License Required to Hunt and Fish Your Own Land

[Bazoo]

I was quite surprised earlier this year when I picked up the hunting and fishing guides put out by The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The following do not have to have sport hunting or fishing licenses:​

• Resident owners of 5 or more acres of farmland, their spouse and dependent children hunting or fishing on their land.

Here's the link to the page:

License Requirements and Exemptions

fw.ky.gov

So, if you own less than 5 acres you must purchase a hunting or fishing license to hunt or fish your own land. I think that is crazy. It is very feasible that someone could take a deer, or shoot some squirrels, on a small amount of land, like 3 or 4 acres. I think the intent of the law is to keep people from purchasing a small parcel and then poaching the surrounding area and saying the animals were shot on their own land, but I'm sure it'll hurt a lot of honest folks.

I own 18 acres, so it doesn't affect me, but I sure am concerned that sometime in the future they will raise the limit to 20 acres.

Do other states require you to purchase licenses to hunt and fish for small parcels of land you own?

 

[LoonWulf]

Hawaii requires a license for all public and private land, dosent mater if you own it nor not......least afaik.

 

[JmacD]

Nebraska requires license for your own. They do give you a discounted “landowner” permit.

 

[JDeere]

It does not matter in Texas. Get a license or you are breaking the law. It's actually about numbers of hunters and to try and help keep things from getting out of hand. Still a lot of poachers around...

 

[dobedo]

MD no license required for hunting on your land or land you lease.

 

[rdnktrkr]

I own land,100ac, and purchase a license since I do not live on the property I hunt. I also own 21ac in the neighboring state but I don't hunt or fish there. It is my understanding that you reside on your property to hunt and fish without a license

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

Kansass, (AKA- The "Free" State), requires a hunting license and tags to hunt your own land.
If you own 80 acres or more you can get a discounted Landowner tag. Some "enterprising" outfitters used to make deals with farmers to transfer the landowner tag to them so an out of state client could hunt on it but I think that loophole has been closed.

 

[Chuck R.]

Kansass, (AKA- The "Free" State), requires a hunting license and tags to hunt your own land.
If you own 80 acres or more you can get a discounted Landowner tag. Some "enterprising" outfitters used to make deals with farmers to transfer the landowner tag to them so an out of state client could hunt on it but I think that loophole has been closed.

It's closed.. the landowner tag is in the landowners name. I get one a year for my 80 areas, and it must be used on my place and replaces my any whitetail any sex tag.. only 1 buck pre year in KS.

Based on the "range" of your average game animal, I don't see a problem with everybody having to buy a license. The whole "I own the land, therefore the game" is a royalty thing, that we did away with a long, long time ago.

 

[crestoncowboy]

In NC you don't need a license on your land. You just go get your tags

 

[buck460XVR]

So, if you own less than 5 acres you must purchase a hunting or fishing license to hunt or fish your own land. I think that is crazy. It is very feasible that someone could take a deer, or shoot some squirrels, on a small amount of land, like 3 or 4 acres. I think the intent of the law is to keep people from purchasing a small parcel and then poaching the surrounding area and saying the animals were shot on their own land, but I'm sure it'll hurt a lot of honest folks.

I doubt if that is it. My guess would be that it's because F&W doesn't consider 5 acres as a substantial contribution to wildlife habitat. The way I read it, the regs say you must "live" on the property. That don't leave a whole lot of land for habitat and much of the game would be game moving from other properties. It also reads as if the land must be a working farm. Ain't many working farms that consist of only 5 acres that have a lot of room for any type of game animals. So it doesn't seem that the exclusion would really affect a lot of folks. I could see private ponds though.

Here in Wisconsin, a landowner can take small game and nuisance animals without a license on their property, without any type of restrictions. But....for landowner preference with permits, one must have at least 40 acres. I believe it has to do with the habitat thingy too.

 

[Armored farmer]

I'm Illinois....?
Not only buy a license...but also a habitat stamp.
You would think if you built a pond...bought the fish to stock it
...that you wouldn't need a license!

 

[Chuck R.]

I'm Illinois....?
Not only buy a license...but also a habitat stamp.
You would think if you built a pond...bought the fish to stock it
...that you wouldn't need a license!

That's one thing we do get, no license required to fish private farm ponds.

But then again, it's not like my fish have a five mile radius either..

 

[Show Me]

In some states license and tag isn't the same. Here we both get landowner tag for free. In our name only but if your going to sit with a neighbor you must have your 18.00 tag. Now, farm ponds and government built and stocked stock ponds arent the the same. On our land no fishing license needed but visitors do. Plus we can't refuse access by others. Legally. Most people don't remember the government stock ponds.

 

[EIB0879]

Same for Arkansas where I hunt. Not sure about Texas, where I live, as I don't own land other than my home here.

 

[EIB0879]

Hawaii requires a license for all public and private land, dosent mater if you own it nor not......least afaik.

Same for Arkansas where I hunt. Not sure about Texas, where I live, as I don't own land other than my home here.

 

[jmr40]

Game and fish belong to the state even if they are living on your property. Many places give landowners a break on the tags and licenses though. Most buy a license anyway. They may hunt/fish on their own property, but not exclusively. They still need the license or tags to hunt/fish in other places which most do.

 

[WestKentucky]

When this came up for vote I caught wind of it and paid close attention. My parents own 4 acres that they live on. They also own 50% interest in another 30 acres 1/2 mile away (uncle owns the other half, inheritance passed before my grandpa passes kind of deal). Essentially what I was reading as the motivation for the change is that there are a bunch of hunting properties where a dozen people go in together and buy 20 acres. So realistically the state is missing out on 11 hunting license sales and 11 deer tag sales, usually all of which are out of state residents hunting on “their own property” without paying the $400 or thereabouts for all the proper permits. It’s definitely a money thing but they framed it up as a need to better fund the kdfwr for upkeep and enforcement of existing properties, laws, programs, etc. multiply that out several thousand times and you are suddenly looking at a huge defecit. Since the verbiage in state law says that the state technically owns the wildlife within the state rather than the landowner, it kinda makes sense that they want you to buy the license to hunt their animals. I don’t like it, but I do see the rationale behind it. Far too many small parcel hunting clubs getting by without paying their dues.

My problem with that is all of the public lands and waters that we are required to pay for access to, and even worse public property that is essentially off limits. Perfect example of that is Pennyrile park in western Kentucky. I grew up hunting and fishing there, but now it’s much more limited, especially the fishing because they have shut down the boat ramp. No outside boats allowed, PERIOD. Want to have a boat on Pennyrile lake you go RENT one. Last time I was there I made a big deal with the park enforcement folks and tossed a plastic boat down a hill and put it in anyways because the verbiage simply stated that you couldn’t launch at the ramp, so we launched in the woods by hand. I think their policy changed the next day.

 

[Show Me]

Game

Game and fish belong to the state even if they are living on your property. Many places give landowners a break on the tags and licenses though. Most buy a license anyway. They may hunt/fish on their own property, but not exclusively. They still need the license or tags to hunt/fish in other places which most do.

Not quite cowboy.

 

[Show Me]

When this came up for vote I caught wind of it and paid close attention. My parents own 4 acres that they live on. They also own 50% interest in another 30 acres 1/2 mile away (uncle owns the other half, inheritance passed before my grandpa passes kind of deal). Essentially what I was reading as the motivation for the change is that there are a bunch of hunting properties where a dozen people go in together and buy 20 acres. So realistically the state is missing out on 11 hunting license sales and 11 deer tag sales, usually all of which are out of state residents hunting on “their own property” without paying the $400 or thereabouts for all the proper permits. It’s definitely a money thing but they framed it up as a need to better fund the kdfwr for upkeep and enforcement of existing properties, laws, programs, etc. multiply that out several thousand times and you are suddenly looking at a huge defecit. Since the verbiage in state law says that the state technically owns the wildlife within the state rather than the landowner, it kinda makes sense that they want you to buy the license to hunt their animals. I don’t like it, but I do see the rationale behind it. Far too many small parcel hunting clubs getting by without paying their dues.

My problem with that is all of the public lands and waters that we are required to pay for access to, and even worse public property that is essentially off limits. Perfect example of that is Pennyrile park in western Kentucky. I grew up hunting and fishing there, but now it’s much more limited, especially the fishing because they have shut down the boat ramp. No outside boats allowed, PERIOD. Want to have a boat on Pennyrile lake you go RENT one. Last time I was there I made a big deal with the park enforcement folks and tossed a plastic boat down a hill and put it in anyways because the verbiage simply stated that you couldn’t launch at the ramp, so we launched in the woods by hand. I think their policy changed the next day.

In this free State it's called resident land owners tag

 

[Show Me]

Hawaii requires a license for all public and private land, dosent mater if you own it nor not......least afaik.

wtagwe have a job on one of the islands. A huge fancy shopping mall. Concrete restoration. Anyway that state is quite radical from what I hear

 

[alfsauve]

In GA you also have to get a trapping license for personal land. Fortunately it's zero cost and really amounts to a two sentence letter on DNR letter head that say, xxxxxx can trap on his/her own land.

 

[LoonWulf]

wtagwe have a job on one of the islands. A huge fancy shopping mall. Concrete restoration. Anyway that state is quite radical from what I hear

That might be Ala moana, they are always doing stuff to that one.....

In some ways its more lenient than most of the mainland.
I can hunt every day of the year with nothing but my license.....i used to go two or three times a week.....now i spend more time hunting for the stuff my kids have scattered around the house

Firearms acquisitions are more difficult, but really just take some extra planning....long guns anyway. Handguns kinda suck....

 

[WestKentucky]

In this free State it's called resident land owners tag

Yes, but it’s still heavily abused and essentially not enforced at all. Treated like an add-on charge for something else. And it’s unenforceable by design almost. Perfect example is the doe I shot this year. I live in the same county I shot the deer in. When I checked in my deer with kdfwr online all it asked is for hunter identification, what county I shot the deer in, deer sex, and what I used to shoot it. There are occasionally deer in my front yard, so my checked in deer could easily have been checked in as a resident landowner deer and unless there were people who witnessed it (almost impossible) then there would be zero evidence of wrongdoing.

Some states require a more specific location which I think is a good idea. Reference gps location of the device checking in the deer, have the hunter pinpoint kill location on a kinda generic map, and then compare those. Of course there are issues of phone service and people driving around just to appear legal, but it’s better than it is now. Would also be more expensive to operate… but some states require hunters to field dress at the spot of the kill and then DNR can verify by finding the gut pile to see if it’s on the right property, public, private, posted or not…

 

[Rule3]

Don't need no stinken license!

Resident seniors age 65 or older with proof of age or residency (such as a valid Florida Driver's License or ID Card) or possessing an optional Resident 65+ Hunt/Fish Certificate (available at no-cost online at GoOutdoorsFlorida.com or at county tax collectors' offices)

There are other exemptions then than senior status Farm ponds, use of cane pole and live bait etc.

Do I need a license or permit?

Information on requirements and exemptions such as residency, age, veteran, senior, etc.

myfwc.com

 

[Armored farmer]

I will admit that Illinois does have applications for free "property only hunting " permits if you own or lease 40acres or more.
I get them for both firearms and archery deer hunting...so does my wife youngest son.
You must hunt your own property, or property you lease for agriculture.....I don't think hunting leases count
...but I'm not sure.
I guess I shouldn't complain.