Trending
At their regular quarterly meeting last weekend, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners approved the antlerless deer license allocations for 2024-25.
Last year, of course, was the first time hunters could purchase their antlerless deer licenses directly, either in person or online, through the electronic licensing system rather than the cumbersome mail-in process to a county treasurer's office, which had been prescribed by state law for generations. To alleviate some of the problems that occurred early on with the new system last year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has revised the sales schedule for antlerless deer licenses.
Even though ample allocations meant early sellouts were unlikely in almost all Wildlife Management Units, hordes of hunters lined up at issuing agents and logged in online the first morning antlerless licenses went on sale. That crush of buying clogged up the licensing system, resulting in delays and frustration for many folks who were apparently fearful of not getting a doe license if they waited a day or so.
In spite of those glitches, everyone who did wait their turn got the license of their choice the first day. WMU 2G, which has always been an early sellout in recent years, didn't sell out until sometime on the second day as I recall. The next sellouts were WMU 1B and 3A, both weeks later in the final days of the first round. All other WMUs had licenses available for the start of the second round and some still had licenses available during the third and fourth rounds.
To alleviate the exaggerated demand on the first day of license sales, the Game Commission has installed a dew changes. The 2024-25 general hunting will licenses go on sale to Pennsylvania residents at 8 a.m. on Monday, June 24. Only antlerless licenses for WMUs 1B, 2G and 3A will be sold for the first three days.
On Thursday, June 27 at 8 a.m., antlerless licenses for the remaining 19 WMUs will go on sale to Pennsylvania residents. Resident hunters will be guaranteed a license for any of those 19 WMUs if they purchase it before 7 a.m. on Monday, July 8 when nonresident sales begin. There is no guarantee for getting a license in WMUs 1B, 2G and 3A.
After July 8, the sales process is much the same as last year. All licenses available in any WMU will be sold on a first come, first served basis until the allocated number of licenses is exhausted. A hunter is permitted to purchase one antlerless license per round during the first three rounds.
The second round of sales begins on Monday, July 22 at 8 a.m. and the third round begins Monday, Aug. 12 at 8 a.m. Deer Management Assistance Program permits also go on sale when the third round begins. During the fourth round, which begins Monday, Aug. 26 at 8 a.m., a hunter may purchase more than one license for any WMU where licenses are available. No hunter may possess more than their personal limit of six antlerless licenses at a time.
For anyone who might be thinking the first-round guarantee for all residents could result in license sales exceeding the allocation for a specific WMU, the Game Commission has anticipated those concerns. Although based past sales trends and current allocations it is highly unlikely and of the guaranteed WMUs would exceed their allocations during the first round of sales. If so, however, deer managers would make adjustments to the 2025-26 allocations as necessary to achieve their deer management goals.
Science-based antlerless license allocations are set within each WMU to achieve deer-management goals. By guaranteeing a license to resident hunters in most WMUs, there is a chance more than the allocated number of licenses will be sold. That's unlikely based on the sales patterns established last year, and if it happened, it wouldn't necessarily have negative impacts on deer populations. But if license sales exceeded the allocation and adjustments were needed, they would be made in the next license year, as is routine in wildlife management.
The overall antlerless license allocation for 2024-25 is 1,186,000, which is an increase of 91,000 from the 1,095,000 licenses allocated for 2023-24. No WMU received a smaller allocation than last year, while 11 WMUs received an increased allocation this year and the other 11 WMUs stayed the same as last year.
Regarding the allocations for the three non-guaranteed WMUs for the first round, WMU 2G will have 37,000, an increase of 2,000, and 1B will have 37,000 and 3A will have 21,000, which are the same totals as last year. Here in our region, WMU 4A will have 61,000 and WMU 4D will have 77,000, which are both the same as last year; WMU 2C will have 93,000, which is up 7,000 from last year, and WMU 2E will have 54,000, which is up 2,000 from last year.
"Last year's switch to direct antlerless license sales was a needed step to modernize the process and make it more convenient for hunters, but it didn't come without growing pains -- driven mostly by the huge turnout of hunters on the opening day of sales," Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans said. "Once that initial demand was met, however, hunters generally bought their licenses quickly and easily, without much waiting, and many commented on what an improvement the new process is over the old one. We want all hunters to experience that convenience and simplicity, and the adjustments we're making should help make that goal a reality."