Moose hunting, Awarded a cow tag

Hello everyone. I was awarded a cow tag this year and was wondering if I were to shoot a young bull with no antlers by mistake would this be a fine. Second year at Moose hunting.

A very big fine.

I know a guy that shot a cow last year, mistaken it for a calf. He did the right thing and called the MNR on himself. In my opinion he got off pretty easy with a $385 fine and had to hand over the illegal cow.

If it is a young bull with no antlers, it is probably a calf.
Calves are very seldom ever alone. They are usually right with the cow. When they are with the cow , it is a noticeable size difference.
If you are hunting in a WMU that has calf tags. Be careful.
The first bull moose I ever shot was a young bull with only one antler. I seen it as a cow until it stopped and I could identify it through my scope as a bull. It could have broken the remaining antler off and been in the situation that you are talking about. Very slim chance of this happening, but it could?
If in doubt, don't shoot until you can make sure.

congrats on tag, we got nothing Bull or Cow, , as for fine, yup report right away, 335 bucks, young lad last year got dinged, real hard to tell when shoot down on them

...but if you can't tell what you're shooting...maybe don't shoot???

The OP asked about accidentally shooting a bull with no antlers and mistaking it for a cow. A bull with no antlers would be a calf. Granted there are extremely rare instances where a mature bull may have been in a hell of a fight and lost an antler...or maybe even both I guess in some extremely rare leap-yearesque/blue moon/eclipse/haleys commit type occurrence.

I guess my initial response to all of this is if you're unsure don't pull the trigger...

I think in our case, was a small cow, but young lad learned lesson, officers were nice enough

I think it’s good advice to not shoot if you aren’t positive.I wouldn’t count on the CO being in a good mood and only getting a fine.
Congrats on your cow tag....we got a bull tag in our unit so were going hunting!!!!!!

same here do not shoot unless 200% positive. as for the draw my group got 1 cow tag this year and i am going hunting
good luck all and be safe

yeah, big fine. you are supposed to know what you are shooting. guys only getting a fine is getting off easy I'd think, probably because they did right thing. i bet if you got caught not reporting it you would get a lot high fine and probably more charges.

when not sure of regulations etc.., I contact MNRF and ask them, go to
www.ontario.ca/page/ministry-natural-resources-and-forestry
and use the contact form, they usually reply within 7-10 days