2026 Ontario Moose Seasons & Rules

Selected 2026 moose seasons

Source: Ontario’s 2026 moose season table. “Gun” includes the permitted rifles, shotguns, muzzle-loading guns, and bows; the tag’s season still controls its use.

Adult bow tags apply to bows-only seasons; adult gun tags apply to gun seasons. Calf tags cover the applicable seasons in their stated unit. Read the tag itself. The hunting of predominantly white moose, over 50% white, is prohibited in WMUs 30 and 31.

WMU 34 has no bows-only season; that is why the bows-only row skips it. These selected rows cover the units named in our camp directory and region guide. Read the official table for any other hunting unit.

Hunting hours and transport

For moose, legal hunting hours run from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset. Use local sunrise and sunset times. In wildlife areas outside those hours, unload and fully encase the firearm.

Keep firearms unloaded in or on a vehicle, including an ATV, and in a motorboat. Turning off the motor does not turn a motorboat into a motorless canoe. Ontario has specific disability provisions; use the official requirements if they apply to you.

Never use a drone to hunt or search for a wounded animal.

Hunter orange

During an open gun season for deer, elk, or moose, wear the required hunter-orange garment and head covering. This includes bow hunters hunting during those gun seasons.

The garment must provide at least 400 square inches (2,580 cm²) above the waist and be visible from all sides. Camouflage orange does not meet the requirement. Keep packs and straps from hiding the required area.

Roads and loaded firearms

Never shoot from or across a road. A logging road is access, not a shooting lane. Check the rules for public-vehicle rights of way and the actual municipality.

In the designated southern areas, loaded-firearm restrictions apply on the right of way and to its fence line, or within 8 metres of the travelled edge where there is no fence. Additional designated central and northwestern areas have these restrictions during deer or elk gun seasons. Muskoka, Haliburton, and Renfrew are among those areas.

The regulation contains mapped areas and exceptions. Read those details rather than treating the 8-metre rule as a province-wide boundary.

Permission, identification, and the tag

Get permission before hunting private land. Check preserve, park, conservation-reserve, and access restrictions on the official map. A camp’s proximity to Crown land is not permission to use every nearby parcel.

Identify the moose type permitted by the tag before taking a shot. After a harvest, follow the tag instructions immediately before moving the animal. Keep the documents with the meat during transport as required.