Hunter safety · 39 states
Hunter Safety Course Near Me
Hunter education is set by your state, not nationally, so “near me” really means “in my state”. Pick yours below for the birth-year rule that decides whether you need a course at all, what each route costs, and whether you can certify without ever attending in person.
01 — How it works, wherever you are
Nearly every state ties the requirement to a birth date: born before it, and you can buy a licence without a certificate; born on or after it, and you need one. The cutoffs sit decades apart — Kansas uses July 1957, Illinois January 1980 — so two hunters the same age can face opposite answers in neighbouring states. Pennsylvania sets no cutoff at all and asks every first-time buyer to certify.
Three routes lead to the same certificate. An in-person class, usually free and open to all ages; a hybrid, where you study online and then attend one field day; and a fully online course, which most states restrict to adults. Where a state approves several online providers, they issue the same certificate at different prices — which is what the per-state pages line up.
A certificate is generally valid for life and recognised across state lines, so you take the course once.
02 — Pick your state
| State | Certifies fully online | Online course from | In person | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama hunter safety course | 10 and older | Free | Free | ADCNR |
| Arkansas hunter safety course | 16 and older can complete the test online too; 15 and under must print a certificate and test in person | $29.99 | Free | AGFC |
| California hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | $34.95 | — | CDFW |
| Colorado hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | $34.95 | Up to $10 | CPW |
| Delaware hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | $39.95 | Free | DNREC |
| Florida hunter safety course | Florida residents 17+ with prior firearms training FWC recognizes | Free | Free | FWC |
| Georgia hunter safety course | Yes | — | Free | GADNR |
| Illinois hunter safety course | 18 and older | $29 | Free | IDNR |
| Indiana hunter safety course | 12 and older | $34.95 | Free | IDNR |
| Iowa hunter safety course | 18 and older | $39.95 | Free | Iowa DNR |
| Kansas hunter safety course | 18 and older | Free | Free | KDWP |
| Kentucky hunter safety course | Serving members, veterans and retirees of the U.S. Armed Forces, and certified Kentucky peace officers | Free | Free | KDFWR |
| Louisiana hunter safety course | 16 and older | Free | Free | LDWF |
| Maine hunter safety course | Maine residents 16 and older | $29.95 | Free | MDIFW |
| Maryland hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | $29.95 | Free | MD DNR |
| Massachusetts hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | — | Free | MassWildlife |
| Michigan hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | $29.95 | $10 | Michigan DNR |
| Minnesota hunter safety course | 16 and older | $36.50 | — | MN DNR |
| Mississippi hunter safety course | 12 and older, Mississippi residents | $34.95 | Free | MDWFP |
| Missouri hunter safety course | Missouri residents 16 and older | $24.95 | Free | MDC |
| Nebraska hunter safety course | 16 and older | $39.95 | Free | NGPC |
| Nevada hunter safety course | 18+ | $29 | — | NDOW |
| New Hampshire hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | $29 | Up to $5 | NH Fish and Game |
| New Jersey hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | — | Free | NJFW |
| New Mexico hunter safety course | 9+ | Free | — | NMDGF |
| New York hunter safety course | New York residents 11 and older | $29.99 | Free | NYSDEC |
| North Carolina hunter safety course | Anyone | Free | Free | NCWRC |
| Ohio hunter safety course | Ohio residents 12 and older | $24.95 | Free | ODNR |
| Oklahoma hunter safety course | Oklahoma residents 10 and older | — | — | ODWC |
| Oregon hunter safety course | 18 and older | $10 | $10 | ODFW |
| Pennsylvania hunter safety course | 11 and older | Free | Free | PGC |
| South Carolina hunter safety course | Hunters age 10+ | $29.95 | Free | SCDNR |
| Tennessee hunter safety course | 9 and older | Free | Free | TWRA |
| Texas hunter safety course | 17 and older | $39.99 | $15 | TPWD |
| Utah hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | $24.95 | $12 | DWR |
| Virginia hunter safety course | Virginia residents 12 and older | $34.95 | Free | DWR |
| Washington hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | $24.95 | Free | WDFW |
| West Virginia hunter safety course | No — a field day is required | $29 | Free | WVDNR |
| Wisconsin hunter safety course | 18 and older | $38.95 | $10 | WDNR |
Certifying online costs nothing at all in Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
In California, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Utah, Washington and West Virginia the online course carries a fee but does not certify you on its own — you still owe an in-person day, so read the online price there as one part of the total.
A dash means the state publishes no price for that route. Where a figure is shown for an online course it is the cheapest approved provider we found, and approved providers are interchangeable — the cheapest one gets you to the same place.
03 — More states coming
We are adding states in order of how many people search for them. Each page is read from that state's own wildlife agency and carries the date it was verified, so a page appears here only once the fees and the birth-year rule have been checked against the agency itself.