Big Game Hunting Season Opens Today

The Big Game Hunting Season on the Island opens today.

This year a total of 28,339 moose licences have been issued throughout the province. For the island portion of the province, this includes 17,124 Either Sex, 10,356 Male Only; and 475 allocated to Not-for-Profit groups. In Labrador, a total of 384 Either Sex moose licences have been issued for the 2020-21 Big Game Hunting season which also starts on September 12.

Other new policy changes for this season include the introduction of crossbows for big game hunting and permitting the use of smaller calibre rifle .17 rimfire ammunition for hunting and trapping.

Another important change for the 2020-21 big game season is the re-introduction of the Jawbone Collection Program that requires hunters to submit the lower jawbone of a moose or caribou that has been harvested under their licence. This program provides valuable data that supports ongoing big game population studies and research.