A hunting license or hunting permit is a regulatory or legal mechanism to control hunting, both commercial and recreational. A license specifically made for recreational (game) hunting is sometimes called a game license or game permit. Hunting activities beyond the permission of such licensing are typically regarded as poaching and thus wrongful or criminal. Hunting may be regulated formally via game laws issued by a legislature or government agency, or informally by unwritten conventions, self-restraint ethics or moral code among the hunter community. The purposes for requiring hunting licenses include natural resource management, conservation of vulnerable/endangered species and raising tax revenue (often, but not always, to dedicated funds). Some laws require a specific waiting period between application and receiving a license.
History Hunting licenses are millennia old. Amongst the first hunting laws in the Common law tradition was from the time of William the Conqueror (reign in England starting 1066). In the Peterborough Chronicle entry of 1087, The Rime of King William reported in verse that:
Whoever killed a hart or a hind Should be blinded. This was because "William the Conqueror's moral life lives in the landscape. His control of the forest mirrors his control of the people, and his establishment of hunting laws reveals the dissonance between his love for animals and his contempt for the populace: ...".
He loved the wild animals As if he were their father. A whole distinct field of law was created outside of the Common Law, called the Forest Law, in the Middle Ages, although there were some restrictions in Magna Carta.
Purposes
Mandating of hunting licenses are done for several purposes, include:
Public safety, especially of children, both as hunters and bystanders; Management and conservation of wildlife; Revenue or fundraising for the sovereign state or local government; Control of animal-borne diseases such as Lyme disease and rabies. The safety issues are especially highlighted in urban/suburban areas and shopping districts. For example, after in an incident in November 2012 whereby a man allegedly shot at a deer in a Walmart parking lot in Pennsylvania, he was charged with "reckless endangerment, ... hunting without a license, shooting on or across highways and unlawful killing or taking of big game".
Australia All gun owners in Australia must have a firearms licence (see gun laws in Australia), but normally do not require a licence to hunt feral or invasive pest species (e.g. rabbits, foxes and feral pigs). Most introduced species that can be hunted recreationally during open seasons (mostly deers) do still require a hunting licence, whether with firearms or using bows, and almost all native animals (except some duck, quail and kangaroo species) are protected. Landowners may obtain a "Destruction Permit" to kill or remove native species when their numbers impact agriculture. Hunting in New South Wales national parks requires a R-licence issued by the Game Council, but (as of mid-2013) this situation has been suspended pending review. Professional hunters are issued what is sometimes referred to as a D-licence, but rather than being a hunting licence this is a category of firearms licence that includes semi-automatics and large-capacity magazines.
Canada
Hunting regulation and licensing falls under both provincial/territorial and federal jurisdiction. The federal government is responsible for protecting migratory birds and nationally significant wildlife habitat, the regulation for endangered species and the international wildlife issues and treaties (i.e. CITES) for Canada. For example, Migratory Game Bird Hunting licence is issued by the Canadian Wildlife Service, an agency of Environment Canada. All other matters fall under the provincial/territorial jurisdiction. The use of firearms in hunting is also separated into provincial/territorial and federal jurisdiction. Whereas the Canadian Firearms Program will determine who is eligible for a Possession and Acquisition Licence and issuance of firearm registration certificates, it is the provincial/territorial government's responsibility to regulate when and how the firearms can be used in hunting animals. In Quebec hunter education and licensing is managed by the Fédération québécoise des chasseurs et pêcheurs (FédéCP). Sécurité Nature, a program managed by the FédéCP, offers a variety of hunting education courses that allow residents to hunt legally after obtaining their licence and a permit at designated outlets (most hunting & fishing stores, Canadian Tires, etc.) for a fee.
Chile In Chile hunting licenses are issued by the Servicio Agricola Ganadero (SAG) of the Ministry of Agriculture. Small game licenses (defined as animals under 40 kg adult weight, such as birds, and mammals like rabbits, and beaver, among others) and large game licenses (animals such as deer and wild hogs) are issued, which require passing a written test with a percentage of correct answers of 70% for small-game and 85% large-game, and are valid for two calendar years. A gun permit is not needed as air gun and archery are popular methods for hunting, but those with firearms registered for hunting are able to obtain a transport permit for such weapons having a valid hunting license.
Germany
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