The Game Commission this week announced hunters can begin applying for regular antlerless deer licenses beginning August 6 (resident hunters) and August 20 (non-resident).

Hunters are provided with a regular antlerless deer license application when they purchase their general hunting license. Applications for unsold antlerless deer licenses can be found on pages 54 and 62 of the 2007-08 Pennsylvania Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations, which is presented to each license buyer, along with harvest report cards, an antlerless deer license application and envelopes.

Antlerless deer licenses cost $6 for residents and $26 for nonresidents. Checks should be made payable to "County Treasurer," not the Game Commission. Also, applicants should not designate a specific county.

"Hunters should give serious thought to which WMU they will apply to during the regular antlerless deer license round, because some WMUs may run out of licenses earlier in the process than in previous years," said Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe. "Hunters also may want to consider applying for Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) antlerless deer permits, which offer them additional opportunities to hunt on specific properties where landowners are trying to increase deer hunting pressure."

Roe also noted that hunters seeking to participate in the early archery antlerless deer seasons in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D (Sept. 15-28) should write the words "Early Archery" in red ink above the white box in the lower left-hand corner of the front of the yellow envelope. The white box is where hunters are instructed to write in the number and letter of the WMU to which they are applying for an antlerless deer license.

"By writing these words on the front of the yellow envelopes, hunters will let county treasurers and their employees who issue the licenses know that these applications need to be expedited so hunters can receive their licenses prior to the start of the early antlerless deer archery seasons in WMU 2B, 5C and 5D," Roe said.

After August 6, the Game Commission will launch the "Doe License Update" page on its website to provide hunters with updates on the availability of antlerless deer licenses. Notices for WMUs that have sold out will be posted as soon as possible. Look in the "Quick Clicks" box in the upper right-hand corner of the agency's homepage and choose "Doe License Update." A link to the listing of participating DMAP public landowners will be posted in the "Quick Clicks" box, as well as those private landowners who asked to be included on the agency's website.

Roe emphasized that, as required by state law, county treasurers will continue to issue antlerless deer licenses. Except for "over-the-counter sales," county treasurers will receive a pre-determined number of applications from the Game Commission based on the county's geographic representation in the WMU.

The Game Commission will begin accepting resident and nonresident hunter applications through the mail for the first round of "unsold licenses" on August 27; the second round will be accepted through the mail beginning September 10.

Over-the-counter applications will not be accepted by county treasurers until November 5, except in Wildlife Management Units 2B, 5C and 5D, where county treasurers will begin accepting over-the-counter applications on September 17. There is no limit on the number of applications a hunter can submit during this period for WMUs 2B, 5C or 5D.

However, for all other WMUs, applying for and receiving more than one antlerless license at a time is against the law and, if convicted, violators could be sentenced to pay a fine.

While individuals are permitted to mail up to three antlerless deer license applications in one envelope, the applications must be for different individuals. Hunters may apply for only one license during the regular antlerless deer license round. During the first round of unsold licenses, hunters may apply for a second license. During the second round of unsold licenses, hunters may apply for a third license. The exception to this is when hunters are applying over the counter in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D.

Applications that do not include return postage will be placed in a "dead letter" file maintained by the Game Commission's License Division in the Harrisburg headquarters. Applicants who believe that their antlerless license application may be in the dead letter file may contact the License Division at 717-787-2084 during business hours, 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. This telephone service will be activated after Tuesday, September 4. An answering machine enables callers to leave messages so that Game Commission staff may return their calls.

County treasurers will mail regular and first round unsold antlerless licenses to successful applicants no later than Monday, September 17. County treasurers will mail second and subsequent rounds of unsold antlerless licenses to successful applicants no later than October 1.

Following is a listing of the antlerless deer license allocation by Wildlife Management Unit, with last year's allocation in parenthesis: WMU 1A, 42,000 (42,000); WMU 1B, 30,000 (30,000); WMU 2A, 60,000 (55,000); WMU 2B, 68,000 (68,000); WMU 2C, 49,000 (49,000); WMU 2D, 56,000 (56,000); WMU 2E, 21,000 (21,000); WMU 2F, 28,000 (28,000); WMU 2G, 26,000 (19,000); WMU 3A, 29,000 (29,000); WMU 3B, 43,000 (43,000); WMU 3C, 27,000 (27,000); WMU 3D, 38,000 (38,000); WMU 4A, 29,000 (29,000); WMU 4B, 23,000 (31,000); WMU 4C, 39,000 (39,000); WMU 4D, 40,000 (40,000); WMU 4E, 38,000 (38,000); WMU 5A, 22,000 (25,000); WMU 5B, 53,000 (53,000); WMU 5C, 84,000 (79,000); and WMU 5D, 20,000 (20,000).

For a description of each WMUs' boundaries, please refer to pages 42-45 of the 2007-08 Digest. For other deer-related information, refer to pages 50-59.

Visit the Pennsylvania Digest of Hunting and Trapping Regulations webpage for more details.

7/27/2007