New Jersey Hunting License: $27.50, $55.50 With a Tag
In New Jersey the licence is $27.50 and the first deer costs $55.50
What a season in New Jersey actually costs to start
A resident hunting licence in New Jersey is $27.50, sold as the Resident Licenses, Firearm. Hunting a deer on it means buying the Deer Permits as well, at $28, so the first day costs $55.50 rather than $27.50. That is 102% 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 hunting licence to 31 December whatever month it was bought in.
- Resident licence $27.50, the Resident Licenses, Firearm
- Nonresident licence $135.50
- First deer on top of it $28, the Deer Permits
- What the first morning costs $55.50
- The licence runs runs a hunting licence to 31 December whatever month it was bought in
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife sells it through its own licensing system, which is where a fee change appears first.
Every New Jersey hunting licence, at the price New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife prints
Seven tags and permits were read off New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife's own fee pages for New Jersey, 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.
- Resident Licenses, Firearm$27.50
firearm hunting on a resident licence, with a separate permit needed for deer, turkey and black bear
annual
Resident Licenses – Licenses valid through Dec. 31. | Firearm Resident (16–64): $27.50
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Resident Licenses, Bow & Arrow$31.50
bow hunting on a resident licence, with a separate permit needed for deer, turkey and black bear
annual
Resident Licenses – Licenses valid through Dec. 31. | Bow & Arrow Resident (Age 16–64): $31.50
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Non-Resident Firearm$135.50
firearm hunting for a non resident, with a separate permit needed for deer, turkey and black bear
annual
Non-Resident Licenses – Licenses valid through Dec. 31. | Non-Resident Firearm Non-Resident (Age 16+): $135.50
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Non-Resident Bow & Arrow$135.50
bow hunting for a non resident, with a separate permit needed for deer, turkey and black bear
annual
Non-Resident Licenses – Licenses valid through Dec. 31. | Non-Resident Bow & Arrow Non-Resident (Age 16+): $135.50
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Non-Resident 2-Day Small Game Firearm$36.50
small game with a firearm only, and the digest states it is not valid for deer, black bear or turkey
2 day
Non-Resident 2-Day Small Game Firearm Non-Resident (Age 16+): $36.50 (Not valid to hunt deer, black bear, or turkey) Valid through the day after issuance.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Youth LicensesFree
hunting by a young hunter with bow or firearm, with the same permits needed on top at youth prices
valid through Dec. 31 of the year the youth turns 16
Youth Licenses (Ages 10–16)* – License valid through Dec. 31 of the year youth turns 16. | Bow & Arrow: Free Firearm: Free
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Sr. Resident$15.50
the same firearm hunting as the resident licence at the reduced senior rate
annual
Firearm Resident (16–64): $27.50 Sr. Resident (65+): $15.50
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - All-Around Sportsman$72.25
resident firearm hunting, bow hunting and fishing in one purchase
annual
All-Around Sportsman Combines Resident Firearm, Bow & Arrow, and Fishing Licenses: $72.25 With Buddy Fishing License: $62.25
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Apprentice Licenses$27.50
supervised hunting with air gun, bow or shotgun before the hunter education course, and the digest states it is not valid for coyote or fox, black bear, or deer in the muzzleloader season
annual
Apprentice Licenses – Licenses valid through Dec. 31. | Firearm Resident (18–64): $27.50 Sr. Resident (65+): $15.50 Non-Resident (18+): $135.50 | Hunter Education NOT required.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
When a New Jersey hunting license expires Calendar year
New Jersey 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 New Jersey hunting licence runs to 31 December whatever day of the year it was bought, while several of the permits and stamps run on their own dates.
Resident Licenses – Licenses valid through Dec. 31.New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
Hunter education in New Jersey
New Jersey 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.
New Jersey sets no birth year cutoff: the digest requires a hunter education course completion card from everyone age 10 and above who applies for a regular licence, with the apprentice licence as the stated exception.
New Jersey requires that everyone, age 10 and above, applying to hunt with a firearm or bow must show a course completion card from the appropriate, accredited IHEA hunter education course to obtain a regular license, see Apprentice License exemption, above.New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
Who counts as a New Jersey resident
New Jersey defines a resident in its own words rather than by a count of days, and the definition is quoted below because the price on one side of it is rarely close to the price on the other.
Must be NJ resident for at least 6 months or be on active military duty.New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
39 of 50 states sell the animal separately from the right to hunt it
New Jersey 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 New Jersey beside every other state on licence price, first tag, and the two added together.
New Jersey hunting license questions
More for New Jersey
Hunting licenses in every state
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Fish & Wildlife 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