Hunting & Trapping Digest 2025-2026Follow the Law

VIOLATING THE GAME & WILDLIFE CODE CAN RESULT IN SERIOUS PENALTIES, INCLUDING THE LOSS OF HUNTING PRIVILEGES.A person charged with violating the Game and Wildlife Code will have the charges adjudicated before a Magisterial District Judge or Court of Common Pleas having jurisdiction. In addition to imposing fines, the court may also order the revocation of hunting and furtaking privileges. Absent a court order, the Game Commission may suspend the hunting and furtaking privileges of persons convicted of violating the Game and Wildlife Code. While revocation can be assessed for any violation, it’s generally reserved for significant violations that affect the safety of people or property, or impact the valuable resources of the commonwealth.Act 54 of 2010 significantly increased fines and revocation periods for serious violations. The following is a list of the most common revocations, but revocation may be applied to other violations, too.REVOCATION PERIOD REQUIRED BY LAW:

Failure to respond to a citation – Indefinite revocation or until adjudicated

Failure to pay a fine in full within 180 days after adjudication – Indefinite or until paid, unless enrolled in a payment plan established by court and current with payments

Hunting or trapping under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance – 1 year

Refusal to submit to a chemical or blood test – 1 year or second/subsequent refusal – 3 years

Shooting at another person resulting in no injury or minor injury – 2 years; causing serious injury – 5 to 10 years; killing another person – 15 years

Failure to render assistance or fleeing after shooting (nonfatal incident) – 10 years; failure to render assistance or fleeing after shooting (fatal incident) – 15 years/Second offense – additional 10 years

Trespass on private property while hunting, second or subsequent offense – 5 years

REVOCATION PERIODS FOR OTHER GAME & WILDLIFE CODE VIOLATIONS:

Assaulting an officer – 3 years

Resisting or interfering with an officer; failure to stop on signal by an officer; turning off lights to avoid arrest or detection – 2 years

Buying or selling wildlife or edible parts contrary to law – Threatened or endangered species – 7 years first offense; big game – up to 5 years first offense; other wildlife – 3 years first offense

Take, injure, kill, possess or transport big game during closed season or beyond daily or season bag limits – up to 5 years first offense

Hunting or furtaking while on revocation – 5 years

Killing or attempting to kill game through the use of bait as an enticement – bear or elk – 3 years; all other game – 2 years

Unlawfully taken big game (in season) – Bear or elk – 3 years; deer or turkey – 1 year

Disturbing traps of another; trapping/furtaking during closed season; multiple violations in 2-year period; killing protected wildlife; hunting small game in a closed season; taking over the daily bag limit of small game or migratory birds – 1 year

INTERSTATE WILDLIFE VIOLATOR COMPACT

Pennsylvania is the 36th state to join the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact (IWVC). All persons convicted of a violation in Pennsylvania that results in the suspension of their hunting and furtaking privileges will receive in addition to the Pennsylvania revocation notice, an additional notification if the terms of the suspension will be shared with other states cooperating in the IWVC.

Persons having a license suspension in Pennsylvania, which is subject to the provisions of the IWVC, and who plan to hunt or trap in another state, must contact that state to determine their eligibility to purchase a license.

The IWVC also establishes a process whereby wildlife law violations by a nonresident from a member state are handled as if the person were a resident, meaning they can be issued a citation rather than being arrested, booked, and bonded. This process is a convenience for hunters and trappers of member states and increases efficiency of wildlife officers by allowing more time for enforcement duties rather than violator processing procedures.

For more information on the Interstate Wildlife Compact, visit the Game Commission website at www.pa.gov/pgc.

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