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Disabled Veteran Lifetime Hunting and Fishing Licence
A lifetime licence that starts at a 30% rating and is priced by band — $100 at 30%, down to free if you are totally and permanently disabled.
Verified August 18, 2026
What this benefit is
A lifetime licence that starts at a 30% rating and is priced by band — $100 at 30%, down to free if you are totally and permanently disabled.
What it's worth: A lifetime licence: free if totally and permanently disabled, $50 at 70%+, $75 at 50–69%, $100 at 30–49%
- The fee is one payment for a licence valid for life, so the saving compounds against every year of annual licences you would otherwise buy.
- The Board may revise fees under §29.1-103, so the bands are the statutory ones rather than a quote.
Who is entitled to it
- You are rated totally and permanently disabled — the licence is free.
- Your service-connected rating is 30% or more, which is where this licence starts.
- You are a resident of Virginia.
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
- 1Work out which band your rating puts you in before you pay — the difference between the bands is the whole value of this one.
- 2Attach a VA Benefit Summary Letter or a Veterans’ Certificate of Disability showing the rating, and if you are rated totally and permanently disabled make sure the letter says so in those words, because that band is free.
- 3Apply at a DWR field office or through the DWR forms page. Once issued it is valid for life and is not transferable.
- Form
- Virginia resident disabled veteran's lifetime licence application
- File with
- The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, or any DWR field office
- Documents you will need
- va benefit summary letter
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionVirginia starts at 30%, not at 100%. It is one of the lowest entry points for recreation relief in this corpus, and a veteran who has read a 100% rule elsewhere is the one who never applies.
Worth knowingThe licence does not cover fishing in waters stocked with trout by the Department or another public body. That is a separate licence and the statute excludes it in terms.
Worth knowingA separate nonresident licence exists at §29.1-302.02 for a veteran rated 70% or more, at one-half the nonresident basic hunting and fishing fees. It is annual rather than lifetime, so a nonresident who later moves to Virginia should look at the lifetime licence again.
Known gapThe fee is set by the band you are in when you buy. We could not read any provision letting a veteran whose rating later increases move down a band or recover the difference, so we do not say one exists — ask DWR before buying if your rating is under review.
Sources
- authority · statuteVa. Code §29.1-302
- operating · published policyVirginia Department of Wildlife Resources — Veterans and Military
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.