Guide
Hunting as a non-resident: the law, plainly
Newfoundland’s big game hunt is a licensed-outfitter economy by law, not by custom, and every planning decision follows from one sentence in the regulations. This page is a map to the rules — it is not the rules. The Wild Life Regulations and the province’s Hunting & Trapping Guide govern; the guide carries the province’s own warning that it is not a legal document, and neither is this page. Where anything here and the official sources disagree, they win — and tell us.
The sentence to plan around
From the Wild Life Regulations, in the consolidation published by the King’s Printer:
“A non-resident shall not hunt, take or kill big game in any part of the province without employing and being accompanied by a licensed guide.”
One guide may serve at most two non-resident hunters at a time. The province’s plain-language page says the same thing and adds the practical half: guides come through licensed outfitting companies, and non-resident big game licences are sold only through those outfitters — there is no counter to walk up to and no draw to enter. Choose the outfitter and the licence, the guide and usually the camp come as one decision.
What that means for a trip through these airports
Outfitted hunts are fly-in traffic in the most literal sense — Gander and Deer Lake are the doors, and your outfitter will tell you which one their country is behind. Fees are the province’s and cycle yearly (as stated when we checked, September 2026: moose $502, caribou $675, black bear $150, each outfitter-only — the fee page is the authority, and outfitter package prices are a separate, private matter). Licence and tags stay on your person; proof of your home jurisdiction’s hunter education stands in for the province’s own card and must be shown on demand.
The border, briefly
Firearms enter Canada through the RCMP’s declaration process — a form signed only in front of a border officer that serves as a temporary licence for the firearms listed on it. The details, costs and the rules on restricted and prohibited classes belong to the RCMP’s non-resident page, and the province’s own guide tells arriving hunters plainly: declare all firearms at customs. Read the federal pages before you pack; a border surprise is the one part of a hunt no outfitter can fix.
Before you go
These change. We link the people who keep them current rather than copying numbers that go stale here.
The Hunting & Trapping Guide — current cycleNew edition each licence year
Seasons, zones, quotas and the fine print live here and change every cycle. This page orients; that guide governs.
Check it now →Licence feesSet per licence year
The fee schedule is the province's — read it there, the year you hunt.
Check it now →Bringing a firearm into CanadaStanding federal rules
The declaration process, costs and limits are the RCMP's to state. Read this before you pack, not at the border.
Check it now →
Questions people actually ask
Can I hunt moose here on my own as a visitor?＋
No. The Wild Life Regulations state it directly: "A non-resident shall not hunt, take or kill big game in any part of the province without employing and being accompanied by a licensed guide." One guide may accompany at most two non-residents. This is the foundation every non-resident hunt is built on — the outfitter is not optional.
How do I even get a big game licence, then?＋
Through a licensed outfitter, and only through one — non-resident big game licences for moose, caribou and black bear are sold via outfitters, and non-residents cannot enter the resident licence draw. Practically: you choose the outfitter first, and the licence comes with the hunt.
Does the guide rule apply to small game too?＋
No — the guide requirement is big game only. Small game, coyote and wolf licences are sold at ordinary vendors, and migratory bird hunting needs the separate federal Migratory Game Bird permit. Proof of hunter education from your home jurisdiction travels with you and must be produced on demand.
What about bringing my rifle across the border?＋
The RCMP's Non-Resident Firearms Declaration is the mechanism — signed only in front of a border officer, it acts as a temporary licence for a set period and covers only the firearms listed on it. Restricted firearms need advance authorization and prohibited ones cannot enter at all. The specifics — forms, costs, limits — are the RCMP's page, linked above; treat anything else, including this paragraph, as a pointer.
Can I take the meat and hide home?＋
Leaving the province with game requires a free game export permit, available at forestry and wildlife offices and through outfitters. Black bear parts may additionally require CITES documentation to leave Canada — the official pages state this with different strength, so confirm with the Wildlife Division before your hunt, not after it. Hunters bound for the US declare game at US customs.
Every figure on this page was checked against its source on September 1, 2026.