simple and easy: Just visit the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Web site at www.azgfd.gov to decide what license or license package suits you or your family best, and make the online purchase using your Visa or MasterCard from the convenience of your own home or office.

“It’s been a long time coming. But the timing is superb for hunting and fishing conditions,” said Game and Fish Deputy Director Bob Broscheid. “Our interior lakes are filling and spilling. There’s a lush green-up in the desert low lands. Plus we have a tremendous snow pack in the high country.”

There is a $1.50 Internet fee for buying your license online — the fee actually pays for the service. Be sure to have a printer handy; you must physically print out the license you purchase online (color or black and white will work).

If you need a little help while purchasing the license online, there is telephone assistance available during normal 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. business hours Monday through Friday by calling (602) 942-3000.

There are lots of hunting and fishing license options available, including some exceptional deals on Family Licenses, so be sure to shop online at Buy a License for the license package that works best for you. You will also find lots of online help deciding where to go on your hunting or fishing adventures.

The Game and Fish Department’s Web site is full of where-to and how-to fishing and hunting information. In fact, you can even subscribe to the weekly fishing report or the Hunter Highlights e-news products and have them delivered directly to your computer.

Agency officials pointed out that the online license sales and other online services were suspended almost three years ago due to workload difficulties the former vendor experienced during the online big game draw process. There is no projected date for when the online hunt draw process will be available online once again, although agency officials are actively working on the issue.

The Game and Fish Department operates on revenue-driven “user pay, user benefit ” business model and relies on non-tax dollars — it receives no tax money from the state’s general fund.