Hunting Permit Information
Everyone who hunts or traps must have an appropriate hunting or trapping permit or qualify for an exemption.
Hunter-Education Requirements and Exceptions
Every hunter born on or after Jan. 1, 1967, must have completed an approved hunter-education program in Missouri or another state and display a hunter-education certificate card to buy any firearms hunting permit unless they are:
- Using a resident firearms deer or turkey hunting permit while hunting in the immediate presence of a properly licensed mentor2 and are 6 through 15 years old.
- Using a resident landowner deer and/or turkey hunting permit.
- Hunting under the provisions of the Apprentice Hunter Authorization. See below.
- Developmentally disabled. New! Hunters with developmental disabilities who have taken a hunter-education course but failed to pass the certification tests may purchase firearms permits as long as they carry a physician’s statement as proof of their disability and hunt in the immediate presence of a properly licensed mentor.
All hunters, unless exempt, must carry their hunter-education card or a permit with their hunter-education number on it while hunting with a firearm. The Missouri Conservation Heritage Card with a hunter-education number on it is also acceptable.
A hunter-education card need not be displayed when buying permits if certification can be verified by the vendor. Most hunters buying e-Permits will have their hunter-education certification verified online. Those who are not in the Conservation Department’s permit database will be alerted by the e-Permits System to mail, fax or email a copy of the front and back of their hunter-education card to the Conservation Department. After this information is verified and the hunter’s record is updated in the database, the hunter will not be required to submit his or her hunter-education card again.
Apprentice Hunter Authorization
To help introduce adults to hunting, the Conservation Department allows hunters age 16 and older who are not hunter-education certified to hunt with firearms, as long as they:
- first purchase an Apprentice Hunter Authorization
- then purchase a hunting permit for the season in which they want to hunt
- and hunt in the immediate presence of a properly licensed adult age 18 or older who has a valid hunter-education certificate card or was born before Jan. 1, 1967.
Note: The Apprentice Hunter Authorization by itself does not allow you to hunt. It only allows persons who have not completed a hunter-education certification course to purchase firearms permits throughout the permit year. The Apprentice Hunter Authorization can be purchased for no more than two years.
Permits are not licenses to trespass!
The issuance of a hunting or trapping permit does not authorize trespassing on private lands. Remember that your behavior reflects on all hunters and trappers. Respect the rights of private landowners.
