Alaska Seniors and Alaska Disabled Veterans Licenses
and Special Needs Permitting Options

Alaska offers special licenses for resident seniors, resident disabled veterans and several options that accommodate the special needs of our Alaska elderly and disabled hunters and anglers. These range from free or low cost licenses to exemptions from certain regulations that allow meaningful access to hunting opportunity to authorizing someone else to harvest game or fish on your behalf.

Alaska Senior Residents

Alaska residents who are 60 years of age or older and meet the Department of Fish and Game’s residency definition are eligible for a permanent identification card in order to hunt, sport fish, or trap for free. Also, you are not required to purchase a king salmon stamp to fish for king salmon or an Alaska state conservation stamp to hunt waterfowl.

Applicants must be physically present in the State of Alaska to apply.

If at any time a senior resident card holder is no longer a resident of the State of Alaska, their card is immediately void.

The following situations disqualify applicants from receiving the senior resident card; there may be others:

  • Having a resident hunting/fishing license in another state.
  • Being registered to vote in another state.
  • Receiving a tax break on property tax in another state (homestead exemption).
  • Receiving benefits under a claim of residency in another state, territory, or country.

The number printed on your card should be used in lieu of a sport fishing, hunting and trapping license number in all instances where a license number is required (e.g., draw applications, resident big game tags, harvest tickets, etc.). Holders of senior resident card must still obtain permits and harvest cards to participate in any personal use fisheries and hunts that require a permit. Alaska senior residents planning to sportfish for species with annual limits must obtain a free Sport Fishing Harvest Record Card (PDF 94 kB), available online, at license vendors, and at Fish and Game offices, in order to record their harvest of those fish.

Senior Resident Permanent Identification Card Application (or apply for replacement card)

Applicants who meet age and residency requirements will receive a card within 1 day to 4 weeks.

Alaska Resident Disabled Veteran Licenses

The State of Alaska honors our resident disabled veterans (DV) by providing a complimentary permanent identification card in order to hunt, sport fish, or trap to those who meet the Department of Fish and Game’s residency definition and who are certified 50% disabled or greater. See the Alaska Resident Disabled Veteran License section on the Military Licenses page. In addition, those holding this card are not required to purchase a king salmon stamp to fish for king salmon or an Alaska state conservation stamp to hunt waterfowl.

Proxy Hunting & Fishing

Alaska residents who are blind, 65 years of age or older, are physically disabled, or who are developmentally disabled may be eligible to have another Alaska resident hunt or fish for them. If your eligibility is based on a disability, please have your physician complete a physician's affidavit (physically disabled, developmentally disabled), and bring that form to your local Fish and Game office along with your completed proxy form. Fish and Game staff will issue the proxy authorization and discuss any restrictions to proxy hunting or fishing in your area.

Forms and general information can be found at the links below. Forms must be signed by ADF&G to be valid. Contact your local Fish and Game office for current information including any additional restrictions for proxy hunting and fishing.

Permit to Hunt from a Boat in GMUs 1-5, 6D

It is unlawful to take big game from a boat in Game Management Units (GMU) 1–5 (Southeast Alaska) and to take black bears from a boat in GMU 6D (Prince William Sound). However, hunters with physical disabilities may qualify for a special permit allowing them to hunt from a boat in these areas. To legally hunt from a boat under one of these permits the engine must be switched off and progress from the engine’s power must have ceased. Please see the Applicant Instructions for more information on who qualifies for these permits and how to apply.

Completed applications including documentation of disability may only be submitted to ADF&G offices in Anchorage, Palmer, Cordova, Douglas, Sitka, Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan, and Craig. If you have questions about this program, please contact the Permits Section at (907) 465-4148 or dfg.dwc.permits@alaska.gov.

Note to Alaska Physicians: To be consistent with disability ratings issued by government agencies Alaska physicians rating a patient’s percentage of physical disability should base their rating on the patient’s ability to perform life functions, rather than on their ability to hunt.

Definitions: A "person with physical disabilities" is defined in Alaska Statute 16.05.940. (Scroll down to view the definition — terms are listed in alphabetical order.)

Visually Impaired Hunters and Anglers

If you are an Alaskan resident and legally blind, Alaska's laws allow other Alaska residents to harvest game, fish, and shellfish for you.

Alaska Statute 16.05.403 defines a person who is blind as someone who can present either a self-affidavit stating she or he cannot distinguish light from darkness, or an affidavit signed by a licensed physician or a licensed optometrist stating that the beneficiary's central visual acuity does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye, with correcting lenses, or that the beneficiary's widest diameter of visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees.

Affidavit of Blindness (PDF 71 kB)