WMU 2A SELLS OUT OF ANTLERLESS DEER LICENSES

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe today announced that WMU 2A in southwest Pennsylvania has exhausted its antlerless deer license allocation.  WMU 2A is comprised of all of Greene County and portions of Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties. 

So far, 18 of the state's 22 Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) have exhausted their antlerless deer license allocations.  Those WMUs are: 1A, 1B, 2A, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 5B and 5C.

Of the 859,000 antlerless licenses originally allocated, only 47,897 antlerless deer licenses remain.  Following is a listing of the available antlerless deer licenses for those WMUs with remaining allocations as of today (along with the initial allocation for each WMU): WMU 2B, 34,124 (68,000); WMU 4E, 2,282 (38,000); WMU 5A, 1,980 (25,000); and WMU 5D, 9,511 (20,000).

For updated information, please visit the Game Commission's "Doe License Update" in the "Quick Clicks" box in the upper right-hand corner of the agency's homepage (www.pgc.state.pa.us).

Regular antlerless licenses and first-round unsold licenses were to be mailed by county treasurers to successful applicants no later than Monday, Sept. 18.  Second-round unsold licenses were to be mailed no later than Sunday, Oct. 1.

Also, beginning Monday, Sept. 18, applicants were able to apply over the counter at county treasurers' offices in WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D. 

Beginning Monday, Nov. 6, hunters may apply over-the-counter for unsold antlerless licenses in all WMUs.

Resident and nonresident hunters may apply for Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) coupons that remain available for antlerless deer hunting opportunities, especially in those WMUs that have sold out of their antlerless deer license allocations. 

"While DMAP permits may be used only on the specific property for which they are issued, they do offer hunters additional antlerless deer hunting opportunities," Roe said.  "DMAP was developed to provide a way for hunters to help landowners achieve the type of deer harvest they require to better manage their lands.  We encourage hunters to contact these landowners and to help them manage deer populations on their properties."

Landowners can't charge or accept any contribution from a hunter for a DMAP coupon.  While hunters may obtain up to two DMAP permits per property, DMAP permits do not impact a hunter's eligibility to apply for and receive antlerless deer licenses issued for WMUs.

DMAP permit allotments are not part of the annual general antlerless deer license allocations for WMUs. Hunters may not use DMAP permits to harvest an antlered deer.

Resident hunters must mail DMAP coupons in a regular envelope, along with a check for $6 made payable to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, to the address listed on the coupon to receive their DMAP antlerless deer permit. Nonresidents must include a check for $26.  The permit can be used to harvest one antlerless deer on the specific DMAP property.  Maps for the properties are to be provided to hunters by the landowners.

For more information on DMAP, visit the Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) and click on the "DMAP" box in the center of the homepage.  Hunters also can check the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources' website to see where coupons still are available for various state forests and parks by clicking on: http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/dmap/available.aspx.

Created in 1895 as an independent state agency, the Game Commission is responsible for conserving and managing all wild birds and mammals in the Commonwealth, establishing hunting seasons and bag limits, enforcing hunting and trapping laws, and managing habitat on the 1.4 million acres of State Game Lands it has purchased over the years with hunting and furtaking license dollars to safeguard wildlife habitat.  The agency also conducts numerous wildlife conservation programs for schools, civic organizations and sportsmen's clubs. 

The Game Commission does not receive any general state taxpayer dollars for its annual operating budget.  The agency is funded by license sales revenues; the state's share of the federal Pittman-Robertson program, which is an excise tax collected through the sale of sporting arms and ammunition; and monies from the sale of oil, gas, coal, timber and minerals derived from State Game Lands.

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