Driving into Canada (BC) for a moose hunt

[V7750212K]

Again this info is priceless!!!
I have a folding MDT HNT26 on my Winmag, it's overall length is longer then limit but just curious on how Canada is going to like/dislike a folding stock with a detachable 5 round magazine?
Thanks

Many years ago, I read Canada border cops frowned on reloaded ammo. Seems the reasoning at that time was they couldn't verify the contents. Don't know if this is still on effect.

 

[skipglo]

They need to get rid of the arrive can app. It's killing our tourism. I'm only 15 miles off the ND border and last time I went down it took me 2 hrs to get my app to work before I could leave. Was only picking up a package and my trip was maybe 20 minutes long. Total joke. Sorry for the rant. Hope you have a great hunt.

Simple solution...on 20 minute trips....leave your cell phone at home! Then tell the border guards if the only way we can return home is to have a cell phone then they can supply you with one! Get a free phone.

 

[skipglo]

Many years ago, I read Canada border cops frowned on reloaded ammo. Seems the reasoning at that time was they couldn't verify the contents. Don't know if this is still on effect.

Nope..but I believe we ( and you) have a 4 lb. limit. I crossed both borders several times in 2020 with my guns and reloaded ammo...no questions on either side! However IF..that question ever came up you could volunteer that they randomly select 3 shells and that they walk out 80 yards and hold up an APPLE!

 

[tjm1534]

If I were you I would take another rifle without a folding stock,the wrong border agent and you will be heading back home. I run a hunting service sending clients to Canada for 30 years and i understand this is the rifle you wanted to take but it may be a big hassle and a terrible way to start a great hunt.Please let us know what transpires.

 

[PApa Black]

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! All very interesting replies. And after reading them: this ole man dam sure ain't going to Can-E-Dah!

 

[LRNut]

I've crossed the Canadian border probably 25x to hunt bear and moose. Never once was I asked for a 4457 form. Not the Canadians and not the US Border guys. I had never even heard of the form until my last return trip. We stopped at the US border to check in a bear that my buddy took. An overly aggressive US agent decided to have a little fun with us for no particular reason because, other than the absence of the 4457 form, everything was in order. As LEOs ourselves, we were all respectful and professional.

The agent insisted that we were always required to have a valid 4457 form to reenter the US with firearms. That's technically untrue, it's just a tax avoidance form. He said how does he know the rifles weren't stolen, even though we produced the Canadian firearm forms indicating that we brought them over 7 days earlier. They emptied our SUV and had 3 of us remain in a room like a bunch of wall hoppers. No cell phone use, no bathrooms, no nothing. It took them over an hour to verify that the firearms weren't stolen. Then they had us fill out new 4457 forms which made little sense since we were already back in the US. And while the agent suggested that he could refuse us entry into the US, my attorney claimed that agents are without authority to keep US citizens out of the US. We all had passports even though they weren't required to drive to Canada and back.

Moral of this story - make SURE that you have all of your paperwork in order. Dot the Is and cross the Ts. You just never know who you'll run into at the border.

Have you flown into the US with guns lately? You absolutely need a 4457 - they have checked them for at least the 15 years, maybe 20. Wasn't like that in the 90s, but times have changed. On my last trip in thru Atlanta from Africa Customs entered the serial numbers of my rifles in a computer to check if they were reported stolen, even though I had a 4457 filed out. Really boiled my ***; I complained vociferously about it.

 

[LRSNM]

Edited

 

[LRSNM]

New add on: no ammo in the same case as the gun. A very easy thing to miss.
Headed there myself next month for moose. My hunting partners have made the trip a couple of times. Be polite. One of the guys elderly father responded "normally" which comes across as being a smart aleck. They spent the next 2 hours watching Canadian customs go through all their bags.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Have you flown into the US with guns lately? You absolutely need a 4457 - they have checked them for at least the 15 years, maybe 20. Wasn't like that in the 90s, but times have changed.

Nope - I have always driven to Canada. I typically hunt in the eastern provinces and Newfoundland in the NE. We bring many large coolers for the game meat and use an enclosed 5'x8' trailer to transport them. Flying wouldn't work for us.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Here's a quirk that happened at the Canadian border. We were in the border station filing our usual firearm declaration forms. I was bringing in my Marlin 1895SBL (45-70) that I had brought in many times before. The agent that handled my paperwork stated that the 18.5" barrel was barely legal in Canada and that if it had been 18" it would have been seized.

Just another incorrect statement made by a BP officer who didn't know his job. To clarify the issue, I called the Canadian Border Patrol office myself. The actual law indicated that rifle barrels couldn't be less than 16.5", and that was only IF they were modified from their original length. Barrels could be even shorter than 16.5" if they were originally manufactured that way.

Sometimes, despite all of our best efforts, you just run into problems with all of the rules, regulations and laws that are forever changing. Even BP Officers make mistakes.

 

[LongBomber]

Again this info is priceless!!!
I have a folding MDT HNT26 on my Winmag, it's overall length is longer then limit but just curious on how Canada is going to like/dislike a folding stock with a detachable 5 round magazine?
Thanks

Shouldn't be an issue, only time I have heard of an issue is with a setup that could to fire with the stock folded. Even though I haven't seen where thats illegal either. Make sure you are over the length limit with a brake removed it you have one.

Once you cross the border don't speed and you won't have any issues with police anyways. Cops around here take that more serious that just about anything else it seems.

Have to agree with Beeman, that arrivecan needs to go, glitchy app that barely works.

 

[macguffin]

Have a family member who was over and back a few times this summer for expedition activity (not hunting) and the border Mounties of course forced him to have the ArriveCan app. I'm wondering if it makes sense to the Americans here who are experienced with this - seems like having a cheap burner phone for this purpose makes the most sense. Yes? I certainly don't want that app or any remnants of it on my regular phone. Thoughts?
Thanks

 

[MTmils]

Thanks for all the replies ton of useful information! you guys are A wealth of knowledge.

So I got a running list of what I need here goes…..
ArriveCan App
US Form 4457 with rifle, optics and anything of value
Canadian form 5589 (not to be signed till Canadian official signs)
Proof of COVID-19 vaccine
Canadian hunting license
Keep ammo and rifle separate
And once in Kim do not speed the Mountes are strict…..
If anybody else has any other advice or info please feel free to share
Thanks

 

[khmplus]

Thanks for all the replies ton of useful information! you guys are A wealth of knowledge.

So I got a running list of what I need here goes…..
ArriveCan App
US Form 4457 with rifle, optics and anything of value
Canadian form 5589 (not to be signed till Canadian official signs)
Proof of COVID-19 vaccine
Canadian hunting license
Keep ammo and rifle separate
And once in Kim do not speed the Mountes are strict…..
If anybody else has any other advice or info please feel free to share
Thanks

I don't know if the regulations for BC are the same as for Ontario, but Ontario has a paper tag for documenting the harvest. If you make a copy in case it gets lost, do not have two copies with you at any time. My friend had one extra in case he lost or damaged his, and that resulted in a $700 fine. Read the regulations carefully and comply and you'll be fine!