North Carolina Hunting License: $32, $50 With a Tag
In North Carolina the licence is $32 and the first deer costs $50
What a season in North Carolina actually costs to start
A resident hunting licence in North Carolina is $32, sold as the State Hunting. Hunting a deer on it means buying the Big Game Hunting as well, at $18, so the first day costs $50 rather than $32. That is 56% 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 $32, the State Hunting
- Nonresident licence $124
- First deer on top of it $18, the Big Game Hunting
- What the first morning costs $50
- The licence runs runs a licence 365 days from the day it was bought
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission sells it through its own licensing system, which is where a fee change appears first.
Every North Carolina hunting licence, at the price North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission prints
Eight tags and permits were read off North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission's own fee pages for North Carolina, 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.
- State Hunting$32
statewide hunting including game lands, but not deer, bear, turkey or waterfowl
annual
State Hunting: Statewide hunting during a license term. License includes hunting on game lands. It does not include big game hunting, the state waterfowl privilege, or the Federal Duck Stamp. | $32 | $124
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Comprehensive Hunting$49
statewide hunting with the big game, game lands and waterfowl privileges already included
annual
Comprehensive Hunting: Statewide hunting for residents during a license term. Also includes the privileges of hunting for big game, hunting on game lands and hunting for waterfowl (does not include the Bear Management E-Stamp or Federal Duck Stamp). | $49 | N/A
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - State Hunting$124
statewide hunting including game lands, but not deer, bear, turkey or waterfowl
annual
State Hunting: Statewide hunting during a license term. License includes hunting on game lands. It does not include big game hunting, the state waterfowl privilege, or the Federal Duck Stamp. | $32 | $124
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - State Hunting 10-Day$99
statewide hunting for ten days, but not deer, bear, turkey or waterfowl
10 day
State Hunting 10-Day: Statewide hunting for nonresidents during the 10 day period specified on the license. License includes hunting on game lands. It does not include big game hunting, the state waterfowl privilege, or the Federal Duck Stamp. | N/A | $99
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Lifetime Sportsman, Senior$20
statewide hunting and inland fishing for life, for residents from age 70
lifetime
Senior Lifetime License eligibility: Residents are eligible for the senior lifetime license when they turn 70 years of age. ... Senior (see above for eligibility requirements) | $20 | N/A
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Sportsman$66
statewide hunting and inland fishing with the big game, game lands and waterfowl privileges included
annual
Sportsman: Statewide hunting and inland fishing for residents during a license term. Includes the privileges of hunting for big game, hunting on game lands, hunting for waterfowl (does not include the Bear Management E-Stamp or Federal Duck Stamp), fishing in Public Mountain Trout Waters, fishing in trout waters on game lands, and fishing in joint waters. It does not include fishing in coastal waters. | $66 | N/A
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Hunting Heritage Apprentice PermitFREE
buying a hunting licence without the hunter education certificate, hunting only while accompanied
the term of the hunting license bought with it
Hunting Heritage Apprentice Permit: This permit is needed to purchase a hunting license by those who have not held a N.C. hunting license prior to July 1, 2013 or who have not satisfactorily completed the hunter education course requirements. ... This permit is valid only for the term of the hunting license purchased under the authority of the permit. | FREE | FREE
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Lifetime License Comprehensive Hunting$326
statewide hunting for life with the big game, game lands and waterfowl privileges included
lifetime
Lifetime License | Comprehensive Hunting: Statewide hunting, hunting for big game, hunting on game lands and hunting for waterfowl (does not include the Bear Management E-Stamp or Federal Duck Stamp). | $326 | N/A
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
When a North Carolina hunting license expires 365 days
North Carolina 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.
An annual North Carolina hunting licence runs twelve months from the day it is bought rather than to a fixed date, though several of the separate privileges and stamps are written to expire on 30 June instead.
Unless otherwise specified, privilege licenses are valid 12 months from the date of purchase.North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
Hunter education in North Carolina
North Carolina 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.
North Carolina sets no birth year cutoff: the Commission states that a person of any age must show a hunter education certificate of competency, an apprentice permit, or a North Carolina hunting licence issued before 1 July 2013 in order to buy a hunting licence.
Except as specified below, a person, regardless of age, may not purchase a hunting license in this state without producing one of the following: a hunter education certificate of competency, a N.C. hunting heritage apprentice permit, or a N.C. hunting license issued prior to July 1, 2013.North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
Who counts as a North Carolina resident
North Carolina draws the resident line at 60 days, and the difference between the two sides of it is $32 against $124. The statutory definition is quoted below.
You are considered a resident if you have resided in the state for six months or have been domiciled (established a permanent residence) for 60 days with the intent to reside there permanently.North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
39 of 50 states sell the animal separately from the right to hunt it
North Carolina 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 North Carolina beside every other state on licence price, first tag, and the two added together.
North Carolina hunting license questions
More for North Carolina
Hunting licenses in every state
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission 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