May 13, 2018 2 min read

HARRISBURG – For seniors who purchased licenses before May 13, 2017, it will be like old times – so far as license requirements go – for hunting pheasants.

Last year, the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners – after receiving input from agency staff, conservation organizations and private individuals – reluctantly created a pheasant permit at an additional fee for adult hunters to offset costs for the agency’s pheasant propagation program. In its first year, nearly 45,000 permits were sold at a cost of $26.90 to adult hunters – including approximately 4,300 to seniors, with the permit officially becoming a regulation May 13, 2017.

At the April quarterly meeting of the PGC to set dates and bag limits for the 2018-19 seasons the BOC removed the requirement to purchase a pheasant permit for seniors who purchased a lifetime or combination license before last year’s effective date.

“We felt it was the right thing to do,” PGC BOC president Tim Layton said. “Input from senior hunters was split as to those who supported – and bought – a permit and those who felt they should be exempt. “In addition to this being a positive move from a PR standpoint, it was made possible by a reduction in our per-bird cost in half from approximately $20 to $10. This will more than offset the income from senior hunters who purchased a permit last year.”

Just as many hunters who support the PGC by purchasing a second tag for spring gobbler, Southeast Region commissioner Brian Hoover said it is hoped – and anticipated – some seniors will continue to support the pheasant program by purchasing a permit. In addition, next year’s statewide stocking will have approximately 75 percent cockbirds and 25 percent hens, compared to the last stocking of 52 percent cockbirds and 48 percent hens.

“We sold nearly 45,000 permits in 2017-18 and expect that to increase in the future,” PGC Wildlife Research Biologist and Farmland Wildlife Recovery team leader Scott Klinger said. “Much of the hunting is currently for stocked birds, but pheasant hunting remains very popular in Pennsylvania.

“Our Wild Pheasant Research Program began in 2007 and was completed in 2017, during which time we trapped and transferred more than 2,300 wild pheasants from South Dakota and Montana. So far, we have established a wild pheasant population on our Central Susquehanna Wild Pheasant Recovery Area, and we have not released any birds since 2009 on this WPRA and flushed more than 140 birds on four farms this winter.”