# Does my girlfriend need a hunting license to sit in the stand



## wilber85

She wont have any weapons or be killing any deer.  She will just be sitting in the stand with me and watching.  Does she still need a license to just sit with me?


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## Robert_Lee

No, not needed. As long as she doesn't have a weapon.


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## Larry Rooks

She is free and clear.  Just don't take a lil nature break and leave her holding the gun, possum police may not
beleive it


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## win270wsm

no she doesn't need a license.


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## wilber85

Great thanks guys...I am hoping to get her in the stand and introduce her to the sport.


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## chadf

A GW told my brother that his needed a license????

GW call I guess? 

We just talked about this te other day, I told him he was crazy......he said that's whatthe GW told him when ge ask.


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## countryborn

A few years back I was going to take my wife so I called the dnr and ask this very question. They told me that she did not need a license but she could not participate in any way. Examples they  gave me were calling or dragging the deer out after it was killed.
Which made me think after i hung up, if you ask your friend to help you drag a deer out of the woods they have to have a license?


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## Dr. Strangelove

From the DNR handbook:

All required hunting licenses and stamps must
be in possession while hunting. Any person hunting or providing
assistance to another hunter must meet applicable licensing requirements
as specified below.

As this reads, yes, anyone sitting in a stand with you would have to have a license.  It would also mean that if someone helped you drag a deer out, he/she would have to have a license.


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## Dead Eye Eddy

Most LEO's, including GW's, have a brain and use common sense.  I seem to always run into the other ones.  I wouldn't hesitate to take a friend into the woods with me to introduce him/her to the sport and/or to help me drag out a deer.  The same goes for having a non-fishing friend in the boat with me while I'm fishing.  If the GW happens along and feels that the friend should have had a license, then I guess I'd pay the fine for my friend, but it's a stupid law.  They're basically telling them

"You can't go along with your friend and see if you might be interested in the sport unless we get our money first."


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## Richard P

Go ahead and get your sweetie a hunting licence. You can consider the payment a donation.


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## lithiahunter

my wife sat in a stand with me a few years back, and we where checked while in stand. we where warned that she must have a lic. while in stand with me while I hunt even though she only watched.


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## Twenty five ought six

Robert_Lee said:


> No, not needed. As long as she doesn't have a weapon.



Wrong answer.



countryborn said:


> A few years back I was going to take my wife so I called the dnr and ask this very question. They told me that she did not need a license but she could not participate in any way. Examples they  gave me were calling or dragging the deer out after it was killed.
> Which made me think after i hung up, if you ask your friend to help you drag a deer out of the woods they have to have a license?





Dr. Strangelove said:


> From the DNR handbook:
> 
> All required hunting licenses and stamps must
> be in possession while hunting. Any person hunting or providing
> assistance to another hunter must meet applicable licensing requirements
> as specified below.
> 
> As this reads, yes, anyone sitting in a stand with you would have to have a license.  It would also mean that if someone helped you drag a deer out, he/she would have to have a license.



There  you have it.  If she helps in any way --sees a deer and points you to it, helps you drag it out, holds your gun while you drag it out, she is providing assistance.

You can argue about whether she is providing assistance, but remember, SHE is the one that will get the ticket, and SHE is the one that will have to deal with it (although YOU will PAY in the long run).

So the better question would be, is it worth aggravation and inconvenience to prove a point to save a few dollars?


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## Curtis-UGA

How often do you see the game warden? Do you think what you are doing is unethical? I wouldn't worry about it! Get her out there! I guess I'm a rebel! I even take my orange off sometimes in the stand!!!


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## Havana Dude

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand yet another stupid rule. A person who is dragging a deer out of the woods is not hunting. If this were so, then the processor better have a license, and anyone who eats the meat should have a license. This is just another poorly worded law, that GW can twist however he/she wants to make it so a ticket is warranted. I MAY can see the point about her pointing out a deer to you that you may not see, but c'mon fellas, have we lost all common sense? Like someone else said, if you feel it is unethical, don't do it. But if you feel like it is no big deal for her to sit with you, then do it.


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## stev

Git her a tag and ya'll kill 20 does & 4 bucks


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## Dub

I agree....buy the liscense and then don't worry about it.  Whey put her at risk.

This is easily fixed.


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## wilber85

The only reason I am not just buying her a license is she is under 25 so that means she has to take hunters safety course first right?   There is no way I am going to be able to talk her into that...This was also sort of a last minute idea so no time for all that.

I have no problem abiding by the law whatever it is.  If she cant point out deer then thats fine by me.  I just want her to be able to sit with me to see what its all about.  I am trying to get her into the sport and dispel any misconceptions she might have in her head.

We arent trying to poach deer or anything.  I am as straight laced as they come but I am just trying to know the law and the way it is worded is difficult to understand.


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## dtala

take her hunting. If she just sits with you she does not have to have a license. Period. 

troy


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## Milkman

Get her the new $3.50 apprentice license each time she wants to go.   It doesnt require the hunters safety course


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## wilber85

Milkman said:


> Get her the new $3.50 apprentice license each time she wants to go.   It doesnt require the hunters safety course



This is a once in a lifetime purchase I believe.


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## bat

This is one of those... "if I drive a buddy to the bank for him to make a deposit and he comes running out and jumps in the car and says go quickly"!  Am I as guilty as he is if I take off speeding away!   

edit:  buy her the ticket, best money you will spend..  at least when she is done with the hunter safety test she will know a lot more about guns and using them safely...  the pros are in your favor whether or not she likes the sport.. she will see that you care for her a lot.


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## donald-f

bat said:


> This is one of those... "if I drive a buddy to the bank for him to make a deposit and he comes running out and jumps in the car and says go quickly"!  Am I as guilty as he is if I take off speeding away!
> YES if he robbed the bank instead of making a deposit it make you the get away driver, GUILTY


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## sgtstinky

Take her hunting, what is the worst thing that could happen? SHE could get the ticket.

Just kidding, I have a hard time believing anyone would write you all a ticket. But who knows, maybe a quick call to your local DNR could provide some insight.


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## Throwback

If they are doing any of this, they need a license. If not they don't. 


> (39) "Hunting" means pursuing, shooting, killing, taking, or capturing wildlife or feral hogs. This term also includes acts such as placing, setting, drawing, or using any device used to take wildlife or feral hogs, whether any such act results in taking or not, and includes every act of assistance to any person in taking or attempting to take such wildlife or feral hogs.



Of course, some on the board will tell you that if it doesn't say it in the reg book it doesn't matter. I wouldn't listen to them though. 




T


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## hornhunter44

GW kindly informed several of us several years ago that coyote hunting over some deer guts that everyone there was considered a participant and therefore had to have a license. There was 2 there that got tickets just for watching. Get the apprentice license and determine if it is something she likes then go from there or don't and take your chances that the GW is not a jerk and sees it for what it is.


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## yelper43

Folks if I could afford it every legal citizen of this state would be carrying a hunting license and a conceled carry permit after a few free tests. But Im gonna have to have alot of help because Im broke. As far as WMAs it takes hunters money to keep hunting, hiking, horseback riding to have a place to go so I say buy a license and a WMA stamp! We have tons of places to enjoy in our state.


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## FL Sportsman

She does not need a license as long as she is not hunting or "assisting." If she's a resident, I'd prolly buy her a license anyway, just in case she may want to actually hunt next time. If she's a non-resident, then I wouldn't be buying one until right before she actually decides she wants to hunt.


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## nickf11

That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. If you get a ticket for the gf not having a license and she's not hunting, the DNR must be extremely bored or desperate. If the law is such, I have broken the law several times when I had my girlfriend or grandad help me drag one. I wouldn't even bother if I was you.


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## emtguy

i think what she was doing would be called sitting in the woods and thats not illegal. To be hunting i would think an intent to kill something would be involved. You dont have to have a lic. to sit in the woods.


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## SneakyOne

emtguy said:


> i think what she was doing would be called sitting in the woods and thats not illegal. To be hunting i would think an intent to kill something would be involved. You dont have to have a lic. to sit in the woods.



VERY well put, emtguy. I completely agree.


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## olcowman

Dead Eye Eddy said:


> Most LEO's, including GW's, have a brain and use common sense.  I seem to always run into the other ones.  I wouldn't hesitate to take a friend into the woods with me to introduce him/her to the sport and/or to help me drag out a deer.  The same goes for having a non-fishing friend in the boat with me while I'm fishing.  If the GW happens along and feels that the friend should have had a license, then I guess I'd pay the fine for my friend, but it's a stupid law.  They're basically telling them
> 
> "You can't go along with your friend and see if you might be interested in the sport unless we get our money first."



Dang that first statement in red, especially when you throw in LEOs in general is just fantasy. The second thing highlighted by the greenish color, well it can't be no plainer in the book... when she/he quits just sitting and a watching and starts "assisting" well that is definately breaking the law right there. Heck if you got you one big and stout enough to drag a deer out for ya, then I'll take her and buy her a license. She can hunt with me and while she drags one out I'll sit and get us another one!

And as far as the highlite in yellow....will you take me hunting over to this place in Alabama we got? I really want to go but the dang license is almost 300 bucks. Come on they hardly ever see the GW?

Back to the original poster... just a hint for you. Really study what you are about to do cause if this is the one for you... it will effect and change your hunting habits, hunting friends and about anything involved with you and the outdoors for the rest of your life. Look at her Mama and any Grandmamas she might have and carefully study how they interact within their own habitats... are they impatient? extremely conversational (won't quit blabbering for even a minute)?, cold natured?, big enough to make you check the weight lilmit on your heavy duty two-person ladder stand? Do any of them look like the sort of women who would be unwilling to hold a urine-sac for you while you cut it away from the anal cavity? Do these look like the kind of women who would really stand beside a man and swear up and down back at camp that it wasn't you that shot and missed that morning.... sounded like it come from them Fla boys over at the next place over? 

I am serious about this and you really need to put some thought into it before making such a big decision. After all it is a known scientific fact that a certain percentage of women go absolutely "bat-fertilizer" crazy a year or two after they get married. Nobody knows why or how, and its real hard to see it coming. So you got to look close at her female relatives and try to pin point certain habits, behavioural patterns and subtle hints at what the future might hold. It took me a time or two to figure it out but I got me 20+ years invested in one now... but I still get nervous sometimes that i might have missed something?


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## pnome

One of those 3-day apprentice licenses only costs $3.50.  Get her one of those.


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## Curtis

If she is 16 or under you are off the hook.  At least as far as the game laws are concerned.


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## wilber85

If she was 16 the game laws are the last laws I would be worried about haha.


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## ALLBEEF

Prolly depends on what she looks like.......


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## RThomas

Milkman said:


> Get her the new $3.50 apprentice license each time she wants to go.   It doesnt require the hunters safety course



Do you need a new one each time you're in the woods?  Here in TN, it's $11 and lasts for an entire year.


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## medic1

Get her the 3 day license. If she enjoys going then she can take the safety course and buy a regular license.


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