Commissioners allocate 838,000 antlerless licenses for 2018-19.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave final approval to hunting and trapping seasons and bag limits for the 2018-19 license year.

A list of all seasons and bag limits appears at the end of this news release.

The commissioners also set the number of antlerless deer licenses to be allocated, as well as the number of elk licenses to be allocated for the coming license year.

The board voted to allocate 838,000 antlerless deer licenses statewide, which is up from the 804,000 licenses allocated for 2017-18. Allocations by Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) are as follows, with the allocation from the previous license year appearing in parentheses: WMU 1A – 48,000 (52,000); WMU 1B – 37,000 (35,000); WMU 2A – 49,000 (50,000); WMU 2B – 58,000 (60,000); WMU 2C – 44,000 (31,000); WMU 2D – 63,000 (55,000); WMU 2E – 27,000 (22,000); WMU 2F – 23,000 (24,000); WMU 2G – 30,000 (25,500); WMU 2H – 6,000 (7,000); WMU 3A – 22,000 (20,000); WMU 3B – 29,000 (30,000); WMU 3C – 38,000 (42,000); WMU 3D – 25,000 (25,000); WMU 4A – 38,000 (30,000); WMU 4B – 26,000 (26,000); WMU 4C – 30,000 (29,000); WMU 4D – 34,000 (34,000); WMU 4E – 32,000 (27,500); WMU 5A – 23,000 (22,000); WMU 5B – 58,000 (57,000); WMU 5C – 70,000 (70,000); and WMU 5D – 28,000 (30,000).

Hunting licenses for 2018-19 go on sale in mid-June and become effective July 1. After hunters purchase a general hunting license, they may apply for antlerless deer licenses based on staggered timelines, which will be outlined in the 2018-19 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest to be made available online.

The board also voted to issue 125 elk licenses (26 antlered, 99 antlerless) for the 2018 hunt.

The licenses again will be awarded by lottery, and the deadline to enter the drawing is July 31.

Elk applications cost $10.90, and only one application may be submitted each license year.

Other modifications approved for the 2018-19 seasons include: extending the statewide archery deer season to Monday, Nov. 12 to include the Veterans Day holiday; eliminating the hen pheasant restriction in WMUs 2A, 2C, 4C, and 5B; implementing a new four-day extended black bear firearms season in WMUs 4A and 5A; increasing from four days to six days the length of the extended black bear firearms season in WMU 3A; extending hunting hours for mourning doves from one-half hour before sunrise until sunset in all season segments; and opening WMUs 4B and 4C to fisher trapping.

Several highlights pertaining to the 2018-19 seasons follow.

Courtesy PA Game Commission  www.pgc.pa.gov

COYOTES: No closed season. Unlimited. Outside of any big game season (deer, bear, elk and turkey), coyotes may be taken with a hunting license or a furtaker license, and without wearing orange. During any big game season, coyotes may be taken while lawfully hunting big game or with a furtaker license.

RACCOONS and FOXES: Oct. 20-Feb. 16, unlimited.

OPOSSUM, STRIPED SKUNKS and WEASELS: No closed season, except Sundays. No limits.

BOBCAT (WMUs 2A, 2C, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4C, 4D and 4E): Jan. 12-Feb. 6. One bobcat per license year. Licensed furtakers may obtain one permit each.

PORCUPINES: Sept. 1-March 30, 2019. (3 daily, season limit of 10).

Courtesy PA Game Commission  www.pgc.pa.gov

 

MINKS and MUSKRATS: Nov. 17-Jan. 6. Unlimited.

COYOTES, FOXES, OPOSSUMS, RACCOONS, STRIPED SKUNKS and WEASELS: Oct. 21–Feb. 17. No limit.

COYOTES and FOXES (Statewide) Cable Restraints: Dec. 26-Feb. 17. No limit. Participants must pass cable restraint certification course.

BEAVERS (Statewide): Dec. 26-March 31 (Limits vary depending on WMU).

BOBCATS (WMUs 2A, 2C, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4C, 4D and 4E): Dec. 15-Jan. 6.

One bobcat per license year. Licensed furtakers may obtain one permit each.

FISHERS (WMUs 1B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 2H, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E): Dec. 15-26. One fisher per license year. Licensed furtakers may obtain one permit each.

RIVER OTTERS (WMUs 3C and 3D): Feb. 16-23, 2019. One river otter per license year. Licensed furtakers may obtain one permit each.

Courtesy PA Game Commission  www.pgc.pa.gov

SQUIRRELS (combined) Sept. 1-March 30, 2019 (6 daily, 18 possession)

BOBWHITE QUAIL Sept. 1-March 30, 2019 (8 daily, 24 possession)

RUFFED GROUSE Sept. 1-March 30, 2019 (2 daily, 6 possession)

COTTONTAIL RABBITS Sept. 1-March 30, 2019 (4 daily, 12 possession)

SNOWSHOE OR VARYING HARES Sept. 1-March 30, 2019 (1 daily, 3 possession)

RINGNECK PHEASANTS (Male or Female combined): Sept. 1-March 30, 2019 (6 daily, 18 possession)

No open season on other wild birds or mammals.

Waterfowl and Migratory Game Bird seasons to be established in accordance with federal regulations at a later date.

Courtesy PA Game Commission  www.pgc.pa.gov

Those who held lifetime licenses when regulation became effective no longer need permit.

Any Pennsylvania hunter who held a senior lifetime hunting or combination license prior to May 13, 2017 will not need to purchase a pheasant permit to hunt pheasants in the 2018-19 license year.

The pheasant permit was created last year as a way to help offset the costs of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s pheasant propagation program. In its first year, the $26.90 permit was required for all adult and senior pheasant hunters, including senior lifetime license buyers.

The requirement for a permit officially became regulation on May 13, 2017.

And the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today voted to allow hunters who held senior lifetime hunting or combination licenses prior to May 13, 2017 to hunt pheasant without obtaining a permit.

Adult pheasant hunters still will need to purchase the permit; junior pheasant hunters will need a free permit in 2018-19.

The pheasant permit was one of several initiatives by the Game Commission to make the pheasant propagation program more cost-effective. The agency in recent years closed two of its four pheasant farms, and began purchasing day-old chicks from private propagators rather than carrying over breeding pheasants and raising chicks from eggs.

Through these measures the annual costs of the program have been reduced from about $4.7 million to about $2.3 million. Additionally, the pheasant permit in its first year generated more than $1.1 million to help offset those costs.

Commissioners said the reduced overall costs of the program have made it easier to grandfather-in those pheasant hunters who held senior lifetime licenses at the time the permit became official. 

Nearly 43,000 hunters purchased a pheasant permit, and about 4,300 of them were senior lifetime license buyers.

Courtesy PA Game Commission  www.pgc.pa.gov

As they have through the years, commissioners endorse expanded Sunday hunting opportunities.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today reaffirmed its support of legislative action that would allow for expanded Sunday hunting opportunities.

The resolution adopted by the board is in response to a direct request from the nonprofit group Hunters United for Sunday Hunting, a representative of which testified to the board on Monday.

The resolution is at least the third the Board of Game Commissioners has adopted over the years in support of expanded Sunday hunting. The board’s support has remained consistent through the regular turnover of commissioners due to terms expiring and replacements being appointed.

The resolution adopted today is as follows:

“WHEREAS, The Commonwealth has experienced consistent declines in hunting participation by both resident and non-resident hunters over the past several decades, with both the number of licenses sold and revenues generated experiencing steady declines; and

“WHEREAS, Youth participation is vital to maintaining the long-standing tradition of hunting in the Commonwealth; and

“WHEREAS, Sunday hunting can be an effective means of recruiting new hunters and retaining current hunters by increasing the value of the hunting license through offering additional opportunities to spend time in the field; and

“WHEREAS, The Commission recognizes that it can effectively double the number of hunting days for youths during the school year by offering Sunday hunting; and

“WHEREAS, Many residents of this Commonwealth seek hunting opportunities and hunting leases in neighboring states that offer Sunday hunting; and

“WHEREAS, The Commission recognizes that Sunday hunting will help keep Pennsylvania hunters in Pennsylvania; and

“WHEREAS, The Commonwealth has a long-standing tradition of hunting camps and clubs; and

“WHEREAS, Sunday hunting can effectively double the number of hunting days for camp owners and club members; and

“WHEREAS, Sunday hunting has the potential to generate a substantial increase in nonresident  license sales and the accompanying revenue for the Pennsylvania Game Commission; and

“WHEREAS, hunting license sales and their associated federal matching funds are the primary revenue source for the Pennsylvania Game Commission in carrying out its mission, including maintaining 1.5 million acres of state game lands and acquisition of additional public lands, research and management of wildlife and providing information and education to the public; and

“WHEREASs, Sunday hunting has the potential to provide substantial economic benefits to rural areas and businesses by increasing money spent by hunters on lodging, food, gas and other incidental items; and

“WHEREAS, Sunday hunting could effectively generate $629 million in additional spending and create 5,300 new jobs, resulting in $18 million in additional sales and income tax; and

“WHEREAS, The mission of the Pennsylvania Game Commission is to manage wildlife and its habitat for current and future generations; and

“WHEREAS, Sunday hunting, which is currently permitted to control a growing population of coyotes, will provide the biologists of the Pennsylvania Game Commission a new tool to manage wildlife populations; and

“WHEREAS, The 47 states that currently permit Sunday hunting, have not experienced any discernable impact on the health or vibrancy of game populations; and

“WHEREAS, The Board of Commissioners recognizes that the authority to permit Sunday hunting lies entirely with the General Assembly of Pennsylvania; and

“WHEREAS, If the General Assembly repeals the restrictions on Sunday hunting, thus giving the authority to regulate Sunday hunting to the Board of Commissioners, the Board recognizes the many stakeholder groups that any actions on Sunday hunting will affect and will endeavor to engage these stakeholders before passing any new regulations in regard to Sunday hunting.

“NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners of the Pennsylvania Game Commission does hereby urge the General Assembly of Pennsylvania to repeal the prohibition on Sunday hunting in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

“Given under the hand and seal of the Board of Commissioners of the Pennsylvania Game Commission on this 24^th day of April, 2018.”

Courtesy PA Game Commission  www.pgc.pa.gov

 

By quantifying youth participation, permit could help bring federal dollars to program.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today adopted a measure that requires junior hunters to obtain a free pheasant permit to hunt pheasants in Pennsylvania.

Previously, junior hunters did not need a permit, which is required for adult and some senior hunters who pursue pheasants.

Issuance of a free permit to junior hunters will help the Game Commission quantify the number of youth participating in pheasant hunting annually – data that might entitle the agency to additional funding for its pheasant program through federal hunter recruitment funding initiatives.

The measure adopted by the board also removes the requirement to obtain a permit for individuals hunting and taking privately acquired propagated pheasants on private lands. The exemption does not apply to private lands designated by agreement as cooperative access lands, and all pheasants hunted taken or possessed through this exemption need to be appropriately banded, tagged, marked or receipted.

Courtesy PA Game Commission  www.pgc.pa.gov

Permitted for years in Special Regulations Areas, semiautomatic slug guns get statewide approval.

Semiautomatic centerfire shotguns that propel single-projectile ammunition will be lawful sporting arms in most of Pennsylvania’s firearms deer, bear and elk seasons in 2018-19.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave unanimous approval to regulatory changes that permit these sporting arms for deer, bear and elk hunting. For elk, the shotgun needs to be 12-gauge or larger.

The Game Commission historically has permitted the use of semiautomatic shotguns for deer and bear seasons within its special regulations areas near Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

With today’s vote, such authorization is extended to the remainder of the Commonwealth, as well as to the state’s elk hunters.

Courtesy PA Game Commission  www.pgc.pa.gov

Area will be reopened to hunting released propagated birds.

The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today voted to dissolve the Somerset Wild Pheasant Recovery Area (WPRA), one of the state’s four WPRAs.

The Somerset WPRA was created by the Game Commission in 2009. Like other WPRAs, it was selected because its habitat gave pheasants the greatest chance to establish wild populations.

The Somerset WPRA received 964 trapped-and-transferred wild pheasants over three years, but surveys showed that the Somerset WPRA’s population failed to take hold.

Habitat conditions, weather severity, or a combination of these factors, impeded the chances of achieving a sustainable pheasant population on the WPRA.

Because WPRAs generally are closed to pheasant hunting, and the release of propagated pheasants is prohibited within WPRAs, dissolving the Somerset WPRA benefits pheasant hunters.

With the Somerset WPRA dissolved, the area will be reopened to either-sex pheasant hunting and will be eligible for game-farm pheasant releases.

Courtesy PA Game Commission  www.pgc.pa.gov