Hunting License Plates

Hunting License Plates was a game we used to play when I was a kid. As we drove around touring the country, we maintained a list of those states and Canadian provinces whose plates we found. The more unusual the find (mostly defined by distance from our NJ home but sometimes by the distance from point of discovery), the more exciting the discovery. Most exciting of all was to find a plate from Canada’s Northwest Territories—it was, and remains, shaped like a polar bear. It’s the only non-rectangular plate issued in North America. This actually ranked above finding a Hawaiian plate despite the difficulty of driving from that particular state to the continent. (Nunavut, a recent addition to the Canadian Provinces carved out of the Northwest Territories, also has a bear shaped tag.)

Terry and I played this game when we toured the US back in 1976 and again, with our kids, back in 1993. It helped pass the miles and keep the kids occupied. We still keep track of the plates we see when traveling, but we also have the fun of looking for unusual vanity plates, too.

Today, hunting plates has become much more difficult. First you need to contend with the rapidly changing design of the states and provinces as well as the many specialty plates each issues. Secondly you have the plate holders on many cars that surround the plates. Too often these holders obscure the names of the states leaving you with only the colors for identification.

Plates Of the US:
Are here.
Plates Of the Canada:
Are here.
Checklist of US and Canadian Plates:
Are here.

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