Hunting and Fishing For Food, Legal Restrictions?

Hunting and Fishing seems mainly separated into two categories, commercial and recreational/sport. And from what I am seen of sport hunting, it is not an economical way of feeding yourself.  But this likely varieties widely by location, and possibly method. I have been looking around the Ontario fishing website and getting nowhere.

I live in extreme southern Ontario, but knowledge from anywhere would be helpful, at least I would know what to look for. Are their special laws for people not interested in recreation, but in food procurement? How are the Fishing regulations, can they be efficiently, and cheaply harvested (or do laws restrict you to slow methods and have exorbitant fees)?

In America the laws vary by fish species, fishing method and sometimes location. But as far as fishing for food but below the commercial level... I only have vague memories of this as my birth father died when I was five, but to this day I have a dislike for catfish because we ate so much of it. He shared care of a trot line with a friend of his.

I found the PDF of the 2016 fishing regulations for Ontario, and it looks like trot lines aren't legal there at all. Sorry, that was my best thought.

edit: Maybe it's just because I'm familiar with the fishing regulations in my area, but the fishing regulations I'm finding for Ontario seem crazy complicated. Is fishing tourism a huge part of the economy there?

There are game fish and non game fish. Game fish will have a limit on size and quantity while non game fish dont.

If I'm at the texas coast I can keep 3 reds 20 to 28" long, but can keep sand trout, croakers, and whiting of any quantity or length.

From an effiencies standpoint there are seasons. White bass go up river to spawn so they are concentrated in one area and hungry enuff to catch a limit with lures. Some areas are approachable by land. No boat, no bait makes it affordable.

I can site many examples.

We depend largely on hunting for our meat supply.  Neither my husband nor I hunt, but we share food with a neighbor who gives us venison (they shoot out the window of a back bedroom!) and we have a friend who comes to hunt on our land and gives us part of the deer.  In TX there is year-round no-limit hunting of some species, including the exotic Axis deer who are exceptionally delicious.  They are taking over our region because of no natural predators (no feral tigers here, thank goodness!)

We live near a river but it doesn't have many fish anymore and is not a reliable source of food.  My husband tried fishing a couple times and didn't catch anything so he gave it up as too time-consuming.

Casie Becker wrote:Is fishing tourism a huge part of the economy there?

I'm not sure, but I sort of get the impression that Northern Ontario is more of a massive game reserve than anything else, at least I have never heard of anyone living there, or anything happening there, people just seem to go there to hunt. So I imagine that we could support massive hunting/fishing tourism.

Maybe it's just because I'm familiar with the fishing regulations in my area, but the fishing regulations I'm finding for Ontario seem crazy complicated. Is fishing tourism a huge part of the economy there?

 Fishing guides and resorts are pretty big business in northern Canada, and in my province it is considered an industry, albeit a part of the tourism industry.  The regulations are extremely complicated and frustrating, especially for the person who just wants to get some fish to eat.  There are no special regulations for people fishing for sustenance in comparison for those who fish for 'sport'.  Some hunting is specified in this regard though.  Also, here we have what are known as 'seasons' for various game.  You can shoot a doe deer at this time of year but not that time of year.  I don't know when those times are, and they vary regionally within the province.  Bucks can be shot with single point antlers at this time of year, but a trophy buck needs a special tag, or a lottery draw.  Same goes for moose.  Black Bears have their own regulations, as do grizzlies.  Mountain Goats and Sheep have lottery tags.  It's all very complicated.  That said, I know a lot of people who get all of their meat every year from hunting, so it must be worth it for some people.    

Jon, I highly suggest you take a Hunter Education course, these days they cover a lot information regarding ethics, animal biology, seasons, limits and the like. They will be able to answer your questions regarding specific hunting requirements and provisions. You can also spend some time speaking with the folks at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. They'll be able to tell you the availability of Hunter Education courses, where to get your prerequisite Outdoor Card and all that.

Here are some frequently asked topics on Hunting and Fishing:

https://www.ontario.ca/search/search-results?tag=Hunting%20and%20fishing

This ling is to a PDF for Winter 2016-Spring 2017 regulations:

https://www.ontario.ca/document/ontario-hunting-regulations-summary

I hope this helps.  They may offer a "Hunter Education" Class.

Regulations are going to vary from location to location, and will often change somewhat from year to year.  The Internet is pretty pointless here--contact your local game and fish (or conservation, etc.) department, and they ought to be more than willing to share the relevant information.  Likely there are printed brochures or booklets that describe, in great detail, all the regulations you'd ever need to know.

You can spend as much or as little money as you want.  Don't be fooled into thinking you need fancy camouflage duds, scent-blocking soap and shampoo, doe-in-estrus urine, souped-up binoculars and a $1000 rifle/scope combination just to kill a deer for the freezer.  I hunt in our woodlot, wearing typical work clothes (canvas pants, flannel shirts, long underwear, and whatever outerwear is necessary), shooting a hand-me-down rifle, and I do just fine.  The only things I've purchased specifically for hunting are ammunition and a required blaze-orange hat and vest.  My deer tag is free, being a landowner in Missouri, but even if I had to pay, the cost is $17 on the high end.  Point being, all of that combined makes for very economical meat.

It's kind of analogous to keeping backyard chickens.  You can spend a grand or so on a fancy designer coop, get top-of-the-line exhibition genetics, and claim that grocery store eggs are so much cheaper than backyard eggs, or you can cobble together a usable coop out of scrap lumber and chicken wire, buy run-of-the-mill birds, feed them largely on kitchen scraps, and produce great eggs for a song.

Edit: Keep in mind, too, that onerous though they may be, game laws were enacted for a reason.  In the short term it may seem noble to allow special hunting and fishing for "food procurement" reasons, waving away the "regular" restrictions, but the end result would be a diminished future resource.  It's like eating your seed corn.

Where you are there are going to be plenty of deer on the farmlands. Get to know some owners. Take your Hunter Ed course. Gun season is usually one week in November, another for black powder in December (not all areas).
You can buy as many regular (antlered) tags as you can fill at around $50 each.  You can apply in the draw for an antlerless (doe) tag early in the year and most likely get one.
You can use a bow or crossbow from 1 Oct to Dec31.  Get a good recurve crossbow (Excalibur!) and you can shoot with laser beam accuracy to 40 yards every time.

There is (I think) also a provision for farmers to cull "problem populations" but you need to check the regs for that one and how you might fit in.

I'm not sure, but I sort of get the impression that Northern Ontario is more of a massive game reserve than anything else, at least I have never heard of anyone living there, or anything happening there, people just seem to go there to hunt.

lol, you should get out more

Thanks for all your suggestions everyone.
@Anne Miller: I had seen that faq before, but not read it in depth. Hours latter it did seem to answer most of my questions. Unless their is some not often used regulations they left out a fishing licence is expensive, and requires you to spread out your catch. But children and seniors get an implicit licence, so I might be able to go fishing with the niece and nephew without a licence.
@Wes Hunter: I saw that landowner tag. Unfortunately it is not free, just cheaper. But it's more complicated than that, after you have bought that tag their is also some lotto draw. I am not sure if after buying the tag, you still have to win the lotto to get to hunt, or the lotto is just for extra?

It all depends on your state or country's laws and regulations on hunting and fishing. I know many people that rely heavily on the meat they receive from the harvesting of deer, elk, and fish. I currently live in Montana and am involved in Montana hunting ranches for sale so I am around people who hunt and fish as their preferred sport. Certain areas in Montana you have to apply to get a special tag to hunt animals such as antelope, elk, bear, and moose. As for other areas around the state, there are designated "districts" where you can purchase additional B-tags (doe tags). This all depends on the population size and the type of population management that our Fish, Wildlife, & Parks division wants to implement. I have hunted in some areas where you can purchase an additional 2 doe tags along with your standard A-tag (Buck tag). This means that, potentially, I could harvest 3 deer in 1 district. If you add 2-3 people to that equation, a family could harvest anywhere from 3 to potentially 9 deer, but that is all dependent upon which district they are hunting in and the regulations in place.

It is completely possible to harvest enough deer to feed a family for a year or more in a season. Growing up, my family ate venison more than beef because it was our way of putting food on the table. I hope this helps give some inspiration as to how you can provide for yourself through hunting.

Jon Wisnoski wrote:Hunting and Fishing seems mainly separated into two categories, commercial and recreational/sport. And from what I am seen of sport hunting, it is not an economical way of feeding yourself.  But this likely varieties widely by location, and possibly method. I have been looking around the Ontario fishing website and getting nowhere.

I live in extreme southern Ontario, but knowledge from anywhere would be helpful, at least I would know what to look for. Are their special laws for people not interested in recreation, but in food procurement? How are the Fishing regulations, can they be efficiently, and cheaply harvested (or do laws restrict you to slow methods and have exorbitant fees)?

Canadian Hunting and Fishing laws are very specific and there is no difference in hunting for meat (food) and hunting for sport, the laws are the same either way.
There are indeed Commercial Fishing Laws but again they are mostly the same as for sport fishermen. There are certain species with different limits and there are specific hours allowed for commercial fishing of Salmon and Halibut and others (Including Lobster).

Redhawk

Jon Wisnoski wrote:Hunting and Fishing seems mainly separated into two categories, commercial and recreational/sport. And from what I am seen of sport hunting, it is not an economical way of feeding yourself.  But this likely varieties widely by location, and possibly method. I have been looking around the Ontario fishing website and getting nowhere.

I live in extreme southern Ontario, but knowledge from anywhere would be helpful, at least I would know what to look for. Are their special laws for people not interested in recreation, but in food procurement? How are the Fishing regulations, can they be efficiently, and cheaply harvested (or do laws restrict you to slow methods and have exorbitant fees)?

...something that nobody has mentioned is get in touch with fish and game or highway department for free road kill game ... Where there's traffic ... There is Road Kill

Yes dont pass on the road kill. In my province I can only shoot one deer a year. Last year I put a total of 4 in the freezer with only one shot! ( ;

Jon Wisnoski wrote:Hunting and Fishing seems mainly separated into two categories, commercial and recreational/sport. And from what I am seen of sport hunting, it is not an economical way of feeding yourself.  But this likely varieties widely by location, and possibly method. I have been looking around the Ontario fishing website and getting nowhere.

I live in extreme southern Ontario, but knowledge from anywhere would be helpful, at least I would know what to look for. Are their special laws for people not interested in recreation, but in food procurement? How are the Fishing regulations, can they be efficiently, and cheaply harvested (or do laws restrict you to slow methods and have exorbitant fees)?

Hunting and Fishing are big Tourist attractions in most of Canada, there are lots of tourist big game lodges that cater to these folks that come just to get that big trophy; deer, elk, caribou, or moose, fishing trophies are also big tourist enterprises.

Guiding is one way to make your living from fishing and hunting, the other way to provide for your own meat needs is to be the hunter and fisherman.
I used to do "pick up" guiding on the little red river here in Arkansas, I would not take a fare if any of the daily guides were free.
I eventually had people asking for me to be their guide and even today there are guides that ask me where they should take their fares for particular sizes of trout when I'm on the river.
I'm also known to give fly fishers some of my flies if they don't have the pattern that is working for me in their boxes. Since I tie all my flies, this just gives me an excuse to sit at the vise for a while.
The Game wardens even know that if I have fly rod in hand, I'm catch and release but if I have a spinning rod I'm getting meat.

In my world, hunting is a tradition and we do it for our meat, it is important to use all of any animal that we kill to feed ourselves, family and  tribal members that can not hunt or fish.
Fishing is exactly the same, traditional and for food. Nothing is allowed to go to waste, that would be disrespectful of the animal whose life you took so that you would have nourishment.
Prayers are said for the spirit of the animal taken.
Thanks are given as well as apologies for having to take that life, which is so precious, so that we can live.
We take no joy in taking the life of any animal, the four legs or the finned people or the winged people, all have a spirit and are part of us all.

Where I live, in the Southern USA, I see many humans take pleasure in their hunt and the whoop it up when they make a kill, these people also waste a lot of every animal they snuff out.
This saddens me but then I must remember they are from European decent and don't have knowledge of the earth mother like we do, for they don't live with the earth mother, they live upon it.

Redhawk