Methodology
How North Ground verifies
In short
Every hunting zone North Ground draws comes from the authority's own published map service, and every season answer comes from a rule North Ground read in that authority's official regulations, structured into data and cited with its source and the date it was checked. A deterministic engine — not an AI model — decides each status. Where North Ground has not certified a rule, the answer says so; it never reads a gap as a closed season.
Zones
Where the boundaries come from
Each line on the Hunt map traces to a named authority's own GIS service. North Ground never draws an approximate or decorative regulatory boundary; when a provider is down, the map says so rather than guessing. Drawing a boundary is not a claim that the rules inside it are certified, and every zone card says which. Map geometry and phone GPS are not a legal survey: near a boundary, Hunt flags the line and names the neighbouring zone where it can.
Seasons
How a rule is certified
- Read the official source. The province's regulation, order or published hunting summary — the authority's own document, never a third-party copy.
- Structure the fact. Species, zone, dates, legal animal class, permitted methods and material conditions become separate fields, so "antlered, bow, October" and "either sex, rifle, November" stay two different opportunities.
- Keep the provenance. Each rule carries its authority, source link, the date it was retrieved and the date it was last verified.
- Leave gaps as gaps. Where the authority does not settle a fact — a class, a method, a zone's geography — it stays "not established". North Ground does not fill it in to make an answer look complete.
- Answer from one engine. The map, each zone card, Hunt's full answer and the province season pages all ask the same rules engine, so they cannot disagree.
Status words
What each answer means
North Ground never says a season is "open to you": a season running is not a licence, and it does not know what you hold.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| In season | A season is open on this date for every licence the rules recognise. Licensing, legal hours and restrictions still apply. |
| In season outside restricted areas | A season is open across the zone for every licence the rules recognise, except inside the published areas named here, where the authority restricts it. |
| Depends on your hunt | Whether a season is open depends on who is hunting and how — the full check asks. |
| Needs a closer look | The answer differs within this zone, or falls outside the period North Ground has certified. |
| Sources disagree | The official sources disagree, and North Ground will not choose between them. |
| Closed | No season is open here on this date under the certified rules. |
| Not covered here | No certified rule covers this species in this zone. That is a gap in coverage, not a closed season. |
| Not certified | North Ground has no certified rules for this species in this jurisdiction. |
Coverage
Where North Ground holds certified rules
Counted from the certified rules themselves. Coverage is per species and per zone, and each season page lists the units it covers and the ones it does not.
| Province | Zones | Authority | Certified species |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | 179 Wildlife Management Units | Government of Alberta | 4 |
| British Columbia | 221 Management Units | Government of British Columbia | 7 |
| Manitoba | 62 Game Hunting Areas | Government of Manitoba | 4 |
| New Brunswick | 27 Wildlife Management Zones | New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development | 11 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 100 Moose Management Areas, Caribou Management Areas, Black Bear Management Areas | Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Forestry, Agriculture and Lands | 3 |
| Nova Scotia | 12 Deer Management Zones | Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewables | 8 |
| Ontario | 150 Wildlife Management Units | Government of Ontario | 8 |
| Québec | 58 zones de chasse | Gouvernement du Québec | 10 |
| Saskatchewan | 83 Wildlife Management Zones | Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment | 13 |
Out of scope for now: Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Federal migratory game bird seasons are not listed on the province season pages.
Limits
What North Ground does not decide
- It is not the law. The responsible authority's own regulations govern; confirm current requirements before you hunt.
- It does not check your licence, tags, draw results or eligibility.
- It does not describe harvesting under treaty or Aboriginal rights, which is a separate legal context North Ground does not evaluate.
- A province-wide or whole-zone answer does not resolve municipal by-laws, private land, access or restricted areas at a particular spot; Hunt checks an exact location where it can.
- AI never decides legal status, zone membership or licence requirements.
Corrections
Found something wrong?
Email contact@northgroundbushcraft.com with the page, the zone and the official source. A wrong regulatory answer is treated as a defect, not a typo.