Pennsylvania Game News - September 2021 - 5

higher level of confidence. "
Speaking of antlerless allocations, the
number of doe tags available this season
was reduced in many WMUs compared
to last to account for the additional days
of doe hunting. Even where tag numbers
are up - in WMUs included in Disease
Management Areas or where the goal is
to stabilize deer numbers - the increase
in tags is smaller than it would have been
had seven days of concurrent hunting
remained in place.
That's important to note, Stainbrook
said. The antlerless allocation for each
WMU was adjusted to account for the
additional days, so it's the number of
antlerless licenses available - not season
length - that ultimately determines the
antlerless harvest.
The change allowing hunters to have
up to six antlerless licenses at a time,
meanwhile, likewise is meant to increase
opportunity.
Last season, more than 16,000 antlerless
licenses remained available in midNovember
in WMUs 2A and 4A. Yet
hunters who already had three tags - the
previous limit - couldn't buy any, even
though no one else wanted them.
Upping the licenses-per-hunter limit
will better ensure tags are issued to the
fullest extent possible. It could make
more antlerless licenses available deeper
into hunting season, too, perhaps giving
hunters who purchase their licenses later
a chance to get one. And it likely will
result in the collateral benefit of increasing
harvest reporting.
At the same time, every hunter who
wants an antlerless license should be able
to get at least one, if not more. That's
because the existing application schedule
remains in place to ensure fair and equitable
distribution.
SEPTEMBER 2021
Hunters will continue to mail antlerless
license applications to county treasurers,
as presently required by law. They'll
follow the same schedule as in years
past, with residents and later nonresidents
permitted to apply for one license in the
opening round, and one in each of two
successive rounds for any WMU where
licenses remain.
Then, in early September, over-thecounter
sales begin. Hunters who received
a tag in each of the first three rounds can
pick up a fourth, fifth and sixth antlerless
license in any WMU where licenses
remain, either in person at a county treasurer's
office or by mailing an application.
Those who don't have any at that point
can buy up to six.
From there, though, hunters can't buy
another tag until they've harvested an
antlerless deer and reported it to the Game
Commission. At no time is a hunter able
to possess more than six unfilled antlerless
licenses.
But they can replace every filled tag
with a new one if antlerless licenses
remain. There is no limit on the total
number of licenses a hunter can obtain
in a license year, though licenses in most
WMUs likely will sell out at some point.
The third change for 2021-22 - allowing
post-Christmas extended firearms
hunting throughout WMUs 2B, 5C and
5D rather than in select counties within
those WMUs - better aligns the extended
season with other deer seasons, since
antlerless harvests are managed across
the state by WMU. Also, analyses determined
that harvest is evenly distributed
throughout these WMUs. So the change
gives hunters the freedom to choose more
spots to hunt in those units and puts the
management back at the correct WMU
scale.
5
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2021

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