Doe License Time

Next Monday, June 24, at 8:00 a.m., the first resident Pennsylvania antlerless deer hunting licenses go on sale in WMUs 1B, 2G, and 3A. There will probably be a rush for them, since antlerless licenses sell quickly in these WMUs. However, antlerless licenses will not go on sale in the other 19 Wildlife Management Units until Thursday, June 27, at 8:00 a.m., a week from now. According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, resident hunters in these 19 WMUs will be guaranteed an antlerless license if they purchase it before July 8.

This seems to be pretty clear-cut for local hunters who will likely want to hunt in WMUs other than the three where licenses are not guaranteed. Most Cove hunters will be looking for antlerless licenses for WMU 4A or possibly 4D. There should not be any problem in obtaining a doe license for hunting locally. WMU 4A has 61,000 licenses available. WMU 4D will offer 77,000. These are the same numbers of licenses that were available in these wildlife management units last year.

Statewide, the PGC has increased the total number of antlerless deer licenses from 1,095,000 to an incredible 1,186,000, an increase of 91,000 licenses. No WMU will issue fewer licenses than last year, but the number of licenses increased in 11 of the units.

With the three WMUs that normally sell out of antlerless licenses first opening for sales three days earlier than the other 19 units, there should not be as much stress on the license issuing system as there was last year when the system essentially crashed for hours on the first day that antlerless licenses were available.

Also, with resident hunters being guaranteed an antlerless license in the other 19 units if the hunters purchase the licenses prior to July 8, there should not be the intense rush to obtain licenses online or from license-issuing agents. (Last year my local issuing agent called me in the afternoon of the first day for issuing antlerless licenses to tell me that the system was back up and running after I had failed to obtain a license earlier that day. I do not imagine that many issuing agents offered that type of personal service.)

After the first round of antlerless licenses is complete, additional individual licenses may be obtained. The second round begins on July 22 at 8:00 a.m. The third round begins on August 12. Beginning August 26, hunters may purchase more than one license for any WMU where the licenses are still available, until they have reached their six-license limit.