Pennsylvania Hunting and Fishing Resources

Every official Pennsylvania hunting and fishing tool in one place. Pennsylvania splits the job across two agencies: the Game Commission runs hunting and trapping, the Fish and Boat Commission runs fishing, and both sell licenses through the shared HuntFishPA portal. Harvest reporting, seasons and bag limits, the Hunting and Trapping Digest, State Game Lands maps, and trout stocking are all linked straight to the agency that publishes them. Nothing here is copied or cached, so what you open is always the current version.

Visit PA Game Commission

Straight to PA Game Commission

PA Game Commission Hunting and Trapping PA Fish and Boat Commission Fishing Maps Newsroom

Licenses and Permits

Hunting, trapping, and fishing licenses all run through HuntFishPA, the portal both agencies share. The Game Commission publishes the license types, antlerless allocations, and special hunt applications on pa.gov.

Purchase a Hunting and Trapping License

The Game Commission's route into the HuntFishPA sales portal.

HuntFishPA

The shared licensing portal. Hunting, trapping, and fishing licenses are all sold here.

Licenses and Permits Hub

Top level entry point for every hunting license and permit.

License Types

Every hunting and trapping license type and what it covers.

Antlerless Deer License

Allocations, WMU availability, and how to apply.

Special Hunt Applications

Elk and other limited-entry draws.

Permits for Hunters with Disabilities

Licensing FAQs

Harvest Reporting

Pennsylvania requires a harvest report on every deer, bear, elk, and turkey taken. Report online, by phone, or by mail.

Report a Wildlife Harvest

The Game Commission's online harvest report.

Reporting a Harvest

What has to be reported, by when, and how.

A field journal, not a harvest-reporting tool

The Game Commission's harvest report is what Pennsylvania requires of you. huntNotes is the personal record alongside it, with sits, sightings, weather, and waypoints saved season over season on your phone. Free to download.

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Regulations and Seasons

Seasons and bag limits, the annual Digest, and the rules that catch out-of-state hunters, including Pennsylvania's purple paint law.

Hunting Regulations Hub

Top level entry point for every hunting and trapping rule.

Seasons and Bag Limits

Season dates and limits across every species and WMU.

Hunting and Trapping Digest

The full annual rulebook. PGC replaces the Digest each year, so grab the current edition from this page each preseason.

Trapping and Furbearers

Purple Paint Law

Purple marks on a tree or post mean posted private land in Pennsylvania.

Operation Game Thief

Pennsylvania's poaching tip program.

Report a Wildlife Violation

Species and Getting Started

The Game Commission files its per-species guidance under Get Started Hunting, so the deer, elk, turkey, pheasant, and waterfowl pages all live together.

Get Started Hunting

Deer Hunting

Elk Hunting

Pennsylvania's limited-entry elk hunt and its zones.

Turkey Hunting

Pheasant Hunting

Waterfowl Hunting and Conservation

Discover PA Wildlife

Species accounts across Pennsylvania wildlife.

Safe Hunting Tips

Maps and Public Land

Close to eight million acres are open to public hunting in Pennsylvania: about 1.5 million acres of State Game Lands plus enrolled private ground and other public land. The joint Game Commission and DCNR interactive Pennsylvania Hunting Map is the headline tool, and it launches from the Maps hub and the Where to Hunt page.

Where to Hunt

Public hunting ground statewide, and a launch point for the interactive hunting map.

State Game Lands Maps

Boundary maps for every State Game Land.

Interactive map

State Game Lands Information

How State Game Lands work and what is allowed on them.

Maps Hub

The Game Commission's mapping hub, including the interactive Pennsylvania Hunting Map.

Interactive map

Hunter Access Program

Private land enrolled and opened to public hunting.

Harvest Data and Maps

Harvest results by WMU, useful for picking a unit.

Shooting Ranges

Fishing

Fishing is the Fish and Boat Commission's, not the Game Commission's. Licenses still run through HuntFishPA, and the trout stocking pages carry the county-by-county schedule.

Fishing Hub (Fish and Boat Commission)

Buy a Fishing License (HuntFishPA)

Fishing licenses and permits are sold through the same shared portal as hunting licenses.

Fishing Regulations

Trout Fishing Regulations

Stocking

Trout Stocking

The stocking schedule and the launch point for the County Guide map of stocked waters.

Interactive map

Fish and Boat Commission Newsroom

Education and Programs

Hunter-Trapper Education, bowhunting and archery programs, the Wildlife Notes species library, and Pennsylvania's venison donation program.

Education Hub

Hunter-Trapper Education

Required certification and course scheduling.

Explore Bowhunting

The Game Commission's bowhunter education program.

Learn to Hunt Program

Mentored entry into the field for new hunters.

National Archery in the Schools

Wildlife Notes

PGC's long-running species natural history series.

Hunters Sharing the Harvest

Pennsylvania's venison donation program.

PA Game Commission Contact and Social

Contact Information

Official Game Commission contact routes.

Offices and Regions

Regional offices and the counties each one covers.

Social Media and Mobile Apps

The Game Commission's official accounts and apps.

Email Signup

Game Commission news and season reminders by email.

Attribution

All season dates, regulations, licensing, and public land information linked on this page are published and maintained by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (hunting and trapping) and the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission (fishing). huntNotes is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either agency. Always confirm current regulations directly with the agency before heading afield.