On June 26, however, I received several emails and texts from friends who spent hours trying to get a license and lamenting that the new system was flawed. I surely had no desire to stand in line to buy a doe tag that I wouldn’t need for almost five months. And I have one fundamental rule I try to live by: Never stand in line unless there is no other alternative. I felt certain, however, that plenty of folks would be compelled to buy theirs as early in the process as possible. Based on that and the increased allocation for this year, I saw absolutely no need to worry about applying for a doe tag on the first day of availability. In past years, I can’t recall WMU 4D selling out before well into at least the second round. I typically get at least one doe tag for WMU 4D where I do most of my deer hunting. All four of the WMUs covering our region all had significant increases as well, including: WMU 2C with 88,000, up from 67,000 last year WMU 2E with 52,000, up from 42,000 last year WMU 4A with 61,000, up from 50,000 last year and WMU 4D with 77,000, up from 55,000 last year and the largest increase of any WMU in the state. Seventeen of the 22 Wildlife Management Units received increased allocations this year, four WMUs receiving the same allocation as 2022/23, and one WMU receiving a smaller allocation this year. The statewide total of antlerless deer licenses for 2023-24 is 1,095,000, which is up 147,000 from the 948,000 licenses allocated for 2022-23. Therefore, general license sales were shifted about two weeks later and the first round of doe applications was shifted two weeks earlier than in the past. The date for the beginning of sales of the 2023/24 general hunting licenses was also shifted to June 26 this year. Nonresidents can apply beginning on the second Monday in July, which is July 10 this year. Only Pennsylvania residents may apply during the first two weeks of this round. The first round will be the fourth Monday in June, which was June 26 this year. There are now four rounds of antlerless deer license sales, each beginning at 8 a.m. Similar to the old mail-in process, there are several rounds but the timing of those rounds is slightly different than before. Under the new system, hunters can purchase a doe license over the counter anywhere hunting licenses are sold and receive their license and tag at the time of purchase or buy it online and receive the license documents via mail. The reason most hunters purchased a new hunting license soon after they went on sale was because the first round of mail-in doe applications was around the second Monday of July, followed by two rounds of applications for unsold licenses, subject to availability, during August. Several species that are generally classified as “varmints,” are open to hunting year-round, including groundhogs, coyotes, skunks, opossums and weasels.
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