Hunting License Question

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Model12Win

Moderator
Well this year I am going to do some squirrel hunting in Kansas. I am originally from Illinois and I took a hunter's safety course several years ago while in Illinois.

The other day when I went to get my Small Game License at a Kansas Wal-Mart, they asked to see my hunter's safety card. Problem is, it is currently sitting in a drawer in Illinois! I told them this and they said "just make sure you take it when you go hunting" and they issued me the hunting license.

So now I have my small game license, but don't have my hunter's safety card. What are the penalties if I go out for squirrels and have my license but not the hunter safety card? I really want to go 'squirrelin this weekend to get some fry meat, but I'm scared that if I am caught without the safety card I will end up in a prison or will be fined and ticketed.

What should I do? :confused:
 
I can't tell you what the dnr would do if they found you didn't have a hunters safety card on you but I have never been asked to see the card only my license.

When I moved to wisconsin I got a bit annoyed having to show my hunters safety card everytime I got a license and contacted the Wisconsin DNR. They said to send them a picture of my card and they would link it to my license like it had been in Michigan.


When in doubt email the DNR but to cover yourself have someone you trust if possible go get your hunters safety card and take a picture of it and send that to you.
 
You would have to ask your local DNR. Most states allow you to print your hunter safety course card online. If not, I am sure you could get them to mail you a new one for a fee.
 
You won't end up in prison, but you could get a ticket and a fine.
You'll effectively be hunting without a valid license
 
Laws vary by state, but I have never heard of a state requiring you to carry a hunter education card while you hunt. You only had to produce it when you purchased your hunting license. If you did not produce it, they were not supposed to sell you the license. (Where required)

Your best information is always to contact the agency in your state that is responsibile for hunting and fishing. The Walmart associate is trained to conduct the transaction and enter your information on the license. They have no training in game laws beyond knowing they are supposed to ask for your eductaion card in the same way they ask to see your driver's license to buy beer.
 
If you got your HSC in the last few years, chances are there is an electronic version of it in Illinois. Call them up and see if they can email you a copy.
 
I took my Hunter Safety course back in Jr. High School, in 1980 ...... and moved/deployed several times while in the Army. Somewhere between SWA, Germany (,Federal Republic of), Oklahoma ..... I lost my card. In 1995, I called the Nebraska Game and Parks Commision office and they sent me a duplicate card with my original number on it for 5 bucks .... now you can do a search on their website and print off your own certificate.

Call whatever agency is in charge of Hunter Ed. in Illinois- they should have your record on file..... and can probably e-mail it to you.
 
Last edited:
Like a drivers license. Hunting is also privilege not a Right. Depending on the amount of and type of wild game your caught with heavily determinations a wardens actions. Being a non-resident in violation of his States hunting regulations. No tree rat is worth that kind of aggravation you'll encounter (if) your caught. FWIW: You have a taste squirrel that needs to be quenched. Consider the buying of a chicken instead. Tickets, Fines, L/E data base entry, perhaps a court appearance. Who needs that kind of trouble over the wanting of a squirrel dinner.
 
What should I do?
Click to expand...


Either wait till you get your card from the drawer in Illinois, or apply for a duplicate. If the law says you need to carry that card on your person in order to hunt, it would be no different than hunting without a license. Wisconsin also allows you to print a duplicate out on your own printer after paying an online fee. But....Wisconsin only requires a hunter safety certificate to buy a license. You show the card the first time you buy a license. After that, the number is on file and you do not need to carry it.
 
Wow, Jimbob, that's bazaar to me. The OP is in Kansas. I wonder if it's required there too.

I held resident licenses in OH, CA, and PA, and non-resident in Alaska and wasn't required to carry it but the last 3 were a long time ago. To me, carrying your hunter ed card in the field along with your licesnse is like having to carry your driving test results along with your driver's license.

In Ohio hunter safety courses are taught by individuals and clubs that are state certified, so the state has no record if you lose it and need another copy, but its only necessary for a first time hunting license here.
 
It used to be that "anyone born after 1977" was the way it read ...... I never did "have to" ..... but did anyway, when I was a kid ..... I didn't have a whole lot else taking up space in my wallet ......

My kids carry theirs around with them everywhere .....
 
In Ohio hunter safety courses are taught by individuals and clubs that are state certified,
Click to expand...

Same here in Nebraska, but when you pass, they submit the test results and your information to the Game and Parks ..... you go into their data base.
 
This brings back memories of how big a waste of time my hunters safety class was. All of it was common sense. It is a real shame that we all have to be inconvenienced for the sake of those who simply have no common sense. Barring extraordinary circumstances, it takes a person with little to no common sense to shoot another hunter.
 
This brings back memories of how big a waste of time my hunters safety class was.
Click to expand...

Then your instructor was unimaginative. There is (or should be) more to Hunter Ed than the 4 Rules and basic familiarization with the State's game laws ....
 
This brings back memories of how big a waste of time my hunters safety class was. All of it was common sense. It is a real shame that we all have to be inconvenienced for the sake of those who simply have no common sense. Barring extraordinary circumstances, it takes a person with little to no common sense to shoot another hunter.
Click to expand...


I'm old enough, that I don't need a hunter safety certificate. I've been grandfathered in. I took it anyway when I was 12, half a century ago. By the time my two boys were old enough to hunt it was required and I took the course again, twice, once with each of them as they went thru it. I now help teach hunter safety. Since that first class 50 years ago, and everyone since that I have attended or taught, from my experience, those that most strongly felt the class was a waste of time are the ones that needed it the most. You may be the exception.
 
I too was grandfathered in in Ohio, got my first license in 1972, but when I was sitting through my son's class with him, the instructor suggested taking the test and getting the card since I was already there in case I ever hunted in another state, as many don't recognize the grandfathered exception, or the previously held license exception that Ohio does.
 
Well Buck, I definitely do not need it the most. As a certified L.O. Sniper, I know about as much as there is to know about firearms safety and the massive liability that goes with the final resting point of each sent round.
Having said that, there was absolutely nothing taught in my class that was not just pure common sense. In addition to that, much of the information was just plain dumb. I will give you an example. Someone asked "Why do we still have to wear our orange vest once we are in the stand?". His answer was "because someone might mistake you for a turkey and shoot you." There are good reasons for wearing blaze orange in the stand, but being mistaken for a Turkey is not one of them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top