Ontario Hunter Education Practice Exam

This Ontario hunter education practice exam is written for Ontario, not for hunters in general. Many free "hunter safety" quizzes that rank for Ontario searches are generic US question sets: they ask about US seasons, US blaze orange rules and species that are not hunted here. The real Ontario exam asks about Ontario's laws, Ontario's wildlife and Ontario's licence system, so that is what we test.

Start with the free 20-question diagnostic to see which of the six topics you are weakest on. When you are ready for a full sitting, take free mock exam 1. Canada Licence Prep is an independent study aid. It is not run by or affiliated with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) or any course provider.

How the Ontario hunter education exam works

The Ontario Hunter Education Program (OHEP) is run by the Ministry of Natural Resources together with the OFAH. According to ontario.ca, most people need to pass the course, including its exam, before they can get a resident hunting licence. You can take it in one of two ways.

In-person course with a certified instructor

Training happens in a classroom over one day or several. You work through the course material with the instructor and write the exam at the end. Many instructors combine it with the Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC) in one package, because you need the CFSC to hunt with a gun. Courses are listed and booked through ohep.net. Fees are set by each instructor.

Online course through HUNTERcourse.com

The ministry's delegated online provider is HUNTERcourse.com. The course has 13 chapters, each with a quiz, and a final exam. You must score at least 80% on each chapter quiz and the final exam. It costs $60 plus tax, you can review wrong answers and retake, and you must finish within 90 days of paying. A French version is available.

What is and is not published

Item	Online course	In-person course
Pass mark	80% (published by the provider)	Not published by the ministry
Number of questions	Not published	Not published
Retakes	Allowed within 90-day access	Set by the instructor
Cost	$60 + tax	Set by the instructor
Format	Self-paced, chapter quizzes plus final	Classroom, written test at the end

We checked ontario.ca, ohep.net and the ministry's course storefront in October 2026. None of them states the length or pass mark of the in-person exam. You will see "75%" quoted on some sites, but we could not confirm it from any official source, so we do not use it. If you are booked on an in-person course, your instructor can tell you the format.

Key fact: Train for 80%. It is the only officially published pass mark for the Ontario hunter education exam, and it is the higher of the figures you will see quoted.

How our practice exam is built

Our mock	Setting
Questions	50 multiple choice, 4 options
Timer	60 minutes
Pass	40 of 50 (80%)
Topic weighting	Wildlife ID heaviest, then regulations and firearm safety
Question bank	817 Ontario hunting questions

This is a practice standard we chose, not the official exam format. If you can pass our mocks at 40 or more, you are prepared for either version of the real test.

What the Ontario hunter education exam covers

Ontario lists six course topics: wildlife management, hunter responsibilities, hunting laws and regulations, hunting safety and equipment, hunting techniques, and wildlife identification. Below is what each looks like on the exam and the details that cost people marks.

Wildlife identification

This is the largest topic in our bank and the one most people underrate. Seasons, tags and bag limits depend on species and often on sex, so you must be able to identify an animal before you shoot it. Exam questions describe a feature and ask you to name the species, or show the reverse.

Deer. White-tailed deer are the deer of Ontario. Know their long tail, brown on top and white underneath, raised like a flag when the deer runs. Their antlers have a main beam that curves forward, with tines rising from it. Mule deer, with forked antlers and a black-tipped tail, are a western species, so do not carry their features over to Ontario white-tails.

Moose and elk. Moose are the largest deer, dark brown with long legs, a drooping snout, a flap of skin under the throat called a bell, and broad, flattened (palmated) antlers on bulls. Elk have a tan body, a darker maned neck, a pale rump patch and long, sweeping antlers with many tines. Ontario's elk hunt is limited and by draw.

Black bear. Ontario's huntable bear. A straight face profile, tall ears and no shoulder hump. Colour ranges from black to brown, so colour alone does not identify a bear.

Wild turkey. Gobblers have a beard on the breast, a bare red and blue head and a fanned tail. Hens usually have no beard.

Waterfowl. Know the difference between dabbling ducks (mallard, black duck, pintail, wigeon, teal, wood duck), which tip up to feed and spring straight up off the water, and diving ducks (scaup, goldeneye, bufflehead, canvasback, redhead), which dive to feed and run along the surface to take off. Mergansers have thin, serrated bills. Learn the protected look-alikes too: loons, grebes and swans may not be hunted.

Upland birds and small game. Ruffed grouse (fanned tail with a dark band near the tip), spruce grouse (darker, males with a red patch above the eye), snowshoe hare (white in winter, very large hind feet), cottontail and grey squirrel (including its black colour phase).

Furbearers. Raccoon, red fox, coyote and wolf (the wolf is much larger with a broader muzzle), beaver, muskrat, mink, fisher, marten, lynx and bobcat (the lynx has long ear tufts and a tail tipped black all the way around; the bobcat's tail is black only on top).

Exam tip: Identify with binoculars, never with a riflescope, and use several features at once: size, shape, colour pattern, tail, antlers and behaviour. If an answer option says "shoot when you are reasonably sure", it is wrong. You must be certain.

Drill it: wildlife identification practice. Our wildlife ID study note has comparison tables for every species above.

Hunting laws and regulations

The regulations questions are specific, and that is what makes them hard. The source is the Ontario Hunting Regulations Summary, published each year under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, 1997. Learn these numbers exactly:

Rule	What Ontario requires
Hunter orange	During a gun season for deer, elk or moose: a solid hunter orange garment covering at least 400 sq in (2,580 cm²) above the waist, visible from all sides, plus a hunter orange head cover
Who wears orange	All licensed hunters in those seasons, including bow hunters, except migratory bird hunters (other than woodcock) and some others listed in the summary
Hunting hours	Half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset, with listed exceptions
Outside hours	Any firearm in an area inhabited by wildlife must be unloaded and encased
Shotgun capacity	Plugged to hold no more than 3 shells in total
Vehicles and motorboats	No loaded firearm in or on, and no shooting from, a vehicle, aircraft or motorboat (paddled canoes with no motor are an exception)
Roads	Never shoot from or across a road anywhere in Ontario
Arrows	At least 60 cm long; big game broadheads at least 22 mm wide with 2 or more cutting edges
Licences	Expire 31 December unless stated otherwise; a photo or screenshot of your licence is not valid

What counts as hunting. Ontario's definition is wide. Searching for, lying in wait for, following, chasing or shooting at wildlife all count as hunting, even if nothing is killed. You need a licence for all of it.

What counts as loaded. A firearm is loaded when there is an unfired cartridge in the chamber or in an attached magazine. A muzzleloader is loaded when powder and a projectile are in the barrel and it is capped or the vent is open. A crossbow is loaded when cocked with a bolt in place, and a bow when an arrow is nocked.

Party hunting. For deer, moose and elk, party members hunt in the same Wildlife Management Unit as the tag, stay within 5 km of the tag holder, can communicate immediately, and the tag holder must validate the tag at the kill site.

Mandatory reporting. If you buy or receive a deer, elk, black bear, wild turkey or wolf/coyote tag, or a moose licence, you must submit a hunter report even if you did not hunt. Late reports add a surcharge.

Licences and the Outdoors Card. You need an Outdoors Card to buy hunting licences. Migratory birds also need the federal permit and habitat conservation stamp. The full licence process is in our guide on how to get a hunting licence in Ontario.

Drill it: regulations practice. The free Ontario regulations study note summarizes every rule above with its source.

Exam tip: Ontario's numbers are easy to mix up with other provinces. Ontario hunting hours are half an hour, and Ontario shotguns hold 3 shells in total. BC uses one hour and 2 in the magazine. If you have read BC or US material, reset to Ontario.

Firearm and bow safety while hunting

Hunter education builds on the national firearm safety rules. You need ACTS (Assume every firearm is loaded, Control the muzzle, keep your Trigger finger off the trigger and out of the guard, See that it is unloaded) and PROVE (Point in the safest direction, Remove ammunition, Observe the chamber, Verify the feeding path, Examine the bore). Our ACTS and PROVE guide explains both.

The hunting exam then adds field situations:

• Carries. The two-hand ready carry gives the best muzzle control. The cradle, elbow, shoulder, sling and trail carries each suit certain situations and are wrong in others, for example a shoulder carry with someone walking behind you.
• Zones of fire. When hunting in a group, agree on each person's zone of fire, walk side by side, and never swing through a partner's zone.
• Obstacles. Unload before crossing a fence, ditch or stream, climbing, or getting into a vehicle. Pass the unloaded firearm under or through the fence first.
• Tree stands. Wear a full-body harness from the moment you leave the ground. Raise and lower the unloaded firearm or bow with a haul line; never climb holding it.
• Shot placement. Aim for the heart-lung area just behind the front shoulder, on a broadside or quartering-away animal, with a safe backstop. Never shoot at sound, movement or colour, or at an animal on a skyline.
• Bows. Short effective range, sharp broadheads, and a cocked crossbow is treated like a loaded firearm.

Drill it: firearm and archery safety practice. If you are also taking the CFSC, our free PAL practice test covers the firearms course itself.

Hunter responsibility and ethics

Ethics questions test judgment. The right answer is usually the one that puts safety, the animal and other people ahead of the hunter's convenience.

• Fair chase. Do not give yourself an unfair advantage: no shooting swimming animals or animals helpless in deep snow, no using vehicles or boats to chase wildlife.
• Landowners. Always get permission before hunting private land, ideally in person and well in advance. Leave gates as you found them, and pack out your litter and spent cases.
• Wounded game. Make every reasonable effort to find and dispatch a wounded animal, and count it in your limit.
• Meat care. Field dress and cool game promptly. Wasting game is unethical and, in many cases, illegal.
• Impairment. Never hunt after drinking or using cannabis or drugs.
• Reporting. Report suspected poaching and other violations to the ministry.

Drill it: hunter responsibility and ethics practice.

Survival and first aid

Expect questions on trip planning, clothing, the survival kit, what to do if you are lost, and cold injuries.

• Leave a trip plan with someone: where, with whom, your vehicle and when you will be back.
• Dress in layers and avoid cotton, which loses its insulation when wet.
• Carry a kit on your body: fire starters, a whistle, a light, a knife, a map and compass, an emergency blanket, water and high-energy food.
• If you are lost, STOP: Stop, Think, Observe, Plan. Stay where you are, especially if someone has your trip plan.
• Priorities: shelter first, then fire, signalling and water. Food comes last.
• Distress signal: three of anything, such as three whistle blasts or three fires.
• Hypothermia: it can happen above freezing in wind and rain. Watch for shivering, stumbling, slurred speech and confusion. Get the person out of the wet and wind, replace wet clothing, warm the core gradually, and never give alcohol.

Drill it: survival and first aid practice.

Wildlife management and conservation

The conservation questions are conceptual. Know that habitat is food, water, shelter and space; that carrying capacity is the number of animals a habitat can support over time; that populations peak after the birthing season and fall to their lowest at the end of winter; and that managers use seasons, bag limits, tags, draws and Wildlife Management Units to control harvest. Migratory birds are managed federally, and most other game provincially. Hunters fund much of this through licence fees and stamps, and help by reporting harvests accurately.

Drill it: conservation practice.

Where people lose marks on the Ontario hunting exam

The same mistakes come up again and again in Ontario hunting exam preparation:

1. Mixing provinces. Using BC or US rules for hunting hours, shotgun capacity or hunter orange.
2. Half-remembered numbers. 400 sq in of orange, not 400 cm²; 22 mm broadheads; 60 cm arrows; 5 km for party hunting.
3. "Usually" answers. Safety questions have one correct answer, and it is rarely the convenient one. Unload before crossing the fence, every time.
4. Look-alike species. Black bear versus brown-coloured black bear, dabbler versus diver, lynx versus bobcat, hen versus gobbler.
5. Forgetting what hunter education does not cover. It does not let you hunt with a gun. You also need the CFSC and must carry proof.

How to use this Ontario hunting license practice test

Free

• Diagnostic: 20 questions in 20 minutes, with a score for each topic.
• Mock exam 1: the full 50-question mock at 80%.
• Quick practice: 25 questions when you only have 10 minutes.
• Printable version: the free questions with answers, to print or save as a PDF.
• The free Ontario hunter education exam guide and regulations note.
• The sample questions with answers at the bottom of this page.

Pro

Pro adds mocks 2 to 10, practice by topic and every study note, for all nine tests on the site: CA$7.99 a week, CA$12.99 a month or CA$24.99 for three months, cancel any time. The mobile app has the same questions, with audio and French explanations.

Your study plan

1. Day 1: take the diagnostic. Read the exam guide.
2. Days 2 to 3: work on wildlife identification and regulations first. They carry the most weight and have the most exact facts. Keep the Ontario Hunting Regulations Summary open while you practise.
3. Day 4: firearm safety, ethics, survival and conservation. Read every explanation, including for correct answers.
4. Day 5: sit mock exam 1 under the timer. Target 40 of 50; aim higher if you can.
5. Before the course or exam: if you plan to hunt with a gun, book the CFSC too (often in the same weekend) and read how to get a PAL in Ontario.
6. After you pass: follow the steps in how to get a hunting licence in Ontario to put your accreditation on file, buy your Outdoors Card and get your tags.