Mississippi Hunting and Fishing License Exemption for Total Service-Connected Disability

A Mississippi resident whom VA has adjudged as having a total service-connected disability is not required to purchase a hunting or fishing license, under Miss. Code Ann. Sections 49-7-5 and 49-7-9. The same exemption covers residents who are visually impaired, paraplegic, multiple amputees, or adjudged totally disabled by the Social Security Administration. The operational detail that trips people is that there is nothing to get. The Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks states that all exempt licenses previously issued for disabilities are null and void. You do not hold an exempt license, and an old one in your wallet is worthless. What the law requires is that you carry proof of age, residency, and disability status on your person while hunting or fishing. That means the VA rating letter or benefit summary and a Mississippi driver's license, in the field, every time. The residency test is stricter than it looks and it is the most likely way a genuinely eligible veteran gets cited. Under Section 49-7-3, a person holding a current driver's license is deemed to be domiciled in the state that issued it. Even if you live in Mississippi, if your driver's license is from another state you are treated as domiciled there for licensing purposes and the resident exemption does not reach you. A veteran who moved to Mississippi and has not changed the license yet needs to change it before relying on this. If you hold no driver's license from any state, Mississippi domicile can be shown by a Mississippi resident income tax return or a homestead exemption receipt, though neither is conclusive. Residents 65 and older are separately exempt, on the same carry-proof terms, so an older veteran has a second path that does not depend on a rating. Two related provisions. An active member of the Armed Forces stationed on a military base in Mississippi may purchase a resident hunting license even if domiciled elsewhere, on a current military ID plus proof of station. That exception expressly excludes Reserves and the National Guard, which is narrower than most summaries state. And an active duty member may buy a nonresident Armed Forces 14-day hunting and fishing license for $37.42, made up of a $32.00 license, a $1.00 fee, and a $4.42 process fee, limited to two per license year and applied for through the department; it includes a deer permit, freshwater fishing, and archery, primitive, and crossbow weapons, and excludes saltwater fishing, the wildlife management area user permit, the turkey stamp, and the waterfowl stamp. An honorably discharged veteran with a combat-related disability may have license requirements waived for participation in a sanctioned event. Obtaining a license under an assumed name or by a materially false statement is a felony carrying a two thousand dollar fine, a year of imprisonment, or both. The exemption is not a place to improvise. State park fees run on their own schedule and are not covered by this exemption. Park fishing and boat launch permits have reduced disabled and age-exempt rates that require a VA letter stating 100 percent service-connected disability.