Pennsylvania’s elk license application process could change

Harrisburg — A number of changes meant to update and improve Pennsylvania’s elk license application system could be coming, if measures given preliminary approval by the Board of Commissioners get final approval in April.

First, the Game Commission is proposing to require hunters to first buy a hunting license before applying for an elk tag. Current regulations allow anyone to submit an elk license application, but only require applicants to buy a license if drawn.

Second, the agency is looking to simplify the elk license application process, removing the requirement to include a hunter’s Social Security number or hunter ID.

If the measure requiring hunters to buy a general hunting license before applying for an elk tag is approved, the license-issuing system will have already captured that information, making another request for it redundant.

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Third, the Game Commission is proposing to change the language describing how the drawing is conducted. When the description first was written, paper applications were literally drawn by hand from a rotating barrel. Now, tags are drawn electronically. The proposal better reflects the existing drawing process.

Fourth, the agency is proposing to eliminate the requirement that hunters who draw an elk tag participate in an orientation program, given such a program no longer is conducted.

Fifth, the Game Commission is proposing to cap at 10% the number of elk licenses that can be awarded to nonresidents in any given year. Currently there is no limit, and while the percentage of tags going to nonresidents typically had fallen at 10%, it has increased in recent years to as high as 13%, which has drawn concern from residents.

And finally, the Game Commission is proposing to limit hunters to drawing one bull elk tag, total, in a lifetime.

Right now, a hunter who draws a Pennsylvania bull elk license can, after five years, enter the bull tag drawing again, in hopes of getting selected a second time. Under the proposal preliminarily approved by the board, beginning on Jan. 1, 2026, any applicant that successfully draws a tag good for an antlered elk would be ineligible to apply for a bull ever again.

Those who drew a bull tag prior to Jan. 1, 2026, are still eligible to draw a second bull tag using the bonus points they’ve already accumulated. They can’t enter any new bull elk applications after that date, however.

And those who draw a bull tag after Jan. 1, 2026, would retain their bonus points, but they would be applied only to drawings for a cow tag going forward.