It’s unlawful to hunt with electronic devices unless they’re permitted by exception.

If the measure is adopted, hunters would be able to use electronic decoys in hunting waterfowl; electronically heated scent or lure dispensers; and electronic devices that distribute ozone gas for scent-control purposes.

The measure is scheduled to be brought back to the September meeting for a final vote.​ The board indicated it will consider adding electronic mourning-dove decoys to the list when it’s brought up for a final vote.

06/26/2017  HIGHLIGHTS FROM TODAY’S COMMISSIONERS MEETING

Courtesy of Pennsylvania Game Commission

Application Schedule

July 10: Residents

July 17: Nonresidents

Aug. 7: Unsold, 1st round

Aug. 21: Unsold, 2nd round

Aug. 28: Over-the-counter sales for WMUs 2B, 5C & 5D

Oct. 2: Over-the-counter sales for all other WMUs

Wildlife Management Units (WMUs)

On the application form, the hunter must enter at least one Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) preference where he or she desires to hunt. The hunter may select up to three WMU preferences on the form. If the first WMU is sold out, the county treasurer will issue the second, or if necessary, the third based on license availability. A guide to WMUs, including boundary maps is found in the 2017-18 Hunting & Trapping Digest.

County Treasurers

Hunters can apply by mailing applications to any county treasurer with the addresses provided in the Digest. The zipcodes for Bedford and Berks counties were listed incorrectly on some handouts. Be sure to use 15522-1713 and 19601-4318 respectively.

Official Envelope

All antlerless deer license applications must be mailed in the official pink envelope. You should have received official envelopes with your license purchase. If you did not receive these envelopes, please contact us at [email protected] or 717-787-4250.

Application Status

You can check to see if you were awarded an antlerless deer license by visiting the Game Commission’s website, clicking “Buy Your License”, then “Buy A License Online.” Select the first option, which includes checking application status.

Do Not Wait

Applications that are received before the dates listed above will be returned. Hunters are encouraged to apply as soon as permissible for the best chance of receiving the Wildlife Management Unit of choice. Last year, the antlerless deer license allocations in each WMU were exhausted. Some WMUs sell out quickly. Check the date that your preferred WMU sold out last year. 

Availability

Check on the remaining availability of antlerless deer licenses throughout the application period by visiting this page.

Note that prior to the first round of antlerless deer license sales, qualified landowner antlerless deer license sales will be reflected in the number of available licenses for each unit.

Pennsylvania hunting and furtaker licenses are on sale!

 Buy your license at any issuing agent or online.

Additional Opportunities

Apply for the Pennsylvania Elk Drawing and DMAP permits through the Outdoor Shop.

License Packet Information

In addition to a 2017-18 hunting/furtaker license buyers will receive:

– a “pocket-guide”
– harvest report cards
– antlerless license applications
– an antlerless license application schedule
– a list of County Treasurer addresses
– two pink antlerless deer application envelopes

The “pocket-guide” contains general hunting regulations, hunting hours, fluorescent orange requirements, a map of the Wildlife Management Units, and season dates and bag limits.

Full 2017-18 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest

License buyers who wish to view the full digest can do so online, or they can opt to purchase a printed digest for $6. Digests will be sold over-the-counter at Game Commission Region Offices and Harrisburg Headquarters. When purchased elsewhere, the digests will be mailed directly to license buyers.

NEW Pheasant Stamp

Pheasant permits are required for all adult and senior hunters, including senior lifetime license buyers, who pursue or harvest pheasants. Junior hunters do not need a pheasant permit to hunt or harvest pheasants. Each pheasant permit costs $26.90, and the permit is required in addition to a general hunting license.

Fiscal Responsibility

By no longer giving free digests to all license buyers, the Game Commission will save significantly on the cost of printing and mailing hundreds of thousands of digests.

By creating a pheasant permit, the Game Commission has established a mechanism to help fund the pheasant program – giving hunters a chance to help sustain the program rather than see it vanish.

Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans explained these decisions are motivated by the agency’s financial situation, which already has caused the Game Commission to eliminate programs and reduce personnel.

“These kinds of reductions in services are necessary as the Game Commission approaches nearly two decades without an increase in the cost of a general hunting or furtaker license,” Burhans said.

Information Courtesy of Email Updates from Pennsylvania Game Commission www.pgc.pa.gov

06/08/2017

HUNTING LICENSES TO GO ON SALE JUNE 19

Pennsylvania hunters and trappers soon will be lining up to purchase their 2017-18 licenses, and they need to be aware of some important changes implemented since this time last year.

Hunting licenses for 2017-18 go on sale June 19. The licenses become valid July 1 and, after that date, all who hunt, trap or who want to apply for an antlerless deer license must have an up-to-date 2017-18 license to do so.

One noticeable change for 2017-18 license buyers is that the full regulations digest typically given out when licenses are purchased is not being provided for free this year.

Instead, all license buyers will receive a complimentary “pocket-guide” that contains general hunting regulations, hunting hours, fluorescent orange requirements, a map of the Wildlife Management Units, and season dates and bag limits.

License buyers who wish to view the full digest can do so online at the www.pgc.pa.gov, or they can opt to purchase a printed digest for $6. Digests will be sold over-the-counter at Game Commission Region Offices and Harrisburg Headquarters. When purchased elsewhere, the digests will be mailed directly to license buyers.

By no longer giving free digests to all license buyers, the Game Commission will save significantly on the cost of printing and mailing hundreds of thousands of digests.

Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans explained this decision is being motivated by the agency’s financial situation, which already has caused the Game Commission to eliminate programs and reduce personnel.

“These kinds of reductions in services are necessary as the Game Commission approaches nearly two decades without an increase in the cost of a general hunting or furtaker license,” Burhans said.

Unlike most state agencies, the Game Commission doesn’t get a share of tax money from the state’s general fund. Instead, funding comes primarily from the sale of licenses, the fees for which are set by the General Assembly.

A challenging fiscal climate also is behind another significant change in 2017-18 – the requirement for all adult and senior pheasant hunters to purchase a permit.

In recent decades, pheasant hunting in Pennsylvania has been possible only through the release of farm-raised pheasants, and the Game Commission’s pheasant propagation program annually has raised and released about 200,000 pheasants or more for hunting statewide. While the program is a popular one, it doesn’t come cheap, costing about $4.7 million annually in recent years.

Steps have been taken to curtail the cost of the program. The Game Commission last year closed two of its four pheasant farms, and the statewide pheasant allocation for 2017-18 has been reduced to 170,000.

By creating a pheasant permit, the Game Commission has established a mechanism to help fund the pheasant program – giving hunters a chance to help sustain the program rather than see it vanish.

Pheasant permits are required for all adult and senior hunters, including senior lifetime license buyers, who pursue or harvest pheasants. Junior hunters do not need a pheasant permit to hunt or harvest pheasants. Each pheasant permit costs $26.90, and the permit is required in addition to a general hunting license.

General hunting licenses and furtaker licenses each continue to cost $20.90 for Pennsylvania residents and $101.90 for nonresidents.

Resident senior hunters and furtakers, ages 65 and older, can purchase one-year licenses for $13.90, or lifetime licenses for $51.90. For $101.90, resident seniors can purchase lifetime combination licenses that afford them hunting and furtaking privileges. Like other hunters and trappers, seniors still need to purchase archery licenses before participating in the archery deer season, bear licenses to pursue bruins, and permits to harvest pheasants, bobcats, fishers or river otters.

A complete list of licensing requirements can be found at www.pgc.pa.gov.

Burhans thanked hunters and trappers for their enduring support of Pennsylvania wildlife through their annual license purchases.

“At any price, the opportunity to spend days afield in Penn’s Woods, carrying on our hunting and trapping heritage, is invaluable,” Burhans said. “Our pheasant hunters are a great example of that. When we first proposed creation of a pheasant permit, many of them stepped up to say they’d gladly pay $50 or a $100 for their permits that would keep the propagation program going and sustain the opportunity to hunt pheasants in Pennsylvania.

“For more than a century, hunters and trappers have funded the conservation of all the Commonwealth’s wildlife, for all Pennsylvanians, and we owe them a debt of gratitude,” Burhans said. “Their contribution not only has produced some of the best deer, bear and turkey hunting in the nation, it’s helped to create and maintain healthy habitat and preserve a diversity of wildlife that can be enjoyed by all statewide.”

Information Courtesy of Email Updates from Pennsylvania Game Commission www.pgc.pa.gov