License Fees

[SDoolittle]

Let me start by giving you some background information. I am an active duty Soldier in the Army, and I'm currently stationed in West Virginia. I've been in the Army for a long time, and WV is my 8th duty station. Every couple of years I move to a new state and have to learn the state's fishing regulations. Most states allow active duty military members to claim residency status even though they claim a different state as their home of record. Here in WV, I had to wait 30 days before I could buy a resident license. I wasn't about to wait 30 days to go fishing, so I went to Wal Mart to buy a nonresident license. When the clerk saw my military ID, he told me that I didn't need a license. "You just need a leave form" he said. He opened a copy of the fishing regs, and showed me where it said that active duty military members on authorized leave are exempt from buying licenses. "I'm not on leave" I explained. "I live here in WV now, but I haven't been here for 30 days yet, so I need a nonresident license." He told me that his cousin is in the Army Reserve, and he just prints off a leave form whenever he goes fishing. He also offered to sell me a resident license even though I had already explained why I needed a nonresident license. I weighed my options: spend $37 for nonresident, spend $19 for resident, spend $0 and print off a leave form. I decided to do the right thing and buy a nonresident license. I mean $37 is pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I was a little surprised that the couple of others customers acted like I was crazy for spending money when I could have gotten away with fishing for free. What would you have done?

[Jigfishn10]

Bird Dog,

Let me first state: Thank you for serving our country.

Active duty guys like you are exempt from a fishing license in my book.

[Bassn Blvd]

You do not need a hunting, freshwater fishing or saltwater fishing license or a *Florida waterfowl, deer, turkey, snook, spiny lobster, archery season, crossbow season, muzzle-loading season, deer or management area permit if...

* You are a child under 16 years of age. (Also exempt from federal duck stamp requirements.)

* You are a Florida resident age 65 or older possessing proof of age and residency or possessing a Resident Senior Citizen Hunting and Fishing Certificate. Residents age 65 or older may obtain, at no cost, complimentary hunting and fishing certificates from county tax collectors' offices.

* You hunt or freshwater fish in your county of residence on your homestead or the homestead of your spouse or minor child, or if you are a minor child hunting or freshwater fishing on the homestead of your parent.

* You are a Florida resident certified as totally and permanently disabled and you possess a Florida Resident Disabled Person Hunting and Fishing Certificate.

* You are a resident who is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, you are not stationed in this state, and you are home on leave for 30 days or less, upon submission of orders.

* Effective Aug. 1, 2009 - You are a resident who is fishing with live or natural bait, using poles or lines that are not equipped with a fishing-line-retrieval mechanism, and you are fishing for noncommercial purposes in your home county. However, you must have a valid fishing license to fish by any method in a fish management area.

The above exemptions are for Florida, but imagine WV

has a very similar exemption.

Now don 't kill me for saying this, but you did what you were supposed to do. You informed the clerk how to properly do his job. You saved yourself from a ticket/fine by not taking the exemption when you didn't qualify for it.

I personally think you should be exempt in every state as long as you're on active duty during war time, regardless of where you're stationed.

[A-Jay]

I had the privilege of serving 28 years myself and relocated 19 times. I also played the resident/non-resident fishing and hunting license game - over and over.

No doubt it's a challenge to keep up. After wasting too much time and effort attempting to circumvent the system, I chose to simply read the regulations and follow them. It was allot easier and I really enjoyed the peace of mind. I do not agree with or appreciated what the clerk was attempting to do for you and feel you made the correct choice.

So good for you.

As service members/veteran we definitely make sacrifices but we get our share of benefits and perks as well.

As for this portion of your story ~ "others customers acted like I was crazy for spending money when I could have gotten away with fishing for free" ~ This mind set will ALWAYS make me shake my head. These folks are no doubt passing this to their children. No Ethics. How about having pride in doing the right thing whether anyone else knows you're doing it or not ? You know.

OK - I'm done. Guess this hit a bit of a sore spot with me.

A-Jay

[moby bass]

If you are allowed resident status after 30 days, is there any way they would know exactly what date you moved into the state?  I can certainly understand the 30 day wait to prevent someone from coming in, using a friends address, claiming they were moving there, just to circumvent the residency requirement and get a cheaper license for a day or a week.

But your circumstance is rather unique and military are obviously granted some leeway on licensing requirements.

Your decision was probably the most ethical of the three choices, but I don't see anything wrong with claiming residency status.

[skunked_again]

You do not need a hunting, freshwater fishing or saltwater fishing license or a *Florida waterfowl, deer, turkey, snook, spiny lobster, archery season, crossbow season, muzzle-loading season, deer or management area permit if...

* You are a child under 16 years of age. (Also exempt from federal duck stamp requirements.)

* You are a Florida resident age 65 or older possessing proof of age and residency or possessing a Resident Senior Citizen Hunting and Fishing Certificate. Residents age 65 or older may obtain, at no cost, complimentary hunting and fishing certificates from county tax collectors' offices.

* You hunt or freshwater fish in your county of residence on your homestead or the homestead of your spouse or minor child, or if you are a minor child hunting or freshwater fishing on the homestead of your parent.

* You are a Florida resident certified as totally and permanently disabled and you possess a Florida Resident Disabled Person Hunting and Fishing Certificate.

* You are a resident who is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, you are not stationed in this state, and you are home on leave for 30 days or less, upon submission of orders.

* Effective Aug. 1, 2009 - You are a resident who is fishing with live or natural bait, using poles or lines that are not equipped with a fishing-line-retrieval mechanism, and you are fishing for noncommercial purposes in your home county. However, you must have a valid fishing license to fish by any method in a fish management area.

The above exemptions are for Florida, but imagine WV

has a very similar exemption.

Now don 't kill me for saying this, but you did what you were supposed to do. You informed the clerk how to properly do his job. You saved yourself from a ticket/fine by not taking the exemption when you didn't qualify for it.

I personally think you should be exempt in every state as long as you're on active duty during war time, regardless of where you're stationed. 

yep.

[Grey Wolf]

You did what you thought was right , I applaud you.

[BASSclary]

Although you did the right thing,

protecting our freedom earns you a free liscence 

[frogtog]

I say fish the rest of your life for free, that the least this country can do for people that defend her.

[FishingBuds]

You did what you thought was right , I applaud you.

X2

[Uncle Leo]

You earned the right to fish for free, thank you for your service. All you need to do is follow the regs.

[SDoolittle]

All you need to do is follow the regs.

Following the regs meant paying the nonresident fee, which is what I did. I'm a little surprised at how many people voted to falsify a leave form.

[bowfish12]

This is what TN resident license requirement says:

Military personnel on active duty in this state and their immediate families, who reside with

them, regardless of resident status.

At the very least  you shouldn't have had to wait 30 days for residency, and I agree with everyone else if you're active or retired, it should be free.