Six Months Was All It Took Before. HB 855 Changes That To Five Years. Idaho Sold 5,655 Lifetime Certificates In Five Years And Lawmakers Are Not Sure How Many Were Bought By People Who Never Intended To Stay
According to Outdoor Life, Idaho has extended the residency requirement for its lifetime hunting and fishing license from six months to five years, effective July 1, 2026. Governor Brad Little signed House Bill 855 into law in April, making the new requirement the second-longest in the United States after Wyoming’s ten-year mandate.
Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, sponsored the bill after testimony that out-of-state hunters were moving to Idaho for just six months, purchasing a lifetime certificate that grants permanent access to Idaho’s resident tag pool, then returning to their home states. “They get a pretty significant advantage in cost savings and also in the tags they’re able to get,” Petzke said.
Idaho Fish and Game sold 5,655 lifetime certificates between January 2021 and December 2025. Petzke admitted he had no firm data on how many were purchased by short-term residents, but cited hunting podcasts where people openly discussed the plan. Idaho Fish and Game spokesperson Roger Phillips said the issue did not appear significant in his agency’s data but acknowledged “that seems like a pretty drastic approach to get some limited benefits.”
An adult resident combination license costs approximately $145. An adult nonresident combination license costs $264, with an additional $650 for a nonresident elk tag. The gap in cost and tag availability is precisely what made the six-month workaround attractive.
Idaho has now closed it. Five years or nothing.
To check out our previous coverage on US related news, read our articles here.
