchangeable.

Moose Licence

A Moose Licence provides licensing authority to hunt moose, subject to the applicable season, tag, party-hunting, Wildlife Management Unit, firearm, and other requirements.  A hunter who participates independently or as an ordinary party member generally requires their own Moose Licence.

Licence Summary

A Licence Summary identifies the hunter’s valid licence products and related authorizations.  It may be carried in an accepted paper or electronic format.  Ministry licensing records may also show when a Moose Licence was purchased and whether it was valid on the alleged offence date.

Outdoors Card

An Outdoors Card identifies the hunter within Ontario’s licensing system and is generally required to purchase hunting licences.  It does not replace a Moose Licence or Moose Tag.

Does Applying for or Receiving a Moose Tag Give You a Moose Licence?

No.  Applying to Ontario’s Moose Tag Allocation Process does not, by itself, authorize you to hunt moose. The application process and the purchase of a Moose Licence are separate steps.

A person awarded a Moose Tag must purchase the required Moose Licence before claiming the tag.  Except for an eligible apprentice hunting within the apprenticeship rules, a person who intends to party hunt with a tag holder must also obtain their own Moose Licence before the hunt begins.

Purchasing a Moose Licence after an encounter with a Conservation Officer does not retroactively authorize hunting that allegedly occurred earlier.  The purchase time, transaction record, and alleged hunting time may therefore become important evidence.

Can You Party Hunt Without Your Own Moose Licence?

Generally, no.  An ordinary member of a moose-hunting party must hold their own valid Moose Licence. Party hunting may allow participants to hunt under another member’s applicable Moose Tag, but it does not normally allow them to use another person’s Moose Licence.

A lawful party hunt generally requires each independently licensed participant to hold a licence to hunt moose.  At least one participant must hold an applicable Moose Tag that has not been invalidated, and the party must comply with the tag-limit, active-participation, Wildlife Management Unit, proximity, communication, and cooperative-hunting requirements.

A person may therefore be properly covered by another hunter’s Moose Tag but still face a hunting-without-a-licence allegation if they did not hold their own Moose Licence.  For more information, see Party Hunting Moose.

Can an Apprentice Hunter Hunt Moose Without Their Own Moose Licence?

Yes, in limited circumstances. An eligible apprentice hunter may hunt without purchasing their own Moose Licence when every requirement of Ontario’s Hunter Apprenticeship Safety Program is followed.

Under the current rules, the program is open to eligible Ontario residents who are 12 to 14 years old.  The person must satisfy the applicable Outdoors Card, hunter-accreditation, mentor, supervision, firearm, species, season, and tag requirements.

The apprentice must hunt under the direct and immediate supervision of a qualified licensed mentor and may hunt only the species for which the mentor holds a licence.  The apprentice and mentor must share the single firearm used for the hunt.

An apprentice does not create another Moose Tag or increase the number or type of moose that may be harvested.  The mentor’s licence and the applicable tag or lawful party-hunting authority must cover the hunt.

Whether the person met the age, residency, Outdoors Card, accreditation, supervision, firearm-sharing, and mentor requirements may become important if the prosecution alleges that the apprenticeship exception did not apply.  The rules applying on the date of the alleged hunt must be used.

What Rules Apply to Non-Resident Moose Hunters?

A non-resident requires a valid Moose Licence and must also comply with Ontario’s additional non-resident moose-hunting rules.

A non-resident may generally hunt moose as a registered guest of an authorized tourist outfitter under a tag issued through the outfitter, or party hunt under the valid Moose Tag of an Ontario-resident immediate family member when the applicable requirements are met.

A non-resident hunting through a tourist outfitter must be a registered guest and comply with the outfitter-documentation and party-hunting rules.  A non-resident hunting with an Ontario-resident immediate family member must satisfy the relationship and licensing requirements and may hunt only under that family member’s applicable tag.

Non-resident seasons, recognized hunter accreditation, firearm documentation, guide requirements, and other conditions may also apply.  A charge involving a non-resident should be reviewed using the precise wording and section number on the ticket or summons.

What Law Applies?

The principal rules are found in Ontario’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 and Ontario Regulation 665/98, commonly called the Hunting Regulation.

Section 6(1)(a) of the Act prohibits hunting big game except under the authority of a licence and in accordance with the regulations. Big game includes black bear, woodland caribou, white-tailed deer, American elk, and moose.

Section 43 of Ontario Regulation 665/98 describes the documents that make up a licence to hunt moose.  Depending on the circumstances, the Licence Summary must list the Moose Licence together with an applicable Moose Tag, or it may list the Moose Licence while the person lawfully party hunts with another hunter who holds a valid Moose Tag.

Sections 24.1 and 24.2 contain general party-hunting requirements.  Other provisions address apprentices, non-residents, tourist outfitters, special Wildlife Management Units, tags, open seasons, firearm classes, and the documents that must be carried or produced.

These are regulatory offences—offences created by legislation to regulate conduct.  The prosecutor may not have to prove mens rea—Latin for “guilty mind” [the legally required mental element]—in the same way required for many criminal offences.

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

What Must Be Proven?

The prosecutor must prove every required part of the offence beyond a reasonable doubt. For a hunting-without-a-Moose-Licence allegation, the prosecution may need to establish that:

• You were the person involved;
• Your conduct legally amounted to hunting;
• The wildlife being hunted was moose, or the conduct was directed toward moose;
• The activity occurred on the alleged date and in Ontario;
• The conduct fell within the prohibition against hunting big game without the required licence.

The prosecution must prove your conduct, not merely the conduct of someone else in the group.  Being present at a hunting camp, riding in a vehicle with hunters, or helping after a lawful harvest does not automatically establish that you were personally hunting.

An apprenticeship exception or another legal authority may change the analysis.  Its application depends on the exact provision, the evidence, and any legal burden that applies; it should not automatically be treated as another ordinary prosecution element.

Section 107 of the Act places the burden on a defendant to prove that the required licence was held when a licence is relied upon as a defence.  This means the accused should not assume that the prosecutor must independently prove the absence of a licence in the same way as every other part of the case.

Section 101 also requires the defendant to establish due diligence or an honest and reasonable mistake of fact.  The Licence Summary, purchase history, official Ministry records, and evidence supporting any exception may therefore be particularly important.

Can You Be Charged if No Moose Was Shot or Killed?

Yes.  Ontario’s definition of hunting includes much more than killing a moose. It includes lying in wait for, searching for, being on the trail of, pursuing, chasing, or shooting at wildlife, whether or not the wildlife is killed, injured, captured, or harassed.  It also includes capturing or harassing wildlife.

An allegation may arise from waiting for moose at a known crossing, following fresh tracks, calling moose, driving moose toward another hunter, pursuing a wounded moose, or shooting and missing.  The person’s purpose and the surrounding circumstances matter.

Scouting is not automatically hunting. Searching for or following wildlife for a purpose other than attempting to kill, injure, capture, or harass it may fall outside the statutory definition, depending on what occurred.

A person may say they were photographing wildlife, checking a trail camera, travelling, retrieving equipment, working, or accompanying another hunter.  The officer’s observations, equipment, location, communications, and statements may be used to determine whether the activity had a hunting purpose.

What Common Situations Lead to This Charge?

The Hunter Applied for a Moose Tag but Did Not Buy a Moose Licence

The person may have believed that applying to the allocation process or being awarded a tag automatically provided the Moose Licence required to hunt.

The Hunter Had an Outdoors Card but No Moose Licence

An Outdoors Card identifies the hunter in Ontario’s licensing system but does not replace the species-specific Moose Licence.

The Licence Was Purchased After Hunting Began

The person may have bought the Moose Licence after being stopped or after the alleged hunting activity.  Transaction timestamps and officer observations may become important.

A Party Hunter Relied on the Tag Holder’s Documents

The person may have been lawfully hunting under another participant’s Moose Tag but failed to obtain their own Moose Licence before joining the party hunt.

The Person Believed They Qualified as an Apprentice

The prosecution may allege that the age, accreditation, supervision, shared-firearm, mentor, or other apprenticeship requirements were not met.

A Non-Resident Did Not Complete Every Required Step

The allegation may involve the Moose Licence, tourist-outfitter registration, immediate-family exception, hunter accreditation, season, guide, or supporting documents.

The Person Says They Were Not Hunting

The person may say they were scouting, travelling, checking cameras, retrieving equipment, working, or helping only after the moose was harvested.

What Is the Fine?

The current Ontario set fine for a resident who hunts big game without a licence under section 6(1)(a) is $500.  The corresponding set fine for a non-resident is $600.

A set fine is the fine assigned when the offence is dealt with by ticket.  The total payable amount may be higher after the victim fine surcharge—an additional amount imposed by provincial law—and applicable court costs are added.

The exact set fine should be confirmed using the charge wording, residency category, statutory provision, and set-fine schedule in force on the alleged offence date.  A separate allegation about failing to carry or produce a licence, a non-resident requirement, or another moose-hunting rule may have a different set fine.

Section 102 of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997 provides a general maximum penalty for an individual of a fine up to $25,000, imprisonment for up to one year, or both. These are statutory maximums, not the automatic or usual result of every hunting-without-a-licence charge.

A conviction may also affect hunting privileges or lead to orders concerning unlawfully obtained wildlife or seized property.  For information about possible effects on hunting privileges, see Hunting Licence Suspensions.

What Evidence May Be Used?

These cases often depend on licensing records, the timing of any purchase, and evidence showing what the person was doing. The prosecutor may rely on several categories of evidence.

Licensing, Tag, and Party-Hunting Records

• Outdoors Card records, Licence Summaries, Moose Licence records, purchase histories, and account information;
• Moose Tag applications, allocation records, tags, and documents held by another member of the hunting party; and
• Records showing the alleged date, purchase time, residency status, apprenticeship status, or tourist-outfitter arrangement.

Officer and Witness Evidence

• Conservation Officer observations, notes, reports, photographs, video, and audio recordings;
• Statements from hunters, passengers, outfitters, landowners, or other witnesses; and
• Statements allegedly made by the person charged about the licence, hunt, party, or reason for being in the area.

Electronic, Location, and Hunting Evidence

• GPS tracks, phone-location information, messages, radio communications, photographs, videos, and timestamps;
• Maps, Wildlife Management Unit boundaries, routes, camps, blinds, trails, and observation locations; and
• Firearms, bows, ammunition, calls, vehicles, hunting equipment, a moose or moose parts, and seizure records.

No single item necessarily proves the charge.  The evidence must be considered together to determine whether the person was hunting moose and whether a licence, apprenticeship exception, or other legal authority applied under the relevant statutory burdens.

Disclosure is the evidence the prosecutor intends to rely upon.  It should be requested and reviewed before deciding how to respond to a disputed charge.

What Possible Defences or Legal Issues May Apply?

Possible defences depend on the charge wording, Ministry records, alleged activity, residency status, and surrounding circumstances. Issues that may need to be reviewed include:

• A valid Moose Licence was held: The Licence Summary, purchase confirmation, and Ministry records may establish that the licence existed at the relevant time;
• You were not hunting: The evidence may support scouting, photography, travel, work, equipment retrieval, or assistance provided only after the hunt;
• You were not the person involved: Officer observations, photographs, video, or witness accounts may not reliably identify the alleged hunter;
• The apprenticeship exception applied: The evidence may establish eligibility, direct supervision, a qualified mentor, and compliance with the shared-firearm and other requirements;
• The date or time was wrong: Purchase records, GPS data, photographs, messages, or witnesses may show that the licence was valid before the alleged hunting began;
• Due diligence was exercised: The evidence may show that you took all reasonable care to obtain and confirm the required licence; or
• An honest and reasonable mistake of fact occurred: You may have honestly and reasonably believed facts that, if true, would have made the conduct innocent.

Due diligence requires more than an absence of intent to break the law.  Forgetting to purchase the Moose Licence, assuming a Tag Allocation application was a licence, or relying only on another hunter’s documents may not establish the defence.

A mistake about the law is also different from a mistake about a fact.  Merely misunderstanding Ontario’s licence requirements may not provide a defence.

Could a Moose, Firearm, Vehicle, or Hunting Equipment Be Seized or Forfeited?

Yes.  A Conservation Officer may seize wildlife or other property where the applicable legal requirements are met. Depending on the circumstances, this may include a moose or moose parts, firearms, bows, vehicles, hunting equipment, documents, phones, cameras, or GPS devices.

Seizure means property has been taken into official custody; it does not automatically mean ownership has been permanently lost. Forfeiture means ownership is permanently lost through a court order or another lawful process.

If a person is convicted, wildlife seized in connection with the offence is forfeited to the Crown.  A court may also order other property seized in connection with the offence to be forfeited.  Keep every seizure notice, inventory, receipt, occurrence number, and other document provided by the Conservation Officer.

What Happens Next?

What happens next depends on whether you received a ticket or summons, how you respond, and whether additional charges were laid. If you dispute the allegation, request and review disclosure before making an informed decision.

The case may be resolved without a trial or may proceed to trial.  At trial, the prosecutor must prove every required part of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.  If there is a conviction, the court determines the penalty and any legally available order concerning hunting privileges or seized property.

Where several hunters were present, each person’s conduct, licence, documents, statements, and alleged role should be considered separately.  Another hunter’s licence or Moose Tag does not automatically determine whether you committed the offence.

How Can DefendCharges.ca Help?

DefendCharges.ca can review the precise charge, the Ministry licensing records, your Licence Summary, the alleged hunting activity, and the prosecution’s position on why a valid Moose Licence was not held.

DefendCharges.ca can request and review disclosure, identify factual and legal issues, communicate with the prosecutor, explain possible outcomes, and represent you during the court process where permitted.

The same incident may also involve Hunting Moose Without a Tag, Party Hunting Moose, Hunting Moose During a Closed Season, or Illegal Moose Possession.  Each allegation should be reviewed separately.

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

• A Moose Licence, Moose Tag, Licence Summary, and Outdoors Card serve different legal purposes.
• Applying for or receiving a Moose Tag does not automatically provide a Moose Licence.
• An ordinary party hunter generally requires their own valid Moose Licence even when relying on another participant’s tag.
• An eligible apprentice may hunt without their own Moose Licence only when every apprenticeship requirement is met.
• A person may be charged even if no moose was shot or killed.
• The current set fine is $500 for a resident and $600 for a non-resident charged with hunting big game without a licence.
• Consider obtaining legal advice before paying a ticket, entering a plea, or giving an additional statement.

Conclusion

Being charged with hunting without a Moose Licence does not automatically mean you will be convicted.  The prosecutor must prove the required parts of the charge, while section 107 may place the burden on the defendant to prove that the required licence was held when relying on it as a defence.

The Licence Summary, Ministry purchase records, alleged activity, residency status, apprenticeship or party-hunting arrangement, and timing may affect the case.  Before paying a ticket or responding to a summons, make sure you understand the precise allegation, the possible consequences, and your legal options.