Handgun Hunting Afield

Part of the allure of being a handgun hunter and being involved in this community, is everyone is first, a gun guy (or gal) and we combine that with the love of the hunt. Weexperiment, load, practice, modify and even learn some of the history of our firearms. All of us have a unique story on how we began handgun hunting. It could be as simple as a friend invitingus, maybe it was reading stories about the past adventures of our old friend Mark Hampton, or nerding out on the developments by Elmer Keith, J.D. Jones and Larry Kelly. It’s all part of our story.

Often times, within the general hunting community, folks don’t take a lot of time to learn the intricate details about their firearm. They may have gone to the local gun store, found a classic Remington 700 in .308, or were given grandpas Winchester 94 in 30-30 and practice just enough to make a minute of deer shot. Either way, that’s ok. While we may be gun guys, I believe we are equally passionate about the hunt, conservation of our wildlife and always encouraging to just go hunt, no matter what method.

We are truly blessed that we have the ability to not only hunt, but to dive into it with numerous methods, styles and asbeing nerdy as we like. That being said, a fear that I have is how quickly that can all change. 

During a warm afternoon a few years ago, my wife and I, along with my good buddy Andrew, decided to spend an afternoon wandering around a sportsmans expo in nearby Gonzales, Louisiana. I was a fairly new handgun hunter and spending more time studying big game, considering traveling a bit more and just wanted to see the displays. I stumbled upon afriendly Canadien outfitter offering bear hunts at great pricesdue to having too many tags awarded from the government. 

I knew Canadien gun laws were not very friendly but, as most of us, just uneducated. I mentioned that it would be a great opportunity to use my new .375 JDJ Contender handgun and when I said that, he froze… he said “when you cross the border, don’t say the ‘H’ word”. I was taken back by it. I knew friends then that brought handguns to South Africa, but not Canada? Not even a basic single shot “crack barrel”? I held onto their contact info but never really looked back.

In recent months, I was tasked with some work trips up in Calgary, Alberta. While I have limited free time, I still try to learn a little bit about the area and culture. I couldn’t help but recall the interaction with the bear hunting outfitter and wanted to take some time and learn about the local gun culture. Just like at home, the local gun store is always the best place to start, and just feels like home.  The Calgary Shooting Center, The Shooting Edge and Proline Shooters are my favorite and have visited multiple times. Every employee is knowledgeable, polite,and while I was not someone that could make a purchase, they made me feel at home. They are always open to shoot the breeze, and most importantly, educate.

Now, this is not intended to argue gun laws, preach to the choir, and to highlight recent political activity between us, I just want to give a brief overview of gun ownership for our neighbors in the north and how it affects hunting. Most of this information is from casual conversation with random employees. Guns have always been around in Canada but have had some sort of registration that then followed a long list of strict rules, even for everyday hunters.

Firearms fall under 3 categories; Restricted, Non-restrictedand Prohibited. Non-restricted tends to be rifles and shotguns that we would consider the classic hunting firearms. Restricted became the class for all handguns, and some semi-automatic rifles. Prohibited was reserved for machine guns and others that were banned for numerous reasons.

Non-restricted is a misleading term because they all require licensing and registration. You must attend The Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC) that cost around $200 CAD, apply to the local police for a 5 year license for $60 CAD. 

Restricted firearms require a different, extended course that includes non-restricted and a license fee of $80 for 5 years. Restricted firearms could only be stored at home, and brought straight to a registered shooting range, or stored at that range in a rental locker. If you stop for gas in between the range and home and are caught, that will cause big issues.

           In May of 2020, things changed very quickly. Over 1000 models shotguns, semi-auto rifles, some .22s that were on the non-restrictive list immediately became prohibited. This meant an immediate stop on all sales and transfers. Even when you pass away, the police will come to pick them up. AR-15s, while restricted, were the largest seller, and stores were stuck with an inventory they could no longer sell with a promise that they would be “bought back” by the government. Years later, this never occurred and they were stuck with paying taxes on that inventory.  This combined with the lack of sales, caused one of my favorites, The Shooting Edge, to close down suddenly in October. From a quick search, this is has happened to a lot of stores all over Canada in the past few months.

In May of 2022, more handguns and semi auto rifles banned, and by November, many bolt action rifles that were commonly used for hunting were banned after owners were told they would not be. The following February, the government admitted to targeting many hunting rifles and backed off. In 2023 they came out in force to declare that a federal committee would go though and individually pick and choose which firearms could be sold and under what conditions. In my last visit, I learned that, while common, the Ruger 10/22 was just switched to the prohibited list and from what they know the SKS is the last semi auto firearm that hasn’t been banned, but good luck finding one. All handguns have also been placed on the prohibited list.

This is where it gets eerie. I mentioned above that handgun hunters are more enthusiastic about firearms than the average hunter, but what have we heard too many times? “They don’t want my deer rifle so I don’t care”. You don’t care until they do. All bolt action rifles with a removable magazine are being moved to the prohibited list, and word through the grapevine is that bolt action rifles with an internal, permanent magazine are approaching the prohibited list. Stop for a moment and think about that.

That Winchester 94 that you inherited? Can’t pass that legacy to your kids.

The Remington 700 that you enjoyed? It would essentially lose all value and destroyed when you are done with it.

This has happened so fast, when I look up what firearms are prohibited or not in Canada, I find numerous articles from just 2 years ago that are now outdated.

I can’t help to think, that my favorite, single shot crack barrel is banned in Canada. That wasn’t even a thought. While we cannot affect Canadien gun laws, we can use this as an example on how we treat gun ownership as a whole. If things change, I’ll be the first to go up there for a bear hunt, but until then, I’ll keep an eye on the Canadien Coalition for Firearm Rights and watch their continued fight.

Most hunters just want to be left alone, but maybe we can encourage them to interact l more. Ask your rifle toting buddy at the deer lease to tell you more about his rifle. Ask what kind of ammo they are using and why they picked it in particular. Ask about the results from past harvest. Teach new shooters basic safety and bring them to the range. 

At HHA, we are handgun hunters, but naturally, and now I think by necessity, we are all a community of gun owners AND hunters.