Permits for Hunters and Trappers

Lottery Permit Application Process

For permit and license fees, see License Information and Fees.

A lottery is conducted to allocate turkey, beaver, otter and black bear hunting or trapping permits; application is required for these lottery permits. There is no lottery for deer permits. To receive certain permits you must first apply for the lottery. The application period is listed below with each permit type. Apply at license agents or via the Internet. Be sure to have your Conservation ID (CID) number on hand. A non-refundable $2 application fee is charged for each lottery application.

Hunters or trappers will have three choices in each lottery. If you will accept a permit only for one particular zone (and/or period), complete only a first choice selection. There is no obligation to select a second or third choice; these are optional. When an applicant’s first choice cannot be filled, the computer will check for the second choice listed. If this selection is also sold out, the computer will check for your third choice. Each lottery is completely random and awards only ONE permit — not three. Your chance of winning a permit in the lottery depends on the number of applicants and the number of permits allocated (permit quota.)

Application via the Internet—Before You Start

• Know your Conservation ID (CID) number or Social Security Number and date of birth (DOB).
• Know your desired permit zone and, if applicable, time period or season. Note: After a period of inactivity, the Internet transaction will time out, requiring you to start over from the beginning.
• Have your payment ready. Internet transactions may be paid either by electronic check (e-check) or major credit card. For e-check transactions, have ready your bank routing number and your check book before you begin.
• During every transaction, there are several opportunities to review your information for accuracy. A complete review at each step will allow you to make corrections, if necessary. Once a purchase transaction is complete there will be NO refunds or exchanges. Permit applicants will have the opportunity to edit their application at any time during the permit application period; see Changing Your Lottery Application, below. Applicants are responsible to make application carefully. When the process is complete, print the confirmation page or note the transaction number for your records.

Application at License Agent Locations—Know Before You Go

• Know your Conservation ID (CID) number or Social Security Number and date of birth (DOB.)
• Know your desired permit zone and, if applicable time period or season. The store proprietor or clerk is not responsible to know the zone/area of your hunting/trapping property. Be sure to review the map and zone descriptions at home before you arrive at the license agent. Not sure of your area? Use a county map, then follow the zone or area description shown either on Fish and Wildlife’s website, NJFishandWildlife.com/ahrs.htm, in this hunting Digest or in the turkey permit supplement to drive around the zone boundary.
• To speed your transaction, write down your information (CID#, DOB, lottery type, first, second and third choices) and hand it to the license agent.
• NOTE for applying at license agents: Agents using a VeriFone® machine (a special keypad) can print a transaction receipt, but might do so only at your request. Therefore, you should ask for a receipt of the transaction. This receipt will list your choices and the transaction number. Agents using Web-based (computer) systems may or may not be able to print a receipt. ASK FIRST! When an agent cannot print a receipt, it’s important to have the clerk orally verify your application choices and to provide your transaction number. Keep this transaction number; it can be helpful should a problem occur with your application.
• Each agent decides what types of payment to accept. Learn this in advance, then have the correct payment ready when you arrive.

Changing Your Lottery Application

Regardless of where or how you applied for a lottery, applicants may review their information at any time from any computer with Internet access. Check your application status or edit your application if you discover a correction is necessary. With your CID and DOB, visit www.NJ.WildlifeLicense.com to access your profile and follow the prompts. Applications may be edited only during the actual application period. Once the application period is closed, it is impossible to change your application. License agents and Fish and Wildlife offices DO NOT have the ability to change your application once submitted. Only you can make changes, so take care during the application process.

Application Status Check

Hunters and trappers may check their application status at any time. Go to the licensing website (www.NJ.WildlifeLicense.com) to access your profile using your CID and DOB, then follow the prompts. The license system displays if the lottery has been run and if you won a permit. When the system shows ‘pending,’ the lottery has not been completed. During the application period the system displays your application as ‘pending.’

Notification of Lottery Results (Did you win a permit?)

Once the lottery is complete, applicants will be notified of their results. When hunters or trappers first apply, the system may have asked your choice for either e-mail or postcard lottery results notification. For those who choose e-mail, be sure to review your junk or spam e-mail filters so the lottery results notification is accepted by your computer. When applying at a license agent, applicants may or may not be asked to choose a notification mode. Some license issuing machines must use the default method of mailing a postcard notification. Applicants who don’t receive notification by the date posted in this Digest can check their application status online.

Claiming Your Permit

Lottery permit winners may claim their permit(s) by going to any license agent or via the Internet. See the corresponding lottery permit “pick up” dates listed in this Digest for beaver/otter, black bear and fall turkey permits. Recall that at the time of application, you paid only the non-refundable $2 application fee; the actual permit fee must still be paid. At license agents, be sure to bring your CID; tell the agent you’re there to pick up your Fish and Wildlife-awarded lottery permit. Permits claimed via the Internet are subject to an additional convenience fee and will take 7–10 business days to arrive.

Purchasing Non-lottery and Unclaimed Lottery Permits

Leftover (unclaimed) lottery permits and non-lottery permits are available at license agents and online. Internet permit purchases CANNOT be printed at home. Plan ahead, as it may take 7–10 business days for your permit(s) to arrive. During every transaction there are several opportunities to review your information for accuracy. A complete review at each step will allow you to make corrections now, if necessary.
Note: Once a purchase transaction is complete there will be NO refunds or exchanges. When purchasing permits at a license agent, speed your transaction by presenting to the agent a written note with your CID# and DOB, plus the season and zone of your permit choices.

Beaver and Otter Permits

• Beaver and otter trapping are allowed by special permit only.
• Additional information—including the zone map and descriptions—becomes available Sept. 12 on Fish and Wildlife’s website, NJFishandWildlife.com.
• Application period: Oct. 1–31.
• Leftover permits, if available, will be sold at all license agents and at Fish and Wildlife’s Internet license sales site. Award notifications will go out during the week of Nov. 13. Successful applicants may begin to claim their awards on Nov. 13. Beaver and Otter Permits awarded in the lottery must be claimed prior to 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 3. Awarded permits that are not claimed prior to 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 3 will be returned to the quota and become available for sale over the counter. Leftover and unclaimed permits will become available for sale beginning at 10 a.m. on MONDAY, Dec. 10, 2012. However, trappers may possess only one Special River Otter Trapping Permit. Permits will be available at all license agents and via the Internet. For leftover and unclaimed permit availability, see our website late in the afternoon of Thursday, December 6, 2012 .
• For trapping season information including regulations, season dates and bag limits see Trapping Regulations .

Black Bear Hunting Permits

A total of 10,000 black bear hunting permits, allocated by black bear hunting areas, will be available to properly licensed hunters and farmer hunters. There will be two lotteries this year. Black bear hunters are limited to two permits, however only one bear may be taken, regardless of the number of permits one possesses. Only two applications may be submitted per individual—one application for an initial permit lottery and one application for a secondary/leftover permit for a different bear management zone.

Application can be made at any license agent or online on our Internet sales site. Hunters are limited to two black bear hunting permits, however they must be for different zones. Application fee: $2 per lottery. Application period: Sept 14–Oct 15.

Award notifications and permit pick-up period begins on October 22. Permits awarded in the lottery must be claimed prior to 11:59 P.M. on SUNDAY, November 11.

Any leftover and unclaimed permits will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. Permits will be available for sale at all license agents and on our Internet sales site. Leftover permit availability will be posted on our website by the end of the day on Tuesday, November 13, 2012.

Special Coyote, Red and Gray Fox Hunting Permits

• A $2 permit is required to hunt coyote, red or gray fox during the special permit season from Jan. 1–March. 15.
• Permits will be available at any license agent or via Fish and Wildlife’s Internet license sales site beginning Dec. 3, 2012. A 2013 hunting license must be purchased prior to, or in conjunction with, the purchase of a 2013 Coyote/Fox Permit.
• For season details, see Coyote and Fox Hunting Regulations .

Deer Hunting Permits

Permits are required to hunt during the Permit Bow, Permit Muzzleloader and Permit Shotgun deer seasons. There will be no lottery for deer permits this year. See Special Areas for specific deer permit requirements on those properties.

Permits may be purchased either at a license agent or at Fish and Wildlife’s Internet license sales site www.NJ.WildlifeLicense.com. For details, see Deer Season Permits.

Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) Permits

DMAP allows landowners, administrative agencies, municipalities, organizations and managers to improve localized deer management success by allocating additional hunting permits for problem properties located within deer management zones that have restricted bag limits. See also Permits for Farmers for more information and contact numbers. Visit our website at NJFishandWildlife.com/dmap.htm for details.

Farmer Permits

See Farmer Hunting and Permit Information .

Falconry Permits

Hunting with raptors (birds of prey) is allowed only with both a falconry permit and a hunting license. For hunting regulations see Falconry under General Hunting Regulations.

Rifle Permits

A valid rifle permit is required, and must be in possession, while hunting coyote, deer (during the permit muzzleloader season, including with the use of a single projectile smooth-bore muzzleloader), fox, squirrel and woodchuck with a muzzleloading rifle; raccoon and opossum hunting with a .22 caliber rifle; and for dispatching trapped animals, other than muskrat, with a .22 caliber rifle. Initial rifle permit applicants must be at least 10 years old and have successfully completed a rifle Hunter Education Course.

• Rifle permits may be purchased at license agents or at Fish and Wildlife’s Internet license sales site. Rifle permits are valid for all ages of permit holders.
• Rifle permits are valid from July 1–June 30.

Turkey Hunting Permits, General

• Turkey hunting is by permit only. For turkey season details, see Fall & Spring Wild Turkey Hunting .
• Spring and fall permit applications are handled on two separate applications; only one application may be made for each season.
• Complete instructions for the 2013 Spring Gobbler season will be detailed in the 2013 Wild Turkey Hunting Season Permit Supplement, available in late January at license agents, Fish and Wildlife offices, and on our website at NJFishandWildlife.com.

Turkey Permits, 2012 Fall Season

• Fall turkey hunting is by permit only.
• The 2012 fall turkey permit lottery application period is Aug. 1–Aug. 31.
• Award notification and permit pickup will begin Sept. 10.
• All permits awarded in the lottery will be held until 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 30. Unclaimed, awarded permits will be placed in the over-the-counter sale. Application fee(s) will not be refunded for unclaimed permits.
• Leftover permits will go on sale beginning Tuesday, Oct. 2, at 10 a.m., first come, first served, at license agents and at Fish and Wildlife’s Internet sales site www.NJ.WildlifeLicense.com.
• Detailed information on the application procedures, season dates, bag limits, permit quotas and the status of available permits are available in the 2012 Wild Turkey Hunting Season Permit Supplement, which can be found on Fish and Wildlife’s website or at license agents.

Permits for Hunters with Disabling Conditions

A permit to use alternative methods/equipment for taking game during the prescribed seasons for certain physically challenged persons may be issued. The application period is Jan. 1 to Aug. 31 of each year.

Permits to Shoot from a Standing Vehicle

A permit to hunt or shoot from a standing vehicle that is parked off the road may be issued to licensed hunters who:

1. have a permanent or irreversible physical disability that limits their ambulatory ability,
2. suffer from cardiovascular disease and are classified as Class 3 or 4 heart patients according to American Heart Association standards, or
3. suffer from chronic lung disease. This permit will be issued if the need is certified by a licensed physician or chiropractor.

Individuals hunting with a permit to hunt or shoot from a motor vehicle must mark the vehicle being used for the purpose of hunting either with handicapped license plates issued by the Motor Vehicle Commission or by displaying a sign provided by Fish and Wildlife in the rear window of the vehicle being used.

Additional information about permits for hunters with disabling conditions is available by calling (609) 292-1473 or by writing: NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, Handicapped Permits, MC501-03, P.O. Box 420, Trenton, NJ 08625-0420 or downloaded directly from our website: NJFishandWildlife.com/disinfo.htm.

Permits, Other

Captive Wildlife Permits

The possession, ownership and release of wildlife is regulated and allowed only for limited purposes. Information and applications may be obtained online or by calling:

• Nongame and exotics permits at (908) 735-5450, NJFishandWildlife.com/exotic_apps.htm;
• Game birds and mammals: (908) 735-7040, NJFishandWildlife.com/captpermits.htm.

Deer Road-kill Permits

Deer accidentally killed by motor vehicles may be possessed only for private consumption by obtaining a free permit from the local police department or from a Fish and Wildlife regional law enforcement office. The permit authorizes only possession of the meat for consumption and is valid only for 90 days. The possession of all other parts such as antlers, under terms of this permit, are expressly prohibited. Wrapped venison packages must be labeled with the permit number.