Missouri Hunting and Fishing Permits for Veterans

Missouri's veteran hunting and fishing benefits are not in the statute book and looking for them there will fail. Article IV, sections 40 to 46 of the Missouri Constitution vest the control, management, restoration, conservation and regulation of the bird, fish, game, forestry and wildlife resources of the state in a Conservation Commission, and give the commission authority to make rules and regulations. The general assembly does not set permit exemptions. Chapter 252 of the statutes contains the enforcement and penalty framework and leaves the substance to the commission. The veteran provisions therefore live in the Wildlife Code of Missouri, principally 3 CSR 10-5.205 on permits required and exceptions, and they can change by commission action without a legislative act. That is the first thing to know: any figure here is a regulatory figure, not a statutory one. The permit exemption runs at sixty percent. An honorably discharged veteran, resident or nonresident, with a service-related disability of sixty percent or greater, or who was a prisoner of war during military service, may hunt wildlife without a permit and may fish without permits. A person currently assigned as a patient to a Warrior Transition Brigade, Warrior Transition Unit or a military medical center is treated the same way. The exclusions are where people get caught. Trapping is not included. The exemption is to hunt, and it says so. Black bears, deer, elk and turkeys are carved out of the hunting exemption. Those four still require the ordinary permits, which for a Missouri hunter means the exemption is worth much less than it sounds, because deer and turkey are the two species most Missourians hunt. Migratory birds need their own paper. A Missouri Migratory Bird Hunting Permit is required for waterfowl, snipe, doves, woodcock and rails; a federal duck stamp is required for waterfowl; and a Conservation Order Permit is required for light geese during the conservation order. The veteran must carry proof while hunting or fishing: a certified statement of eligibility from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or orders showing assignment to a Warrior Transition Brigade, Warrior Transition Unit or military medical center. Below the exemption there is a resident-price tier. A veteran with a sixty percent or greater service-related disability, a former prisoner of war, or a Warrior Transition patient may buy permits at resident prices regardless of residence, which matters for a nonresident. Several service-linked provisions are separate from disability. Active duty members stationed in Missouri and their families living with them buy at resident prices, as do Missouri residents on active duty stationed out of state and their families. A Guard or reserve member mobilised on full-time active duty may hunt small game, fish and trap on a low-cost permit, and trapping is included in that one. A member who bought a permit and could not use it for the full season because of orders out of state gets a free reinstatement on return. Missouri State Parks are run separately by the Department of Natural Resources, and offer service members, veterans and family members of active duty members a two dollar per night discount on camping fees year round, which must be asked for at the time of payment. There is no free annual park permit for veterans in Missouri, unlike several states in this catalog.