You can, believe it or not, still buy carbon paper if you’re so inclined.
Remember that stuff? Our license issuing agents used it to make copies of hunting licenses – one for you, one for the Game Commission – back when buying a license was strictly an in-person, over-the-counter affair.
But times and technologies change. The Game Commission first started selling licenses using an automated point-of-sale system in 2008. That went statewide a year later, introducing us to the world of Customer Identification (CID) numbers, weather-resistant licenses and, eventually, online sales.
Now antlerless deer licenses are available through the same mobile-friendly HuntFishPA platform where other licenses are sold. Those familiar pink envelopes are relegated to history, like glass milk jugs, roll-down car windows and tube TVs.
That’s a big change. But if there’s one thing Pennsylvania’s hunters and the Game Commission have proven capable of, it’s adapting.
Think of all we’ve accomplished, together, over time. We brought back wildlife – deer, elk, eagles and more – gone or nearly so. We transformed wastelands into productive habitat. We instituted Youth Field Days, the Archery in the Schools Program and Junior Game Warden camps to market ourselves to new generations.
And look at the results. Deer harvests that consistently rank among the best in the nation. Some of the largest bears and elk seen anywhere in the world. Wildlife spectacles like Middle Creek’s clouds of snow geese.
Now, with this new antlerless license process and other initiatives, we’re knocking down barriers, making buying licenses and getting back into hunting or into hunting for the first time more convenient than ever.
Carbon paper may yet disappear completely, and the tools of our trade may change, but our shared commitment to wildlife and our hunting heritage never will.
Editor
Associate Editor
Maps
Jacob Dingel
Indiana Printing & Publishing Co.
This digest is not the Game & Wildlife Code or its attendant regulations, and should not be considered final on legal interpretation. The Game & Wildlife Code can be viewed in full at www.pgc.pa.gov by clicking on “Hunt & Trap,” then “Law.” Questions about laws can also be directed to your nearest Game Commission region office by calling 1-833-PGC-HUNT or 1-833-PGC-WILD.