First come, first serve for hunters applying for doe tags this hunting season [column]

If there’s one thing that makes Pennsylvania deer hunters nervous, it’s changes to the way we apply for antlerless deer licenses.

And for the second year in a row, that process is changing again.

The change should be for the better.

But there’s no question some hunters will be nervous until they experience the new process.

There is a limited number of doe tags available – 1,186,000 for the 2024-25 hunting year - and they are sold first come, first served.

Once they are sold out, that’s it.

And that’s what makes hunters nervous.

They don’t want to miss their chance at a tag, so they race to be at the front of the line.

You might have recently received a postcard in the mail, or an email in your inbox, from the Pennsylvania Game Commission explaining the new process.

It spells out what you need to do this year, although the email I received left out one piece of critical information.

Here’s what you need to know to get your Pennsylvania hunting license and doe tags for the 2024-25 season.

READ: Pa. Game Commission promises at least one doe tag per hunter for 2024-25 season

First, general hunting licenses for the upcoming hunting year go on sale beginning at 8 a.m., June 24.

That’s the information that was missing from the email I got from the Game Commission.

You have to have a hunting license in order to buy a doe tag, but you don’t need to buy a hunting license that day if you’re not applying for a doe tag that day.

Also beginning at 8 a.m. June 24, Pennsylvania resident hunters can buy doe tags in Wildlife Management Units 3A, 1B and 2G.

These are the three units that sold their allocations the fastest last year, so the Game Commission has separated them from the rest of the state to minimize traffic for the licensing server.

Hunters can go to a retail location to buy their license and a doe tag, or they can do both online at the Game Commission’s HuntFishPA licensing site.

Because of the competition for tags in these units, the Game Commission is not guaranteeing a tag for every hunter who applies.

Remember, it’s first come, first served.

Tags for these three WMUs alone will remain on sale through June 26.

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Beginning at 8 a.m. June 27, Pennsylvania resident hunters can buy doe tags in the state’s other 19 WMUs, as well as in WMUs 3A, 1B and 2G, if there are any left.

Resident hunters who apply for doe tags in those 19 WMUs before July 8 are guaranteed a tag, the Game Commission has promised.

That promise is based on the sell-out dates for those WMUs last year.

There are more tags in those units than resident hunters who applied, agency officials have said.

Between separating WMUs 3A, 1B and 2G, and the guarantee of getting a tag to all resident hunters who apply before July 8, the Game Commission is hoping hunters won’t feel the need to rush to retail outlets or online to buy tags on the first day of sales.

That’s what caused tremendous backups last year, which resulted in service interruptions by the licensing system and long waits by hunters. The system simply got overloaded.

I recall logging on around 6 p.m. the first day of sales and receiving a message that said I was something like customer number 40,000 in line.

That was certainly frustrating.

The message this year is, if you’re a Pennsylvania resident applying for a tag in one of the 19 WMUs separate from 3A, 1B and 2G, you don’t need to be online or in a line at a store at 8 a.m. June 27.

You can buy your license and apply for a tag anytime between then and 8 a.m. July 8, and feel confident you’ll get that tag.

Nonresident hunters can apply for their first doe tags beginning at 8 a.m. July 8.

All hunters are only allowed to obtain one tag in that first round of sales.

The second round of sales for any leftover licenses begins at 8 a.m. July 22 for residents and nonresidents.

There’s no guarantee associated with this round, or any subsequent rounds. It’s first come, first served for whatever tags are left.

READ: Pennsylvania hunters continue to rack up high number of deer

Game Commission officials have said the licensing system has been improved to handle more traffic, but this second round is where I suspect hunters could encounter backups.

Tag numbers will be dwindling and the fear of missing out will be high.

Once again, hunters can only buy one tag in this round, unless they didn’t buy a tag in the first round. That hunter could then buy two tags in the second round.

A third round of sales begins at 8 a.m. Aug. 12 for any remaining tags. Again, tags will be sold first come, first served, and a hunter can only buy one tag in this round, unless they didn’t buy any in the previous rounds.

A hunter can have no more than three tags after the third round.

The fourth round of sales begins at 8 a.m. Aug. 26.

In this round, a hunter can buy as many tags as they want to get to a total possession limit of six tags. That’s the most an individual hunter can have at one time.

During any open deer season, a hunter can then buy a tag as they fill a tag, provided there are any tags left where they want to hunt.

So that’s the process for buying antlerless licenses this year.

As always, we’ll see how it functions as each round unfolds.

One thing I feel confident about.

It can’t be as bad as last year.