Advance sales of 2011-2012 state recreational hunting and fishing licenses are available now through the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR).  Advance sales are available by calling 1-866-714-3611 or online at www.dnr.sc.gov/purchase.html. All advance sale licenses will be mailed out beginning Monday, June 13, 2011 in time to be received before all 2010-2011 licenses expire on June 30, 2011.<!--more-->

Regular sales for 2011-2012 hunting and fishing licenses will begin on June 13, 2011, and will be valid immediately. You can buy your South Carolina hunting and fishing licenses multiple ways.  Licenses are available in person at any of the four regional DNR offices or by visiting one of the over 500 license agents across the state. Licenses are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 1-866-714-3611 or by visiting the DNR website at www.dnr.sc.gov/purchase.html.

Residents and nonresidents age 16 and older must purchase the required licenses to hunt and fish in South Carolina. Persons born after June 30, 1979, must have successfully completed a hunter education course to obtain a hunting license. To find a course near your or complete hunter education online, visit www.dnr.sc.gov/education/hunted.html.

Hunting license applicants who do not have a hunter education certification may use a one time exemption and apply for an annual Apprentice Hunting License. The apprentice hunter must be accompanied by a SC licensed hunter who is not licensed as an apprentice hunter, is at least 21 years of age, has not been convicted of a hunting or hunter education violation or received deferred adjudication of the same, and stays within a distance that enables uninterrupted, unaided, visual and oral communication with the apprentice hunter and provides adequate direction to the apprentice.

All hunting and fishing license prices remain the same for the upcoming 2011-2012 season. South Carolina residents born on or before July 1, 1940, are eligible for the Gratis Hunting and Fishing license. South Carolina residents born after July 1, 1940, and over the age of 64, are eligible for the $9 Senior License.

South Carolina hunters and anglers remain the state’s top conservationists. Through your purchase of a state recreational hunting and fishing license, combined with excise tax collected on hunting and fishing gear, hunters and anglers contribute funding to South Carolina’s wildlife and sportfish restoration projects.

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