It is that time of year again when I need to purchase my new licenses for everything from the early light goose season to a spearing license, deer license, small game license and then the gamut of special stamps needed to hunt some of those seasons. Deer licenses come later into the summer.
About 10 years ago I decided to make this seasonal expenditure a little easier. I decided to purchase a lifetime license in my home state of Minnesota.
As with most of my luck, I timed that purchase pretty badly. When I went to acquire this license which can only be done online, I had to decide between two different scenarios.
If I waited about six months, the cost of a lifetime license would be cheaper. I was about to turn 51, and the older you get, the cheaper they are as you hypothetically have fewer years to hunt and fish.
However, the state had been projecting an increase in the costs of all licenses including the lifetime licenses, and if I waited to be a year older, the reduced cost would be offset by a projected larger amount as a result of license fee increase.
I opted to buy the license that year to avoid a higher overall cost when the fees went up. As time would tell, the increase did not happen for two more years.
You can buy a lifetime license for anything you need a license for in Minnesota. A lifetime small game, fishing, spearing and deer hunting license is available, among others.
I opted for a lifetime sportsman’s license, a license for both small game hunting and fishing combined in one.
I still need to purchase the Minnesota pheasant stamp, the state waterfowl stamp, each year if I want to hunt ducks and geese, and then there is always the federal waterfowl stamp added unto that.
I can think of no better gift than a lifetime license for anyone on your gift-giving list. This is certainly a no-brainer if you buy one for a kid.
A lifetime license for kids 3 and younger go like this: Fishing $344, small game $223, sportsman $522, firearms and archery deer $458, and there are three others.
If you are age 51 or older, these same lifetime licensees run from $379-$528. One of the cool parts of a Minnesota lifetime licenses is that if you own one and move out of the state, they continue to be valid.
My son who moved to Colorado was able to come home and hunt and fish for fees that are much lower than out-of-state fees.
Minnesota is the kindest state in the nation when it comes to out-of-state recreators, but this is still a much better deal.
They send you a license that looks like a credit card. It is hard plastic and easy to carry in your wallet. Even if you are a lifetime license holder in Minnesota, you are still required to go to a license sales machine and enter your information each year.
There is no cost for this action, but because of it, the state can count you and receive a share of a sales tax that is charged on hunting and fishing equipment.
These dollars are called Pittman-Robertson dollars that are collected on a national level and then split up and sent back to each state based on the number of licenses sold each year.
Doing this gets you the light blue paper license that looks like the one you would normally receive if you bought an annual license.
When you get checked by the conservation officer, you are supposed to show the paper one, but I never do. I was told I needed it but figured if they ever write me a ticket for no license, I will chase that one to a judge and tell them the credit card lifetime license is proof I bought a license that year. I can’t imagine this would ever get that far.
Kids get all kinds of toys and other worthless gifts that in a year or two will either be junk or sold at a rummage sale. Give the gift of a lifetime license and when the child is 50, this is a gift they will always have, and they will remember where it came from. A gift of long-lasting value.
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com. or on Twitter @habitat champion.