Big Buck Hunter Bonus Games

[Victorio Galindo]

AnApprentice Hunting License is now available for first time hunters or junior hunters who are not ready for a regular hunting license. The Apprentice Hunting License is available to both residents and nonresidents. Adults may purchase the Apprentice Hunting License one time and only if they have never held a Maryland hunting license in the past. Junior hunters may purchase the license annually through age 16. Junior hunters must take the required online education course each year before purchasing the Apprentice Hunting License.

Satisfactory completion of a short, online hunter safety course is required prior to purchasing the license and the apprentice hunter is required to hunt with a resident at least 18 years old who possesses a valid Maryland non-apprentice hunting license. The Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP), Safety Education Section provides Hunter Education Courses.

Resident Apprentice Hunting License .................................................................. $15.00

For first-time Maryland resident hunters of any age who never held a Maryland hunting license. Junior hunters may purchase this license annually through age 16.

Nonresident Apprentice Hunting License ............................................................. $40.00

For first-time non-resident hunters of any age who never held a Maryland hunting license. Nonresident junior hunters may purchase this license annually through age 16.

This stamp is required for all persons who hunt migratory game birds (coots, doves, rails, snipe, waterfowl, and woodcock), including persons not required to have a hunting license and holders of senior hunting licenses. Hunters must possess the printed receipt showing proof of purchase of the Maryland Migratory Game Bird Stamp while hunting migratory game birds. An actual stamp will no longer be provided. The Harvest Information Program (HIP) permit (see Migratory Game Birds) is issued in conjunction with the Maryland Migratory Game Bird Stamp.

This stamp (the federal duck stamp) is required for all waterfowl hunters, including those who are not required to purchase a hunting license. Hunters under the age of 16 are exempt. Due to recently signed federal legislation named the Duck Stamp Modernization Act of 2023 a few things regarding the federal duck stamp have changed. First, the electronic Federal Duck Stamp shall remain valid from the day it is sold through the following June 30th, instead of being valid for 45 days from the date of sale. Secondly, the USFWS, through Amplex, shall issue to everyone who purchases an electronic Federal Duck Stamp an actual stamp around March 10, 2025.

One bonus antlered white-tailed deer may be taken with the purchase of a Bonus Antlered Deer Stamp. The Bonus Antlered Deer Stamp must be purchased prior to pursuing a bonus antlered deer. Bonus Antlered Deer Stamps may not be used to take sika deer. Please consult the annual Maryland Guide to Hunting and Trapping for additional restrictions concerning the use of Bonus Antlered Deer Stamps.

*Hunters entitled to hunt without a license do not need to purchase Archery, Muzzleloader, or Bonus Antlered Deer Stamps. Hunters with a Senior Lifetime Consolidated License do not need to purchase Archery or Muzzleloader Stamps but must purchase Bonus Antlered Deer Stamps to take bonus antlered deer.

Exception: Compliance with the Hunter Education and Safety Requirement does not apply to those who are hunting only waterfowl with a Nonresident 3-day Waterfowl and Small Game License (see below) and those shooting under a Regulated Shooting Area Hunting License who are not hunting wild or free flying captive-raised mallards. See below (Regulated Shooting Area Hunting License) and Migratory Game Birds (Regulated Shooting Area Requirements).

Note: RESIDENT Junior Hunters (under 16 years of age) are entitled to a one-time FREE annual hunting license, Archery Stamp, and Muzzleloader Stamp upon successful completion of a Hunter Education Course and submission of the appropriate application to any Department of Natural Resources Licensing and Registration Service Center.

Any person who is trapping or attempting to trap furbearers (beaver, coyote, fisher, gray fox, long-tailed weasel, mink, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, red fox, river otter, and skunk), under the authority of a Furbearer Permit must first obtain a certificate of trapper education from the Department (or a designee of the Department), except that the certificate is not required if the person held a Furbearer Permit during the 2006-07 trapping season (prior to August 1, 2007). Trapper education courses are held statewide. Any similar certificate issued by another state is acceptable as complying with the educational requirements if the privileges are reciprocal for Maryland residents. See Trapper Education Requirement.

Hunters with mobility impairments may obtain a special permit so they may hunt from a vehicle. Applications are available from Department of Natural Resources Regional Wildlife & Heritage Service Offices. A physician must certify your permit application. See the Public Hunting Lands or visit the department's Access for All website for public hunting areas that can assist hunters with mobility impairments. Click here for information about how to apply for the Universal Disability Pass, which has replaced the Hunt from Vehicle Permit.

The lifetime license is available only at the department's Licensing and Registration Service Centers and includes the bow stamp, muzzleloader stamp, sika deer stamp and furbearer permit. The Maryland Migratory Game Bird Stamp is not part of the Complimentary License. The Migratory Game Bird Stamp, Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, and the Big Game Harvest Record are required for each year and can be obtained from a Licensing and Registration Service Center, a sport license agent, or online at:

Maryland residents serving in the United States Armed Forces and stationed in Maryland must purchase a Resident Hunting License before hunting, unless they are on official leave and possess a copy of their official leave orders. Maryland residents serving in the United States Armed Forces, while hunting during official leave in Maryland, do not need to purchase a hunting license, deer stamps, or Department of Natural Resources Managed Hunt Permit; however, they must purchase a Maryland Migratory Game Bird Stamp, a federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, and a Furbearer Permit. You must possess a copy of your official leave orders while hunting and comply with the Hunter Education and Safety Requirement.

Any nonresident serving in the United States Armed Forces whose duty station is in Maryland must purchase a Resident Hunting License before hunting. Any nonresident serving in the United States Armed Forces who is on leave in Maryland, but not stationed in Maryland, must purchase a Nonresident Hunting License before hunting.

Any Maryland veteran who has received a Purple Heart for injuries sustained defending our nation now qualifies for a 50 percent discount on Maryland hunting and fishing licenses. The new discounted rate went into effect July 1, 2017.

It is unlawful to hunt without a valid hunting license in your possession unless you are exempt from this requirement as described in this section. You are not required to possess a hunting license or stamps (except the Maryland Migratory Game Bird Stamp, the Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, and a Furbearer Permit) if you are:

Hunters not required to have a license must obtain a free DNRid number and a free Maryland Big Game Harvest Record if they intend to hunt deer or turkeys. These items may be obtained from a Department of Natural Resources Service Center, Department of Natural Resources Sport License agent or online at dnr.maryland.gov/pages/licensing.aspx.

The bag limit for deer shall be two a day, six a license year. Of the six-deer limit, no more than three may be antlered deer and at least three must be antlerless deer (unless noted in the exceptions below).

The bag limit for deer shall be two a day and five a license year. Of the five-deer limit, no more than two may be antlered deer and at least three must be antlerless deer (unless noted in the exceptions below).

If a deer hunter kills two antlered bucks in a license year, at least one of the bucks must have at least four antler points, one inch or longer, on one side of the antlers (in each of the counties listed above).

Within a license year and within each individual county listed above, before you can take a second antlered deer on private lands in that county (your second buck), you must have taken at least one antlerless deer on private lands in that county. Furthermore, in those counties listed above east of the Blue Ridge Mountains where it is legal to harvest a third antlered deer, before you can take a third antlered deer on private lands in that county (your third buck), you must have taken at least two antlerless deer on private lands in that county.

Within a license year and within each individual county listed above, before you can take a second antlered deer in that county (your second buck), you must have taken at least one antler- less deer in that county. Furthermore, before you can take a third antlered deer in that county (your third buck), you must have taken at least two antlerless deer in that county.

Within a license year and within any city or town, before you can take a second antlered deer in that city or town (your second buck), you must have taken at least one antlerless deer in that city or town. Furthermore, in those cities and towns east of the Blue Ridge Mountains where it is legal to harvest a third antlered deer, before you can take a third antlered deer in that city or town (your third buck), you must have taken at least two antlerless deer in that city or town.

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