Massachusetts Hunting License Cost: $40.00 and Up
Massachusetts prints the tags on the licence rather than selling them separately
What a season in Massachusetts actually costs to start
A resident hunting licence in Massachusetts is $40.00, sold as the Resident Hunting. Massachusetts is one of eleven in this reading where the tags come with the licence rather than on top of it, which makes the price on the fee page the price of the hunt. 39 of the 50 states are built the other way, and in those the licence is the smaller half. A Massachusetts resident hunting licence is $40.00 and unusually comes with two antlered deer tags built in, so a first time deer hunter adds only the $5.00 Wildlands Stamp and whichever season stamp fits the weapon, and the licence runs to 31 December.
- Resident licence $40.00, the Resident Hunting
- Nonresident licence $112.00
- First deer on top of it $10.00, the Primitive Firearms Deer Season Stamp
- The licence runs runs a hunting licence to 31 December whatever month it was bought in
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) sells it through its own licensing system, which is where a fee change appears first.
Every Massachusetts hunting licence, at the price Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) prints
Everything a Massachusetts licence holder needs for the species it names is in the licence itself. That is unusual: 39 of the 50 states read here sell the animal separately from the right to hunt it, and Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia do not.
- Resident Hunting$40.00
small game plus two antlered deer tags valid statewide
annual
Resident Hunting 1 Includes 2 antlered deer tags valid statewide. | $40.00
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Resident Commercial Shooting Preserve (1-day)$10.00
one day of hunting at a licensed commercial shooting preserve
1 day
Resident Commercial Shooting Preserve (1-day)1 | $10.00
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Non-resident (age 15 and over) Hunting, Small Game$78.00
small game only, no deer, bear or turkey
annual
Non-resident (age 15 and over) Hunting, Small Game 1 | $78.00
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Non-resident (age 15 and over) Hunting, Big Game$112.00
deer, bear, wild turkey and small game, with two antlered deer tags valid statewide
annual
Non-resident (age 15 and over) Hunting, Big Game 1 Includes 2 antlered deer tags valid statewide. | $112.00
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Non-resident Commercial Shooting Preserve (1-day)$20.00
one day of hunting at a licensed commercial shooting preserve
1 day
Non-resident Commercial Shooting Preserve (1-day)1 | $20.00
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Resident Minor Hunting$6.50
small game plus two antlered deer tags, for resident minors aged 15 to 17
annual
Resident Minor Hunting (Age 15–17)1,2 Includes 2 antlered deer tags valid statewide. | $6.50
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Resident Sporting (Age 70 or over, includes trapping)FREE
hunting, freshwater fishing and trapping, with two antlered deer tags
annual
Resident Sporting (Age 70 or over, includes trapping)2 Includes 2 antlered deer tags valid statewide. | FREE
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Resident Hunting, age 65 to 69$20.00
small game plus two antlered deer tags at a reduced rate
annual
Resident Hunting (Age 65–69)1,2 Includes 2 antlered deer tags valid statewide. | $20.00
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Resident Sporting$75.00
hunting and freshwater fishing together, with two antlered deer tags
annual
Resident Sporting 1 Includes 2 antlered deer tags valid statewide. | $75.00
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
When a Massachusetts hunting license expires Calendar year
Massachusetts runs a hunting licence to 31 December whatever month it was bought in. A licence bought in November is a licence with weeks left in it. The price is the same one printed beside the licence bought in January. 9 of the 50 states read here do this, against 9 that run a licence a full year from the day of sale, and the price is identical in both.
A Massachusetts licence runs to 31 December whatever month it was bought, apart from the limited term licences.
Licenses are valid from January 1 through December 31 (except for limited term licenses).Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
Hunter education in Massachusetts
Massachusetts requires hunter education, and it sets the requirement without a birth year cutoff, so the test is what the applicant has done rather than when they were born. 29 of the 50 states read here use a birth year instead, and those years run from 1949 to 1986.
MassWildlife publishes no birth year cutoff. Instead it sells a first ever hunting or sporting licence to anyone 18 or over only on proof of a Basic Hunter Education certificate from any jurisdiction, or a hunting licence held anywhere before 2007.
First ever hunting and sporting licenses for anyone aged 18 years or older can be purchased only if the buyer has successfully completed a Basic Hunter Education course from any jurisdiction or held a hunting license from any jurisdiction prior to 2007.Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
Who counts as a Massachusetts resident
Massachusetts draws the resident line at 180 days, and the difference between the two sides of it is $40.00 against $112.00. The statutory definition is quoted below.
To obtain a resident hunting, fishing, or trapping license, applicant must reside in Massachusetts for six consecutive months immediately prior to purchase.Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
39 of 50 states sell the animal separately from the right to hunt it
Massachusetts is one of 11 states in this reading that print the tags on the licence, which is why its fee page price is the price of the hunt. In the other 39, the licence is the first of two purchases and the number a search result shows is the smaller half.
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 Massachusetts beside every other state on licence price, first tag, and the two added together.
Massachusetts hunting license questions
More for Massachusetts
Hunting licenses in every state
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) 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 included