Digital Hunting Licenses Now Available for Pennsylvania Hunters
Luke Cuenco 09.14.21
Just in time for the beginning of the fall hunting season, Pennsylvania hunters can now unburden themselves from their physical hunting license and instead carry a digital hunting license on their phones. PA’s old system of physical licensing meant that hunters had to carry around a paper license with them on their hunts which obviously could be accidentally left at home or destroyed during inclement weather.
Digital Hunting Licenses Now Available for Pennsylvania Hunters
According to Deana Vance, the director of the Pennsylvanian Game Commissions Bureau of Automatic Technology Services, the new digital hunting licenses ensure that “You’ll never leave them at home. It’s a convenient option that’s available to hunters in the seasons that are about to begin.”
Since many hunters will almost always have their cell phones on them this means that a digital copy will always be available. Modern hunters often carry their cell phones with them for more than just making calls, new technologies like SIG Sauer’s BaseMap equipped rangefinders allow hunters to spot and track locations as they hunt while many thermal and electronic optics can stream information directly to their mobile devices. Any paper licenses that are carried afield still must be properly signed.
Hunters who have already purchased their 2021-2022 license can download a PDF copy of their licenses and permits by going to https://huntfish.pa.gov and access their purchase history where a copy of their license will be stored. In spite of the new allowance for digital licenses, hunters will still need to carry their paper harvest tags in the applicable areas (for example you will not need a fur takers license to hunt coyotes on Sundays as per state regulations).
Perhaps down the road harvesting tags may be digitalized but for now, the same system as before will remain in place for the foreseeable future. Those who hunt big game can expect to have their harvest tags mailed to them even if they are purchased online.
