WEST CHESTER — Hunters statewide may begin applying for antlerless deer licenses by mail beginning Monday, July 12.
Chester County Treasurer Patricia Maisano, whose office processes state hunting license and permits, noted changes made to the 2021 licensing year, including an increase in the fee for the antlerless license, and an increase in the personal license limits.
“Some hunters who have come into the Treasurer’s Office to purchase their annual hunting license have had questions about the changes that have been approved for the 2021 licensing year,” said Maisano.
The cost for the antlerless deer license has increased to $6.97 for residents, and $26.97 for non-residents. Checks should be made payable to “Chester County Treasurer”.
“We urge all applicants to make sure their checks are filled out correctly. If they are incorrect, it will cause a delay in the processing of the application,” noted Maisano. “We do our best to contact the applicant if there is an issue, in hopes that it will be corrected quickly and the license issued.” We ask that the hunter’s include their CID # and DOB on the memo line of their check.
The second change to the 2021 antlerless licensing is the increase in the personal license limits. All hunting license holders, excluding mentored permits, may now apply for and obtain up to six antlerless deer licenses before the start of hunting season; for any Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) in which licenses remain available.
“This doesn’t mean that hunters can apply for all six licenses at once during the open round,” said Maisano. Hunters may submit one application each in the opening round, the unsold first round and unsold second round. Multiple applications may be submitted at once when over-the-counter sales begin on September 13th for WMUs where licenses remain.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission has set the antlerless deer license allocations at 70,000 for WMU 5C and 29,000 for WMC 5D which covers Chester County.
For more information and a copy of the antlerless deer license application, go to www.chesco.org/treasurer or contact the Chester County Treasurer’s Office at 610-344-6370, email treasurerdept@chesco.org. For further clarification, please visit the PA Game Commission website – www.pgc.pa.gov.