Washington Hunting License: $55.13, $61.70 With a Tag
In Washington the licence is $55.13 and the first deer costs $61.70
What a season in Washington actually costs to start
A resident hunting licence in Washington is $55.13, sold as the Small Game. Hunting a deer on it means buying the Deer License as well, at $61.70, so the first day costs $61.70 rather than $55.13. That is 12% 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 year with its own start and end dates, set by the state rather than by the calendar.
- Resident licence $55.13, the Small Game
- Nonresident licence $252.47
- First deer on top of it $61.70, the Deer License
- What the first morning costs $61.70
- The licence runs runs a licence year with its own start and end dates, set by the state rather than by the calendar
- Hunter education required of anyone born on or after 1972
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife sells it through its own licensing system, which is where a fee change appears first.
Every Washington hunting licence, at the price Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife prints
Ten tags and permits were read off Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's own fee pages for Washington, 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.
- Small Game$55.13
small game birds and animals, with no big game privilege
annual
License type | Resident | Non-resident | Resident senior (70+) | Youth (under 16) | Resident disabled* | Non-resident disabled veteran* || Small Game | $55.13 | $252.47 | $20.06 | $24.77 | $24.77 | $55.13
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Small Game$252.47
small game birds and animals, with no big game privilege
annual
License type | Resident | Non-resident | Resident senior (70+) | Youth (under 16) | Resident disabled* | Non-resident disabled veteran* || Small Game | $55.13 | $252.47 | $20.06 | $24.77 | $24.77 | $55.13
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - 3-Day Small Game$93.08
small game for three days, sold to nonresidents only
3 day
3-Day Small Game | ---- | $93.08 | ---- | ---- | ---- | ----
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Small Game$24.77
small game at the reduced rate in the Youth (under 16) column
annual
A "youth" is defined as a resident or non-resident under 16 years of age at the time of license purchase.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Small Game$20.06
small game at the reduced rate in the Resident senior (70+) column
annual
The bill increases fees by 38% and includes a senior discount for hunting licenses and a senior and disabled veteran discount for license packages (Fish Washington and Get Outdoors).
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Get Outdoors$330.54
fishing plus the deer, elk, bear and cougar licences with their tags, two turkey tags and the migratory bird permit, in one package
annual
Get Outdoors This license provides all of the following at a discounted price: Annual Fish Washington License, two-pole and Puget Sound Crab endorsements, Deer + Elk + Bear + Cougar License w/ discounted Small game license, deer, elk, bear, cougar tags + 2 turkey tags, migratory bird permit and migratory bird hunt authorization Columbia river Salmon Steelhead endorsement. | $330.54 | - | $142.36 | - | $193.44 | -
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source - Deer + Elk + Bear + Cougar License w/ discounted Small game$163.39
the four big game licences and their tags at the resident rate, in the Non-resident disabled veteran column
annual
A Non Resident who qualify under 1 and 2 above as a Disabled Veteran shall be issued a combination fishing license and/or any hunting license at the same cost charged to a nondisabled Washington resident for the same license.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
When a Washington hunting license expires Licence year
Washington runs a licence year with its own start and end dates, set by the state rather than by the calendar. The year turns on a date the state picked, usually in the spring or early autumn, so what a licence is worth depends on where in that year it was bought. The sentence the state uses is quoted below and links to the page it came from.
Washington licences run on a fixed licence year that starts in April, so one bought late in that year still stops at the end of March.
License requirements and fees are set by the Washington State Legislature. Licenses are based on an April 1-March 31 license year.Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
Washington hunter education: born on or after 1972
Washington hangs hunter education on a birth date rather than on an age: the requirement reaches anybody born after 1972. 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.
Washington requires proof of a hunter education course from anyone born after the printed cutoff before a first hunting licence is sold, and publishes a one time deferral instead of an apprentice licence.
All hunters born after Jan. 1, 1972 must show proof of hunter education course completion before purchasing their first Washington hunting license.Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
Who counts as a Washington resident
Washington draws the resident line at 90 days, and the difference between the two sides of it is $55.13 against $252.47. The statutory definition is quoted below.
Per WAC 220-220-050, to qualify as a Washington resident you must meet certain criteria: Maintained a permanent place of abode within the state for at least 90 days preceding license purchase; Washington driver's license; Washington identification card; or Military ID with a copy of orders showing Washington as your duty station.Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, read 23 September 2026. Read it at the source
39 of 50 states sell the animal separately from the right to hunt it
Washington 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 Washington beside every other state on licence price, first tag, and the two added together.
Washington hunting license questions
More for Washington
Hunting licenses in every state
Washington Department of Fish and 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