Beginner Hunting: Where Can I Hunt?

Growing up in Toronto I was never exposed to hunting in any capacity. None of family hunted, none of my friends hunted and no one in my social circles even mentioned it. In addition, my family doesn’t own a cottage, farm or any type of rural property. Thus my exposure to the outdoors was limited mainly to summer camp and family camping.

Fast forward well into my adult life and I now cannot think of separating hunting or being a hunter from my identity. Ultimately, one of the most challenging aspects of becoming involved in hunting while living in a dense urban environment is access.

There are many ways to access hunting lands close to Toronto, or any city really. In my mind there are three main ways to get access that I will elaborate on below. Ultimately, my friends do not rely solely on one method even though we now own a small amount of land (which is something I’ll talk about in a later article.)

Future articles will go into more detail about specific types of land you can hunt on and how you can get access to that land – treat this is a sort of overview.

Public Lands

Within a 2 hour drive of Toronto there is far more public hunting land than one might think.  These include:

• County Lands and Forests, like Simcoe County Forests
• Conservation areas that allow hunting, like the Luther Marsh
• Provincial Parks that allow hunting, like Presq’uile Provincial Park
• Crown Land

Depending on how experienced you are with camping and back country hiking, some of these options may appeal to you more than others.  But you can quite easily access public land for very cheap. The main resources you will need is a computer, a car and of course time.  There is no substitute for research before you head out.  The internet (and Google Maps) is a wonderful thing.

One of the most useful research tools is the Ontario Crown Land Use Policy Atlas which is completely free to use and reasonably accurate. This Atlas will show you in some detail where crown land is located in Ontario. This tool is your best way to plan crown land trips and will help keep you from accidentally trespassing on private land.

Most crown land, as you will notice, is in northern Ontario.  However, like I mentioned above, there are a number of other options that we’ll talk about in later articles.  In certain areas, animals are even released (e.g pheasants on certain county land). With a  little bit of research and planning you can do great 1 day hunts very close to Toronto.  While Ontario does not have a system comparable to the US BLM system or even that of the western provinces it is still a great free resource that we as taxpayers are entitled too.

Private Land Owned by Strangers

In the quest to find public lands for hunting I ended up noticing how much farmland there is in Southern Ontario.  Many farmers hunt or at least respect hunting and are exposed to it on a regular basis.

As a result, some farmers may be willing to let you hunt on their property if you ask politely, respect their rules and generally conduct yourself in a pleasant manner. It may sound crazy but knocking on doors is the best way to gain access. The worst someone will say is no. Just be yourself, talk slow and don’t ask where the best bucks or toms are.

A couple of years ago I was scouting for Turkey in Norfolk county and I saw a large group of Turkeys in a field behind a semi-constructed new house. I knocked on the door and a young lady answered. She said her dad wasn’t in, but when I explained my request, she gave me his number. I called him and asked if I could hunt his back field on opening day to which he happily agreed and then provided the ground rules.

Ultimately, the best thing to do is to leave everything as you found it and act like you are an honoured guest. Don’t litter, don’t drive across a field and try to keep all noise and gunfire to a minimum.  Importantly, don’t bring more people than the landowner expects.

A second method that has worked well is to look up farms online. Some farmers have websites with their phone numbers, and some will even have a tab or link to their hunting policies. These farmers are generally very approachable and welcome hunters to help reduce populations that are damaging their crops or destroying livestock.  One tip I would recommend is offering your services as a predator hunter. Harvesting a big Tom is great but most farmers don’t want coyotes eating their chicken or sheep so offer to come out and help control those numbers.

Social Network Access (Not Facebook and Instagram)

Right now you may well have access to private land to hunt on but are simply not aware it exists. Sometimes it is very obvious, other times not at all.  One of my best friends took two years before he realized that a family friend would allow hunting on her vacation property in rural Ontario.  Now he has access to excellent turkey hunting an hour’s drive from downtown Toronto.

So how does one access his or her social network? Talk to people. Tell them you have gotten into hunting. Word travels fast and before you know it someone will chime in with “there are deer all over my uncles farm, you can probably hunt it”  or “ I had no idea you hunt, my dad loves to hunt I’ll have him take you out”.

Sometimes the connections are even closer to home. Many Ontarians own or have access to cottages. Usually there are animals on that land, just don’t expect it to be a hunting safari. Maybe you can only find squirrels to hunt, that’s fine. Squirrel meat is delicious and a very fun style of hunt. Or maybe there is a large tract of crown land beside your cottage where deer move fairly unmolested. This a perfect opportunity to get into hunting without having to go way up North or pay for guided deer hunts. Yes there will be a lot of trial and error and mostly empty days but it ii will be fun and challenging. And when you do finally harvest an animal it will be extremely rewarding.

Over the last 3 years I am constantly amazed by how many connections I have to hunting and the outdoors in general that I wasn’t aware of. The generosity of strangers has also impressed me, so never forgot to say thank you and make your host feel appreciated. A bottle of wine or bourbon is often a great gift that will ensure continued access for years. And even if you get access don’t assume you will have it forever. Treat each trip and outing as a gift and never take it for granted.