Tennessee Disabled Veteran Hunting and Fishing License

Section 70-2-104 lists the people entitled to a hunting and fishing license without fee or at a reduced fee, and veterans appear in it twice on different terms. A Tennessee resident who is a one hundred percent permanently and totally service-connected disabled veteran may obtain a permanent sport combination hunting and fishing license on payment of a one-time ten dollar fee. Permanent means permanent: it is bought once and never renewed. A Tennessee resident who by reason of service in any war is thirty percent or more disabled is entitled to a sport fishing and hunting license without payment of any fee. The second route is the one that gets missed, and it is the more generous of the two in two ways. It sits at thirty percent rather than a hundred, and it costs nothing rather than ten dollars. What it asks for instead is that the disability arise by reason of service in a war. A veteran rated forty percent for a condition incurred in peacetime garrison service is outside it; a veteran rated thirty percent for a wartime injury is inside it. Which of the two routes is better therefore depends on facts a veteran usually knows and a summary usually does not record. The agency accepts a certification from the veterans' administration as evidence of the service-connected disability, so the proof is the rating letter rather than anything the state issues. Both are resident licenses and both require Tennessee residency. A nonresident disabled veteran does not get either, though Tennessee separately lets nonresident active-duty service members stationed in the state, and their children under sixteen living with them, buy hunting and fishing licenses at resident rates. A service member home on leave is exempt from the license requirement altogether while carrying the leave papers. A third route opened on July 1, 2026 and it is for people still serving. The Hunting for Heroes Act, Public Chapter 856 of 2026, created a Tennessee National Guard sportsman license in 70-2-201: a member in good standing, as the STRONG Act defines member, gets a sportsman license at no cost with the same privileges as the resident annual sportsman license, on a valid military identification card and membership information the adjutant general supplies. The state general fund rather than the wildlife fund bears the cost. It is annual and ends with Guard membership, so it does not replace the disabled veteran routes after separation. The license is the license. Tennessee separately requires specific permits for some big game, waterfowl and quota hunts, and a free or reduced license does not carry those. Check the current TWRA regulations for what the combination license actually covers before relying on it for a particular season.