Most of Manitoba's huntable country is public: provincial forests like the Duck Mountain and Sandilands, Wildlife Management Areas in the Interlake and southwest, and huge areas of undesignated Crown land north of the farm belt. To hunt it legally you need to know which Game Hunting Area (GHA) you are in, what kind of land it is, and which Manitoba rules apply. The regulations come from the Department of Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures (many hunters still know it by its former name, Natural Resources and Northern Development) and its yearly Manitoba Hunting Guide.
Hunter education comes first
You must be at least 12 years old to hold a Manitoba hunting licence. Anyone born on or after January 1, 1951, and anyone buying a licence for the first time, needs a Manitoba Hunter Education Certificate or an equivalent from another province or state. The Manitoba Wildlife Federation delivers the course online and in classrooms. The Canadian Firearms Safety Course does not count as hunter education, so having a PAL is not enough.
In the field, carry your licence, its game tags and your hunter education certificate. A conservation officer can ask to see all three.
Licences and the new e-licensing system
Manitoba moved to a new e-licensing platform on April 1, 2026, at manitobaelicensing.ca. Licences are sold online, at participating retailers, and by phone (1-877-880-1203). Manitoba has no separate base "wildlife certificate" to buy first. You buy a licence for each species, and for big game you also need game tags, ordered through your e-licensing account and linked electronically to the licence. Order tags well before opening day.
A few 2026 fees for Manitoba residents, from the 2026 Hunting Guide:
| Licence (Manitoba resident) | 2026 fee |
|---|---|
| White-tailed deer (general) | $48.00 |
| Moose (archery or general) | $61.75 |
| Conservation Moose Licence Package (two licences, one tag) | $97.25 |
| Elk | $67.20 |
| Black bear | $46.20 |
| Game bird | $37.00 |
| Big game draw application (per applicant) | $11.50 |
Hares, rabbits and grey squirrels need no licence. Residents 65 and older need no provincial game bird licence if they carry proof of age and residency. Non-Canadian residents buy big game licences only through approved outfitters.
Game Hunting Areas: where seasons and limits live
Manitoba divides the province into numbered Game Hunting Areas, many with lettered sub-areas such as 13A or 18C. Every season in the guide is tied to a list of GHAs: which equipment you may use, the dates, and the bag limit. Seasons differ sharply from one GHA to the next, so look up the exact area before you go.
GHAs also carry closures. Licensed moose hunting is currently suspended in the Duck Mountain (GHAs 18 to 18C), Porcupine Mountain (13, 13A), Turtle Mountain (29, 29A) and in GHAs 12, 14, 14A, 19A, 21, 21A and 26, while moose populations recover. Some of those areas are also closed to moose hunting for everyone, rights-based harvesters included.
Vehicle use is set by GHA as well. In Designated Route areas (GHA 18, parts of 17A and 26, and Turtle Mountain Provincial Park), deer, elk and moose hunters may drive only on built-up roads and the routes marked on the official map from August 17 to December 20. Elsewhere, many GHAs limit vehicles to roads, established trails and waterways, so you cannot cut your own ATV trail. Hunting from a vehicle, including searching for game from one, is illegal everywhere.
Big game draws: moose and elk
Since 2024 residents have had three separate draws: the Big Game Moose Draw, the Big Game Elk Draw and the Elk Landowner Draw. Moose in GHAs 2A, 4, 5, 6, 6A, 7, 7A, 8, 9A, 10, 11, 15, 15A, 17A, 20, 27, 28 and 31A are draw-only. You apply in pairs, with up to six hunters on one application, and many moose and elk draw licences work on a two-licences, one-tag system. General (non-draw) moose seasons remain in GHAs such as 1, 2, 3, 3A, 9, 17 and 17B, where you can also buy the Conservation Moose package, which shares one moose between two hunters.
New for 2026: an elk season in GHA 22 (archery, general and landowner draws), a new archery elk draw in GHA 35A, more elk tags in GHAs 28 and 31A, and a bag limit in GHAs 23 and 23A that now reads "one elk or one bull moose". Check draw dates on e-licensing each spring.
Hunter orange
Anyone hunting, dressing or retrieving big game or coyote, and anyone helping them, must wear hunter orange: at least 2,580 sq. cm (400 sq. in.) above the waist and visible from all sides, plus a solid orange hat. A crest of up to 78 sq. cm (12 sq. in.) on the hat is allowed. There are three exemptions: bowhunters during archery-only seasons, black bear hunters in the spring season, and wolf and coyote hunters when no other big game season is open in that area. The ticket for skipping orange is $203.
Hours, Sundays and night hunting
You may discharge a firearm while hunting only from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset. Neither the current Wildlife Act nor the General Hunting Regulation sets a province-wide Sunday closure. Municipal bylaws may still restrict shooting near towns, so check with the RM.
Night hunting has been banned under the Wildlife Act since 2018 amendments. Shining an artificial light into an area where animals may be, while you have a firearm and ammunition within reach, counts as night hunting. The Act allows limited exceptions for First Nations and Métis harvesters exercising their rights. In northern Manitoba they need no permit but may not hunt within 3 km of a building, an occupied site or a provincial road. In southern Manitoba they need a free night hunting permit, valid only on specified public Crown land. Night hunting on private land is not permitted for anyone.
Where you can hunt on public land
Undesignated Crown land and provincial forests
Unoccupied Crown land and provincial forests are open to licensed hunting unless specifically closed. Provincial forests are working forests, and signs may close the area within 300 metres of an active cut block, resource road or quarry. Most leased Crown land (grazing and hay leases) is also open without permission unless it is posted with the province's approved signs around corrals, feeding areas or yard sites. Tree stands and blinds on Crown land must show your name and address, can go up no more than 14 days before the season, and must come down within 14 days after it closes.
Wildlife Management Areas
Manitoba has 90 WMAs covering almost two million hectares. They are Crown land and most are open to hunting. Interlake WMAs such as Sleeve Lake and Mantagao Lake are known for deer, elk and bear. Some WMAs are closed to hunting (Oak Hammock Marsh and Holmfield among them), and many have their own vehicle rules. Brandon Hills bans vehicles outright, Portage Sandhills bans them from March 1 to November 30, and at Inwood, Marshy Point, St. Malo and Watson P. Davidson you may use a vehicle only to retrieve a big game kill by the most direct route.
Refuges, parks and national parks
Wildlife refuges are closed to hunting the species they protect. In GHAs 17A, 18, 21A and 35, road refuges extend 300 m on each side of the centre line of some roads and trails and are closed to all hunting. Ecological reserves and CFB Shilo are closed.
Some provincial parks allow hunting, but you may not hunt, carry a loaded firearm or shoot within 300 m of campgrounds and other recreation areas, cottages, dumps, roads or designated trails. Birds Hill, Beaudry and part of Pembina Valley are closed entirely. So are the wilderness zone and the "No Hunting" area of the Whiteshell, and Hecla Island is closed to deer, moose and bear. Riding Mountain National Park is closed to hunting. Wapusk is closed except to licensed caribou hunters holding a Parks Canada permit. Our guide to parks, forests and wildlife areas explains how these land types differ.
Private land and trespass law
Section 33 of The Wildlife Act says you may not hunt, trap or retrieve wildlife on private land without the owner's or occupant's permission, whether or not the land is posted. If you are charged, you have to prove that you had permission. Spoken permission is legal, but a signed copy of the province's Landowner Permission Form settles any dispute. Hunting private land without permission carries a $486 ticket.
The Trespass Act (formerly The Petty Trespasses Act) was amended on October 15, 2021. It is now an offence to enter cropland, pasture, farmyards, and fenced or conspicuously signed land without permission, even if nobody warned you off. First Nation reserve land, Watershed District land, Manitoba Habitat Conservancy and Nature Conservancy of Canada properties are treated like private land. Ducks Unlimited and MWF Habitat Foundation properties are open to walk-in hunting unless posted, with no written permission needed.
Chronic wasting disease sampling
CWD was first confirmed in Manitoba on November 1, 2021. If you take a white-tailed deer, mule deer or elk in GHAs 5, 6, 6A, 11, 12, 13, 13A, 18, 18A, 18B, 18C, 22, 23, 23A, 27, 28, 29, 29A, 30, 31, 31A, 32, 33, 35 or 35A, you must submit samples to a drop-off depot within seven days. You can bring the head and upper neck or extract the tissue yourself. Feeding or placing attractants for cervids is illegal in a list of western GHAs. Placing bait for any big game except black bear and wolf is illegal everywhere, and so are urine-based deer scents. If you hunt deer, elk or moose in another province or state, you may bring the animal into Manitoba only after the head, spinal column, organs and hide are removed and left behind.
Treaty and Métis harvesting rights
Under the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement of 1930, now part of the Constitution, First Nations people with status may hunt for food throughout Manitoba: on reserve land, unoccupied Crown land, WMAs, provincial forests and the parts of parks open to hunting. They are not bound by licensed seasons, hours or bag limits. Red River Métis harvesters hunt for food within the province's Recognized Harvesting Areas under the Manitoba Métis Federation's Laws of the Harvest. They carry a status card or an MMF Harvester Card. Safety and conservation rules, including closed areas, the ban on shooting from provincial roads and permission on private land, apply to everyone.
For a base camp, look at Parkland campgrounds near Dauphin and Swan River. In the bush without cell service, a geo-referenced PDF map still shows your position. Bringing a rod too? Read our fishing licence guide.
Sources
Last reviewed: September 2026. Regulations change; always confirm with the official source before you go.