At their recent meeting, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners approved several significant changes in existing hunting programs. The first most needed change was making the elk application procedure simpler which will consolidate any bonus points hunters have accumulated since 2003. Under the new process, hunters will retain bonus points they’ve collected over the years. Hunters will submit only one application per year, instead of one application for every elk season in which they want to participate, so all bonus points will be consolidated. Applicants will then select up to five options covering the elk season and hunt zone for which they’re seeking a license, and whether they want to hunt antlered or antlerless elk. If an applicant is drawn for a license, their bonus points will automatically reset to zero. Finally, the elk zone will be reconfigured and renamed, as reflected in a measure the Board approved, so hunters might need to familiarize themselves with these changes prior to applying. The adjusted zones, explained the Board, have more readily identifiable boundaries, better encapsulated subpopulations of elk and, on average, have an increased proportion of public land. FIREARMS OK’D for AG CONTROL USE The Agricultural Deer Control Program, often referred to as Ag Tag, only allowed hunting on Ag properties during periods when other deer seasons were closed. The program was now adjusted to allow hunters with Ag Tag permits to hunt antlerless deer during all established deer seasons where they hunt. Previously, hunters were limited to using sporting arms approved for those seasons. For example, when archery season was open, Ag Tag hunters needed to use lawful archery gear. Now, the Board allows Ag Tag hunters to use any device authorized for hunting deer in the regular firearms deer season. Of course the landowner has the right to limit any device used on their land. This reminds me of the Bucks County landowner who allows archery hunting only on her property as she didn’t want to hear it happening. The Ag Tag Deer Control Program enables landowners to enlist hunters in removing deer from their agricultural lands. Only antlerless deer may be taken with Ag Tags. SOUTHEAST BAITING REQUIREMENTS TO CHANGE In the Southeast Special Regulations Area, where it’s legal to hunt deer on private land using bait, the Board has intended to make hunters more effective in harvesting deer, while simplifying the rules. Previously, deer hunters in the Southeast Regulations Area, which takes in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia counties, as well as Tyler and Ridley Creek State Parks and other publicly owned lands, were allowed to use certain baits on private and municipal property. The bait used was limited to shelled corn or protein pellet supplements distributed through an approved feeder, with no two bait sites closer than 250 yards apart. The amended rule now eliminates the minimum distance between bait sites, and allows bait to be distributed via feeder or just placed on the ground. Now, the allowable bait includes apples and natural agricultural products intended for human or livestock consumption, excluding mineral blocks and mineral supplements. Additionally, hunters will have to display a tag or label including the full name and address of the landowner, or an individual authorized by the landowner to administer bait at that location, and in the immediate vicinity of the bait site. Limits on bait accumulation at any one site remain unchanged at no more than 5 gallons.
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