Hunting with a Native?

[troutchaser29 0]

I am wondering about being with a Native person when they exercising thier rights.

If I am with a native on a fishing trip, and he brings his gun and shoots something, after hunting season has closed, can I get in trouble for being with him? What if I were to help him drag the animal out of the bush, and load it onto the truck, am i breaking the law? My native friend says that as long as I am not "actively engaged in the hunt" I am ok, but if I am sitting in the truck while he is shoting at a moose, then I help him with the kill after, am i not engaged in the hunt?!?! What if its my truck?!?!

[Guest MNR]

This question has been answered a few times on this site but it doesn’t hurt to repeat the answer. The short answer is your friend is correct, but please read on.

The crux of the answer to this question rests in where the authority comes from for each of these people to hunt/fish. For the aboriginal person who holds “status”, if they are hunting within their recognized treaty or traditional area, their authority to hunt comes from their history, ancestry, the signed Treaty and the interpretation of their right to hunt by the Supreme Court of Canada. (A recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada also allows a Métis person similar hunting and fishing rights when certain conditions are met.)

The aboriginal person in this question can hunt (for personal consumption or social or ceremonial purposes), without a hunting licence at any time of year. They must not however, violate any of the safety regulations (night hunting, discharging a firearm from roadways, have loaded firearms in a vehicle or trespass onto private land for example) and the game cannot be allowed to spoil.

The non-aboriginal person’s authority to hunt is not rights-based. It comes from having passed the hunter safety course and having purchased the proper licence(s) and/or tags. The non-aboriginal person does have to follow the rules around seasons, party hunting (with other licenced hunters) and type of animal being hunted (i.e. bull, cow or calf).

These two people can be together while hunting for safety and companionship but can’t be involved in each others hunt. The aboriginal person can’t shoot, be in search of, or chase her non-aboriginal partner’s moose. Nor can the non-aboriginal person do the same for his partner. The bottom line is that you cannot help a First Nation person exercise his/her rights. Once an animal has been killed, you could assist her in hauling the moose out of the bush.

In your scenario, you are out with your friend and not hunting. It is important to note what the definition of hunting is under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act.

Hunting means: lying in wait for, searching for, being on the trail of, pursuing, chasing or shooting at wildlife, whether or not the wildlife is killed, injured, captured or harassed.