PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Pennsylvania hunters will find it easier to acquire antlerless deer licenses for the 2023-24 hunting season.
The Pa. Game Commission is set to implement a new process that will modernize and simplify the way these licenses are sold moving forward.
"About time," said Luke Husic, an avid Pennsylvania hunter. "These activities in Pennsylvania are very important and with the game commission making it a little bit easier, it's definitely going to make the experience more enjoyable."
The new process allows hunters to purchase antlerless deer tags online at HuntFishPA or at any store authorized to sell hunting licenses. They will also be able to acquire their tag as soon as hunting licenses become available for purchase on June 26.
"It's a change for the better and will be ultimately an easier, more convenient and modernized way for hunters to obtain their antlerless licenses," said Pennsylvania Game Commission Communications Director Travis Lau.
Under the old process, hunters were required to get mailed envelopes from the game commission and send them out to a county treasurer to apply for an antlerless license. A process hunters say was tedious.
"Getting the booklet, bringing the booklet home, filling it out. The errors that people do make on the antlerless tags, it's excruciating to the hunter," Husic said.
The game commission hopes the new process will encourage more hunting in the Commonwealth.
"To recruit new hunters and retain our hunters often comes down to convenience," said Lau. "So when you remove barriers from folks who might not want to deal with a mail-in application process as simple as it might sound, you ultimately do benefit your recruitment and retention of hunters."
"People here, they are fairly intimidated to walk into these shops if they haven't been around all this stuff," Husic said. "It's definitely going to make people more involved in this sport in Pennsylvania."
More than 1.1 million antlerless deer licenses distributed across Wildlife Management Units across the state will be available for Pennsylvanians during four purchase rounds throughout the season.
They will cost $6.97 for Pa. residents and $26.97 for non-residents.