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Hunting Licenses / Louisiana

Louisiana Hunting License: $20, $35 With a Tag

In Louisiana the licence is $20 and the first deer costs $35

$20
Resident licence
Basic Hunting
$15
What the first deer costs on top
$35 for the licence and the tag together
365 days from purchase
When it stops working
365 days
7 / 6
Licences and tags read here
each one linked to the fee table it came from
The short answer

What a season in Louisiana actually costs to start

Tags on topLouisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries

A resident hunting licence in Louisiana is $20, sold as the Basic Hunting. Hunting a deer on it means buying the Deer as well, at $15, so the first day costs $35 rather than $20. That is 75% more than the licence price a search result would have shown. 39 of the 50 states read here work the same way. The licence itself runs a licence 365 days from the day it was bought.

  • Resident licence $20, the Basic Hunting
  • Nonresident licence $200
  • First deer on top of it $15, the Deer
  • What the first morning costs $35
  • The licence runs runs a licence 365 days from the day it was bought
  • Hunter education required of anyone born on or after 1969

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries sells it through its own licensing system, which is where a fee change appears first.

What the agency sells

Every Louisiana hunting licence, at the price Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries prints

Six tags and permits were read off Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries's own fee pages for Louisiana, each one priced below with the row it sits in. A tag is a second purchase, and the licence price on its own is the first half of what a season costs.

  • Basic Hunting$20

    the base licence every hunter must hold, with deer, turkey and waterfowl each needing their own licence on top

    365 days from the date of purchase

    Basic Hunting (required for all hunters) | $20 | $200 | $20 | $65
    Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
  • Basic Hunting, Nonresident Fee$200

    the same base licence at the nonresident rate, again without deer, turkey or waterfowl

    365 days from the date of purchase

    Basic Hunting (required for all hunters) | $20 | $200 | $20 | $65
    Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
  • Basic Hunting, Nonresident Native 10-Day$20

    the base licence at the resident price for ten consecutive days, for someone born in Louisiana who now lives elsewhere

    ten consecutive days

    If you were born in Louisiana but are not currently a resident, you may purchase Nonresident Native Hunting Licenses, which are valid for ten consecutive days. These temporary hunting licenses are available for Basic Hunting as well as other licenses or permits required in addition to the Basic Hunting License, such as Deer, Waterfowl, or Turkey.
    Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
  • Basic Hunting, Nonresident 5-Day$65

    the base licence for a five day trip

    5 days

    Basic Hunting (required for all hunters) | $20 | $200 | $20 | $65
    Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
  • Youth Hunting$5

    deer and turkey hunting, trapping and youth lottery hunts for anyone under 18, with the deer and turkey tags included

    365 days from the date of purchase

    Youth Hunting (under age 18; required for hunting deer and turkey, trapping, and youth lottery hunts; includes deer and turkey tags; no ID or proof of residency required for purchase) | $5 | $5 | n/a | n/a
    Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
  • Senior Hunting/Fishing$5

    everything a resident of 60 or over needs at once: basic, deer, waterfowl and turkey hunting, the fishing licences and the WMA access permit

    365 days from the date of purchase

    Any resident age 60 or older must instead have a Senior Hunting/Fishing License. This license is in lieu of Basic and Saltwater Fishing Licenses; Basic, Deer, Waterfowl, and Turkey Hunting Licenses; and the WMA Access Permit. It also includes all legal gear privileges. This license is free for residents born before June 1, 1940.
    Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
  • Louisiana Sportsman's Paradise$100

    every hunting licence including deer, waterfowl and turkey, both fishing licences and the WMA access permit in one purchase

    365 days from the date of purchase

    The Louisiana Sportsman’s Paradise License includes Basic and Saltwater Fishing Licenses; Basic, Deer, Waterfowl, and Turkey Hunting Licenses; and the WMA Access Permit. ... Louisiana Sportsman's Paradise 2 | $100 | $400 | $100 | $120
    Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
The second purchase

The tags and permits that sit on top of a Louisiana licence

A tag is attached to one animal of one species, and the last column is the part that decides a calendar rather than a budget. Over the counter means it can be bought on the way to the woods. A draw means the application closed months ago.

Louisiana allocates bear by draw, which means the application closes long before the season and the tag is awarded by lot rather than sold. What is over the counter and what is drawn is set out beside each tag below.

Tags and permits read off Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries's own fee pages, dearest resident price first.
Tag or permitSpeciesResidentNonresidentHow it is issued
Federal Duck StampWaterfowl$29.79$29.79Over the counter
BearBear$25None printedDraw
DeerDeer$15$100Over the counter
TurkeyTurkey$12$50Over the counter
WaterfowlWaterfowl$12$50Over the counter
HIP CertificationOtherFreeFreeOver the counter

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the page this was read from, read 23 September 2026

The clock

When a Louisiana hunting license expires 365 days

Louisiana runs a licence 365 days from the day it was bought, so the month it was bought in makes no difference to what it is worth. 9 of the 50 states read here run instead to 31 December, where a November purchase is a purchase with weeks left in it.

A Louisiana licence runs a full year from the day it is bought rather than to a fixed date, so buying in October costs the same as buying in August.

Hunting licenses are valid from the date of purchase and expire one year (365 days) from the date of purchase. If you purchase your license online, you can select an option to have your license renewed automatically every year.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
The requirement people find out about at the counter

Louisiana hunter education: born on or after 1969

Louisiana hangs hunter education on a birth date rather than on an age: the requirement reaches anybody born after 1969. Every state that publishes a cutoff publishes a different one, and across this reading they run from 1949 to 1986, which is why a national answer to this question is always wrong somewhere.

Louisiana requires the course of anyone born on or after 1 September 1969, but lets an uncertified hunter go out under the direct supervision of a qualified hunter instead.

If you were born on or after September 1, 1969 , you must complete a Hunter Education Course approved by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) before hunting , unless you are under direct supervision of a qualified hunter . Hunter Education Certification earned by individuals 9 years of age and over are valid for life.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
A wide shallow wetland on a clear November morning, ducks scattered across the open water, a cottonwood in yellow leaf on a small island beside a low wooden viewing deck, and a flat brown horizon under a pale blue sky
Waterfowl is the clearest case of what these pages are about. The state licence is the first line on the receipt, and a duck morning adds a state stamp, a federal stamp and a harvest survey registration on top of it, none of which the licence price includes. “Llano Seco Unit (2024)-L1006548”, Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 4.0
Which price applies

Who counts as a Louisiana resident

Louisiana draws the resident line at 180 days, and the difference between the two sides of it is $20 against $200. The statutory definition is quoted below.

You’re a bona fide resident if you’ve resided in the state of Louisiana continuously during the 6 months immediately prior to the date you apply for any license and if you’ve established Louisiana as your legal domicile.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
How Louisiana compares

39 of 50 states sell the animal separately from the right to hunt it

Louisiana works the way most of the country does. Of the 50 states read here, 39 sell the tag apart from the licence and 11 print it on the licence instead. Where the tag is separate, the middle state adds 95% to the licence price before anybody has left the driveway.

Resident licences across these states run from $10 to $64.54, and nonresident licences from $50 to $410, which is the widest spread on any licence this site has read. 25 states run a licence year of their own, 9 give a full year from the day of sale, and 9 end it on 31 December whatever month it was bought.

The national table puts Louisiana beside every other state on licence price, first tag, and the two added together.

Louisiana hunting license questions

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Hunting licenses in every state

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries read 23 September 2026, with every licence price, tag price, expiry rule and hunter education cutoff above linked to the page it came from. Fees are set by statute or by a commission and change between seasons, so the agency page beside each figure is what governs on the day. Tags on top