getting into Canada with a gun

I don't have a clue but here's a story of the olden days: I moved from Alaska to Michigan in 1994. When crossed the border from Alaska to Canada the guards at both checkpoints asked me if I was carrying any fresh vegetables. I wasn't. When I got to the U.S. border again someplace around Duluth, the Canadian guards asked me if i had any firearms in my car. I said yes I have a bunch of handguns and a rifle in the back and this shotgun here between the seats. The guy asked if it was loaded and I said of course its loaded. He then waved me through.

Here's another one. In 1976 nine of us came down to California and bought new ElectraGlides. After riding around various routes in the states, we met at the Space Needle and headed north. At the border, the guy asked if we were armed and one dope said yes. The guard made us take all our bullets out and put them in little sandwich bags. He then gave us wires with a cardboard tag to run through the barrels and told us to check them back in when we got to Alaska. We all went up the road about 1/4 mile and reloaded and put them back on our belts. The tags went in the trash barrel.

I think the only way to be sure of what's legal is to ask the Canadian Border people.

a gun in the great white north?

I make it up through Canada a bit and would suggest to forget the idea of taking a weapon up there. First off a shotgun is way to impractical to wield in a close tent encounter. Second if you are silly enough to shoot a Kodiak with a shotgun you deserve being his next main course and dessert. :lol:

This summer Linda and I went up there and I had accidently overlooked a canvas gun case for my P-89 under the back seat. Well they found it in a casual search and it turned into a two hour take the truck apart thingie. They emptied out my golf clubs and all our luggage and went through the vehicle including under the hood. It was a long drawn out ordeal with them repeatedly asking me where the gun was and me telling them it was locked in the gun case at home in Wyoming. They finally gave up and let us go on but, it was sure a hassle. Canadian authorities are not going to allow a foreign citizen to shoot one of their bears without proper hunting licenses and permits and I am positive they won't tell ya it's ok ta just blast one with a shotgun cuz he's comin' through the door to the tent?

Assess where you will camp and call 1 800 hello bc and get up dates on where to go and where it is relatively safe to stay in a tent. You can probably get pepper spray at a sporting goods store up there, and it is going to turn away ALL animals. An adult moose will stomp ya into the ground as quick as a bear will tear ya a new one so the best way is to discourage them before they get to ya. A large wounded animal will have only one goal in mind after the wounding takes place.

If it has a hump, be a lump. If it's black, fight back.

If a grizzley comes he will maul ya and odds are leave ya. A black bear is far less likely to attack but, if he does you are part of his food chain. Same with a big kitty cat. He too isn't likely but, if he does fight for your life cuz he is.

Canada is a beautiful place and I have ridden to Alaska twice on motorcycles and didn't have a gun nor did I ever need one. Take a good camera and get good information and the trip will be a breeze.

I met a 30 year old woman from Germany a few years back at Crater Lake Oregon. She had shipped her BMW F650 to Vancouver British Columbia from Hamburg, Germany. She then rode it up into the Artic Circle and covered 2,000 miles around Alaska before coming all the way to Redmond, Oregon for the International BMW rally. She was going to go down the coast to San Diego and then ride it back to Vancouver and ship it home to Germany. She did this trip alone and to this day I stand in total awe of that young woman. She did this with a nice telephoto on her camera and two one gallon gas cans ( one on each side ) plus all her gear tied on that little 650 single. Maybe when I get on up in my sixties I'll grow enough grapes to try and duplicate her trip as a solo without a weapon?

Ride safe,
Denny

Abbout 3 years ago we went to Nova Scotia in our motorhome. We normally carry a 12 gauge. I called Canadian Customs and asked them if I could carry it with me as we were going across Canada and wind up in Alaska for a little hunting and fishing, they said, "no problem".
When we were clearing in and they asked if I had any firearms I replied that we did and that they didn't care who in Canada said that I could I could not. They gave me the option of sending it back home, leaving it with them and picking it back up on my way home, or just us turning around and not entering Canada. We chose to leave it at the border and had friends pick it up for us on their way back into the US.
Several years ago we did not have any problems going in or out with our shotguns, I think handguns were not allowed though.

Bill