Louisiana Free Hunting and Fishing Licenses at 50%

A veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, including the Louisiana Army National Guard or the Louisiana Air National Guard, with a permanent service-connected disability classification of 50 percent or more pays nothing for a Louisiana hunting and fishing license. The unusual part is on the application's own title page: it is the application for residents and non-residents. Most states restrict free licenses to residents. Louisiana does not, so a veteran at 50 percent permanent who lives in Texas or Arkansas and hunts in Louisiana qualifies on the same terms as a resident. That is the single most under-reported fact about this benefit. The word "permanent" is doing work. The criterion is a permanent service-connected disability classification of 50 percent or more, not simply a current 50 percent rating. A veteran at 50 percent whose rating is not permanent should expect the certification step to catch it. What the license covers, as the department packages it: basic and saltwater fishing licenses, basic, deer, waterfowl, and turkey hunting licenses, and a Wildlife Management Area access permit. An optional durable plastic hard card, which prints all active annual and lifetime licenses on file, is also free. Where the money comes from is worth knowing because it tells you how durable the benefit is. The license itself carries a $4 fee and the hard card a $5 fee, and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation pays both through the Disabled Veteran License Program. This is a private foundation subsidising a state license, which is why the application asks whether you would like to donate to the Disabled Veterans License Program. The benefit is real and current; it is not a statutory entitlement funded by appropriation. It expires. The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs states that all licenses expire annually and must be renewed. Do not assume the hard card makes it permanent. To apply, send the completed form with supporting documents to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Attention Sports Licenses, PO Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA 70898, or email [email protected], or deliver it in person. Required documentation is a copy of a current driver's license or state-issued ID, plus either Section 5 of the form completed by a Veterans Affairs office or a copy of the VA benefit letter showing the qualifying criteria. Reach the licensing section at (225) 765-2887. Four adjacent programs cover people this one misses. A nonresident active duty servicemember and dependents buy licenses at resident prices on a valid military ID. A nonresident Purple Heart recipient buys at resident prices. A Louisiana resident or native-born retired servicemember buys a combination hunting and fishing license for $20, and a Louisiana resident honorably discharged servicemember whose DD-214 or NGB-22 shows Louisiana enlistment or discharge buys the same combination license for $20. A Louisiana resident surviving spouse of a servicemember killed in action in a combat zone, after six months of continuous residency, qualifies for the Resident Disabled and Special Needs License at $4 with a DD-1300 report of casualty and a death certificate.