License Exemptions

If You Hunt or Fish in Tennessee the Following Applies:

If you take, or attempt to take fish or game (including crayfish and salamanders) by any method or if you assist someone else to do so, you must have a valid fishing or hunting license. There are some exceptions:

• Residents or nonresidents under 13 years of age.
• Landowners, their spouses, children, and children's spouses who fish or hunt on their own farmland. The aforementioned must be residents of Tennessee but need not reside on the land. This license exemption does not apply if the farmland is owned jointly or in common by unrelated persons.
• Tenants, their spouses and their dependent children who fish or hunt on farmland which is owned by an individual or a family. The aforementioned must be residents of Tennessee and must actually reside on the land and have permission of the landowner to fish or hunt. A tenant is a person who, for money, free rent or other consideration, cares for farmland. The tenancy must be agricultural in nature.
• Resident grandchildren (under the age of 16) and resident great-grandchildren (under the age of 16) who fish or hunt on farmland which is owned by their resident grandparents or great-grandparents. (See Farmland Owner License Exemption Statement)
• First cousins who own farmland jointly or in common may fish or hunt on the farmland. Their children may fish or hunt as well.
• On military leave, carrying a copy of your leave orders. A pass does not meet this requirement.
• A resident who was born before March 1, 1926. (To qualify for this exemption, you must carry proof of your age and residency to show to a wildlife officer, if requested.)
• It’s Bobby Wilson Free Fishing Day! June 7, 2025 (see below).
• It’s Free Fishing Week! All children, ages 15 and younger can fish free between June 7–13 (see below).
• Free Hunting Day! August 24, 2024

Persons hunting without a license under a resident farmland owner exemption must complete and sign a statement attesting where the property is located and how this land qualifies for a landowner exemption. Persons may complete the form in advance and carry it with them while hunting or they may complete the form when requested in the field by a TWRA official or when checking game. A form is provided: Farmland Owner License Exemption Statement. Additional forms are available at TWRA offices and TWRA’s website (www.tnwildlife.org). Landowners and their children hunting on their parent’s land under this exemption are also exempt from Hunter Education Certification requirements and blaze orange requirements.

NOTE: Giving false information to obtain a license is a misdemeanor punishable by fine and loss of license. Licenses are not transferable.