Idaho Disabled Veteran Hunting and Fishing Licenses and Free Big Game Tags

Idaho Fish and Game sells a resident disabled veteran a combined hunting and fishing license for $5. The qualifying rating is 40 percent or more service-connected. A nonresident disabled veteran pays a reduced fee as well, listed at $31.75 including a three-day fishing license. Tag fees are cut alongside the license, not left at full price the way several states leave them. A resident disabled veteran pays roughly $10.75 for a deer tag and $16.50 for an elk tag, against the ordinary resident prices, with bear, turkey, and archery and muzzleloader permits similarly reduced. The provision that makes Idaho stand out is the special big game tag program. An Idaho resident disabled veteran may receive free big game tags, up to five in a year, across deer, elk, pronghorn, bear, and mountain lion. Tags sponsored by the Division of Veterans Services require a 40 percent or greater rating. The application period is January 2 to 31, and missing that window costs the year. Five free big game tags is worth several hundred dollars at resident prices and far more at nonresident ones. No other state in this catalog gives big game tags to disabled veterans for free; most explicitly exclude big game from their disabled veteran licenses. For a veteran who hunts, this is the single most valuable state benefit Idaho offers outside the property tax reduction. Three provisions have no rating test. An active duty service member on leave buys reduced-fee licenses at about $17.50 each or $20.50 combined, with a leave and earnings statement and leave paperwork. A nonresident service member stationed in Idaho 30 or more days, with a spouse and children under 18, pays resident rates on a Military Status and Residency Affidavit. And a service member who deploys may get a refund or a raincheck for unused licenses and tags.