Getting a Doe License

June 26 was the first day that Pennsylvania resident hunters could buy their first antlerless deer license for the 2023-24 hunting seasons. Many hunters figured this would be a good day to purchase their yearly hunting license as well.

After an early morning of trout fishing, rather than trying to get a license online, I drove to Mill Hill Agway to buy a hunting license and a doe tag. I buy a doe tag for one reason: to finish off a wounded doe if I encounter one.

What should have been a simple process turned out not to be. With the game commission in charge, that wasn’t a big surprise. The system had not even been tested.

Carol and Sarah told me the computer system was not working properly and that it might be a while before it would be running. So, I left to see my mechanic about the clutch in my 2010 Ranger, which is probably going to have to be repaired, then drove back to Mill Hill to find that the game commission’s computer system still wasn’t operating.

“I’ll call you if it gets fixed,” Carol said. (You don’t get attention like this at a big-box store.)

So, it was off to mow grass. When I’d finished, Donna reported that Carol had called.

There was only a short line of hunters ahead of me. Carol and Sarah processed them efficiently. If the PGC gets the bugs out of its system, it might become a better way to procure an antlerless deer license than the pink envelope system was. However, the morning computer fiasco had been widespread and even made the noon news on a local television station, showing many frustrated sportsmen. (PGC Executive Director Bryan Burhans posted a short Facebook video during the day, stating that the computer system never crashed, while acknowledging some delays.)

With 1,095,000 doe licenses to sell, the PGC has scheduled additional days for hunters to buy the $6.97 tags. Non-resident hunters may buy their first doe tag beginning Monday, July 10.

The second round for resident and non-resident hunters begins on Monday, July 24. Hunters may purchase their second tag or up to two tags that day.

The third round begins on Monday, Aug. 14. Starting on this date, Deer Management Assistance (DMAP) tags can be bought.

The fourth round is set for August 28. Hunters may purchase additional doe tags up to the permitted six tags. (After harvesting a doe, a hunter may purchase another tag for each harvested doe till the tags are gone!)