Hunter Compulsory Inspection

Hunters in B.C. must have certain game species inspected by a provincial inspector.

On this page

• Species on Compulsory Inspection
• Information and parts required
• Regional inspection stations
• Compulsory Inspection reports
• Compulsory Inspection database

Species on Compulsory Inspection

The following species of game must be submitted to a compulsory inspection centre within 30 days being killed:

• Black bear on Haida Gwaii (management units 6-12 and 6-13)
• Bobcat in Regions 4, 5 and 8 (all management units)
• Caribou
• Cougar
• Elk in:
  • Regions 1 and 2 (all management units)
  • Management units 4-08, 4-09, 4-14 to 4-19, 4-27 to 4-33, 4-37, 4-38, 5-2, 6-4, 6-8 and 6-9
• Lynx in Regions 4, 5 and 8 (all management units)
• Moose in:
  • Regions 3 (spike-fork bull under the General Open Season only), 4 and 8 (all management units)
  • Management units 5-03 to 5-06, 5-10 to 5-14, 6-1 to 6-11, 6-15, 6-17 to 6-30 and the portion of 7-52 accessed through Region 6 (see Map H31)
• Mountain goat
• Mountain sheep

Compulsory inspected species must be submitted to an inspector within 30 days of the kill, with the following exceptions:

• Mountain goat and mountain sheep must be submitted to a compulsory inspector within 30 days and before December 5 of the year of the kill, whichever occurs first
• Persons who gain the written approval from a Wildlife Biologist, Wildlife Technician or Official prior to hunting can submit such animals for inspection within 30 days after the last day of the hunt
• Persons who use the service of a licensed guide for the purpose of hunting a caribou or an elk in region 2 must submit such animals for inspection within 30 days after the last day of the hunt of the continuous season in which the animal was taken
• Persons who use the services of a licensed guide for the purpose of hunting a mountain goat, or mountain sheep must submit such animals for inspection within 30 days after the last day of the continuous season in which the animal was taken, and by December 5 of the year of the kill, whichever occurs first
• Persons who take a cougar in regions 4 or 6 must submit the animal for inspection, in the region where the cougar was killed, within 4 days after the date the cougar was killed

For information about trapping compulsory inspection requirements, please see the trapping compulsory reporting and inspection page.

Information and parts required

Inspectors will only complete the inspection if all information and parts are submitted and able to be collected. Hunters are not in legal possession of the wildlife unless they comply with compulsory inspection requirements.

Information

The following information must be reported to a compulsory inspector for any species:

• Location (including geographic coordinates) and date of the harvest
• Hunter’s Fish and Wildlife ID, name, address and phone number
• Animal class of the animal harvested
• Licence number
• Limited entry hunting authorization for the harvest animal (if applicable)
• If guided, the guide outfitter's name and guide territory certificate number
• Weapon type used for the kill
• Number of days hunted before the animal was harvested

Parts

Hunters must submit unfrozen wildlife parts for the following species.

Instructions on how to extract an incisor tooth from an animal:

• How to Extract an Incisor Tooth (PDF, 147KB)

Inspection stations

Find a compulsory inspector from regions listed below.

Compulsory inspection stations are open by appointment only.

Compulsory Inspection reports

Hunters will receive a copy of their finalized Compulsory Inspection Report. Starting in 2023, the report will be made available to the hunter through their Fish and Wildlife profile in the Wildlife Information and Licensing Data (WILD) system.

Compulsory Inspection database

The Compulsory Inspection database contains information that is collected during these inspections.

Compulsory Inspection records begin in 1900 and are presented at the management unit level. The species required to be inspected changes over time and varies by region, so not all species are represented in the dataset for the full period of record or for the entire province.

To access Compulsory Inspection data, see Hunting Data or DataBC.