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Because the "hunting license year" begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year in Pennsylvania, new hunting licenses have gone on sale during mid-to-late June for the upcoming fall hunting seasons.
Then a few weeks later, the cumbersome process of mailing antlerless deer (doe) license applications in special pink envelopes to county treasurer offices began. That process was changed last year, and for the first time, hunters could purchase their antlerless deer licenses directly, either in person or online, through the electronic licensing system.
This was a much better and modern system, but unfortunately, there were some glitches. 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.
Last year, the 2023-24 hunting licenses and antlerless deer licenses went on sale Monday, June 24 for the entire state. 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 that first morning.
That crunch of potential license buyers overwhelmed the electronic 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 delays, everyone who did wait their turn got the license of their choice the first day.
WMU 2G, which has always been the first WMU to sell out in recent years, didn't sell out until sometime on the second day. 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 control the volume of the first day of license sales this year, the Game Commission has changed the process slightly. Beginning on Monday, June 24, antlerless licenses for only 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.
The biggest change will be that 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.
Unless a hunter desires to obtain a doe license for WMU 1B, 2G or 3A, the guarantee eliminates any reason to stand in line to secure a license.
Even for the non-guaranteed WMUs, the process should be as smooth as possible since the system won't be burdened with applicants from every other WMU in the state for those first three days. In fact, it is possible to purchase your hunting license and doe license without leaving your house by buying them online and have them mailed to you. There is a small shipping charge for licenses sent by mail.
After July 8, the sales process is much the same as last year with four separate rounds of license sales. 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.
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 has received a smaller allocation than last year. Eleven WMUs have 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.