§ 4279. Lifetime licenses

(a) A resident or nonresident lifetime fishing, hunting, or combination fishing and hunting license may be obtained upon application to the Department.

(b) In order to obtain a resident lifetime license, an applicant must be a resident or a dependent of a resident of Vermont at the time of application. In this subsection, a resident shall be a person who has resided in this State for the 12 months immediately prior to the date of application for the license and who has not during that period claimed residency in any other state or country for any purpose. A child born in this State shall be a resident if one or more of the child’s parents or the child’s legal guardian are domiciled in the State at the time of birth and have continued to reside in the State since the birth.

(c) A lifetime license shall entitle the holder to the privileges allowed under subdivision 4252(1), (2), or (4) of this title as long as the holder is alive, except that the holder shall not be entitled to hunting privileges until he or she has satisfied the criteria of subsection 4254(b) of this title.

(d) If the holder of a lifetime hunting license wishes to receive the privileges granted to holders of other hunting licenses, such as archery or turkey licenses, the holder must purchase the appropriate license. In this case, the holder shall pay the fee required in subsection 4255(a) or (b) of this title, depending on whether the holder is a resident or nonresident at the time of purchase.

(e) If the holder of a lifetime hunting or fishing license wishes to upgrade the license to a lifetime combination hunting and fishing license, the holder may do so by paying the difference between the fee for the combination license and the fee for the license held. In this subsection, fee means the fee at the time of the upgrade.

(f) Fees for lifetime licenses shall be the appropriate multiplication factor for the child’s or adult’s age multiplied by the fee for the appropriate license. Appropriate license fees are those in subdivisions 4255(a)(1), (2), and (3) of this title for residents and subdivisions 4255(b)(1), (4), and (5) of this title for nonresidents. Multiplication factors are as follows:

(1) for children under 1 year of age 8

(2) for children 1 through 15 years of age 16

(3) for adults 16 through 24 years of age 31

(4) for adults 25 through 64 years of age 26

(g) In each year a lifetime license holder intends to hunt, trap, or fish, the lifetime license holder shall notify the Department that he or she will exercise his or her hunting, trapping, or fishing privileges. Failure to notify the Department as required by this subsection shall not result in the assessment of points under section 4502 of this title. (Added 1993, No. 191 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 2011, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 34, eff. Jan. 1, 2013; 2015, No. 61, § 5a, eff. June 17, 2015; 2019, No. 70, § 6, eff. Jan. 1, 2020.)