Licensing  >  Hunting, Fishing & Trapping Licenses  >  Hunter Safety Course Requirement

Hunter Education Requirements to Purchase a Hunting License

LIFETIME LICENSES

  • Hunter education certification is not required to purchase a lifetime hunting or sportsman license. However, to hunt with a lifetime license the holder must comply with at least one of these requirements:
    1.  Complete an approved hunter education course and hold certification card.
    2.  Be accompanied by properly licensed adult who is within sight and hearing distance*.

 

 

HUNTING HERITAGE APPRENTICE PERMITS

 

  • Anyone 16 and older may hunt without hunter education certification when in possession of a Hunting Heritage Apprentice Permit, proper hunting license and any other required permits, so long as accompanied by a licensed adult within sight and hearing distance.

 

 

YOUNGER THAN 16

 

  • Needs neither a hunting license nor hunter education certification, if accompanied by a properly licensed adult*.
  • May hunt without an accompanying adult or hunting license, with completion of hunter education course (certification card must be carried while hunting).

 

 

PRIOR LICENSE HOLDERS

 

  • Anyone who has held a North Carolina hunting license issued prior to July 1, 2013 is exempt from hunter education certification.

 

 

HUNTER EDUCATION FROM OTHER STATES, TERRITORIES and ONLINE

 

  • Certification from any course, including online instruction, which is accredited by the International Hunter Education Association, is acceptable for obtaining a North Carolina license.

 

*Adult is classified here as anyone 18 and older.

*Sight and hearing distance may not be enhanced by electronic devices.

*It is an individual  hunter’s responsibility to observe all regulations and local restrictions, as stated in the current Inland Fishing, Hunting and Trapping Regulations Digest.