Casting online

New DNR program lets outdoorsmen get licenses online

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Posted on Aug 01 2016 in Outdoors

By Jack Spaulding

DNR ScreenshotFor years, I would wait for the convenience of the Boat, Sport & Travel Show in Indianapolis in February to buy my hunting and fishing licenses for the coming year. Once in a while, I would slip up and forget to buy a needed stamp or permit and have to make a time consuming trip to make the purchase.

I’ll still be attending the annual show in Indianapolis, but from now on, I’ll already have my licenses and permits thanks to the new INHuntFish.com website. Buying licenses online is easier and more convenient for hunters, anglers and trappers with the new system the Indiana Department of Natural Resources launched in mid-June.

The new INHuntFish.com system allows customers 18 and older to create an online account. Customers can use the account to purchase their licenses, purchase or redeem gift certificates, acquire their Harvest Information Program (HIP) number, and make donations. Having information saved to an account makes purchasing future licenses much easier for yourself and for any children under age 18 you list as an associate. If you’re already a DNR customer, use your Customer ID located on the top left of your license to log in.

The improvements include:

 Free reprints of licenses.

 The ability to save a license to your Smartphone through the print feature. (Electronic copies of licenses are now valid.)

 An option to print all valid licenses on one piece of paper, no matter when they were purchased.

 The ability to view your active licenses and any licenses expired within the last 30 days.

 License options adjusted for your age, residency and hunter education status.

 Quick links for hunting, fishing and trapping regulations, the Wild Bulletin e-newsletter, and social media accounts for the DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife.

 A “shopping cart” feature allowing you to see what you are buying.

 Email receipts. The system accepts Visa, MasterCard and Discover.

A future version will include the CheckIN Game feature allowing hunters to use computers and mobile devices to check in their harvest through their accounts.

An access fee will offset the cost of the upgraded system. The fee is $1 per license, plus $1 and 2 percent of the total on each license. For example, if you use INHuntFish.com to purchase an annual resident fishing license, your cost would be $19.34 ($17 for the license, plus $1 for the license, plus $1.34).

No fee is charged for donations, gift certificates, registering for HIP, or checking in game.

I used the new system to purchase my Senior Lifetime Fishing License, and even with my poor keystroke abilities, it worked great.


Jack Spaulding is a state outdoors writer and a consumer of RushShelby Energy living along the Flatrock River in Moscow. Readers with questions or comments can write to him in care of Electric Consumer, P.O. Box 24517, Indianapolis, IN 46224; or email jackspaulding@hughes.net.