Boy, ain't that the truth! I live in Colorado now, so every year I go through the process of reading the brochures, figuring out what licenses I want to apply for, filling out all the forms, and so on. I used to live in North Carolina. There I would go to the sporting goods store in the spring and buy a "sportsman's license." It cost $40 and covered all hunting and fishing, and included 5 deer tags, a bear tag, a wild hog tag, and two turkey tags.

...and the DOW in Colorado wonders why hunter numbers are dwindling!

I know! I moved to Minnesota from Wisconsin, both have similar licensing to what you did in NC. In WI I could get a "sportsmans" license that let me hunt firearm deer, small game and fish. Wi also has a "conservation patron" license that gives you access to EVERYTHING (small game, deer, bear, fishing, turkey, etc. and all stamps except Fed duck stamp) not to mention they send you all the applications for draws ahead of time so you don't have to go and get them! My buddy still lives in WI and that's what he does, it's great!

I sure wish all the states were the same but then the federal gov. would be in charge of it. I remember when I was 16 we bought a combo license. could hunt deer small game and fish. Now it's all separate, And have to draw on all big game tags. with only one. But we have special hunts, So What it still takes 6 months to know what you get to hunt in the fall.