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BC CORE study guide: key rules on all 10 topics

Free BC CORE study guide: 156 key points from the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis 2026–2028 (Province of British Columbia) in plain words, organised by topic, each topic linked to its practice questions.

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This study guide collects our notes on every topic of the BC CORE Hunter Education Exam (Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education) on one page: 156 short points in our own words, grouped by topic and by handbook section. Read it from top to bottom before your first practice test, or jump to a topic from the list below.

Each topic ends with a link to its practice questions, so you can check what you just read straight away, and a link to the official chapter for the full wording. The notes summarise the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis 2026–2028 (Province of British Columbia) from the BC Wildlife Federation, on behalf of the Province of British Columbia; they do not replace it, and where our notes and the official source differ, the official source wins.

Study these notes as flashcards →

CORE, FWID and hunting licences

The CORE program, the Fish and Wildlife ID, licence types, youth and initiation hunters and supervision, carrying and cancelling species licences, LEH and federal firearms licensing.

Practise CORE, FWID and hunting licences questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Hunter education (CORE)

  • CORE (Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Education) has been B.C.'s hunter education program since 1974; the BC Wildlife Federation (BCWF) delivers it and keeps the records.
  • The written exam covers outdoor ethics, firearm handling, hunting regulations, animal and bird identification, outdoor survival, first aid and safety, and hunter heritage, conservation and wildlife management.
  • The course takes about 21 hours of self-study and firearm handling practice; classroom instruction is recommended but not compulsory.

Fish and Wildlife ID (FWID) and WILD

  • The FWID is a permanent number, free of charge, and replaces the old BC Hunter Number; you must be 10 or older to get one.
  • To buy most hunting licences you must prove B.C. residency, identity and hunter safety training (CORE certificate or an equivalent course from another jurisdiction).
  • Hunters prove B.C. residency every three years and may have only one FWID.
  • You must know or produce your FWID number and photo ID when an officer asks.

Licence types and youth hunting

  • Resident hunting licence: B.C. residents 10 or older with a FWID; with the right species licence it gives a personal bag limit.
  • Youth hunting licence (ages 10–17): issued to a parent or guardian; no hunter training required; no personal bag limit.
  • Initiation licence: once in a lifetime, for B.C. residents 18+ who have never held a B.C. hunting licence; no hunter training required; must hunt with a supervising hunter.
  • Youth and initiation hunters must be accompanied and under close personal supervision of a qualified adult; their harvest counts in the supervisor's bag limit.
  • A supervisor must have held a hunting licence in at least 3 previous licence years and may supervise at most two youth or initiation hunters at a time.
  • No one under 10 may hunt; letting a child under 10 hunt is an offence.
  • "Accompany" means staying where you can see the other person without aids other than ordinary glasses and talk to them without amplification.

Licences in the field

  • Carry all species licences issued that licence year, cancelled and uncancelled, while hunting.
  • Cancel the species licence immediately after a big game kill and before handling the animal.
  • It is unlawful to use another person's licence or to lend or transfer a licence.
  • Limited Entry Hunting (LEH) seasons are open only to hunters who drew an LEH authorization; a hunting licence and species licence are still needed.
  • Hunting is lawful only during open seasons (or under a permit); the licence year runs April 1 to March 31.
  • A B.C. hunting licence does not authorize you to possess or carry a firearm; that needs a federal firearms licence.

Firearm safety in the field

Basic safe handling rules, what counts as a loaded firearm, muzzleloaders, firearms and crossbows in vehicles, clean shots and identifying your target.

Practise Firearm safety in the field questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Firearms safety rules (public handout)

  • Treat every firearm as if it were loaded.
  • Always control the muzzle direction; never point a firearm at anything you do not want to shoot.
  • Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.
  • Never shoot at a flat, hard surface or water (ricochet risk).
  • Never climb, run or jump with a loaded firearm.
  • Make sure the barrel is clear of obstructions.
  • Unload firearms when not in use; lock firearms and ammunition up separately.
  • Avoid alcohol before and during a hunt.

Definitions

  • A firearm is loaded if there is ammunition in the chamber, in a non-detachable magazine, in a magazine attached to a hinged floor plate, or in a detachable magazine inside or attached to the firearm — even if the firearm cannot fire at that moment.
  • A muzzleloader with powder and shot in the barrel but no primer (no cap or no powder in the pan) is not considered loaded under the Criminal Code.
  • Under the Wildlife Act, "firearm" includes rifles, shotguns, handguns, pellet and BB guns, but not bows.

It's unlawful (firearms in conveyances)

  • It is unlawful to carry, have or discharge a firearm with live ammunition in the chamber or in an attached magazine in or on a motor vehicle, railway car, aircraft, sleigh, bicycle or other conveyance.
  • It is unlawful to carry a cocked crossbow in or on a vehicle or to shoot a bow from any vehicle.
  • A dead or injured animal may be retrieved by boat only if no one in the boat has a loaded firearm.

Hunting and trapping ethics

  • Safety for yourself, your companions and the public is the most important part of hunter training.
  • Do not shoot unless you have a clear shot at a vital area; you cannot call a bullet back.
  • Practise marksmanship at a firing range and prepare your firearm before the season.
  • Do not use drugs or alcohol while hunting.
  • Moose calves have a short, "stubby" face; not every moose with a larger moose is a calf — be sure of your target.

Storing and transporting firearms

Federal rules for storing, transporting and displaying non-restricted firearms, ammunition, unattended vehicles, the meaning of unloaded and firearms in National Parks.

Practise Storing and transporting firearms questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Storing, transporting and displaying firearms (individuals)

  • Storage of non-restricted firearms: unloaded and either fitted with a secure locking device (trigger or cable lock, or bolt removed) or locked in a cabinet, container or room that is hard to break into.
  • Store ammunition separately or lock it up (it may share the same locked container as the firearm).
  • Transport of non-restricted firearms: they must be unloaded.
  • Leaving a firearm in an unattended vehicle: lock it in the trunk or a lockable compartment; if there is none, put it out of sight and lock the vehicle.
  • In a remote wilderness area where the firearm cannot be locked in the vehicle: unload it, put it out of sight and attach a locking device unless it is needed for predator control.
  • Display at home: unloaded and locked (locking device or locked cabinet); ammunition may not be displayed with or accessible to the firearm.
  • Restricted and prohibited firearms need stricter measures, including an Authorization to Transport.
  • Tell the Canadian Firearms Program within 30 days of an address change, and renew your licence before it expires.

Storage, Display, Transportation and Handling of Firearms by Individuals Regulations (SOR/98-209)

  • "Unloaded" means no propellant, projectile or cartridge that can be fired is in the chamber or in a magazine attached to or inserted in the firearm.

National Parks

  • Hunting is prohibited in all National Parks.
  • Firearms carried through a National Park must be dismantled, in a closed case, or wrapped and tied so no part is exposed, and are not allowed outside a vehicle, vessel or aircraft except when moved to or from premises or with a permit.

Where you may hunt and shoot

No hunting and no shooting areas, distances from dwellings and roads, parks and reserves, recreation sites, Indian reserves, the Trespass Act and landowner consent.

Practise Where you may hunt and shoot questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

No hunting and no shooting areas

  • It is unlawful to hunt or shoot within 100 m of a church, school building or yard, playground, regional district park, or a dwelling or farm or ranch building occupied by people or domestic animals.
  • It is unlawful to shoot across or hunt within the road allowance of numbered highways and two-lane or larger public roads: 15 m each side of the middle of a road under three lanes, 15 m from the pavement edge for three lanes or more, or to the boundary of private or cultivated land.
  • Several highways have 400 m no-hunting/no-shooting areas or 400 m single-projectile bans (shotgun with shot still allowed).
  • No Shooting Areas ban firearms but stay open to bows unless the region says otherwise.

Parks and protected areas

  • Hunting is prohibited in all National Parks and in Ecological Reserves (no hunting, trapping or angling; no firearm or bow discharge).
  • National Wildlife Areas and Migratory Bird Sanctuaries are closed unless a federal permit allows it; blue signs showing a loon mark their boundaries.
  • In BC Parks, check whether hunting is allowed; where allowed, no hunting or shooting within 400 m of either side of a park road or highway.
  • In Regions 1 and 2, no hunting or shooting within 100 m of regional district parks.
  • At recreation sites, no shooting in the developed portion: 100 m in all directions from structures, day-use, camping or trail staging areas.

Access and private land

  • Indian reserves are private land: get permission from the band office to hunt on or cross them.
  • Trespass Act: land is enclosed (closed to the public) if it has no-trespassing signs at each normal access point, a lawful fence, or a natural boundary such as a riverbank or a 4½-foot hedge.
  • You may not hunt on cultivated land, or on Crown grazing-lease land while livestock are on it, without the owner's or occupant's consent.
  • Permission once given does not automatically cover future visits (ethics section); leave gates and fences as you found them.
  • Trappers' and guides' cabins are private: do not enter, damage or disturb them.
  • ATV operators on Forest Service Roads need a valid driver's licence and at least $200,000 third-party liability insurance.

Legal hunting methods

Vehicles, boats, aircraft and drones, hunting hours, legal weapons and ammunition, shotgun plugs, archery minimums, dogs and baiting.

Practise Legal hunting methods questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

It's unlawful (methods)

  • To hunt wildlife from a motor vehicle, or to use a vehicle, boat or aircraft to herd or harass wildlife.
  • To hunt from a boat under motor power (except a boat held stationary by its motor in current, tide or wind); migratory birds may not be hunted from a moving boat with a motor or sail.
  • To hunt or transport hunters or wildlife by helicopter, or to hunt within 6 hours of being airborne (other than a scheduled commercial flight).
  • To hunt using wildlife locations obtained from an aircraft, or to share such information.
  • To operate or possess a drone while hunting, or to use drone information gathered during or less than 6 hours before a hunt.
  • To use a wireless camera for hunting from August 1 to December 10 (except Region 1).
  • To use poison, or recorded or electronic calls (except for wolf, coyote, cougar, lynx, bobcat and Schedule C birds).
  • To hunt big game while it is swimming, unless it was already wounded.
  • To hunt bears with bait or a dead animal as bait.
  • To hunt game (other than migratory birds) from one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise.

Legal weapons and ammunition

  • Big game may be hunted only with a rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader or bow (longbow or crossbow).
  • Handguns (one-hand firearms or barrels under 305 mm) may not be used for hunting.
  • Not allowed: full metal jacket (non-expanding), tracer, incendiary or explosive bullets; firearms with electronic firing mechanisms.
  • Pump, repeating or autoloading shotguns must be plugged to hold no more than 2 shells in the magazine (except slug-only shotguns for big game where allowed).
  • Shotguns used for big game must be 20 gauge or larger with No. 1 Buck or larger shot.
  • Bows for big game need a broadhead at least 2.2 cm (7/8 inch) wide; a longbow, recurve or compound bow needs at least 18 kg (40 lb) of pull.

Dogs and retrieval

  • Dogs used to hunt deer, elk, moose, mountain sheep, mountain goat or caribou must be on a leash; unleashed dogs may be used for small game, lynx, bobcat, black bear and cougar.
  • Make every reasonable effort to find, dispatch and retrieve game you wound, and include it in your bag limit.

Ethics and conservation

Hunter ethics, landowner relations, reporting poachers to RAPP, protected young animals, raptors, feeding wildlife, accidental kills, retrieving wounded game and wildlife health.

Practise Ethics and conservation questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Hunting and trapping ethics

  • Hunters use a public resource; act ethically and humanely to keep public support for hunting.
  • Do not display your kill or firearms where they may offend others.
  • Strive for a clean kill; shoot only with a clear shot at a vital area.
  • Prepare and care for meat properly; wasting it is illegal.
  • Pack out everything you pack in.
  • Always ask landowners' permission and thank them; leave gates, fences and equipment as you found them.
  • Report law-breakers to RAPP (Report All Poachers and Polluters), 1-877-952-7277; never confront a suspect — record details and report.
  • Be a mentor to youth and an ambassador for hunting.

It's unlawful (protecting young and vulnerable wildlife)

  • To hunt a female mountain goat with a kid or in a group with kids.
  • To hunt a black bear under 2 years old or any bear with it, or the white or blue (glacier) colour phases of black bear.
  • To hunt a cougar kitten (spotted or under 1 year) or any cougar with it, or a lynx or bobcat accompanied by others.
  • To shoot or capture hawks, falcons, owls or eagles without a permit, or to take or destroy most birds' eggs or nests.
  • To feed dangerous wildlife (bear, cougar, coyote, wolf), except authorized baiting for cougar, coyote and wolf.
  • To traffic in wildlife meat or live wildlife without a permit; to kill or wound wildlife by accident or to protect property and fail to report it promptly.
  • To hunt with the aid of domestic goats or sheep (disease risk to wild sheep and goats).

Accidental illegal harvest

  • If you kill an animal by mistake: cancel your species licence, mark in ink that you intend to self-report, field dress the animal to prevent spoilage and call RAPP as soon as you can.
  • Self-reported mistakes are investigated; recovered meat is given to people in need.

Wildlife health and game meat

  • Do not shoot, handle or eat an animal that looks sick or acts abnormally; wear gloves when field dressing; avoid cutting through brain or spinal cord; wash hands and tools afterwards.
  • Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was first found in B.C. deer in the Kootenay Region in 2024.
  • Remove gut piles from near trails and recreation areas, or tell park staff where the kill was.

Wildlife identification

Telling mule deer from white-tailed deer and grizzly from black bear, plus antler, horn and age definitions used in B.C. seasons.

Practise Wildlife identification questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Deer identification

  • Mule deer: large ears; large white rump patch; rope-like white tail with a black tip; greyish body; does not raise its tail when alarmed; bounds stiff-legged on all four legs; antlers fork and fork again.
  • White-tailed deer: smaller ears; brown rump; flattened brown tail with white fringe and white underside that it raises ("flags") when alarmed; runs rather than bounds; antler points rise from main beams.
  • Use a combination of features; colour and size can mislead.

Bear identification

  • Grizzly: distinctive shoulder hump; rump lower than the hump; dished face profile; short, rounded ears.
  • Black bear: no shoulder hump; rump higher than the shoulders; straight face profile; tall, pointed ears; front claws under 4 cm and curved.
  • Both species range in colour from blond to black; black bears also occur in white and blue (glacier) phases, which are protected.

Antler and horn definitions

  • Tine (point): longer than it is wide and at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) long.
  • Brow tine: the first tine projecting forward or upward in the lower third of the antler.
  • Spike-fork bull moose: no more than two tines on one antler (not a calf). Tripalm: a brow palm with three or more tines. 10-point bull: at least ten tines on one antler, including brow palm.
  • Six-point elk: at least six tines on one antler; mule deer four-point buck: four tines on one antler, not counting the brow tine.
  • Antlered animal: member of the deer family over one year old with visible bony antlers; skin-covered bumps on male fawns and calves are not antlers.
  • Calf: moose, elk or caribou under 12 months old. A cow moose stands about 1.8 m at the shoulder; a calf usually under 1.5 m.
  • Mountain goat kid: horns under 10 cm. Cougar kitten: spotted or under one year.
  • Full curl bighorn ram: viewed from the side, a horn tip rises above a line from the centre of the nostril to the lowest back point of the horn base.
  • Deer family: moose, caribou, deer and elk.

Migratory and upland game birds

Federal permits, hunting hours, the lead shot ban, shotgun rules, baited areas, daily and possession limits and transporting birds.

Practise Migratory and upland game birds questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Migratory game birds

  • Migratory game birds (waterfowl, coot, snipe, band-tailed pigeon, mourning dove) need a federal Canadian Migratory Game Bird hunting permit.
  • Hunt migratory game birds only from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset.
  • Lead (toxic) shot for waterfowl has been banned in B.C. since 1995 and in Canada since 1997; the ban covers ducks, geese, coots and snipe, not upland birds.
  • Non-toxic shot means pellets with no more than 1% lead by weight (e.g. steel, bismuth, tungsten-based shot).
  • Shotguns for migratory birds: not larger than 10 gauge, no single projectiles, magazine plugged to 2 shells; only one shotgun unless others are unloaded and cased.
  • Do not hunt migratory birds within 400 m of a baited place until it has been free of bait for at least 7 days; do not use live birds as decoys.
  • Daily bag limits: ducks 8 in aggregate (fewer for some species); Canada and cackling geese 10 in aggregate.
  • Possession limit for migratory game birds is three times the daily limit.

Upland game birds

  • Game birds include grouse, partridge, quail, pheasant, ptarmigan, migratory game birds and wild turkey.
  • Possession limit for upland game birds while hunting or returning is generally three times the daily limit.
  • When transporting a game bird, leave one feathered wing attached (migratory birds: a feathered wing or the head; bearded-turkey seasons: also the beard).
  • Raptors (falcons, hawks, eagles, owls) may not be hunted.

After the hunt

Cancelled licences, evidence of sex and species, antler-restricted seasons, edible portions, accidental kills, compulsory inspection, mandatory reports and imported cervid parts.

Practise After the hunt questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Possession and transport

  • It is unlawful to possess big game without a properly cancelled species licence.
  • Keep evidence of sex naturally attached: for moose, elk and caribou the tail or a 6 cm² piece of hide plus a testicle/penis (male) or udder/teats (female); for deer the unskinned tail plus evidence of sex.
  • For antler- or horn-restricted seasons (spike-fork, six-point, full curl), keep the antlers or horns attached to part of the skull, together with the species licence, until home, at a meat cutter, or inspected.
  • It is unlawful to possess or transport big game killed by accident, collision or illegally.
  • Someone transporting wildlife for another hunter needs a Record of Receipt.

Edible portions and waste

  • After a kill (except furbearers other than black bear), remove the edible portions — neck, ribs, four quarters and loins of big game, both breasts of game birds — to your home, a meat cutter or cold storage.
  • It is unlawful to dump or discard litter.
  • Bear galls and separated bear paws may not be trafficked.
  • Parts of deer, elk, moose or caribou killed outside B.C. may be brought in only as edible meat or cleaned hide, antlers and skull plate (disease control).

Compulsory inspection and reporting

  • Certain species (e.g. mountain sheep, mountain goat, caribou, cougar, and others listed by region) must be taken to a compulsory inspector, usually within 30 days of the kill; book an appointment.
  • Mountain goat and mountain sheep: within 30 days and before December 5 of the year of the kill, whichever comes first.
  • Report location, date, FWID, days hunted and weapon used.
  • Mandatory Hunter Report: anyone who buys an elk, moose or caribou species licence must report by March 31, or cannot buy licences or apply for LEH the next season.

Definitions and bag limits

What hunting, big game, small game and wildlife mean, the licence year, B.C. residency, bag limit notation, deer limits and illegal guiding.

Practise Definitions and bag limits questionsFlashcardsOfficial chapter

Definitions

  • Hunting includes shooting at, attracting, searching for, chasing, following, stalking or lying in wait for wildlife, with intent to capture it or while carrying a firearm or other weapon — whether or not anything is killed.
  • Big game: mountain sheep, mountain goat, bison, caribou, elk, moose, deer, black bear, cougar, wolf, bobcat, lynx, wolverine and others designated.
  • Small game includes fox, raccoon, coyote, skunk, snowshoe hare and game birds; game includes big game, small game, game birds and furbearers.
  • B.C. resident (Canadian citizen or permanent resident): primary home in B.C. and physically present for most of 6 of the last 12 months.
  • Wildlife: all native vertebrate animals (not fish or invertebrates) and some non-native species; protected under the Wildlife Act.
  • Schedule C species (e.g. European starling, house sparrow, rock dove, eastern cottontail, bullfrog) have no closed season or bag limit and need no licence.

Bag limits

  • The licence year runs April 1 to March 31.
  • Once you take the daily bag limit for a species you must stop hunting it that day; once you take the seasonal limit, stop for the season.
  • Notation "2(1)" for ungulates: a season limit of two, one of which may be antlerless; "10(20)" for birds: daily 10, possession 20.
  • Provincial deer bag limit: 3 per licence year (outside Haida Gwaii), with no more than one mule deer buck from Regions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7A, 7B and 8 combined.
  • Regional bag limits may be lower; neither regional nor provincial limits may be exceeded.
  • Wildlife taken under a youth or initiation licence counts in the supervising adult's bag limit.
  • Guides must be licensed: a person who guides for pay without a guide outfitter licence or assistant guide authorization commits an offence, and the client can be charged too.

Written in our own words from: Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis 2026–2028 (Province of British Columbia)

FAQ

BC CORE study guide: common questions

What is the best way to use this BC CORE study guide?

Read one topic, then answer that topic's practice questions while the rules are fresh. Note the questions you miss, re-read those notes, and finish with a full practice test across all 10 topics.

Is this the official BC CORE handbook?

No. It is our own summary of the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis 2026–2028 (Province of British Columbia). Use it to review, and use the official handbook when you need the exact wording of a rule.

Can I print the study guide?

Yes, with your browser's print command. For practice questions on paper with an answer key, use our printable questions and answers page instead.

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