We may still be in the throes of a major triple-digit summer heat wave, but it’s not too early for Pennsylvania’s hunting community to start looking forward to the state’s fall hunting seasons. That’s because hunting and furtaker licenses for Pennsylvania’s 2025-26 seasons went on sale Monday, June 23 — with a few new twists and turns.
Those changes for 2025-26 include the following:
Here in Wildlife Management Units 5C and 5D, hunters can purchase and possess up to nine antlerless licenses on top of the personal limit of six for all other WMUs for a total of up to 15. That’s a lot of potential venison in the freezer!
Along with that, the extended firearms season for antlerless deer will be open on all DMAP properties and WMUs 2B, 5C, and 5D from Dec. 26 to Jan. 24. In WMUs 4A, 4C, 4D, and 5A, the season runs from Jan. 2-19 and the antlerless-only Ag Tag season is set for Aug. 1 to April 15.
Other non-deer hunting features of the new license include these: The statewide archery bear season has been shortened to one week and will run Oct. 18-25. There is now a season limit of three for snowshoe hares. In the Atlantic Population Zone, the Canada goose daily bag limit during the regular season has been reduced to one bird. During the regular season for northern pintail, there will be a flat daily bag limit of three, an increase.
Most deer hunters will probably want to buy their licenses as soon as possible in order to apply for their antlerless deer permits. As in recent years, antlerless deer licenses will be available when general license sales open. But this year, all Pennsylvania residents are guaranteed to get an antlerless license for the Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) of their choice, so long as they buy it by 7 a.m. on Monday, July 14, the day license sales open to nonresidents.
That’s three full weeks for resident hunters to find a convenient time to buy and avoid waits. Once sales to nonresidents begin on Monday, July 14 at 8 a.m., antlerless licenses no longer will be guaranteed, and all remaining sales will be on a first come, first served basis until the allocated number of licenses is exhausted.
The second round of antlerless sales, at which time resident and nonresident hunters can buy a second antlerless license for any WMU where licenses remain, begins on Monday, July 28 at 8 a.m. The third round begins at 8 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 11. Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) permits also go on sale when the third round begins.
During the fourth round of antlerless sales, which begins Monday, Aug. 25 at 8 a.m., hunters can purchase additional antlerless licenses for any WMU where licenses are still available. In most of the state, hunters may hold up to six unfilled licenses at a time. Once reaching that limit, they are not able to buy additional licenses until they use tags by harvesting deer and reporting them.
As noted earlier, there’s a higher limit for us folks here in WMUs 5C and 5D in southeastern Pennsylvania. Here hunters may hold up to 15 unfilled antlerless licenses at a time. In these highly developed WMUs where there’s less public land and limited hunting access, a higher limit helps hunters better seize opportunities to harvest antlerless deer.
All hunters can view the number of remaining antlerless licenses in real time at HuntFish.PA.gov by clicking on the Antlerless Deer tab, then Antlerless Deer Quota. As antlerless license sales progress, tracking sales gives a clear sense of how fast licenses for a given WMU are selling, and how urgent it might be to buy one soon. But in the first round of antlerless sales, resident hunters know they have three weeks to make their purchase.
“Guaranteeing resident hunters an antlerless license for the WMU of their choice provides them flexibility in deciding when to purchase, and ensures every resident hunter can get a license without waiting, if so inclined,” said Game Commission Executive Director Steve Smith. “Because the number of antlerless licenses allocated in a given WMU is driven by deer-management objectives, and often fluctuates from one year to the next, there’s no guaranteeing a statewide guarantee will continue. But for this year, it is certain to further alleviate the first-round rush and create additional convenience.”
The new license year begins July 1, at which time 2024-25 hunting and furtaker licenses, as well as mentored permits and other permits and privileges, will expire and new licenses will be needed before heading afield.
Licenses may be purchased online at HuntFish.PA, or in person from any license-issuing agent , locations for which are mapped on HuntFish.PA. Paper licenses and harvest tags are mailed when bought online.
General hunting licenses cost $20.97 for resident adults and $101.97 for nonresident adults. Antlerless deer licenses cost $6.97 for residents and $26.97 for nonresidents. A full list of prices can be found on HuntFish.PA by clicking on License Catalog under the Hunting tab.
Tom Tatum is the outdoors columnist for the MediaNews Group. You can reach him at tatumt2@yahoo.com.
Source: Berkshire mont
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