Updated on September 8, 2026. Confirm every fee, lottery deadline, and hunter-education rule on the Vermont Fish & Wildlife License Center before you buy. The old /hunt/hunting-and-trapping-licenses URL 404s. This is the field readout, not the proclamation.
| Who this is for | Resident and nonresident whitetail hunters in Vermont. There is no mule deer tag here. |
|---|---|
| Buy it here | Buy online (vtfwdsales), an authorized agent, a district office, or Montpelier. Fee sheet: official license price list. |
| Hunter education | Required for a first hunting license unless you show a previous hunting, combination, archery, or trapping license. Archery needs a separate bowhunter course. Online-only is for Vermont residents 18+. |
| What you actually buy | Hunting (or combo) license = one regular-season buck tag. Archery and muzzleloader are extra licenses. Antlerless on firearms or muzzleloader is a WMU lottery permit. Nonresident small game is not a deer tag. |
| OTC vs draw | Hunting license is OTC. Antlerless for regular and muzzleloader seasons is a summer lottery, then leftovers if any remain. |
| License year | Calendar year: January 1, or the day you buy, through December 31. 2026 licenses went on sale in mid-December 2025. |
| Antlerless / bonus | Archery, youth, and novice can take antlerless without the lottery permit. Regular and both muzzleloader seasons need a WMU-specific permit. Four deer a year; second buck is conditional. |
| WMA / public extras | No second “WMA license.” Green Mountain National Forest, state WMAs, and state forests take the same Vermont deer license. Antlerless permits stay unit-specific. |
| Youth / apprentice | Youth hunting license under 18. Youth deer weekend: 15 or younger, hunter ed, free youth tag, unarmed adult 18+. Mentored hunting is a two-year path, not youth weekend. |
| Where to hunt next | Vermont deer hunting guide · New Hampshire · Maine |
Buy the tag before you book a Killington weekend
I have watched people roll into a Rochester two-track with a New Hampshire license and a story about “it’s the same Green Mountains.” Vermont does not care. Once you are on Vermont dirt — Green Mountain National Forest included — you need a Vermont hunting license. National walkthrough: how to get a hunting license. Seasons and woods: the Vermont hunting guide. This page is only the cart.
Step 1: Hunter education
Vermont will not sell a first hunting license unless you show a hunter-safety certificate or a previous hunting, combination, archery, or trapping license from Vermont, another state, or a Canadian province. That is on the license-buying FAQs. Archery needs hunter education and a bowhunter course. Online-only courses are for Vermont residents 18 or older; nonresidents and anyone under 18 sit an in-person class. Courses are free. Listings: find a certified course. Lost the orange card? Reprint it from the hunter education page or call 802-828-1193.
Step 2: Resident or not
Residency is six months of living in Vermont at the time you buy, and you cannot be claiming residency anywhere else. Owning a Stowe house does not make you a resident. A New Hampshire driver’s license with a camp in Island Pond is a nonresident cart. Confirm on the same FAQs page.
Nonresident hunting licenses are sold over the counter in a normal year. Cost band, last checked September 8, 2026 on the official price list: resident hunting is high-twenties; nonresident hunting is around a hundred; resident archery and muzzleloader add-ons are low-twenties; nonresident archery is high-thirties (or mid-seventies archery-only); nonresident muzzleloader is around forty. Combo hunt/fish is cheaper than buying both. Open that sheet the week you buy. Driving in: planning an out-of-state deer hunt.
Step 3: What goes in the cart
Vermont does not sell one object called “a deer license.” A buck tag comes with every hunting license except the nonresident small-game SKU. From the white-tailed deer FAQs:
- Hunting license (or combo hunt/fish). One legal buck in the 16-day regular season. Youth hunting is under 18.
- Archery-deer license for bow or crossbow. Bowhunter ed on file. One legal buck in archery; antlerless archery is set each June by WMU. Expanded archery (Sept. 15–30, mapped zones) is antlerless only.
- Muzzleloader-deer license for October (antlerless only, plus the permit) and December.
- Antlerless permit for a doe in regular season or either muzzleloader season. Written for one WMU.
- Second buck tag only if you also report an antlerless deer that year and your first buck had three or more points on one antler. One buck per season, four deer a year.
Landowners, their spouse, and minor children may hunt their own land without a hunting or muzzleloader license, except on youth deer and turkey weekends. A nonresident landowner has the same privilege only if the land is not posted. Make your own tag. That is not a Green Mountain National Forest pass.
Step 4: When it goes on sale, and the antlerless clock
Licenses are a calendar-year product. 2026 licenses went on sale in mid-December 2025. Wait until the Friday before November 14 and you will still get a hunting license. What you will not get is a Champlain Valley antlerless permit that already went to the lottery. For 2026, applications opened May 21, closed July 22, and drew August 19 in 19 of 21 WMUs. Unposted landowners get first priority in their home unit. One permit through the lottery; leftovers, if any, are first-come and a different WMU. As of this check the leftover pile was sold out. Dates: antlerless deer lottery.
How you carry it, tag it, and report it
Adults may carry an electronic copy. Minors still need a physical license signed by a parent or guardian. Tags have to be on you while you hunt big game. Tag the deer before you move it. Mechanics: how to tag a deer. Report within 48 hours. Do not haul an unreported carcass across a state line. Archery and muzzleloader harvests can go through the online reporting system except archery taken during the regular-season overlap. Youth, novice, and regular-season deer are in-person at a Big Game Reporting Station or to a warden. Field-dress first. Be with the carcass on the ride. Tree-stand habits: tree stand safety.
CWD has not been detected in Vermont. Whole carcasses from CWD states and provinces — New York and Quebec included — cannot enter except boneless meat, cleaned skull caps, and the listed exceptions. Natural deer urine is banned. See CWD in deer.
Public land does not need a second license — the unit still matters
State wildlife management areas, state forests, and Green Mountain National Forest take the same Vermont deer license. There is no extra “WMA stamp.” What they do not take is an antlerless permit written for a different WMU, or a New Hampshire license because the Long Trail looks the same from the trailhead. WMA how-to: what is a wildlife management area. Forest: hunting national forest land. Woods list: the state hunting guide and public land deer hunting. Most deer habitat is still private. Unposted land is open except on youth and novice weekend, when you need permission even if it is not posted. Baiting is illegal. Hunter orange is not required by law; I still wear it in November.
Youth and first-timers
Hunters under 18 buy a youth hunting license. Youth deer weekend in 2026 is November 7–8: 15 or younger, hunter ed finished, a hunting license, a free youth tag, and an unarmed adult 18+. Mentored licenses are not legal that weekend. Either-sex. Permission required on all private land. Details: youth deer weekend. Novice weekend is the same two days for hunters 16 or older who bought their first hunting or combo license within one year of that weekend. Get the novice tag. The landowner-license exemption does not apply. Page: novice deer hunting weekend.
Mentored hunting is the other first-timer path: never held a hunting license, never finished hunter ed, two calendar years only. Hunt within 15 feet of a licensed adult 21 or older. The deer counts on the adult’s bag. It is not youth weekend. Rules: mentored hunting license. Field side: deer hunting for beginners.
Common ways this goes wrong
- Buying nonresident small game and thinking it tags a deer.
- A New Hampshire or New York license on Green Mountain National Forest.
- Bowhunting on a firearms hunter-ed card with no bowhunter certificate.
- A mentored license on youth weekend.
- An antlerless permit for the wrong WMU, or a doe in November without one.
- Online-only hunter ed as a nonresident or as a 17-year-old.
- Reporting a regular-season buck online, or rolling an unreported carcass into New Hampshire.
Where to hunt once the tag is in the truck
Start with the Vermont deer hunting guide for seasons, Sunday hunting, baiting, and the public-land list. New Hampshire and Maine are sibling trips, not a same-license cheat — Maine still closes Sunday. Across the line: White Mountain National Forest. Other license how-tos: Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Michigan. Overlooked woods: where to hunt. After-dark collisions: what to do if you hit a deer.
Parent hub: how to get licensed · deer hunting · hunting by state.
FAQ
Can a nonresident buy a Vermont deer license over the counter? Yes, for the hunting license that tags one regular-season buck. Archery and muzzleloader add-ons are OTC too. Antlerless is a lottery, then leftovers if any remain. Confirm on the License Center.
Do I need hunter education? For a first hunting license, yes, unless you can show a previous hunting, combination, archery, or trapping license. Bowhunting still needs the bowhunter course.
Does a New Hampshire license work on Green Mountain National Forest? No. Vermont dirt takes a Vermont license.
Can I hunt Sunday? Yes. Vermont is not Maine.
Where do I report a deer? Within 48 hours. Online for most archery and muzzleloader harvests; in person for youth, novice, and regular season.