With fewer antlerless deer licenses available this season, they are selling fast in Schuylkill County.
County treasurers statewide began accepting antlerless deer applications from state residents Monday. The state Game Commission cut the allotment this season by 8,500 because of diseases, such as chronic wasting disease, affecting deer populations. That leaves 779,500 licenses available throughout the whole state.
"They'll be selling out faster," Schuylkill County Treasurer Jacqueline McGovern said Monday.
First thing Monday morning, her office had at least 1,500 applications from Saturday's mail. Office employees work full time to keep up with incoming applications. Three of them open the mail while the other three issue the licenses.
A regular hunting license must be acquired before applying for a doe license.
Applications need to be mailed to the Schuylkill County Courthouse, 401 N. Second St., Pottsville, PA 17901, in an official pink envelope with two-way postage provided. Each county treasurer statewide can issue a license for any wildlife management unit in the state. State residents have to pay $6.70 for a license, while out-of-state hunters must pay $26.70.
The most common WMUs on Schuylkill County resident applications are 4C, which is most of Schuylkill and parts of Columbia, Luzerne, Carbon, Lehigh, Berks, Lebanon and Dauphin counties, and 4E, which is all of Northumberland and Montour and parts of Schuylkill, Columbia, Lycoming, Snyder, Luzerne and Dauphin counties. Doe license allocations for those WMUs are 25,000 and 21,000, respectively.
Nonresident applications will start being accepted July 28. Hunters can apply for an unsold license starting Aug. 4. If necessary, there will be a second round for unsold licenses Aug. 18.
But unsold licenses usually sell out within the first hour they become available, McGovern said.
It takes about three weeks for an application paid for by check to return, as the office has to make sure the check clears before issuing the license. However, money orders are mailed out right away.
The number of licenses still available can be found on the state Gaming Commission's website at www.pgc.state.pa.us.
Harvest reports are also available at the Game Commission's website. Estimates for the 2013-14 season were 134,280 antlered and 218,640 antlerless deer.
Hunters can also call the agency's toll-free telephone reporting system to file a harvest report. The Interactive Voice Response harvest reporting system telephone number is 855-PAHUNT1 (855-724-8681).