While 2021-22 antlerless deer licenses are sold out in many of the state’s Wildlife Management Units (WMUs), licenses figure to remain available in at least a half-dozen WMUs by Monday, Sept. 13 – the date when over-the-counter antlerless license sales begin statewide.
Hunters looking to pick up additional antlerless licenses at that time need to know a couple things:
·First, over-the-counter antlerless license sales are handled only by county treasurers, and county treasurers’ offices in some counties presently are closed to the public, so there will be no option to purchase licenses in-person in these counties.
·And second, while this round of antlerless license application continues to be called the “over-the-counter sales” round, applications during this round now are accepted by mail, as well.
Those mailing in applications in the round to begin Sept. 13 follow a procedure that’s similar to earlier mail-in rounds. License applications for any WMU may be sent in an official pink envelope to any participating county treasurer, a list of which is found on Page 29 of the 2021-22 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest.
What’s different is a hunter can make multiple applications during this round, and may mail up to three applications in the same envelope.
Here’s how it works. Each hunter now may hold up to six active antlerless licenses at a time. So hunters who applied for and received a license in each the initial round of sales, and the first and second “unsold license” rounds, will have three when over-the-counter sales begin. That’s the most any hunter can have before Sept. 13. Those hunters can purchase three more on or after Sept. 13 to reach their personal limit. Then, as they harvest deer and report the harvests through HuntFishPA, they can purchase additional licenses (if licenses remain available) to get back to their personal limit of six.
Hunters who received fewer than three antlerless licenses during the initial mail-in rounds can purchase more than three when over-the-counter sales begin. A hunter who has yet to obtain an antlerless license, for instance, can purchase six beginning Sept. 13. Just understand that licenses only are available for certain WMUs – the ones that haven’t yet sold out the total number allocated by the Game Commission.
To check the availability of antlerless licenses, go online to https://huntfish.pa.gov, or click on the Antlerless Deer Licenses link on the homepage at www.pgc.pa.gov. From there, find the Antlerless Application Availability link on the right-hand side of the page to access the remaining numbers.
Hunters considering purchasing antlerless deer licenses in-person during the over-the-counter sales round are urged to check ahead of time to make sure a county treasurer’s office is open to the public.
Those making application by mail might need to pick up additional official pink envelopes from a license-issuing agent. Blank applications are available on the Antlerless Deer Licenses page at www.pgc.pa.gov or in the Hunting & Trapping Digest.
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Contact:
Travis Lau
717-705-6541