recreationstate

Free Permanent Hunting and Fishing at 60% — Not 100%

A resident veteran rated 60% service-connected or higher gets a free hunting, fishing or combination licence, and for a resident it is permanent rather than annual. Sixty per cent is a low threshold for this benefit; several states set it at total disability.

Verified August 22, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: Free hunting, fishing or combination licence — permanent for a resident, one year for a qualifying non-resident

The threshold is a 60% service-connected disability rating.
A resident who qualifies receives a free permanent licence; a qualifying non-resident from a state with a reciprocal arrangement receives a free one-year licence instead.
The department verifies eligibility from a letter issued by the federal VA.

Who is entitled to it

Your rating meets the 60% threshold.
Your discharge characterisation is within the range these programmes run on.
You are in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

1Get the VA letter first. The department works from a letter showing the service-connected rating, and the application stalls without it.
2Check the rating you actually hold rather than assuming this needs total disability — the threshold here is 60%.
3Download the disabled veteran free licence application from the department's printable applications page and post it in, or take it to the Montpelier office.
4Decide before you apply whether you want hunting, fishing or the combination. Ask the department what the permanent licence covers and what still needs a separate tag or permit each season.
5If you hunt here but live in a neighbouring state, ask whether your home state has a reciprocal arrangement — the free licence is available to some non-residents, but as a one-year licence rather than a permanent one.

Form: Disabled veteran free licence application
File with: The Fish and Wildlife Department
Documents you will need: va benefit summary letter
No renewal: Once granted it does not need renewing.

Worth knowingPermanent is the word doing the work. An annual free licence is a small saving repeated; a permanent one removes a renewal a veteran might otherwise let lapse in a bad year.

Worth knowingA separate provision covers serving members: a resident on active duty or on homeland defence operations for 120 consecutive days or more can get a hunting, fishing or combination licence at no cost, and a non-resident stationed at an installation here buys at resident rates.

Known gapThe department's military licence page does not mention the disabled veteran licence at all, and the disabilities page does not name the exact licence types the permanent version covers. The legislature's statute server refused connections this session, so no V.S.A. section is cited. Confirm the covered licence types with the department before the season.

Sources

authority · published policyFish and Wildlife Department — Permanent Licenses for People with Disabilities
operating · published policyFish and Wildlife Department — Licenses for Military Personnel

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.