lifetime deer license

[PerchPounder]

I am thinking about using my MN tax return money to buy a lifetime deer license, but I am wondering if I buy this am I limited to hunting one season? its not a problem right now because I only hunt the first deer season but in the future I am planning on doing some bowhunting as well as trying my hand with a muzzle loader. This wont sway my decision on buying one but it would be nice to know before hand and I would ask the sales person but most of them are barely competent enough to run the ELS machines the way it is let alone know the regulations.

[jlm]

I believe you can always upgrade to another license such as the all-season tag. Mayb Lou will see this and respond, he would know for sure. Anyway, in my opinion, the life-time license is a great deal, especially if you move out of state! Good luck!

[lcornice]

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I believe you can always upgrade to another license such as the all-season tag. Mayb Lou will see this and respond, he would know for sure. Anyway, in my opinion, the life-time license is a great deal, especially if you move out of state! Good luck!

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It's good for one firearm season (that you pick every year) but you can upgrade if you want to a multi-zone or all-season. The cost of an annual license ($26) would be applied to the upgrade. So, if you had a lifetime and wanted to upgrade to an all-season it would be $78 - $26 = $52.

[candiru]

I would talk to the DNR for sure, but I believe if your a nonresident you cannot upgrade because the all-season is a resident only license.(that is what I was told) If you had a lifetime firearms license you could go either regular firearms or muzzleloader but not both in the same year. I think the lifetime archery is another separate license.

[lcornice]

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I would talk to the DNR for sure, but I believe if your a nonresident you cannot upgrade because the all-season is a resident only license.(that is what I was told) If you had a lifetime firearms license you could go either regular firearms or muzzleloader but not both in the same year. I think the lifetime archery is another separate license.

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Correct. What I said before applies to residents only. There is no non-resident all-season license.

[Code-Man]

what happens if I buy a lifetime license and move out of the state?

[candiru]

Code-Man, My understanding is that you still get your regular tag every year for life but after you move out you can no longer upgrade to the all-season. "Bonus" tags would cost you $67(the same as a non-resident). Still a good buy.

[Code-Man]

wouldn't be a bad deal...thinking of doing it incase I change residency.

[J48jake]

Code-Man, I hunt with a guy that used to live in MN but moved not to long ago. He bought a lifetime resident license before he moved and now he can hunt deer with that, instead of paying 135$ everyyear for a non-resident. So after 5 years you have more then paid for the lifetime at that rate. I know if i ever had to move that would me a top priority for me.

[reddog]

I should move to Minnesota for 30 days and buy it. Then move back.

[BLACKJACK]

Good topic, I just turned 50 a few weeks ago and was looking at the life time licenses. The fishing and small game licenses seem like no-brainers but I was debating the deer licenses. The past several years I've bought the All-season license since I archery hunt and slug hunt, and the extra tag gives me a lot of flexibility. I didn't realize until reading this post that you could 'upgrade'.

My questions:

1) If I have a lifetime Firearms license and a lifetime Archery license, can I deduct the cost of both when upgrading to an All-season license? ($79 - $27 - $27 = $25 to upgrade?)

2) What if I lose my lifetime license, what will it take to get another copy?

Thanks!

[kentuck_ike]

My dad bought my son the life time small game & fishing liscense for his 4th birthday. I thought that was really cool. Dad said it was cheap if you ordered it before kids turn 4.

[BLACKJACK]

One more question: On the life time firearms license, if I put down 4A zone 426 on my license, can that be changed in the future to say zone 419? Would I be better off to just leave the zone blank when applying and then just fill out the zone every year?

[MNOutdoorsman]

I bought my son a lifetime Sportsman License for a college graduation present. My thought was even if he moves out of state to work he would always come back to hunt with me if he didn't have to buy an out of state lic.

He bought his own Lifetime Deer Lic. with graduation money he recieved. Smart kid!

Proud Dad

[J48jake]

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One more question: On the life time firearms license, if I put down 4A zone 426 on my license, can that be changed in the future to say zone 419? Would I be better off to just leave the zone blank when applying and then just fill out the zone every year?

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When you get lifetime license I am pretty sure you still go through the process of getting a license the same except paying the money. You still have to go to the els agent or do it online so you can have your tags mailed to you and tell them your zone. Once you are in the system they should recognize you as having a lifetime license when they put in your DL number. Also if you bought a lifetime firearm and archery it would make sense to me that you would subtract both from the all-season. Also, I was talking to my local CO and he said they might be changing the all-season license because of all the confusion with it.

[BLACKJACK]

Bump.

I was hoping to get an answer as to whether if I get both a lifetime archery license and a lifetime firearm license, can the cost of both be deducted when upgrading to an All-season license??

[lcornice]

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Bump.

I was hoping to get an answer as to whether if I get both a lifetime archery license and a lifetime firearm license, can the cost of both be deducted when upgrading to an All-season license??

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Yes and yes!

[lcornice]

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One more question: On the life time firearms license, if I put down 4A zone 426 on my license, can that be changed in the future to say zone 419? Would I be better off to just leave the zone blank when applying and then just fill out the zone every year?

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Yes to that too. I think you get a letter every year asking what zone you want. Remember, if you pick 4A, it's good for all permit areas in 4A. The permit area information is collected for survey purposes and hunter success information only. Just becuase you say 4A-426 doesn't meant your stuck in 426. However, you do have stay in 4A. Same goes for 1, 2, etc.

Hopefully that answers the question.

[BLACKJACK]

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you do have stay in 4A. Same goes for 1, 2, etc.

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This is kind of where I'm concerned, the deer regulations are evolving/changing and I hate to buy a lifetime license and then the rules change on me. For instance, I live in 417, this year it was split into zone 2 and zone 4. Does that mean that if I pick 4A and get moved to zone 2 that I could never hunt at my home place?

To help me clarify:

1) Do you have to pick a zone (426) and season (4A) when you apply for the lifetime firearms license? Can you just leave those blank and then tell them every year when you get your license?

Thanks for your help lcornice!!!

[lcornice]

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you do have stay in 4A. Same goes for 1, 2, etc.

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This is kind of where I'm concerned, the deer regulations are evolving/changing and I hate to buy a lifetime license and then the rules change on me. For instance, I live in 417, this year it was split into zone 2 and zone 4. Does that mean that if I pick 4A and get moved to zone 2 that I could never hunt at my home place?

To help me clarify:

1) Do you have to pick a zone (426) and season (4A) when you apply for the lifetime firearms license? Can you just leave those blank and then tell them every year when you get your license?

Thanks for your help lcornice!!!

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You re-pick every year.

[luckey]

Icornice

Each year you must go to an ELS location and select your Zone and permit Area.

Blackjack:

You will want to wait another year. There is a big break in price when you are Over 50.

That means you must be 51.

Also, you can’t “lose” your license because it is on file. You don’t need anything other than your driver’s license at the ELS.

OK, if you lose it due to a game violation, that’s a different story.

The year I turned 51 I purchased a lifetime sportsman license and a lifetime rifle deer license. I have since purchased a lifetime sportsman license for my granddaughter and will do the same for my grandson prior to his 4th birthday. My daughter and son in law couldn’t afford the lifetime license cost so I paid for theirs and each year when they renew at the ELS location, they pay me what it would have cost them.

Reddog:

Residency requirements

A resident lifetime angling license, a lifetime small game hunting license, a lifetime firearms deer license, or a lifetime sporting license may be issued to a person who is a resident of the state for at least one year or who is under age 21 and the child of a person who is a resident of the state for at least one year prior to this application.