MINISTER'S MESSAGE
For more than 100 years, Alberta has protected and conserved wildlife resources through managed hunting. To ensure our hunting tradition is passed to future generations, Sustainable Resource Development continues to pursue improvements to provide safe, enjoyable hunting.
We have moved to a two-year cycle for hunting regulations to provide more time to plan and complete consultations. This change also gives hunters two years of consistent regulations. Regulation guides will still be published annually.
Interest in our online hunting and fishing licensing system, albertarelm.com, continues to grow with 65 per cent of special licence draw applications purchased online. The online system also provides a quick and easy way to gather feedback on hunter harvest and surveys. This online feedback provides our staff with a more efficient and proactive way to evaluate game management programs.
Grizzly bears frequently use black bear baiting sites, so baiting will now be prohibited within portions of three Wildlife Management Units. This partial ban on black bear baiting supports hunter safety and ongoing grizzly bear conservation efforts as outlined in the Alberta Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan. Please check the regulations guide for more details.
Landowners can now keep cougars lawfully hunted on their land and are no longer required to turn them over to the department. This change reduces waste from landowner harvest.
Encouraging participation in hunting continues to be a priority. Hunters with a severe disability who hold a weapons discharge permit are now authorized to hunt from any kind of vehicle parked in a safe hunting location (not just from an off-highway vehicle). I am also pleased that hunting is becoming more popular with young Albertans with 2010 seeing an increase of five per cent in the number of youth hunters.
The Alberta government supports hunting as a way to enjoy Alberta's outdoors. Be careful in the field, respect the land and be sure to get permission for access where required. Best wishes for a quality hunting experience.
 |
Mel R. Knight,
Minister
IMPORTANT CHANGES FOR 2011
GENERAL
- NEW for 2011, the tag colour has been changed from orange to yellow. For online purchase, the new yellow tags are available at your local Fish and Wildlife Division District office free of charge. Hunters are asked to destroy any of the old orange tags left over from past seasons.
- Beginning 2012 the Hunting Draw Booklet and priorities will NO LONGER be mailed directly to past draw applicants. An email will be sent to advise applicants when the booklet will be available at Fish and Wildlife Division District offices, Licence Issuers and online.
- Draw applicants with an email address recorded on albertarelm.com will no longer receive their draw results by mail. They will receive email notification (starting July 14, 2011) directing them to view their draw results online at albertarelm.com.
- Alberta Transportation changed the way that primary and secondary highways are defined, renaming both types as “provincial highways”. This change also affected the Wildlife Act and no longer allows a person to hunt game birds using a shotgun along a secondary highway (such as Hwy 734, known as the Forestry Trunk Road). See page 18 for details.
- Bear and Cougar seasons are now on a separate page Click here.
- Landowners are encouraged to report situations where a person trespasses on their land and harvests wildife. An amendment has improved the courts ability to deal with situations where wildlife was taken on lands where no access permission had been granted, or in a location where the person was prohibited from discharging a weapon.
- Alberta residents may now hunt (or trap) red squirrel on private land.
BIG GAME
- In WMUs 210 and 400 - 414, big game hunting is now permitted on Sundays during open seasons.
- An archery and general hunting season for antlered elk (3-point or larger) has been created in WMU 508.
- An archery and Antlerless Elk Special Licence hunting season for antlerless elk in WMU 508 has been created.
- An archery and general hunting season for antlered elk (3-point or larger) has been created in WMU 525.
- The antlered elk hunting season in WMU 526 has been changed from a Special Licence to a General Licence (3-point or larger).
- An Antlered and Antlerless Elk Special Licence hunting season has been created for WMU 151 and 152.
- An archery-only hunting season for Antlered and Antlerless Elk Special Licences has been added for WMUs 164, 166 and 208.
- The Cypress Hills Elk Special Licence has been replaced with an Either Sex Elk Special Licence. Applicant's priorities accumulated in the Cypress Hills Elk Special Licence Draw (Draw Code 20) will be transferred to this draw (Draw Code 41) but only if they apply for this draw in 2011.
- The Antlered and Antlerless Elk Special Licence hunting season in WMUs 728/730 (Camp Wainwright) has been replaced with an Either Sex Elk Special Licence.
- An Antlered and Antlerless Moose Special Licence hunting season has been created in WMU 151.
- The Antlered, Antlerless and Calf Moose Special Licence in WMU 728/730 have been split into three separate seasons for each licence type.
- The Supplemental Antlerless White-tailed Deer Licence is no longer valid in WMUs 150, 151, 162, 163, 240, 242, 250, 252, 260, 504 and 506.
- The hunting of antlerless white-tailed deer in WMUs 150, 151, 162 and 163 now requires an Antlerless White-tailed Deer Special Licence.
- Holders of an Antelope Archery Special Licence will be able to harvest either a trophy or non-trophy antelope.
- The hunting season for mountain goats has been opened in Goat Hunting Areas C and Q.
- Cougar seasons have been expanded. For season dates and open WMUs click here.
- During cougar registration a small premolar tooth will be removed before the skull and skin are returned to the hunter.
- Baiting for black bears is now prohibited in portions of WMUs 320, 324 and 526.
- New restrictions apply to the use of bait for hunting wolves or coyotes on public land. Click here for details.
- It has been common practice for groups of hunters to meet at one hunters home in order to butcher their big game. Legislation has been changed to accommodate this accepted practice, allowing the tag and evidence or class, sex, and species to be removed at the usual residence of a resident of Alberta, provided that the resident is in attendance and the animal is being cut up and packaged. Click here for more details.
- Sheep hunters are reminded that they must view a sheep “in profile” (on a horizontal plane with the front of the right and left horn bases aligned) in order to be certain whether the sheep meets the definition of a Trophy Sheep or a Full-Curl Trophy Sheep. Click here for details.
BIRD GAME
- There are changes to game bird season dates, changes to the list of open WMUs that have open seasons, and changes to bag limits. Click here for details.
- The Camp Wainwright ruffed and sharp-tailed grouse season has been opened for 2011.
DEFINITIONS
The following definitions will help you understand these regulations:
Antlered - a white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose or elk having an antler exceeding 10.2 cm (4 in.) in length.
Antlerless - a white-tailed deer, mule deer, moose or elk that is not "antlered" (as defined above).
Bait - any substance that consists of a food attractant, including mineral and any representation of a food attractant.
Big Game Designated Guide - a person designated by the Alberta Professional Outfitters Society to commercially guide big game hunters in Alberta. A Designated Guide may guide not more than two Non-resident (Canadian) and Non-resident alien big game hunters at a time in any part of Alberta, provided that each Non-resident (Canadian) or Non-resident Alien has contracted the hunt through an Outfitter-guide. The two-hunter limit does not include Resident hunters.
Big Game Outfitter-guide - a person who is the holder of a valid Outfitter-guide Permit, and who provides outfitting and guiding services to big game hunters in Alberta.
- Class S Outfitter-guide - an Outfitter-guide who holds Non-resident (Canadian)/Non-resident Alien allocations for Trophy Sheep Special Licences. A Class S Outfitter-guide may also hold allocations for other big game special licences.
- Class T Outfitter-guide - an Outfitter-guide who holds allocations valid for Non-resident (Canadian) and Non-resident Alien big game special licences other than those for trophy sheep.
Bird Game Designated Guide - a person designated by the Alberta Professional Outfitters Society to commercially guide game bird hunters in Alberta.
Bird Game Outfitter-guide - a person who is the holder of a valid Bird Game Outfitter-guide Permit issued by the Alberta Professional Outfitters Society, and who provides outfitting and guiding services to non-resident and non-resident alien game bird hunters in Alberta.
Green Area - forest lands not available for agricultural development other than grazing. In general, the Green Area is public land outside the parkland and prairie regions, or roughly in the northern half of the province and within a strip running along the Rocky Mountains and foothills.
Either Sex Special Elk - authorizes the hunting of any age, size, or gender of elk in a specific WMU.
Hunter Host - an adult resident who is the holder of a valid Hunter Host Licence. To obtain this licence, the adult must hold a valid WiN and be eligible to hold recreational hunting licences. A Hunter Host may not provide services for gain or reward, or accept a fee for services, directly or indirectly.
The licence authorizes the holder (usually a relative or friend of the hunters to be hosted) to host a maximum of two non-residents (Canadian) or non-resident aliens* named on the host's licence to hunt wolf, coyote and big game throughout the province.
* Non-resident alien hunters are referred to Outfitting and Guiding Requirements for additional conditions and restrictions.
Loaded Firearm - A firearm in or on a vehicle, aircraft or boat is considered loaded if it has live ammunition in the breech, chamber or magazine. Cartridges are permitted in a magazine that is not attached to the firearm.
Non-resident (Canadian) - a person who is not a Resident (see below), but who makes his or her home and is ordinarily present in Canada, and who has lived in Canada for the 12-month period immediately preceding the relevant date.
Non-resident Alien - a person who is neither a Resident (see below) nor a Non-resident (see above).
OHV (Off-Highway Vehicle) - any motorized vehicle designed for cross-country travel on land, water, snow, ice, marsh or swamp land, or on other natural terrain.
[Exceptions: motor boats, as well as four-wheel-drive vehicles and motorcycles registered in accordance with the Traffic Safety Act.] Among OHVs, include the following kinds of vehicles when they are designed for cross-country travel as described above:
- four-wheel drive or low pressure tire vehicles,
- motorcycles and related two-wheel vehicles,
- amphibious machines,
- all-terrain vehicles,
- miniature motor vehicles,
- snow vehicles,
- minibikes, or
- any other means of transportation that is propelled by any power other than muscular power or wind.
Partner Licence - a licence issued to an eligible hunter that allows him or her to hunt a specific species in a specified WMU and season under the direct authority of a Special Licence held by another hunter successful in a draw.
Resident - a person who either
- has his or her only or primary residence in Alberta and
- is a Canadian citizen or is admitted to permanent residence in Canada, or
- has lived in Canada for the 12-month period immediately preceding the relevant date; or
- is on full-time service with the Armed Forces of Canada and would, if an election were held under the Elections Act (Canada), be eligible to vote in Alberta under that Act.
Special Licence - a licence obtained through a draw process, or for Non-resident and Non-resident Alien hunters, through an Outfitter-guide. It permits hunting of a specific type or class of game only in specific areas during a specified season. Click here for details.
Weapon - a firearm or any other device that propels a projectile by means of an explosion, spring, air, gas, string, wire or elastic material or any combination of those things.
White Geese - snow and Ross' geese.
WMU - Wildlife Management Unit, a geographical area prescribed in legislation.
WIN - Wildlife Identification Number, a permanent registration number issued to each hunter and angler.
Month Abbreviations
The following defines the month abbreviations used in this guide:
A – August S – September O – October
N – November D – December
J – January F – February M – March
Ap – April Ma – May Ju – June
It's Important to Provide Your Email Address
By providing your email address you will:
- receive early notification of your draw results.
- receive important information from Fish and Wildlife throughout the year.
- be able to participate in the annual Game Harvest Survey.
- receive the latest information quickly and efficiently.
- receive personal notification of your Chronic Wasting Disease test results.
Visit albertarelm.com to provide/correct your email address. |
Notice to Hunters
The Fish and Wildlife Division of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development frequently conducts vehicle checks to assist in the management of Alberta's fish and wildlife resources and to ensure compliance with existing legislation. |
|
