To the best of our knowledge, information regarding Ontario successful hunter patches has never graced the pages of the club's newsletter. So, as fitting, we feel it's about time that it did!

   
  As most club members know, Michigan began its successful hunter patch program in 1972 starting with deer and followed up with bear and turkey in the 1980's. It seems as though our great state was a pioneer in this program that rewards hunters with patches for having their animals checked with the DNR. However, our neighbor to the north began this great idea back in 1967 with successful moose hunter patches. Like Michigan, patches for other game followed in the coming years. Successful deer hunter patches started in 1973 and successful bear hunter patches started in 1982. It seems that Ontario had a good jump on us when it came to cranking out the patches.

      
  The material used for the early moose and deer patches was very similar to the material used for Michigan's early deer patches. Starting with the debut patches for moose and deer, they were made out of a cheesecloth-like material. This gave the early patches a rather flimsy feeling with loose threads being a common distinction just like a genuine Michigan '72 deer patch. Except for the 1973 deer patch, all early Ontario moose and deer patches bear the classic cheesecloth composition with stitching on the back. Oddly enough, the 1973 deer patch was made out of a solid-type cheesecloth material with no stitching on the back. 1979 was the last year for the traditional cheesecloth patch for both deer and moose. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources began having the patches made out of a stiffer material with a coated backing starting in 1980. For Michigan, this transformation was made in 1978. Therefore, the successful bear hunter patches for Ontario never bore the "cheesecloth" distinction as the change in material had already been made by the time production had begun for those patches.

   
  As far as collecting goes, the early successful moose and deer hunter patches have value to the collector comparable to the early Michigan deer patches and early Living Resource patches. For moose patches, the years 1967-1970 hold the most value with patches in excellent condition ranging from $150-$350 for each year. The 1967 and 1970 patches seem to be the most valuable and demand more money than the 1968 and 1969. The 1971 to 2007 moose patches range in value from around $40-$60 each for the early 70's to around $10-15 each for every year thereafter. In 1990, the Ontario MNR produced a "French Only" patch for the deer, moose, and bear along with the standard patch for each animal. The value for the "French Only" patches are considerably higher than the standard issue patches for that year.
 

The first two years of the Ontario successful deer hunter patches hold high value as well. The 1973 and 1974 patches tend to sell for around $250-$350 each with the '74 patch being the more desirable of the two. A purple variation of the 1975 deer patch demands around $75-$100 while the standard issue sells for around $25. Like the moose patches, the value drops considerably after the 1974 patch (except for the purple 1975 patch and "French only" patch) with most patches being worth around $5-$10 each. Another oddity regarding Ontario's patch production is observed with the 2001 deer patch. Two versions of this patch exist. The first is a larger patch with small letters and a coated backing. The second is a smaller patch with large letters and a solid cheesecloth backing with no stitching. The smaller patch is more scarce and valuable than the larger patch. The successful bear hunter patches range in value from $20 each for the early patches to around $5-$10 each for the rest of them. Again, the "French Only" patch being the exception to the rule.

Unfortunately, like the early Michigan deer and bear patches, counterfeiting does exist. To our knowledge, the only patch that has been counterfeited is the 1967 moose patch. Originals are 4 inches in diameter and should have a white background. Counterfeits are smaller than this and have an off-white background along with different thread coloring from the originals. The feel of the patch is another good indicator of a fake. Originals feel somewhat flimsy while fakes are stiffer.

For those club members, and other collectors out there, who have filled their sets of Michigan deer, bear, turkey, and living resources patches, perhaps venturing into Ontario's patch world might be of interest! There are a lot of Ontario patches out there to hunt down, keep you collecting, and get you in contact with other collectors and people who share your interest! And once you have amassed a complete set of Ontario patches, don't think that you're even close to being done! Newfoundland has caribou, bear, and moose patches, Manitoba has moose, elk, and deer patches, Alberta and British Columbia both have moose and deer patches, and Nova Scotia has deer patches. Once complete sets of those patches are obtained, patch collecting can return to the states with Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Arizona who have all produced bear and deer patches!

Many thanks go to Pat Witherell for providing scans of some rare Ontario patches as well as providing his wealth of knowledge on patch collecting!

Written by Rob Steckmeyer, Vice President