MN DNR app and licenses

I read in the paper today they passed a bill to allow electronic licenses starting next March. DNR will be coming out with an app that will save all your current licenses and can be shown to the game warden. It also said a photo of your license on your phone will count as well. Licenses can still be bought in bait stores, etc. I’m not sure what these physical printouts will look like because the article said the shiny pieces of blue paper are going away. I’ll have to save one for the sake of posterity. It also said turkeys, etc. can be registered on the app.

I assume you will still need a site tag for big game and wild turkeys.

I think North Dakota went to this format recently because not everyone wants or is capable of using an app on their phone. In those cases, the standard paper license is still acceptable.

FYI you’ve been able to take a photo of your fishing or small game hunting license and use that for years as proof.

gimruis wrote:

FYI you’ve been able to take a photo of your fishing or small game hunting license and use that for years as proof.

Not the lifetime license. One must renew and reprint it every year to be current. Hopefully the app will change this.

I can’t find in the regulations where it says it’s ok to take a photo of your printed license. It’s says if you buy a license on-line, they will text or email you a copy that you can show the conservation officer. Photos can be edited.

Last weekend we got checked on Winnie and wouldn’t you know it, I left my license on the passenger seat of my truck. I usually purchase one of the combo licenses online that gives my wife and I our fishing, plus the hunting licenses for me, and I make a habit to email the PDF to myself every year. Well I told the officer that I had a PDF of my license on my phone, showed it to him, and all we got was a “good enough for me, have a great day”.

TH wrote:

I can’t find in the regulations where it says it’s ok to take a photo of your printed license. It’s says if you buy a license on-line, they will text or email you a copy that you can show the conservation officer. Photos can be edited.

The one you print on-line, could easily be edited also, but it works.

I dont carry my phone most of the time when I am hunting or fishing so I will continue to carry a printed license.

Gim, I think most all wardens would accept a phone Pic of license in the past. But it was their choice. Now it will be in the written law.

Gotcha, thanks.

I still have my trusty flip phone, and if I ever have an extra $1000 laying around I’ll spend it on jigs or side imaging or night crawlers before I buy a “smart phone”. In other words, they better continue to print out paper licenses.

Now get off my lawn you darned kids.

SR

This basically sounds like what WI has for a system. Phone is good everywhere but boundary waters. An example on the Mississippi a guy with a WI license gets checked by a MN Conservation Warden. His/her computer will not access WI info. Paper license required.

ND and WI are so far ahead of MN … just hope the roll out moves better than the DMV upgrades a few years back. ND you can buy your vehicle tags at ATM like kiosks.

I can’t imagine living life without a smart phone … I for one would not be too proud about still relying on a flip phone unless you are over 80 … separate topic I suppose.

Off topic but the bass and crappies are absolutely on fire right now. Not on a walleye lake, but I suspect they are biting too.

MN is using and existing ELS vendor S3. They did the ELS systems in Arkansas, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. So I would love to hear from anyone in those states how its working out for them. I’m glad they aren’t trying to build it themselves, that didn’t work to good for other agencies.

Brittman wrote:

ND you can buy your vehicle tags at ATM like kiosks.

You can buy those here too at a machine right in the grocery store. The Cub Foods near me has had one for at least 2 years now.

Both SD and Iowa have apps for purchasing licenses as well as checking big game.
Both states allow you to put in for big game draws on the apps. Both states still use tags for big game that will be mailed to you.

I have been checked numerous time by wardens in SD. It is pretty easy to open the app on my phone and hand it to the warden.

Technology is great if you choose to use it.

The way I understand the bill is that the days of tagging big game will be over. It is going to be a matter of validating your kill/license.

I think there will still be the option for paper licenses and physical site tags. You can’t get a cell phone signal everywhere, especially in the northern portion of the state. Not everyone is able or willing to use an app on their phone so the traditional options are still available.

Brandt is the vendor for South Dakota and Iowa, They seem to have a larger customer base than the vendor MN chose. They also do a lot of state state park passes.

I will be sad because I collect the blue paper licenses over the years and have a big box of WI and MN ones. One day I added up all my Grouse (small game) licenses and realized I had been paying close to $50 per bird. Yeah, I’m a terrible shot and enjoy long walks in the woods with my old dog, dinner can easily be a steak on the grill instead.

You can have a photo or screen shot of your license in ND too. You do not have to access the internet to be carrying a valid license on your phone. I have only been checked by a ND game warden a couple times. The last time the warden typed in the license # into his computer and all the relevant info was there on his screen. It allows them to validate the dates selected on any physical license that you show them. People have been known to print out a license and then change the dates on-line to extend their time in that state.

WI has their license card. All your licenses are loaded onto the card. Warden just runs your card. Simple.

IN MN you must carry your license with you. e-licenses can be on your phone since they can be purchased online are immediately valid … It should be legal in MN to carry a photo of your license on you phone. The DNR warden can always run your 9 digit ID to verify.

I have either been asked or my kids often asked to show a driver’s license along with the physical hunting license.

Law Breaking Confession:

My wife and I were checked a few summers ago on Pool 4. We both had licenses but my wife didn’t have a printed paper copy. The local CO didn’t care whatsoever and just said “whether it’s paper or phone on the border waters is the least of my worries”. I’ve yet to hear of someone being issued a citation on border waters for having it on a phone or a picture versus a printed copy.

buckybadger wrote:

Law Breaking Confession:

My wife and I were checked a few summers ago on Pool 4. We both had licenses but my wife didn’t have a printed paper copy. The local CO didn’t care whatsoever and just said “whether it’s paper or phone on the border waters is the least of my worries”. I’ve yet to hear of someone being issued a citation on border waters for having it on a phone or a picture versus a printed copy.

Yeah they don’t care about that they’re just glad you have a license. On border waters or up here on p2 I have never even had a CO ask for my photo ID along with the license, and they have never looked up my license number to check if it’s valid. One guy told me all he looks for is the two digit year, asked me to zoom in on it on my phone and hold it up for him to see and then he was gone. There is a reason those 2 digits are the largest text on the whole license.

If there was an easy way to pull up a photo on your sonar screen that would be a great place to store digital licenses without needing a smart phone on board. And much easier to read for the CO on a larger screen.

“If there was an easy way to pull up a photo on your sonar screen that would be a great place to store digital licenses without needing a smart phone on board. And much easier to read for the CO on a larger screen.”

I like that idea!

SR