Hunting in the Yukon as a non-resident

The legal requirement for non-residents

Per the official Yukon government, non-residents must hunt big game with a registered outfitter, and Canadian non-residents may alternatively use a special guide licence. The territory also requires one guide per big game hunter, so this is not a shared-guide system. Unlike Alberta, there is no unpaid-host route here; the registered outfitter, or the special guide licence for Canadians, is the framework. Verified July 2026.

This is a genuine legal requirement, not an inference. It puts the Yukon in the same accompaniment-required category as Alberta, BC and the Northwest Territories, and it means the outfitter is your access to a northern hunt. One northern detail to plan for: non-resident harvest fees are paid before you leave the territory, so factor them into your departure day, not your budget back home.

What the Yukon offers, and what it does not

The Yukon is grizzly country and general northern big game country, hunted through registered outfitters. Two status facts drive planning here and both are current as of our research date.

• Grizzly: legal in the Yukon, and one of the few Canadian destinations where it is (also legal in the Northwest Territories and Alaska; banned in BC since 2017).
• Stone and Fannin sheep: open and booking for 2026, with no territory-wide closure; both the Yukon and British Columbia offer Stone sheep.
• Dall sheep: open except for localized closures (GMS 5-17, the Donjek, through October 2026, and the Kluane Sanctuary permit paused for 2025-26).
• Northern big game generally through registered outfitters, one guide per hunter; enquire for current species and availability.

What a Yukon hunt costs

We do not publish Yukon-specific hunt prices, so we do not print one. Northern outfitted hunts are generally at the higher end of the market because of remoteness and fly-in logistics, but the precise figure for a Yukon grizzly or moose hunt is one to confirm with a registered Yukon outfitter rather than one we can source.

What to budget beyond the hunt price

Northern hunts carry costs the southern provinces do not. Beyond the outfitter's fee you pay licences and tags, 5% GST, and the flights and charters that remote country requires, plus tips and any taxidermy or export. A grizzly hide and skull need a CITES permit to leave the country, and shipment from the north is its own line item.

Because we cannot source a Yukon hunt price, treat the outfitter's fee as a confirm-on-enquiry figure and budget the surrounding costs around it rather than a printed total. See meat and trophy export for CITES and shipment, and tipping your guide.

Planning a Yukon hunt

A northern hunt is a bigger undertaking than a foothills trip, and the planning reflects it. Expect fly-in or charter access, longer hunts, and a heavier gear and fitness demand than a southern deer camp. Species status is the thing to nail down early: grizzly is legal, Stone and Fannin sheep are open and booking, and only localized Dall sheep zones are closed, so be precise about what you are after and confirm its current status before you commit, since northern seasons shift.

That confirmation is the whole point of a current guide: you plan around facts that hold for your year, not a stale listing. See how to choose an outfitter for the questions to ask anywhere.

Timing carries more weight in the north than it does down south. Weather closes flights, and a lost charter day is a lost hunting day, which is why northern outfitters build longer hunts to absorb it. Factor that into both the budget and the calendar, and treat a very short, very cheap northern hunt as a reason to ask more questions.

When to book a Yukon hunt

Yukon outfitting is a small, remote world, and quality hunts book well ahead, often one to two years out. Cancellation hunts do surface when a booked hunter drops out.

We hunt Alberta ourselves, not the Yukon. If you want straight answers on a northern hunt, the species, the costs, the logistics, tell us what you are after.