WA Hunting Licenses To Go All ‘Digital?’ No More Paper? Find Out More

For decades, many of  you probably remember getting your WA State hunting, fishing or other license on plastic-backed "non-tearable" durable paper. Well, in July, that's gone.

  July 1, WA State Goes Digital

FIsh and Wildlife, citing increased costs of the plastic, paper and production expenses, says July 1st they will no longer offer 'hard copy' licenses.  Hunters, fishermen and others are strongly advised to go digital.

According to Fish and Wildlife:

"New mobile licensing features are now available through the agency’s new MyWDFW mobile application, which launched in December 2025, or the updated Fish Washington® app."

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Now, for those old-school folks, the traditiona license will still be available, but it will look very different than before. After July 8, customers can still get their license printed on regular paper via a WDFW license dealer or WDFW office, but Officials strongly encourage registering and utilizing the new digital tools. So they won't look like this anymore. No more old-school system at all.

According to WDFW Chief Kelly Susswind:

 “Hunters and anglers can now more conveniently buy licenses, report harvests, and display their licensing products directly from their mobile devices, offering an improved experience for customers with the bonus of enhanced data quality for fish and wildlife managers."

WDFW says with most state agencies shifting to digital, the demand for what's called durable license copies has plummetted, and existing tech to produce these hard copies is fast becoming obsolete.

  WDFW Has Information About How to Register and Utilize the Digital Programs

WDFW says the new programs are easily accessible, and provide users with a quick and accurate way to display or show their license, and preserve it as opposed to having to ensure the licenses don't get dropped in water, mud or other ways of weathering them.