With hunting season well underway, hunters are reminded of some new requirements by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
All hunters who harvest a deer are required to tag it. If you harvest it from a tree stand that was left on state game lands or other properties controlled by the game commission, that stand, too, must be tagged.
Earlier this year, the commission passed a regulation requiring that all tree stands and portable ground blinds left on lands under the game commission’s control must be marked to identify their owners.
Here’s more information released by the PGC:
Does my stand or blind need to be tagged?
Hunters are permitted to place portable tree stands and blinds on state game lands and Hunter Access properties and leave them there temporarily.
Stands and blinds may be placed no earlier than two weeks before the first deer season in the wildlife management unit (WMU) being hunted, and they must be removed no later than two weeks after the close of the last deer season in that WMU.
Overnight placement of portable hunting blinds additionally is permitted during the spring turkey season within the WMU being hunted.
Regulations now require any tree stand or blind left overnight or longer on state game lands or Hunter Access properties be marked with a durable tag bearing information that identifies its owner.
Tagging stands or blinds
Stands or blinds left temporarily on state game lands and Hunter Access properties must be conspicuously marked with a durable and legible identification tag that includes either the owner’s first and last name and legal home address, the CID number appearing on the owner’s hunting license, or a number issued by the Game Commission to the stand or blind owner.
Any of the three methods of identifying the owner is acceptable.
Unique numbers identifying the stand or blind owner can be obtained at The Outdoor Shop on the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.state.pa.us. Once at The Outdoor Shop, click on “Permits,” select “Tree Stand Identification Number” and fill out the electronic form. There is no cost to obtain a number.
Hunters can tag stands or blinds in any manner that meets the requirements the tags be durable, legible and conspicuously marked. A hunter could engrave his or her CID number onto a metal tag and wire it to the stand or ladder, or do the same with a painted plastic tag. Many methods will meet requirements.
Why are stands and blinds now required to be tagged?
The regulation to require tree stands and blinds to be marked with information identifying their owners serves to address the problem of the stands too often becoming permanent fixtures on some of these properties.
When stands are placed out earlier than allowed on state game lands and Hunter Access properties, or are not removed as required following the close of the final deer season, the stands may be taken down by Game Commission personnel.
But without a way to contact the owner, the stands typically must be stored and, eventually, disposed of if the owner does not come forward.
Requiring all stands and blinds left on state game lands and Hunter Access properties be tagged provides the Game Commission with a mechanism to contact the owners if stands are placed too early or left out too long.
Violating the requirement to tag tree stands and blinds left on Game Commission-controlled property is punishable by a fine up to $200.
Game Commission-controlled property
The requirement for hunters to tag tree stands and blinds left overnight applies on state game lands and private lands enrolled in the Game Commission’s Hunter Access program.
Lands enrolled in the Hunter Access program might be known as Forest Game, Farm Game or Safety Zone access properties.
All of these tracts appear on maps available through the State Game Lands Mapping Center at the Game Commission’s website, www.pgc.state.pa.us.
The State Game Lands Mapping Center can be accessed by clicking on the “State Game Lands Mapping Center” button at the top of the home page at the Game Commission’s website.
At the Mapping Center page, you can watch a number of video tutorials on how to use the Mapping Center, and you can access the Mapping Center itself by clicking on the map or the “Mapping Center” link.
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