Safety is top of mind for Manitoba Sustainable Development (MSD) amid hunting season and encourages hunters to take the necessary precautions.

Currently, archery hunters are searching for their quarry, and shortly, muzzleloaders will be hitting the trails.

Hunting season is fragmented for different equipment use, and this design is to avoid potential accidents that could occur.

"We don't want to have all of the different equipment types on the landscape at the same time, and some of it has to do with archery," says Regional Wildlife Manager at MSD, Pauline Bloom. "Typically, it ends up being earlier because it's harder. They want fewer people on the landscape disturbing deer because its style of hunting is very different."

Although there is some overlap hunting seasons In the Pembina Valley region are designated as such:
Archery, August 27 to November 10;
Youth muzzleloader, October 14 to November 10;
Muzzleloader, October 21 to November 10;
And general rifle, November 11 to December 1.

Hunters are required to procure a hunting license; Indigenous Peoples either need a treaty card or Metis hunter card. However, all hunters are required to following the safety practices described in the Manitoba Hunting Guide.

Bloom says individuals are allowed to hunt a half-hour before sunrise and a half-hour after sunset and are only allowed discharging your weapon during daylight hours. Depending on the season and the equipment you're using, Bloom says you may be required to wear the orange hunting vest. Archers are an exception until their season overlaps with the muzzleloader and general rifle season. Hunters can only hunt in designated hunting locations, or on private land with the consent of the landowner.

The general license is one deer per year; in Manitoba, only White-Tailed deer, either male or female. It's illegal in Manitoba to hunt a Mule deer. Though the general license limit is currently one deer, Bloom says that number can fluctuate depending on the deer population.

"We're in a reduced deer hunting framework. A few years ago, we had some harsh winters that hit the population hard. We've made some reductions, and we're starting to relax those, but we're not back to full framework yet."

Other big game seasons are black bears and moose and elk season, which is on a limited draw.

Manitoba's Hunting Guide: https://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/pubs/fish_wildlife/huntingguide.pdf