Frankfort, Kentucky – -(OutDoorWire.com)- Kentucky’s current hunting and fishing licenses expire February 28. If you plan to fish the spring runs for white bass or turkey hunt this spring season, you’ll need to purchase a new license and permits.
The current tough economic times have folks thinking about saving money. For outdoors enthusiasts who love to fish and hunt, purchasing a Resident Sportsman’s License saves $50 over buying all of the licenses and permits it covers separately.
This license includes the combination hunting and fishing license, spring and fall turkey permits, statewide deer permit, state waterfowl permit and trout permit. Waterfowl hunters still need to purchase their federal duck stamp, however. The Resident Sportsman’s License does not cover user permits for Peabody Wildlife Management Area or the Land Between the Lakes, or any application fee or permit for elk hunting.
The resident combination hunting and fishing license is also a good deal. Both of these licenses cost $40 if bought separately. The resident combination license is only $30.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources depends on license sales to fund its operations. The department does not receive any General Fund state tax dollars.
These funds manage roughly 1 million acres of public land and waters for the benefit of all Kentuckians and the fish and wildlife that live on these lands or swim in those waters. It provides needed money to acquire more public lands for hunting, bird watching, fishing or hiking.
Your license dollars provide technical assistance to approximately 2,000 Kentucky landowners each year for wildlife habitat improvement projects and advice.
The fisheries division of Kentucky Fish and Wildlife stocks more than 4 million fish annually in our state’s waters with these funds. When you buy a license, you are funding the management of our state’s fish populations that provide good fishing for all to enjoy. You also pay to restore species such as lake sturgeon to the upper regions of Lake Cumberland.
You provide concrete, bulldozers, gravel and manpower to build new boat ramps, bank fishing areas, fishing piers and canoe access sites. License dollars help repair boat ramps impacted by flooding or renovate aging ones.
When you put down your hard-earned money for a new license, you fund education and outreach programs that reach 400,000 children and adults each year to help ensure our hunting and fishing heritage continues.
There is a lot more than meets the eye when you plunk down the money for your Resident Sportsman’s License, combination hunting and fishing license, annual hunting and fishing license, trout permit or spring turkey permit. You fund a broad spectrum of activities that improve the quality of life for all Kentuckians.
To purchase your license and permits on-line, log on to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s homepage at fw.ky.gov and click on the yellow banner that says “Purchase Licenses Here.” You may also purchase them over the phone by calling toll-free 1-877-598-2401. Licenses are also available at many tackle shops, sporting good stores, gun stores and in the sporting goods section of department stores.
Author Lee McClellan is an award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.
About:
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources manages, regulates, enforces and promotes responsible use of all fish and wildlife species, their habitats, public wildlife areas and waterways for the benefit of those resources and for public enjoyment. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, an agency of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, has an economic impact to the state of $4.5 billion annually. For more information on the department, visit our web site at fw.ky.gov.